This post looks at how you can improve your listening score by thinking about how to listen for key words. This is an area where many candidates make a basic mistake. To help you understand this mistake, there is a short interactive listening practice.
What do you do in the listening exam before you hear the cassette? You read the questions. Of course. And as you read the questions you underline the key words. Of course. Well, actually no. I would like to make you think again about this common strategy. I suggest that it can cause mistakes and needs to be thought about very carefully. I’m not saying “don’t do it”, just think carefully first.
How can you identify key words
One problem is how can you identify what the key words in the question are. It may seem obvious what the key words in the question are. Let’s take an example I have adapted from a book:
For the speaker, what is the most impressive aspect of a solar eclipse?
What words would you underline here? My guess would be most people would choose “eclipse”: it’s an unusual word and it’s a noun and that might seem like a a good starting point. If you thought that, however, you might be making a bad mistake. To understand why, try this interactive listening exercise. It is quite short and is in the form of a part 4 listening. Do listen carefully.
How did you do? Well done if you got all 3 correct. If you didn’t , here is my tip:
Don’t concentrate on key words: read the whole question and listen for the meaning, not words.
Many, many mistakes are made in the listening by not really reading the question. If you only focus on key words, you are likely to word match. You see a word in the question and you hear a word on the cassette and you assume that that must be the right answer. In parts 3 and 4, it is rarely that easy: the examiners want to see if you have understood the meaning, not if you can hear individual words. If you made any mistakes with my exercise, it will be because you did not focus on the meaning of the question, but just looked at words.
Only use key words to let you when to listen.
Key words in the question can help you of course. I, like many teachers, do talk about key words. I shall be posting about this soon. But, in brief, key words only really help you know when the answer is coming: they don’t help you find the answer. This means that if you hear the word “eclipse” you know that the answer will be coming soon. Full stop.
You will find the text of the listenings attached as a comment to this post.
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If we look through history, the solar eclipse has always had a profound effect on mankind. If we think for a moment what it means to have the sun blotted out: the source of life eradicated. In ancient times, people were unaware of its natural cause and were profoundly impressed and believed it must be supernatural. Today most people know that it is caused by the moon passing between the sun and the earth and are more impressed by its beauty. SPEAKING AS AN ASTRONOMER, I FIND it scientifically fascinating.
The key words here are “For the speaker”. If you underline key words, would you underline those words before you listened. I doubt it. The conclusion is read the whole question.
Solar eclipses are fascinating for many reasons. There is the scientific point of view that they are undoubtedly important as total eclipses are so rare. Then there is the supernatural or elemental aspect: to have the sun blotted out. But for most people I would say it is the sheer beauty of an eclipse THAT MOST CATCHES THE IMAGINATION
The key word here in the question is “most”. There are different impressive aspects, but which is the MOST impressive. If you underline key words, would you underline “most” before you listened? I doubt it. The conclusion is: read the whole question.
There are different types of eclipse. There is the solar eclipse when the moon passes between the sun and the earth so that the sun is wholly or partially invisible. Then there is the lunar eclipse when the earth passes between the sun and the moon so that no sunlight is reflected from the moon’s surface. What is typically most impressive there is the red ring around the moon. In the SOLAR eclipse, on the other hand, it is the darkness that falls on earth.
Are you still reading? If so, you will surely now understand that the key word here is solar, not lunar. The point is you cannot tell what the key words are until you listen. READ THE WHOLE QUESTION. I know it’s rude to use capital letters. I don’t want to shout, but if you focus on the whole question and not just a few words, your listening will improve.