PTE- PEARSON TEST OF ENGLISH
The PTE stands for PEARSON TESTOF ENGLISH. It is a completely computer-based English Language Eligibility Test. This is also known as language proficiency test largely accepted by many countries across the globe. This proficiency test is primarily used for Academic purposes. Recently PTE Core has been introduced for PR, Work and Migration with conditions. Many Universities and colleges accept PTE scores for the admissions of non-native English speaking international students.
There are four modules as in IELTS. The Modules are Reading, Speaking, Writing and Listening. The advantage in this category unlike IELTS and other proficiency skills is that PTE has many integrated tasks where a candidate is actually tested for one skill but assessed for two skills. This advantage is an added benefit for the candidates to score high and easily attain the required points.
This Blog contains exclusive content and guidelines for one of the skills LISTENING of PTE.
PTE – LISTENING
Listening module has eight (8) tasks with many exercises and the tasks are listed below;
1. Summarize spoken text
This Task has one or two (1-2) exercises in the exam. It is an integrated task which primarily judges the listening skills and additionally assesses the writing skill of the candidate.
The candidate listens to a spoken text once for 60 to 90 seconds. The candidate is allowed to take notes by using the erasable note pad to take notes. It is the responsibility of the candidate to listen to the audio carefully and note down the purpose and gist of the text.
After understanding the text and core point and effective note-taking, the candidate is given 10 minutes to summarize the Spoken with minimum 50 words to maximum 70 words.
This particular task is significant, hence, make sure the task is practiced enough before the examination.
Effective tip:
Note down the keywords and phrases and quickly summarize the main features, gist, core ideas and the purpose of the text. The candidate has the chance to cut, copy and paste option in order to help the candidate to manage and save time.
2. Multiple-choice questions with MULTIPLE ANSWERS
This task contains two or three (2-3) exercises in the exam. The candidate is expected to read the question and the points on the screen and focus on the key words in order to derive the correct answer before listening to the audio by the speaker once. The length of the audio is 40 to 90 seconds.
Choosing the multiple answers varies according to the number of options. If there are three or four options, it is expected to choose two correct answers; and if there are five and more than five, the candidate is expected to choose three options.
This task is scored partially and the candidate should be attentive and careful that each wrong options is deducted a point for the correct score. (in simple term minus (-) mark is given for wrong answers.
This is not an integrated task as it tests only the ability of listening skill of the candidate. It is not advised to spend more than two minutes for an exercise.
Effective Tip:
The candidate has to understand the purpose of the question and thoroughly scan through the options as quickly as possible. This strategy helps the candidate to select the correct and relevant options.
3. Fill in the blanks
There is a passage or the transcript on the screen with several blanks. The candidate while listening to an audio clip for the same transcript should type the missing word from the audio that suits the blank. The audio length will be 30 to 60 seconds.
This task is an integrated task which tests primarily the listening skill of the candidate while assessing the writing skill as well additionally. Both the skills are assessed and given points. One point is allocated for a word that is spelled correctly. The candidate is expected not to leave any blanks as there is no negative marking.
There will be two to three (2-3) exercises for the exam and no more than two (2) minutes should be spent for a paragraph.
Effective Tip:
If the candidate has good typing speed and is well equipped with spelling, the candidate may type the word directly. On the other hand, the candidate can utilise the erasable notepad to write down the words while listening and the fill in the blanks with appropriate spelling.
4. Highlight the correct summary
There will be an audio at the length of 30 – 90 seconds. The candidate has to read the summary quickly in 10 seconds and try to understand the summary with proper key words. Then the candidate has to listen to the audio carefully and it is advised strictly that not to summarize while listening as it might lead the candidate to loose track of the audio. After listening, the correct option (only one) that has the appropriate and relevant summary has to be marked.
As this is an integrated task, it primarily judges the listening ability of the candidate and additionally the reading skill. There will be two to three (2-3) exercises in the exam.
5. Multiple-choice questions with SINGLE ANSWER
The candidate is expected to spend a few seconds to scan and understand the question and the options below carefully with the help of keywords. Then, the candidate has to listen to a recording attentively that is being played only once for 30 to 60 seconds. After listening to the audio, the candidate has to mark the correct option (only one)
As this is not an integrated task only the listening skill of the candidate is assessed.
There will be two or three (2-3) exercises in the exam and it is advised not to spend more than 2 minutes on each exercise.
6. Select missing word
This tasks contains two or three (2-3) in the exam. The candidate has to listen to a recording with a beep sound. The beep sound indicates the blank on which the candidate has to fill the missing word. The most appropriate or correct option has to be marked that fits the beep correctly. The options are listed below the instruction
The length of the passage or the audio is between 20 and 70 seconds. It is must to pay attention to the entire audio carefully in order to pick the correct option.
This is not an integrated task, hence, only listening skill of the candidate is assessed exclusively. It is suggested that spending more than one minute is not required.
Tip:
The beep, for almost all the exercises comes in the last usually. Therefore, the candidate must to be attentive right from the beginning of the audio to till the end. This is because many times, the ‘beep’ could be a conclusion of the entire sentence.
7. Highlight incorrect words
The transcript of the audio is found already on the screen which the candidate will be listening to. The incorrect words that are pronounced wrongly have to be highlighted by the candidate while listening to the audio.
There might be 3 and more than three incorrect words found in each exercise. The length of the passage could be 15 to 50 seconds. There would be two to three (2-3) exercises in the exam.
This is an integrated task that tests the listening and reading abilities of the candidate. It is advised not to spend more than one minute for each exercise.
Effective Tip:
The Mouse has to be moved as the audio clip is played. Be alert and immediately click the word that differs from the recording. Even if the wrong answer is clicked, do not go back and try to correct as the audio will have covered many words which will lead to miss many answers. The incorrect selection could be corrected at the end of the exercise before submitting it.
8. Write from dictation
The candidate will have to listen to sentence spoken attentively in an audio clip played and has to type the sentence as heard with exact words. The length of the audio is from 3 to 5 seconds; therefore, it would be easy for the candidate to write the exact sentence, provided the candidate listened to it minutely.
Since this is an integrated task, the candidate’s listening and writing skills are evaluated. There would be three or four (3-4) exercises in the exam. It is advised strictly to follow the same order of the sentence as heard while writing. The candidate should not spend more than one minute for each exercise.
The candidate must apply extra alertness in this exercise to check and proofread their own content with proper grammar, spelling, style and punctuation.
Effective Tip:
Some candidates prefer taking down the note as the sentence is spoken. Writing initials of the words spoken may help. While some others with good memory power simply concentrate on the sentence and recall it while writing it.