TOEFL Listening is the second part in the TOEFL exam out of the four sections. The purpose of the TOEFL Listening is to analyse the listening skills of the candidates. Based on a lecture that candidates need to hear and answer the questions, listening abilities of candidates are assessed. The TOEFL Listening questions are based on lectures and conversations. Candidates need to undertake TOEFL Listening practice for acing this section. Given below is the syllabus and question types that candidates need to be aware of for the TOEFL listening test.
Overview of TOEFL Listening
The TOEFL Listening section can be identified in two different forms including TOEFL iBT and TOEFL PBT. Candidates can find different structures and time durations involved within each of these sections. Candidates appearing for TOEFL iBT in the listening section have around 41-57 minutes for 28-39 questions. Candidates appearing for TOEFL PBT exam in TOEFL Listening have around 30-40 minutes for 50 questions.
TOEFL Listening Test Syllabus
Candidates can follow the TOEFL Listening Syllabus based on which the different structures for TOEFL iBT and TOEFL PBT would be understood. The structure of the TOEFL Listening test for iBT can be identified as follows:
Lectures in TOEFL Listening Test :
- 3-4 Lectures
- Lecture duration is 3-5 minutes
- 6 questions per lecture
- Only 1 speaker
Conversations in TOEFL Listening Test:
- 2-3 Conversations
- 3 minute long conversation
- 5 questions per conversation
- 2 speakers
The structure for the TOEFL Listening questions in TOEFL PBT is as follows:
Conversations in TOEFL Listening Test
- Part A with brief conversations
- Part B with Long conversations
- Part A has 30 questions
- Part B has 10 Questions
- 2 speakers in conversations
Lectures in TOEFL Listening Test:
- Part C has lecture excerpts
- 1 minute of lectures
- Only 1 speaker
- 10 questions
TOEFL Listening Question Types
There are different types of questions involved in both TOEFL iBT and TOEFL PBT within the section of TOEFL listening. These types of questions include multiple choice questions, multiple choice questions with multiple answers and replay questions. These have been explained in the following sections.
Multiple Choice Questions
Candidates can find the standard form of multiple choice questions within the TOEFL Listening section. These questions include four choices of answers and only one is deemed to be correct. This is the most common type of TOEFL listening question that candidates can find.
Tips for Multiple Choice Questions in TOEFL Listening
The following tips can be useful for candidates to answer the standard multiple choice questions on the day of the TOEFL Listening test.
- Candidates need to read the choice of answers very carefully as it might seem that one of the answers is relevant to the question but rather may not be. Candidates need to be aware of what they listen and answer the questions carefully reading all the answers.
- Candidates can take notes while listening to the audio which would help them remember important information and answer questions correctly. Candidates while taking their TOEFL preparation for the exam can make use of TOEFL Listening practice test with answer 2021 and practice note taking.
Multiple Answer Questions
Candidates will also get questions of multiple choice which would have multiple answers to the questions. In TOEFL Listening test, candidates need to ensure that they choose multiple correct answers for achieving a better score.
Tips for Multiple Answer Questions in TOEFL Listening
The following tips can be helpful for candidates to choose multiple answers for their TOEFL Listening questions. Candidates while enduring TOEFL Listening practice can make use of these tips and achieve a higher TOEFL score.
- Candidates would be instructed regarding the multiple answers they can choose along with the number of correct answers in each question. Candidates should be aware as well as concentrated on lectures and conversations played to choose the correct answers.
- These questions do not have partial credit in case candidates do not choose correct multiple answers. Accordingly, candidates need to read the choice of answers carefully and choose the correct ones precisely to score higher.
Replay Questions
In the entire TOEFL listening test candidates get to hear the audio clip only once. However, there is a question type called replay questions. Candidates get to hear a part of the audio again and answer the question based on that part of the audio. The questions would also be based on standard multiple choice questions with only one correct answer.
Tips for Replay Questions in TOEFL Listening
The following tips for replay questions are important during the TOEFL Listening test which would ask specific details by replaying the audio. Candidates would find them helpful to achieve good TOEFL scores.
- Candidates despite having taken notes in previous questions would need to pay close attention to any specific detail asked in the question. Listening precisely would help them identify the details and answer correctly.
- Candidates need to pay primary focus on this replayed short clip where they would find the answers to all these types of questions. The rest of the recording is considered not that important.
TOEFL Listening Test Topics
There are various topics based on which TOEFL Listening questions are asked. Candidates can enable their preparation by considering these TOEFL listening topics and follow TOEFL listening practice free for acing the exam. The following topics can be useful for the candidates.
| Science | Arts |
|---|---|
| Weather science | Literature |
| Geographical areas and their theory | Biography |
| Pollution | Books |
| Solar energy | Current happenings from journals, magazines, and newspapers |
| Planets, astronomy, and cosmology | Music and theory |
| Light, sound, and radiation | Art (cave, folk and tribal art) |
| Particle physics | Photography |
| Hardware technology | Architecture and design |
| Maths | History |
| Chemistry of inorganic things | Anthropology |
| Computer science | Linguistics |
| Seismology | Education |
| Physiology | Child development and pedagogy |
| Evolution theory | Communication |
| Fishery science | Business management |
| Bacteria and Viruses | Leadership |
| Medical techniques | - |
| Physiology | - |
| Biochemistry | - |
| Animal and plants behaviour | - |
| Nutrition and public health | - |
| Animal communication | - |
| Accounting | - |
TOEFL Listening Score
Candidates need to be aware about the TOEFL Listening Score in order to undertake effective preparation for the exam. The TOEFL reading and listening scoring are scaled at 0-30. Based on these TOEFL listening scores, candidates can ensure to study abroad. However, TOEFL reading and listening scores are identified as raw scores that range from 0-34 and converted to scaled scores for the score report. The following raw scores and scaled scores for TOEFL listening has been given.
| TOEFL Listening Raw Score | TOEFL Listening Scaled Score |
|---|---|
| 34 | 30 |
| 33 | 29 |
| — | 28 |
| 32 | 27 |
| 31 | 26 |
| 30 | 25 |
| 29 | 24 |
| — | 23 |
| 28 | 22 |
| — | 21 |
| 27 | 20 |
| 26 | 19 |
| 25 | 18 |
| 24 | 17 |
| 23 | 16 |
| 22 | 15 |
| 21 | 14 |
| 20 | 13 |
| 19 | 12 |
| — | 11 |
| 18 | 10 |
| 17 | 9 |
| 16 | 8 |
| 15 | 7 |
| 14 | 6 |
| 13 | 5 |
| 12 | 4 |
| 11 | 3 |
| 10 | 2 |
| 9 | 1 |
| 8 and below | 0 |
Tricks and Tips for TOEFL Listening
The following TOEFL Listening preparation tips and tricks would help candidates to enhance their TOEFL score effectively.
- Candidates need to focus only on the points that are important in the audio clips having relevance with the questions.
- The question type need to be read and understood to answer the questions
- Time management is important to ensure that for the duration of each questions the time given is appropriate
- Candidates need to expand their vocabulary to understand the different choice of words in audio clip or in the questions
- Candidates need to understand that practising for the TOEFL Listening is important. Candidates need to follow ETS TOEFL Listening Practice as part of their preparation. Following the TOEFL Listening Practice papers would only enhance their skills.
TOEFL Listening Practice Papers
Following are the TOEFL Listening practice papers that would help in candidates preparation for the test.
*The article might have information for the previous academic years, which will be updated soon subject to the notification issued by the University/College.
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