TOEFL

Sub Topics

TOEFL Listening Section Conversation Strategies TOEFL Listening Practice Conversations TOEFL Listening Section Lecture Strategies TOEFL Listening Practice Lectures Listening For Tone Attitude Transitions And Signal Words in Listening Listening For Agreement Disagreement Listening For Intonation Cues Listening For The Main Point Listening to Accented English TOEFL Listening Practice Listening For Basic Comprehension TOEFL Listening Practice Listening For Pragmatic Understanding TOEFL Listening Practice Connecting Synthesizing Information The Four Stages of The Listening Process Critical Listening Thinking Evaluating Others' Speeches Improving Your Note-Taking Skills Strategies For Mapping a Speech

Main Topics

Lessons and MCQs

Select Test Select Question Types

TOEFL: Structure of The TOEFL Listening Section
TOEFL Listening Section Lecture Strategies

Wondering how to get through the lecture passages on the TOEFL Listening test? We're here to help with strategy tips and hints - watch this lesson to learn how it's done.

TOEFL Listening Section Lecture Strategies

TOEFL Lectures

On the TOEFL Listening test, you'll get two kinds of listening passages, but in this lesson, we're just focusing on one type: the lecture passages. Lecture passages re-create what you might hear in a classroom, either a professor giving a lecture or a conversation between a professor and a group of students.

The TOEFL will have between four and six lecture passages with six questions on each. Each passage is between three and five minutes long. Like all listening passages, lecture passages can be hard because they move quickly. But here's how to listen effectively, take notes, and generally make the lecture passages work for you.

Listening

The first step to good strategy on a lecture passage is how you approach the passage itself. This has two parts: listening and taking notes. On the TOEFL, you'll only hear the passage; you won't be able to read a transcript, so everything depends on how well you can listen. Here's how to listen strategically:

Listen for the main point. Don't stop to worry over one individual word while the passage moves on without you! It's important to understand what the overall idea of a conversation is.
Pay attention to signal words and transitions. Transition words, like 'next' or 'finally,' can help you figure out where you are in the passage.
Listen to intonation as well as words. Even if you don't know what a word means, the tone of the speaker's voice can help you figure out the big picture. For example, English speakers usually raise their voice at the end of a question, like this: 'Did you bring the macaroni?'

Taking Notes

While you're listening, you'll also be taking notes. You'll be able to use these notes as you answer the questions. Here's how to take notes effectively:

Don't write down every word. Your pencil is not as fast as the speakers. You'll just end up falling behind and writing down one part of the passage while you're listening to another, which can be confusing. Instead…
Write down key names, places, events, and main points. Write only as much as you need to jog your memory later. For example, if a person in the dialog spends three or four sentences talking about how furious she is that she got a C on her paper, you could just write down 'student - angry - C.'
For multiple people, try a column chart. If you have a lecture passage with multiple speakers, it helps to make a chart that looks something like this:

Then, you can write down what each person says or other important details about them in an appropriate column. Just from reading this chart, you can almost reconstruct the whole conversation in just a few words and symbols of notes.

Write your notes however you like. It's perfectly fine to use smiley faces, abbreviations, diagrams, text speak, pictures, or slang in your notes; you won't be graded on the notes and nobody else will ever see them. They're only there to help you, so write down the information in a way that makes sense to you.

The Questions

Listening effectively and taking good notes is really half the battle on these passages. If you do that, you'll be well-prepared for the questions to follow. You'll answer three types of questions. In order from easiest to most difficult, they are:

Listening for Basic Comprehension questions ask about basic facts and information from the passage.
Listening for Pragmatic Understanding questions ask about a speaker's attitude or purpose.
Connecting and Synthesizing Information questions ask you to make connections and inferences from the passage as a whole.

The answer to every question is in the passage. You'll never have to know any outside information. Here are some strategy tips to help you on the questions:

Use your notes. That's what they're there for! If you took good notes, they'll really give you a boost.
Use elimination. At best, you can get to the right answer; at worst, eliminating answers you know are wrong can help you make a better guess. You can't cross off answers on the computer screen, but you can write down the list of answer choices on your scrap paper and cross them off there.
Watch for multiple answers. On some Listening questions, you'll have to mark more than one answer choice. These questions will be marked, but they're easy to miss if you aren't looking for them.
Skip what you don't know. Don't get hung up on one particular question; just take a guess and move on if you really can't answer it. But bear in mind that once you've marked your best guess, you can't go back and change the answer later. You cannot skip around on the TOEFL Listening questions; you must answer every question before moving on to the next, and you are not allowed to go back and change your answers.