TOEFL STRATEGIES
TOEFL listening section, tests the ability of
a student, especially a non-native English speaker, to understand spoken
English (accentuated) in educational setting. Listening is an important skill
to understand the concepts and ideas. Only when the concepts are understood
completely it becomes a lighter task to score in the listening section of TOEFL
test. In order to develop the listening skills for TOEFL, there are certain set
of listening strategies or steps. They are explained in detail given below.
Requirements for TOEFL
Listening Strategy
Listening strategies for TOEFL aims at
providing each and every minute detail that are required to respond to all the
questions within the given time in this section. Responding to the questions in
time is very important because, it will help TOEFL candidates to save time,
which they might spend on, one specific part of the test section.
There are certain steps in strategies that
would help in managing time in each part of listening test section
(recordings). There are some basic requirements for listening skills which
serves the steps in TOEFL listening strategies as detailed below:
§ Basic Comprehension
When students listen
to a recorded lecture or a conversation, they should understand the central or
main idea in it. Then they should skim the recording for key points, important
facts, purpose and the relevant details that connects the key points.
§ Practical Understanding
It may also be called as “pragmatic
understanding” where the meaning of a word should be taken, according to the
context. Students are needed to find the intended meaning of the speaker i.e.
from his point of view. A wide range of vocabulary is necessary for this
process because, the recordings in listening test are usually from academic
background. Practical understanding also becomes a must to find the purpose of
a lecture or a conversation.
§ Relate Ideas given in multiple information
sources
Relating ideas is the final state where the
key points and the important facts are compared to find the relationship
between them. This method would initially lead to construct an argument. Then a
string of supportive and non supportive elements are categorized and as a
result the causes for the events are traced. This is where a student would end
up identifying the conclusion which is expressed indirectly.
§ Inference
Inference is to find the implied conclusion in
recordings from the author’s point of view. The conclusion might be implied or
expressed indirectly anywhere in the passage.
These are the basic requirements necessary, in
each part of the strategy of listening section, which consists of two recorded
lectures and one long conversation. These fundamentals are to be followed, in
the following few preparatory steps.
Strategies in
Preparation
§ Spoken English From
Various Sources And Accents
There are variations between the accents of
English. It is the best to listen to English from various sources like television,
music, radio etc. And also it is good to listen to the native speakers of
English with different pronunciation and dialect. By doing this students would
be able to improve their listening skills and also they will get used to
different kinds of accents. It will be helpful very much if they listen to
academic passages or conversations.
§ Making Notes
While listening to a recording, notes should
be jot down. These notes would help you to remember the important points given
by speaker. The reason is also that, during the test you will be given only one
chance to listen to a passage. Note making will help you to remember the
details and the clues effectively.
§ Main Idea
The main idea of a passage should be
identified in a recording, as a first task while taking notes. Main idea of a
lecture is usually given in the introductory part. The other details would be
given in the rest of a lecture. Once the main idea is found it becomes a
lighter task to find the purpose of the speaker.
§ Pointer Words,
Important Facts And Relationship Between The Facts
The pointer words may be defined as signal
words or clues, given by the speaker. These keywords should be collected along
with important facts and events. This should be done in order to compare them
and identify the relationship between them. In turn this would give you the
cause of the events.
§ Summary of Observation
Give a summary of the recording which was
listened, using the notes that are taken down. During this process, only
important facts, relevant details, main idea and the key facts are covered.
This is a good time saving technique, to prevent going through the notes again
and again.
§ Building your
Vocabulary
Above all it is also important to build a
student’s vocabulary, to find the meaning of a word, according to the context
of the speaker. Students should get familiar with the words which they consider
as new ones and practice them in their everyday life.
The steps and the requirements in TOEFL
strategies for listening section, which are elaborated above should be followed
and practiced to manage time while taking up the test. The most important part
in listening section is to concentrate on the subject of the speaker, and a
student does not have to be distracted by the accent.
TOEFL TIPS :)
Here are five tips to help you be ready
for the Listening section:
1.
Take notes while you listen. Only the major points will be
tested, so do not try to write down every detail. After testing, notes are
collected and shredded before you leave the test center.
2.
Pay attention to the speaker’s tone of voice. For instance,
whether the speaker sounds excited, sad or confused can help you answer
questions that are about the speaker’s attitude or opinion.
3.
When listening to a lecture, make note of the way the lecture is
organized and the way the ideas in the lecture are connected. Referring back to
your notes will help you answer questions about overall organization.
4.
If you are unsure of the correct response, try to figure out
which choice is most consistent with the main idea of the conversation or
lecture.
5.
Listening questions must be answered in order. Once you click on
OK, you cannot go back to a previous question.
Don’t forget to continue to build your English skills by
listening to movies, TV and the radio in English. Doing this regularly will
have a great impact.
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