In the Listening Section of the ELI-ASSET, you listen to three university lectures and take notes. The lectures are projected on a screen at the front of the room, and the sound comes through speakers mounted on the wall. The video and sound quality is very clear. This means that you can hear AND see the professors while they are talking. Each lecture will be played one time.

The lectures vary in length. They are prepared for non-experts in the field, so you do not need previous background knowledge about the topics to understand what the lecturer is saying.

During each lecture, you should listen carefully and write notes in the blue booklet that we give you. Your notes will not be scored, but you will be able to use them when you answer question about the lectures. You CANNOT use a dictionary or any other resource materials.

At the end of each lecture, you answer a series of questions about that lecture within a specified time limit. You will have 5 to 15 questions for each lecture for a total of 30 to 45 questions. The listening section takes between 45 and 55 minutes to complete depending on the length of the lectures and the number of questions asked.

The questions are printed in a test booklet. You will mark your answers on a separate answer sheet. You will NOT hear the questions; you will read them. You can use your notes while answering the questions.

After each lecture, the test administrator will announce how many questions you will answer and how much time you will have. The time limit is also printed in your test booklet.

Listening Skills and Strategies To test your ability to comprehend university lectures, the listening section focuses on a variety of skills and strategies. Here is a list of the seven skills that will be evaluated. Please note that not all of these skills will be tested on every lecture or on every version of the ELI-ASSET. Identifying the Main Idea: An important academic listening skill is understanding the main idea or "big picture" of your professors' lectures. Main idea questions might be worded as follows: What is the speaker's main idea? OR What is the speaker's most important message? OR What does the speaker mainly discuss in this lecture? OR What does the speaker primarily discuss in this lecture? Identifying the Speaker's Purpose: When listening to a lecture, it is important to know what the professor's purpose is. Is the purpose of the lecture to inform? Is the purpose to give you background information? Is the purpose to argue in favor of one theory or another? Is the purpose to convince you to take action? Questions about the purpose of the lecture might be worded as follows: What is the speaker's purpose in this lecture? OR What is the purpose of this lecture? Recognizing Details: Another important study skill is being able to identify important details in a lecture. The details support, explain, and develop the main idea. Details can be facts, examples, anecdotes, statistics, dates; they can be any specific information that relates to the main idea. Detail questions might be worded as follows: According to the speaker, + wh-question OR Wh- question OR A True-False Question Understanding Inferences: Another important academic listening skill is the ability to infer ideas that the speaker does not state directly. Imagine for example, that you are getting ready to leave your apartment to go to class. Your roommate says to you: "Don't forget your umbrella." Without even using the word "rain," your roommate communicates to you, or implies, that it will rain. As the listener, you can infer from your roommate's sentence that it will rain today. Inference questions might be worded as follows: The speaker implies that.... OR What does the speaker imply about...? OR It can be inferred from this lecture that... OR What can you infer from this lecture? Guessing Vocabulary from Context: While you are listening to university lectures, you will hear a lot of new vocabulary. Sometimes the speakers will define new terms for the class; sometimes, you will have to guess the meaning of the words from the context. Vocabulary questions might be worded as follows: The word "X" probably means...? OR The word "X" is closest in meaning to... Recognizing the Organizational Structure of the Lecture: Good speakers organize their lectures carefully so that they are easy for the listeners to follow and take notes. A history professor, for example, will organize his lectures by time order or by cause and effect order. A sociology professor might organize his lecture about two theories using comparison and contrast. Good speakers also use signal words -- or road signs -- to let the listeners know where they are in the lecture. Questions on organizational structure might be worded as follows: How did the speaker organize his lecture? OR What ideas will the speaker probably discuss next? Applying What You've Learned: One important academic skill is being able to use, or apply, what you have learned to a new situation or context. This shows that you fully understand the ideas communicated because you can see how they relate to situations your professor did not discuss in the lecture. Application questions might be worded as follows: What concept from the lecture describes the following situation? OR Based on what you learned from the lecture, what would you do in the following situation? OR Read the following example. What idea from the lecture does it illustrate? Types of Questions To evaluate your lstening skills and strategies, the ELI-ASSET includes two question types: Multiple Choice True/False Sample Listening Passage and Questions Here is a short example that illustrates some of questions found in the Listening Section of the ELI-ASSET. Below is the transcript of a lecture that a chemistry professor gave in class on the first day of the semester. Read the words that the professor said in class. Welcome to Chemistry 101 Lab. Today we will go over some of the safety procedures that we all must follow while in the lab. These safety rules are important because they protect all of us from injuries while we are working. We have to use a lot of potentially dangerous chemicals during our experiments and if even one person is careless for a second, the results can be disastrous. Rule Number 1: Always wear safety goggles. Even if you wear glasses, you must put the goggles on over your glasses. Put the goggles on before you enter the lab. Rule Number 2: Never ever wear open-toed shoes. Sandals are for the beach, NOT for the chemistry lab. In this lab, people will break glass and they will spill caustic chemicals on the floor. You can lose a toe or even a foot if you are careless. Rule Number 3: Never bring food or drink into the lab. If a chemical splashes onto your Snickers bar or into your Starbucks coffee, your lunch might turn into your last meal. At the very least, you could end up with an upset stomache that would cause you to miss class. Rule Number 4... Questions 1 through 5 below are about the lecture written above. Read the questions carefully. You can look back at your notes to help you answer them. Choose the best answer to each question. You will have 3 minutes to answer the 5 questions. Do NOT mark any answers on this page. Mark all of your answers on the separate listening answer sheet. Only answers marked on your answer sheet will be scored. Be sure to fill in the square of your choice completely with your pencil. You must cover the letter inside the square completely and fill in the entire square. 1. What is the speaker's most important message? A. that you should not eat in the lab B. that you should obey the safety rules in the lab C. that you will use many chemicals in the lab D. that you should wear appropriate shoes 2. What is the speaker's purpose? A. to teach basic concepts B. to demonstrate a lab experiment C. to protect the students D. to frighten the students 3. When the speaker says that "your lunch might turn into your last meal," he implies that A. you won't have to eat dinner tonight. B. you could die from consuming harmful chemicals. C. coffee is not healthy for you. D. students often have stomach problems in his lab. 4. True or False: Sunglasses will protect your eyes in the lab. 5. The words "Snickers bar" probably means A. a kind of chemical. B. something to eat. C. an article of clothing D. a type of lab table. Do you have any questions? If you have any questions about the ELI-ASSET or the information on our web pages, please send e-mail to ua-eli@uakron.edu If you prefer, you can call or write to us at: English Language Institute The University of Akron Akron, OH 44325-1909 USA Phone: 330-972-7544 Fax: 330-972-7353 [ELI Home] · [ELI-ASSET Home]· [The Listening Section] · [The Reading Section] · [The Writing Section] · Copyright © 2006 The University of Akron is an Equal Education and Employment Institution. This page is maintained by mmcnamara@uakron.edu Last updated: June 26, 2011 Any and all comments are welcome.