Mastering Strategies for IELTS Listening Module

Listening is an art in that sense where the auditory sense to listen get ample lucidity by means of ardent attention. Listening is one of the fundamental and significant modules of IELTS. ' IELTS – International English Language Testing System' is an international exam which is designed &  structured in a disciplined way with a view to evaluating the skill & efficacy for dealing with reading, listening, speaking & writing English. So one should work enough on the rules & strategies regarding the stipulated section of listening so that he/she can make an art out of the listening segment. The art designed by the implied strategies illuminate the way to reach the road of gleaning a smart score in total.

Understanding the Listening Module   

The module comprises four sections, with ten questions in each section. It takes 40 minutes: 30 - for testing, plus 10 for transferring the answers to an answer sheet.

• Sections 1 and 2 are about everyday social situations.
• Section 1 has a conversation between two speakers (for example, a conversation about travel arrangements)

• Section 2 has one person speaking (for example, a speech about local facilities).
• Sections 3 and 4 are about educational and training situations
• Section 3 is a conversation between two main speakers (for example, a discussion between two university students, perhaps guided by a tutor)
• Section 4 has one person speaking about an academic subject.
• Each section begins with a short introduction telling the test taker about the situation and the speakers. Then they have some time to look through the questions.
• The questions are in the same order as the information in the recording, so the answer to the first question will be before the answer to the second question, and so on.
• The first three sections have a break in the middle allowing test takers to look at the remaining questions.
• Each section is heard only once.
• At the end of the test, students are given 10 minutes to transfer their answers to an answer sheet. 
• Test takers will lose marks for incorrect spelling and grammar.

General Instructions of British Council

• Time will be given to read through the questions before one starts listening.
• One will hear each recording of the Listening test only once.
• As one listens, he/she is to write answers on the question paper.
• At the end of the test, 10 minutes will be given to transfer answers to the answer sheet in pencil. One may write your answers in lower case or capital letters.
• It is essential to transfer answers to the answer sheet. Nothing written on the question paper will be marked.
• If one cannot hear the audio clearly, he should let a member of staff know straightaway.
• One has to listen for the specific information he/she want to try and anticipate what the speaker will say; this will require concentration.
• There is nothing to worry if there is a word you do not understand; you may not need to use it.
• If the answer to a question is not known, one should attempt but time is to be saved and so one should move onto the next one as soon as possible.
• One has to be amply cautious about the spelling and grammar.
• One should not panic if he/she thinks the topic is too difficult or the speaker is too fast. All he/she needs to relax and tune in.
• One should read, write and listen at the same time.
• The examinee should focus precisely on what he/she are asked to do in completion type questions.
• Attention is to be paid to the word limit; for example, if one is asked to complete a sentence using no more than two words, if the correct answer is ‘leather coat’, the answer ‘coat made of leather’ would be incorrect
• If the question asks to complete the note ‘in the…’ and the correct answer is ‘morning’, note that ‘in the morning’ would be incorrect; the correct answer is 'morning'
• One should attempt all questions because there are no penalties for incorrect answers.
• The answers are to be checked carefully and keenly. 

Crafts to Crack IELTS-Listening  

Visualize the Topics & Questions

• Visualization helps to explore the kind of conversation which is taking place in the audio so that one can picture it in his/her head.
• So one has to look through each section in the time he/she is given and make sure he/she has an idea of who is speaking to who and what the context is.
• One should also try and have an idea of what kind of information he/she is listening out for. He/She should have a look at the questions in the time the question is given to visualize what can go in the blank space.
• As Section 3 ends and one needs to start looking through the questions for Section 4 to visualize of what the Section 4 topic relates to. Are they talking about people, places, animals etc? As Section 4 begins the announcer in the recording will give a brief description as well; e.g. ‘You will hear a lecturer talking about the subject of deforestation’.

Perceive the Paraphrasing Zones

• The questions in the IELTS Listening module will contain two types of word: those likely to be used by the speaker and those likely to be paraphrased.
• It is suggested to remember that what one hears will most likely not be exactly the same as is written on the exam paper as that would be too easy. The question and the question stems use such things as synonyms so one must listen carefully for these with a view to identifying the paraphrasing zones.

 

Locate the Cue-words tactically  

• One should look through the questions first in the listening module, particularly in the more difficult parts 3 and 4 to underline the cue/keywords (such as names, places, and dates) in the question stems which always helps to hear the answer specifically and attentively in a lucid way.  
• To circle, underline, highlight on the anchor words or keywords make it easier to focus on the main points regarding the correct answers.

 

Utilize the intermediate Time of each section

• One is given 30 seconds at the end of each section to check the answers. Then he/she is told to turn over and look at the next section for 30 seconds. One can’t get any chance yo hear the listening again. So it is a better idea to turn straight to the next section instead of checking. It will provide enough time to look through the next section. This time helps a lot by means of proper utilization and visualization to perceive the answers and match them with the words from audio.

 

Sense the Voice of Speaker

• One needs to pay proper attention to the speaker’s tone of voice.
• For instance, whether the speaker sounds excited, sad or confused can help to answer questions that are about the speaker’s attitude, condition, or opinion.
• One needs to give attention to the tone, stress, and intonation of the audio clips and speakers to guess the meaning in a proper way.
• It is very important to listen for signal expressions that identify details, such as for example, the reason is, on the other hand, however, I would say, etc.
• Since answers to questions are found in order in the passage, one is suggested to take notes in order of what he/she can hear.

 

Carefully transfer & check the answers to answer sheet

• The IELTS listening answer sheet is a very important piece of paper. Listening scores are calculated according to what one has written on the answer sheet. Therefore, one must make sure that he/she has completed the answer sheet before the end of the time allocated and filled it in correctly.
• The correct answers are to be put in the right place on the answer sheet from the test booklet otherwise it will be wrong, so one needs to make it sure that he/she puts the answer in the correct place.
• It is easy to lose marks if anyone leaves an answer blank on the exam sheet. One may then fill that one in with the wrong answer when during transferring them. So one should put in a guess for any he/she does not know without leaving any blanks.
• One should make it sure to recheck his/her spelling and grammar too when he/she transfers answers at the end.
• Although one may feel rushed for time, handwriting is important. If the examiner cannot read what has been written then it will be marked incorrect.

 

Scrupulous about Spelling

• In IELTS if any spelling is incorrect, then the answer is also marked incorrect, even if one heard it right.
• So good listening skills will be useless if one can’t spell.
• It has to be kept in mind that, in English, names of people and addresses may have more than one accepted spelling but in the IELTS Listening test, such words will be spelled out by the speaker.
• One needs to use British or American spelling – this is what is says on the official IELTS website: “IELTS recognizes both British and American English in terms of spelling, grammar and choice of words”.

 

Govern the exam with correct Grammar

• In IELTS one needs to write an answer that is not only spelled correctly but also fits grammatically. It should be kept in mind that any incorrect grammar will cost point.  
• So, one should be careful with things like plural and singular nouns. There may be clues such as an indefinite article in front of the blank space for the answer which would indicate the answer is a singular noun.
• Tenses and subject/verb agreement should be given enough care. If the answer is second person singular, one should not forget the ‘s’ at the end of the noun.
• Capitalization of proper nouns is very important; e.g.: names of countries, cities or geographical locations must be capitalized. If one writes “Belgium” as “belgium” the answer will be marked as incorrect.
• It is highly suggested to study on the English grammar properly not only for the listening module but also for all four modules of IELTS exam.

 

Deal with the Questions Strategically 

• It is it is a good idea to know not just the next question, but the next two questions so if one misses one answer then he/she is prepared for the next. It is particularly useful in Section 4 because if one loses the place in the first few questions, there is no midway pause to catch them up again.
• One should keep track of where he/she is in the recording in relation to the questions. So, he/she should try to identify where the focus of the questions changes. For example, if the first three questions are talking about one particular place, then the fourth question refers to a person, this should indicate a change in direction for the speaker and will let one know where he/she is in the recording with respect to the question papers.

 

Lead the Listening Lucidly

• One should listen carefully, attentively and specifically by avoiding any kind of distraction.
• Speakers in the test will often give an answer but then correct themselves. So the first answer that looks right may actually be wrong. One should be cautious enough about it.
• The foremost step to crack listening section is to listen English regularly.

• The more one hears English or any language, the better his/her listening skills will become and the easier he/she will find the Listening section. 
• English Talk in radio, news stations, movies, tv shows, BBC, TED talk, and podcasts are all vital options.
• It is highly recommended to listen to some English with background noise, such as an interview conducted outside or in front of a large crowd. IELTS Listening recordings purposely include background noises.
• In IELTS exam one needs to listen to audios and write the answer at the same time. So one should practice listening lectures, audios and taking notes simultaneously.

 

Listen to Accent Attentively

• If one will practice listening to different accents while during studying it will be a great aid to develop the skill. 
• It is suggested to listen to news clips or radio stations from these countries on a regular basis.
• One needs to get used to the British accent. A good IELTS listening tip is to be prepared to hear all accents as one may hear Australian, American, Canadian, New Zealand and a mix of European countries. However, although there are a mix of accents in the test, the majority tend to be British (unlike TOEFL which tends to be American). So one should make it sure that he/she is used to the British accent.

 

Practice Properly & Perpetually

• The more one does practices according to the crafts and strategies the more he/she will make own self-perfect.
• The practices are to be proper and perpetual by means of right rules of the IELTS.
• One needs to practice the pronunciation of letter and numbers – often words are spelled out in the test by a speaker and numbers are read out, so one should make it sure that he/she  can recognize how different letters sound in different accents, not just words.

Scoring of IELTS-Listening Module

 

Band Score	9.0	8.5	8.0	7.5	7.0	6.5	6.0	5.5	5.0	4.5	4.0	3.5	3.0	2.5
Listening raw score (Academic and General Training)	39-40	37–38	35–36	32–34	30–31	26–29	23–25	18–22	16–17	13–15	10–12	8–9	6–7	4–5

 

IELTS listening module is important enough to get a good total band score. One needs to know and master the cardinal crafts to crack the listening section by means of proper strategies & perpetual practices. The strategies help anyone to gain confidence and potential to deal with this listening module of IELTS and to glean the desired score smartly.