TOEFL iBT Listening OverviewTOEFL iBT Listening Overview

Section Section ContentContent TimeTime ScoreScore

Listening 4─6 lectures(5 minutes)6 questions each

2─3 conversations(3 minutes) 5 questions each

60─90 minutes (in total)

35 seconds to answer each question

/30

2. Language Level2. Language Level• More informal language than in Reading section

based on speech samples from North American colleges and universities

• Easier than Reading section lectures: 8th grade difficulty level conversations: 4th or 5th grade difficulty level

• Lectures more difficult than conversations because of academic

content

3. Types of Listening Passages3. Types of Listening Passages• Lectures

professor speaks all or most of the time

• Classroom discussions professor and students discuss an academic topic

• Conversations office hours with a student visit to a professor service encounters with support staff

• Taking notes is allowed and encouraged.

4. Lecture Visuals4. Lecture Visuals• Screen with course name• Context visual: professor in classwith students • Types of graphic screens

content image: explains contentwith photograph or illustration blackboard image with key terminology

5. Conversation Visuals5. Conversation Visuals• Context visual sets the scene.• Visual appears when narrator introduces the

conversation.

6. Question Sets6. Question Sets• Each set

two lectures and one conversation each set of passages has 17 questions

• Time 10 minutes to answer 17 questions• Lecture questions are more difficult than

conversation questions. four minutes for questions on each lecture and two minutes

for the conversation questions• Question order usually follows order of information

in passage.

7. Listening Toolbar7. Listening Toolbar• NEXT to see the next question.• OK to confirm the answer.

After clicking OK, you cannot change your answer.

• VOLUME to increase or decrease volume.

8. Multiple Choice Questions8. Multiple Choice Questions• Most have four choices and one correct answer• Gist: purpose for a conversation• Inference: draw conclusion from stated facts• Detail: main supporting details may have two or three correct answers if two correct answers, then four answer choices; if three correct

answers, then five answer choices.

• Organization: underlying organization of lecture or relationships between two parts

9. Connecting Content Questions9. Connecting Content Questions• Drag and drop answer choices to the correct category.• Place checkmarks in the correct boxes.

10. Replay Questions10. Replay Questions• Attitude

ask about speaker’s feelings,opinion, or certainty

• Function ask about meaning behindspeaker’s words

• Include headphone icon Listen again to portion of lecture or conversation.

11. Common Distractors11. Common Distractors• Common distractors (incorrect answers) in the

Listening section: repeat words and phrases from passage, but incorrectly answer

the question contain similar sounding words do not answer the question are not mentioned in the passage contradict passage

• Gist Questions Incorrect answers may be too broad or too narrow.

12. Helpful Tips12. Helpful Tips• Correct answers are usually restatements of

information from the listening passage.• Guess if you’re unsure of an answer

Eliminate the definitely wrong answers. Choose the answer that is most consistent with the main

idea.

13. More Helpful Tips13. More Helpful Tips• Work quickly.

You only have 35 seconds to answer each question. Maintain a balance between speed and accuracy.

• If time is running out, guess the answers to the remaining questions.

• You do not lose points for incorrect answers.