TOEFL Listening Section

The Listening section of TOEFL mainly focuses on analyzing the test-takers ability to comprehend academic discourses and also to follow daily conversations. Though both discourses differ in nature, the common factor in both is the language. A better understanding of the language, its grammar, and articulation, along with the intonations used in different accents, can help test-takers figure out what they require for the test.

ETS looks for test-takers understanding of basic grammar which will generally aid them in conversing with the locals and people in their institution. They also look for skills relating to a pragmatic understanding of what is being said by listening to it just once and their ability to connect content and synthesize it.

TOEFL Listening Section Test Structure

The listening section of TOEFL has different tasks, such as lectures, conversations, talks, and announcements. Test-takers are allowed to take notes while listening so that answering the questions will not solely be based on their skills. Different accents will be used in the test to test the proficiency in listening and understanding what is being said without sticking to one specific kind of English. The accents mainly used are North American, British, Australian, and New Zealand English.

TOEFL iBT: Test-takers will be given 36 minutes to complete the 28 questions in the section.

• Lectures- This includes listening to lectures based on a university-level.
• Conversations- This includes conversations between 2 speakers taken in different accents.

Task	Duration	Number of questions
3 lectures	3-5 minutes/task	6 questions/task
2 conversations	3 minutes/task	5 questions/task
5 tasks	36 minutes	28 questions

TOEFL Essentials: The test-takers will have up to 34 minutes to complete 30-45 questions in the section.

• Listening to a conversation between two speakers and answering questions based on that conversation
• Listening to an academic announcement and answering 2 questions based on the announcement
• Listening to an academic talk and answering 4 questions based on the talk

How is TOEFL Listening Section Scored?

TOEFL score reports contain the section scores and the total score separately. For TOEFL iBT, the listening section is scored on a scale of 0-30. The total score is the sum of all the section scores and ranges from 0-120. The TOEFL Essentials Listening section is scored on a scale of 1-12, and the total is the average of four sections on a scale of 1-12.

Proficiency Level	iBT Score	Essentials Score	General Description
Advanced Level	22-30	9-12	can understand low-frequency vocabulary; comprehend inter-related information and synthesize information in passage.
High-Intermediate Level	17-21	6-8	can understand common academic terms; can distinguish ideas based on intonation; can synthesize information with difficulty.
Low-Intermediate Level	9-16	3-5	can understand basic grammar and high-frequency words; can identify the purpose of the text but has difficulty synthesizing information if not repeated.
Below Low-Intermediate Level	0-8	1-2	shows very low proficiency in understanding the language.

Tips to Ace TOEFL Listening Section

Mastering the Listening Section is crucial for achieving a high overall score. Here’s a comprehensive guide to help test-talers excel in the TOEFL Listening section:

• Focus on Intonation- Learning a language by reading and studying grammar can be easy when compared to the task of understanding a language through intonations. However, intonations play a huge role in decoding accents and phrases that may otherwise be familiar to individuals. Learn the intonation differences between words and accents to understand passages they listen to.
• Listening through Notes- Every time test-takers listens to something, take notes. Do not take notes to cover topics they think they may not retain. They should take notes for anything and everything they hear so that the construction of the passage, the intention, and the message become clear through the notes alone, even if they cannot listen to the audio again. The notes should be efficiently made enough to replace the lecture altogether despite not containing the same information in a word-to-word fashion.
• Paraphrase Efficiently- Paraphrasing content can be good practice to improve listening skills. Test-takers should try to paraphrase lectures or even conversations that they come across in their daily life. Test-takers can choose to paraphrase conversations less than 3 minutes, whether it be something they encountered while ordering their daily coffee or while at home. Though the exam focuses on academic material, this can help them retain what they have heard and improve their writing skills.
• Understand the Tasks- While preparing for the listening section, be aware that the information provided to test-takers will mostly be academic. Looking at a lecture will ultimately give them an introduction, body, and conclusion, whereas a conversation will have a beginning, middle, and end since it is mostly narrative. Understanding these distinctions will help test-takers prepare efficiently if test-takers lack time for preparation.
• Focus on 5W and 1H- The golden rule of any essay or content is to always answer to the what, when, where, who, and why(5W), and the how(1H) of it. This will aid test-takers in writing an essay and decoding the recording they just heard. Listen to different types of materials and try to include these 6 pointers in their notes.
• Develop Passive Listening Skills- Focus on passively listening and not interrupting conversations. This will eventually allow test-takers' attention span to increase while listening to the recorded pieces. Zoning out during the listening section can cause them to lose vital information that might be necessary for the answers. They should ensure they listen and pay close attention to what they hear.
• Know the Styles of Organization- While listening to lectures, pay attention to the structure of the lecture and what it entails. There are different styles associated with different kinds of lectures. Lectures can be organized based on theory and evidence, cause and effect, steps of a process, and a comparison of 2 things.

Preparing for the TOEFL can seem to be a task, especially when test-takers focus on the listening section despite being relatively fluent in the language. This is because while reading, speaking, and writing the language, they are not keen on considering all the accents that are popular in the world regarding English. Since these accents are all universally recognized, test-takers must understand and make the effort to learn these accents, though they can stick to any of them in their speech.