The listening section of the TOEFL iBT is designed to measure the learners’ capacity to listen and comprehend information from conversations and lectures in English mostly in the academic context.
Learners must become familiar with different question types that are asked in the listening section.
1. Gist-based questions are very common. A gist simply means the central or the main idea expressed in the conversation or lecture. (Clues: What is the main purpose… Mainly about… Mainly discussing)
2. Detail-based questions tests your ability to remember specific information or facts in the conversations or lectures. (Clues: According to… Who is… What is…)
3. Function-based questions ask you to identify the particular meaning of a statement in a given context, because a statement can have different meanings depending on the situation. In other words, the real meaning is different from the surface or literal meaning. (Clues: What does the teacher mean when he says… Why does the shop keeper say…)
4. Attitude-based questions ask you to show understanding of the speaker’s attitude or their feelings about something. (Clues: What is the professor’s attitude… What does the student think about… What can be inferred…)
5. Organization-based questions ask you to show understanding of how a lecture is structured. (Clues: Why does the trainer mention… Why does the author discuss…)
6. Connecting content questions ask you to show understanding of the relationships among ideas in a lecture. Connecting content questions may require you to fill in a chart or table. (Clues: Steps in a process… Cause/effect… Classification… Make a prediction)
7. Inference-based questions ask the listener to show an understanding of the meaning of something when it is not directly stated in the lecture or conversation. (Clues: What are the implications of… What does the professor imply… What can be inferred…)
TOEFL Listening Archive