The document provides an overview of the TOEFL iBT Listening section. It consists of 4 to 6 lectures and conversations totaling 60 to 90 minutes. Questions include multiple choice, select multiple answers, and reorder/connect questions. Lectures are drawn from university courses at an 8th grade level, while conversations are at a 4th to 5th grade level. Test takers can take notes and replay audio clips when answering questions. The overview explains question types, visual aids, scoring, timing, common distractors, and tips for test taking.

1. TOEFL iBT Listening OverviewTOEFL iBT Listening Overview
SectionSection 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. 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. 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. 4. Lecture Visuals4. Lecture Visuals
• Screen with course name
• Context visual: professor in class
with students
• Types of graphic screens
 content image: explains content
with photograph or illustration
 blackboard image with key
terminology

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

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

10. 10. Replay Questions10. Replay Questions
• Attitude
 ask about speaker’s feelings,
opinion, or certainty
• Function
 ask about meaning behind
speaker’s words
• Include headphone icon
 Listen again to portion of lecture
or conversation.

11. 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. 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. 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.