Listening Section Handouts

TOEFL iBT Prep by English Academy

Reference: MyEnglishLab by Pearson Education Limited (2021)

TOEFL® Listening Question Types

Pragmatic Understanding
Basic Comprehension questions Connecting Information questions
questions

1. Gist-Content 4. Understanding the Function of 6. Understanding Organization

2. Gist-Purpose What Is Said 7. Connecting Content
3. Detail 5. Understanding the Speaker’s 8. Making Inferences
Attitude or Stance
 Understanding the Gist
Skill 1: Dealing with the Gist-content and Gist-purpose Questions
TOEFL iBT Prep by English Academy
Basic Comprehension
questions: Gist-
Content Questions
➢ understanding the general topic or main
idea
▪ example phrasing:
o What problem does the man have?
o What are the speakers mainly
discussing?
o What is the main topic of the lecture?

✓ Strategies:
▪ Eliminate choices that refer to only small
portions of what you just listened to.
▪ Summarize the topic of the lecture or
conversation in one phrase or sentence
Basic Comprehension
questions: Gist-
Purpose
➢ focus on the purpose of the conversation or
lecture rather than on the content
▪ example phrasing:
o Why does the student visit the professor?
o Why does the student visit the registrar’s
office?
o Why did the professor ask to see the
student?
o Why does the professor explain X?

➢ Strategies:
▪ For professor-student conferences,
identifies the reason that the student visited
the professor
▪ the purpose of a conversation is not always
related to the conversation’s main topic
▪ In service encounter conversations, the
student is often trying to solve a problem
 Signal words/phrase:

Strategy: Differentiate Example extract.

Professor: “I think there is something I wanted to
talk you about too.”

between the main topic

of a lecture or Minor topic:
The student’s late essay.

conversation and minor

topics
• Sometimes the lecture or conversation
will talk about a minor topic (classroom
business, previous lecture, or other minor
things) before beginning the main topic
• Pay attention to the signal and transition
words to identify the change of topics
Main topic

Example Question.

✓
Understanding the Detail
Skill 2: Dealing with the Detail Questions
TOEFL iBT Prep by English Academy
Basic Comprehension
questions: Detail
Questions
➢ understand and remember explicit details
or facts from a lecture or conversation
▪ example phrasing:
o According to the professor, what is one
way that X can affect Y?
o What is X?
o What resulted from the invention of the
X?
o According to the professor, what is the
main problem with the X theory?

➢ strategies:
▪ Refer to your notes: the major details
▪ Answers are often a paraphrase
▪ Guess by choosing most consistent
answer with the main idea
Strategy: Look out for
verbal signals for
important information
• When you hear verbal signals listen
carefully and take notes
• Example verbal signal words:
▪ Drawing attention:
o Now this is important...
o The point is...
o Remember that . . .
o The basic concept is...
o The issue is ...
▪ Repetition:
o Let me say that again ...
o Let me repeat that ...
▪ Restatement
o I mean...
o To say that another way ...
o In other words ...
Strategy: Design your
notes effectively
especially for lectures
• Recognize the organization of a lecture as
soon as possible to help you think ahead
and take better notes
▪ Common organization:
o Definition and description
o Classification
o Comparison and contrast
o Chronology and process
o Cause and result

• Design your note accordingly.

▪ For example: use lists and charts for
classification (Fill in a table Question)
Understanding the Functions
Skill 3: Dealing with the Function Questions
TOEFL iBT Prep by English Academy

Reference: MyEnglishLab by Pearson Education Limited (2021)

Pragmatic Understanding
Questions: Function
Question
➢ understand the function of what is said
(replay)
▪ Example phrasing:
o What does the professor imply when he says
this? (replay)
o Why does the student say this? (replay)
o What does the professor mean when she
says this? (replay)
➢ Tip:
▪ Remember that the function of what is said
may not match what the speaker directly
states (example: sarcasm, rhetorical
question, etc.).
▪ common examples of functions:
o agreement,
o apology,
o assumption,
o complaint,
o disagreement,
o interest,
o refusal,
o regret,
o request,
o suggestion
 (Function Question )
Listen to part of the conversation and answer the question:

A. To acknowledge that he cannot go to this year’s career fair Strategy:

Avoid answers that seem too explicit –
✓
B. To acknowledge the amount of preparation he will have directly stated; functions are often
C. To indicate that he has school work he must complete before the career fair
implied or given implicitly.

D. To indicate that he needs to go to his job now

✓ Tips:
▪ Understand the function of what is said
▪ Remember that the function of what is said may not match what the
speaker directly states (example: sarcasm, rhetorical question, etc.)
Understanding the Speaker's
Stance
Skill 5: Dealing with the Speaker’s Attitude/Stance Questions
TOEFL iBT Prep by English Academy

Reference: MyEnglishLab by Pearson Education Limited (2021)

Pragmatic Understanding
Questions: Speaker’s
Attitude
➢ understand a speaker’s attitude or
opinion
▪ Example phrasing:
o What can be inferred about the student?
o What is the professor’s attitude toward
X?
o What is the professor’s opinion of X?
o What can be inferred about the student
when she says this? (replay)
o What does the woman mean when she
says this? (replay)

➢ Tips:
▪ pay attention to the speaker’s tone of
voice
▪ Does the speaker sound apologetic?
Confused? Enthusiastic? Etc.
▪ Be careful with idiomatic language
Student:
“And it’s more hours, which . . . The bookstore’s—I mean it’s a decent job ‘n’ all. Everybody I
work with . . . that part’s great; it’s just . . . I mean I’m shelving books and kind of hanging out
and not doing much else . . . if it weren’t for the people, it’d be totally boring.”
Strategy: Pay attention
to intonation for
speaker’s attitude
• Sometimes the intonation changes
the meaning of the words spoken
▪ a rising intonation at the end can
express surprise
Example:
Neutral: That's a good deal for a meal
plan.
Surprised: That's a good deal for a
meal plan.
▪ a rising and then a falling intonation
at the end can express doubt
Example:
Neutral: I think so.
Surprised: I think so(?).

✓
Listen for tone of
voice to express
emotion
• Identifying the speaker's emotions
• Common examples of Tone:
▪ enthusiastic
▪ interested
▪ reserved
▪ confused
▪ apologetic
▪ unsure
▪ respectful
▪ encouraging
▪ supportive
 (Speaker’s attitude/opinion Question)

1. What is the professor’s opinion about the dot-com crash?

✓
A. She thinks that people should have realized it would happen.

B. She does not believe that anything like it will happen again.
“…you think by the 90s, people would’ve
C. She is surprised that it did not have more serious consequences. learned from the past.”

D. She is confident that people learned a valuable lesson from it.

✓ Tips:
▪ Pay attention to the speaker’s tone of voice, and draw conclusion based on it
▪ Remember that the answer is normally in a restatement
▪ Be careful with idiomatic language
 Understanding The
Organization & Relationships
Skill 5: Dealing with the Understanding Organization & Connecting
Content Questions
TOEFL iBT Prep by English Academy

Reference: MyEnglishLab by Pearson Education Limited (2021)

Connecting Information
Questions:
Understanding
Organization and
Relationships Questions
➢ the overall organization of the lecture
➢ the relationship between two portions of
what you heard
▪ Example phrasing:
o Why do the speakers discuss/mention. .
.?
o How is the information organized. . .?
o What is explained/illustrated by the
example of . . .
o Click/Put a check mark in the correct
column/box. . .

➢ Strategies:
▪ Listen to the details and examples, and
think about why they are discussed in
relation to the overall passage
▪ Look for organization of ideas such as
comparison or contrast, cause and effect,
etc.
Understanding
Organization and
Relationships: Quick
Practice
➢ strategies:
▪ Listen to the details and examples, and
think about why they are discussed in
relation to the overall passage
▪ Think about how the passage is
organized: by comparison/contrast,
cause/effect and so on.
▪ Look for an answer that shows how the
examples or details fit into the

✓
organization of the passage.
▪ Eliminate the definitely wrong answers,
and choose the best answer from the
remaining choices.
Understanding
Organization and
Relationships and
Relationships: Quick
Practice
➢ strategies:
▪ Listen to the details and examples, and
think about why they are discussed in
relation to the overall passage
▪ Think about how the passage is
organized: by comparison/contrast,
cause/effect and so on.
▪ Look for an answer that shows how the
examples or details fit into the

▪
organization of the passage.
Eliminate the definitely wrong answers,
✓
and choose the best answer from the
remaining choices.
Understanding Relationships
between Inferences and
Conclusions
Skill 6: Dealing with the Making Inferences
Questions
TOEFL iBT Prep by English Academy

Reference: MyEnglishLab by Pearson Education Limited (2021)

Connecting Information
Questions: Inferences
Questions
➢ Make a conclusion based on facts
presented in the lecture or conversation
▪ Example phrasing:
o What does the professor imply about X?
o What will the student probably do next?
o What can be inferred about X?
o What does the professor imply when he
says this? (replay)

➢ Strategies:
▪ Deduce: put together details from the
lecture or conversation to reach a
conclusion
▪ Answers are usually a restatement -
vocabulary not found in the lecture or
conversation
Inferences Questions:
Quick Practice
➢ Make a conclusion based on facts
presented in the lecture or conversation
▪ Example phrasing:
o What does the professor imply about X?
o What will the student probably do next?
o What can be inferred about X?
o What does the professor imply when he
says this? (replay)

➢ Strategies:
▪ Deduce: put together details from the
lecture or conversation to reach a

▪
conclusion
Answers are usually a restatement -
✓
vocabulary not found in the lecture or
conversation
Inferences Questions:
Quick Practice
➢ Make a conclusion based on facts
presented in the lecture or conversation
▪ Example phrasing:
o What does the professor imply about X?
o What will the student probably do next?
o What can be inferred about X?
o What does the professor imply when he
says this? (replay)

➢ Strategies:
▪ Deduce: put together details from the
lecture or conversation to reach a

▪
conclusion
Answers are usually a restatement -
✓
vocabulary not found in the lecture or
conversation
End of Document
Copyright by English Academy (2021)