Questionstoaskyourselfwhenpreparingalisteningtest
FelicityO’Dell&RussellWhitehead
IATEFLWorkshop
th
Birmingham,April14 2016
Listoflisteningskills[FromAssessingListeningbyGaryBuck,CUP,2001,quotingWeir]
Thisisakindofsub-skillslistbutwaspresentedbyWeirasalistofoperationsthat
listeningtestsshouldrequire:
Directmeaningcomprehension
• listeningforgist
• listeningformainidea(s)orimportantinformation;anddistinguishingthatfrom
supportingdetail,orexamples
• listeningforspecifics,includingrecallofimportantdetails
• determiningaspeaker'sattitudeorintentiontowardsalisteneroratopic
Inferredmeaningcomprehension
• makinginferencesanddeductions
• relatingutterancestotheirsocialandsituationalcontexts
• recognisingthecommunicativefunctionofutterances
• deducingmeaningofunfamiliarlexicalitemsfromcontext
Contributorymeaningcomprehension
• understandingphonologicalfeatures
• understandinggrammaticalnotionssuchascomparison,cause,result,degree
etc.
• understandingdiscoursemarkers
• understandingthemainsyntacticstructureofclausesorideaunits
• understandingcohesion,especiallyreference
• understandinglexicalcohesion,especiallylexicalsetmembershipand
collocations
• understandinglexis
Listeningandtakingnotes
• abilitytoextractsalientpointstosummarisethetext
• abilitytoselectrelevantkeypoints
Richardssuggeststhattherearedifferentmicro-skillsrequiredfordifferenttypesof
listeninge.g.
• conversationallistening
• listeningforinformation
• academiclistening
• listeningforpleasure
Seeoverforhislistofmicro-skillsrelatingtoconversationallistening
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©2016LanguageTesting123Ltd
Questionstoaskyourselfwhenpreparingalisteningtest
FelicityO’Dell&RussellWhitehead
IATEFLWorkshop
th
Birmingham,April14 2016
Conversationallisteningmicro-skills
• abilitytoretainchunksoflanguageifdifferentlengthsforshortperiods
• abilitytodistinguishbetweenthedifferentsoundsofthetargetlanguage
• abilitytorecognisethestresspatternsofwords
• abilitytorecognisetherhythmicstructureofEnglish
• abilitytorecognisethefunctionsofstressandintonationtosignaltheinformation
structureofutterances
• abilitytoidentifywordsinstressedandunstressedsituations
• abilitytorecognisereducedformsofwords
• abilitytodistinguishwordboundaries
• abilitytorecognisethetypicalwordorderpatternsforthetargetlanguage
• abilitytoidentifythevocabularyusedincoreconversationaltopics
• abilitytoidentifykeywordsi.e.thosewhichidentifytopicsandpropositions
• abilitytoguessthemeaningsofwordsfromthecontextsinwhichtheyoccur
• abilitytorecognisegrammaticalwordclasses
• abilitytorecognisemajorsyntacticpatternsanddevices
• abilitytorecognisecohesivepatternsinspokendiscourse
• abilitytorecogniseellipticalformsofgrammaticalunitsandsentences
• abilitytodetectsentenceconstituents
• abilitytodistinguishbetweenmajorandminorconstituents
• abilitytodetectmeaningsexpressedindifferentgrammaticalforms/sentencetypes(i.e.
thataparticularmeaningmaybeexpressedindifferentways)
• abilitytorecognisethecommunicativefunctionsofutterances,accordingtosituations,
participants,goals
• abilitytoreconstructorinfersituations,goals,participants,procedures
• abilitytousereal-worldknowledgeandexperiencetoworkoutpurpose,goals,settings,
procedures
• abilitytopredictoutcomesfromeventsdescribed
• abilitytoinferlinksandconnectionsbetweeneventsdescribed
• abilitytodeducecausesandeffectsfromevents
• abilitytodistinguishbetweenliteralandappliedmeanings
• abilitytorecogniseandreconstructtopicsandcoherentstructurefromongoing
discourseinvolvingtwoormorespeakers
• abilitytorecognisecoherenceindiscourse,andtodetectsuchrelationsasmainidea,
supportingidea,giveninformation,newinformation,generalisation,exemplification
• abilitytoprocessspeechatdifferentrates
• abilitytoprocessspeechcontainingpauses,errors,corrections
• abilitytomakeuseoffacial,paralinguisticandothercluestoworkoutmeaning
• abilitytoadjustlisteningstrategiestodifferentkindsoflistenerpurposesorgoals
• abilitytosignalcomprehensionorlackofcomprehension,verballyandnon-verbally
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©2016LanguageTesting123Ltd
Questionstoaskyourselfwhenpreparingalisteningtest
FelicityO’Dell&RussellWhitehead
IATEFLWorkshop
th
Birmingham,April14 2016
Examplesofdifferentfocusesforlisteningquestions
Somedifferentfocusesthataquestioncanhave
agreement
attitude
feeling
genre
implication
location
purpose
relationship
whathappensnext
detail
gist
opinion
speakeridentity
Man:
Woman:
Man:
Woman:
Man:
Woman:
Man:
Haveyoudecidedwhattohave?
I'mnotsure.I'mtornbetweengoingformyusualandtryingsomethingdifferent?The
specialsoundsdelicious.Andit'snottooexpensive.
Well,I'mgoingtosticktowhatIalwayshave.Butwhydon'tyoubranchout?Thenyou
canletmehaveatasteofit.
OK.I'dliketotryitcozit'snotsomethingI'devermakeathome.Itsoundsquite
substantialbutI'mstarving.Itookmyafternoonclasstoabrilliantexhibitionattheart
gallerytodayandwewalkedallthewaythereandback.
I'mfamishedtoo.EventhoughI'vejustbeensittinginfrontofacomputerallday.And
I'mexhausted.
Typical!I'dbereadytogodancinglater.Butperhapsanothertimethen.
Well,ifwehaveto!
Whatisthemainfocusofeachquestion?
1. Wherearethespeakers?
AinarestaurantBathome Catwork
2. Whoarethespeakers? AfriendsBbusinesscolleaguesChusbandandwife
3. Whoisthewoman?
AateacherBanartistCacomputerprogrammer
4. Thespeakersagreeto Aordertheirusualmeals.Bshareeachother'sfood.Cgodancing.
5. Howdoesthewomanfeel?
AlazyBenergeticCstressed
6. Whatkindofdialogueisthis? Aanargument BaninterviewCaconversation
7. Thewomansaysthespecialis
Aherfavouritedish.Bratherexpensive.Cquitelarge.
8. Whatwillthespeakersdonow?
AorderamealBgoforawalkCpayfortheirfood
9. Whatdowelearnaboutthespeakers?
ATheyofteneathere.BTheyenjoybigmeals.CTheyarewelloff.
10. Thespeakersarediscussing
Awheretogo.Bwhattoorder.Chowmuchtospend.
11. Thewomanthoughttheexhibitionshewenttowas
Awonderful.Btoobig.Cverytiring.
12. Whatarethespeakerstryingtodo?
ApersuadeoneanotherBcometoadecisionCapologise
13. Whatdowelearnabouttheman?
AHeismoreadventurousinhistastesthanthewoman.
BHeislesskeenondancingthanthewoman.
CHehasamoretiringjobthanthewomandoes.
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©2016LanguageTesting123Ltd
Questionstoaskyourselfwhenpreparingalisteningtest
FelicityO’Dell&RussellWhitehead
IATEFLWorkshop
th
Birmingham,April14 2016
Examplesoflisteningtestrubrics
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Whichofthesetasksaremostauthenticastasks?
Whichofthesetasksarehardesttomark?
Whichofthesetasksarehardesttowrite?
Canyouthinkofanyothergoodlisteningtasktypesnotlistedhere?
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B
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C
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Writtenresponses
Listenandanswerthequestions.
Listenandcompletethenotes.
Listenandcompletetheform/timetable/chart.
Listenandcompletethesentences.
Listenandcorrectthestatementsaboutwhatyouhear.
Listentoandreadthetext.Fillinthemissingwords.
Listentoandreadthetext.Highlighttheincorrectwords.
Listenandlabelthediagram/map.
Listenandwriteasummaryofwhatyouhear.
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Spokenresponses
Listenandrecordyouranswerstothequestionsyouhear.
Listenandrespondtowhatthespeakersays.
Listenandsaywhatyouwouldsayineachsituation.
Listenandrepeatwhatyouhear.
Listenandthensummarisethe[advicethatthespeakergives].
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Matching
Listenandmatchthe[people]ontheleftwith[thepresentstheyreceived]ontheright.
ListentofivepeopletalkingaboutX.ChoosefromthestatementsA-Htheonewhich
bestmatcheswhateachpersonsays.
Listentotwopeople[AandB]havingadiscussion.Whomakeseachpoint–A,BorC
[C=bothAandB].
Whichtwo[problemsdidXhave]?ChoosefromthelistA-E.
Listenanddo
Listenandfollowtheinstructions[e.g.tocolourapictureordrawsomethingina
particularway].
Showmethepictureofthecar.Puttheredruleronthedesk.[i.e.examinerwithvisuals
orotherrealia]
Lookatthemapandlistentothedirections.Wheredoyouendup?
Listenandwritedownthewordsyouhear.[i.e.dictation]
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Multiplechoice
Listenandanswerthequestionsaboutwhatyouhear.ChooseA,B,CorD.
Listenandchoosethecorrectpicture–A,BorC.
Listenandchoosethebestsummaryofwhatyouhear.
Listenanddecidewhatthespeakerislikelytosaynext–chooseA,B,CorD.
Listenandchoosethebestresponsetowhatyouhear.ChooseA,BorC.
ListenandchoosewhetherthesestatementsaboutwhatyouhearareTrueorFalse[or
Notgiven].
Listenandselectthecorrectmissingwords.
E
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