IELTS LISTENING

WORKSHOP
Ajeng Sharfina Adiwidya, S. Hum.
 About the Test

■ Duration: 30 minutes (plus 10 minutes of transfer time)

■ 40 questions
■ Audio divided into 4 sections
■ Each question is worth 1 point
■ You only hear each recording one time
 Four Sections of Listening
■ Passage 1: basic exchange of information between two people in
conversation (eg. Placing an order over the phone, confirming
reservation details, etc.)
■ Passage 2: a monologue about a daily situation (eg. Providing
directions.)
■ Passage 3: conversation about academic topic. Usually more challenging
(eg. Class discussion, professor giving feedback for assignment, etc.)
■ Passage 4: lecture from a professor about any topic.
 Test Types

■ Multiple choice
■ Plan, map, or diagram completion
■ Form completion
■ Table completion
■ Flow-chart completion
■ Short answer questions
 IMPORTANT!

■ Read the question beforehand

■ If you miss a part, continue ahead
■ Make sure that you are writing the correct answer type on your
answer sheet.
(eg. For multiple choice, simply write “A” instead of “A. [answer]”)
■ Check your answers
IELTS STRATEGIES
 Analyze

■ What type of question is this?

■ How should you answer?
Look at direction and instruction
■ What are the keywords in the questions?
- Underline important words and phrases
- Correct answers are usually paraphrase of these words
 Predict

■ Questions give you useful information for your answer

- What can you tell from reading the questions in Section 2?
■ Helps catching the answers when speaker is talking
 Tracking

■ Listening and reading at the same time

■ Why does it work?
– IELTS provide contextual clues
– Questions come in order
HOW TO IMPROVE
YOUR IELTS
LISTENING SKILLS
 Get Familiar with Questions & Scoring

■ Get familiar with the scoring band (0.5 – 9)

■ IELTS score is not adjusted with difficulty level
■ Scoring method: based on percentage of correct answers
– Listening & Reading: 65% of band 9 = 5.85 ≈ 6
– Speaking & Writing: rubric with band descriptor
 Get Familiar with Accents

■ British English
– Standard BBC English
– Northern English
■ American English
■ Australian English
■ New Zealand English (special case)
 Distinguish between Similar Sounds

■ Berry / Very ■ Sit / Seat

■ Back / Bag ■ Desk / Disk
■ Thank / Tank ■ Wet / Wait
■ Hat / Had ■ Bat / But
■ Fan / Van ■ So / Saw
■ Free / Three ■ Not / Note
■ Thin / Thing ■ Bad / Bed
 Pay Attention to Linking Words and
Repeated Information
■ Transition signals
– First, second, next, finally…
■ Additions
– Moreover, furthermore…
■ Contrast
– However, on the contrary, on the other hand…
■ Keywords!
 Expand Your Vocabulary

■ Read and listen

– BBC, CNN, New York Times, Spotify Podcasts
■ Use effective dictionaries
– Merriam-Webster, Oxford, etc.
■ Use new words in conversation or writing
PRACTICE,
PRACTICE,
PRACTICE