gmat-review.co.ukTOEFLSection DetailsListening

TOEFL – Section Details – Listening

You will listen to 4-6 recorded academic lectures (6 questions each) and 2-3 recorded conversations (5 questions each). Then you will answer questions regarding the information you hear. The more correct responses you give, the higher your score will be.

Listening Purposes

1. To obtain basic comprehension, such as understanding the main idea, key points, structure, purpose, conclusion, important facts and relevant details
2. To learn from listening, such as understanding various relationships between ideas (e.g., compare-and-contrast, cause-and-effect, agree-disagree, or steps in a process) and tracing the development of ideas or events throughout the recordings. Note any digression during the talk and any side comments.
3. To make inferences about author’s opinion and what is implied in a recording

Listening Section Format

Recording Types

Lectures – Note that one lecture per test is spoken with a British or Australian accent.

	A monologue by a professor
	An interactive lecture with one or two students asking

Conversations in an academic setting. Examples include:

	During an office hour between a student and a professor or teaching assistant
	Between a student and a registrar, housing director, residence assistant, librarian, bookstore employee, departmental secretary, etc.)

Question Types by Format

	Questions with four choices and a single answer in traditional multiple-choice format
	Questions with four or more choices and one or more answers
	“Listening to learn” chart questions

	Require test takers to order events or steps in a process
	Require test takers to match objects or text to categories in a chart

Question Types by Content

	Main Idea questions
	Key facts questions – locate the specifics
	Paraphrase questions

	Test the ability to select the answer choice with the most accurate meaning based on the context
	Variations include Definition questions, which ask you to recall the sound bites which define a word or phrase

	Reference questions – why the speaker mentioned a particular detail or fact
	Listening to learn questions

	Chart questions - order events or steps in a process
	Chart questions - match objects or text to categories in a chart

Inference questions

Find the implied message