IELTS Listening Part 4 is usually a monologue or lecture in an academic setting and is quite formal. This means that there will probably be an introduction first.
Listening carefully to this will tell you how the talk will be structured, what it is about and importantly when you can expect to hear different pieces of information.
How To Follow The Talk Easily
Signposting words and phrases will likely be used to move from one topic to another, so if you know some of these phrases you will be able to follow the talk more easily.
Here are some great examples of this:
Introducing the topic
The subject/topic of my talk is ...
I'm going to talk about ...
Overview
I’m going to divide this talk into four parts...
There are a number of points I'd like to make.
Basically/Briefly, I have three things to say.
I'd like to begin/start by ...
Let's begin/start by ...
Finishing a section
That's all I have to say about...
We've looked at...
Starting a new section
Moving on now to …
Turning to...
Let’s turn now to ...
The next issue/topic/area I’d like to focus on
I’d like to expand/elaborate on …
Analysing a point and giving recommendations
Where does that lead us?
Let's consider this in more detail...
What does this mean for...?
Translated into real terms...
Giving examples
For example,...
A good example of this is...
As an illustration...
Summarising and concluding
To sum up ...
To summarise...
Right, let's sum up, shall we?
Let's summarise briefly what we've looked at...
If I can just sum up the main points...
Finally, let me remind you of some of the issues we've covered...
To conclude...
In conclusion ...
In short ...
Paraphrasing and clarifying
Simply put...
In other words...
So what I’m saying is....
To put it more simply...
Invitation to discuss / ask questions
I’m happy to answer any queries/ questions.
Does anyone have any questions or comments?
Please feel free to ask questions.
If you would like me to elaborate on any point, please ask.
The above table is an abbreviated version for even more, check out the BBC’s section on signposting for presentations here. You will also get great listening practice and hear these phrases being used a lot at Ted.com.
What To Do When You Don’t Know A Word!
Whilst the overall topic will be of general academic interest and no specialist knowledge is required, there still may be some unfamiliar/unknown vocabulary that can cause difficulties.
Such words can often be worked out from the context/situation but even if they cannot it may not affect your ability to answer the question.
For example:
The reason for the unexplained growth in this particular _________ is that there is now a great deal more food available for this insect than before.
Can you guess the missing word? Even if you cannot, can you get the meaning of the overall sentence?
The missing word is actually ‘species’ but you could still answer questions without knowing that word as there is still a lot of other information to help us.
A Guide To Following The Talk…
Often with a monologue there will be a note taking exercise. You can actually use the note taking frame (see box below) from the question, as a guide for following the talk.
As always, you should try to predict what type of answers you are listening for.
What types of words are you listening for in the question and note taking frame below:
Effects of Global Warming - Monologue
Levels of Carbon Dioxide keep rising.
One 1 ___________ is starting to suffer more than most.
Their Governments have not yet acknowledged this as a problem.
It appears that 2 ______________ businesses are not helping progress.
In fact some people believe they are entirely to blame for this due to their constant pursuit of 3 ___________ and lack of 4 _____________.
We can predict that:
Number 1 is asking for a place or being.
Number 2 is asking for an adjective to describe businesses.
Number 3 is asking for a noun that businesses seek.
Number 4 is asking for noun and something businesses don’t have.
By focusing your listening in this specific way it should make it easier to pick out these answers:
1 – continent, 2 – multi-national, 3 – wealth, 4 – integrity
The Secret To Success
Now you know how to do IELTS listening part 4, the secret to getting the highest band possible with your current level of English is to apply the techniques and tips that you are being taught on this web-site.
This means you need to practice the test and use the techniques several times so it becomes automatic to do these things. This is what will allow you to score as highly as possible.
