ICFE Listening - Part 1

Task Description

What sort of texts do candidates have to listen to?
The three short, unrelated listening extracts in Part 1 provide a range of text types and voices. The extracts may be self-contained monologues or dialogues, or may be extracts from longer texts. Each extract is heard twice, with the repetition following on immediately. Candidates should answer the questions on each text before the next one is heard. This part offers the candidate a number of 'fresh starts' with different topics, contexts and voices. In this way, candidates can build up confidence before they engage with longer texts.

What do the candidates have to do?
They have to choose the best answer from a choice of three for each of the six questions (two questions for each extract), based on what they hear on the recording.

What skills are being assessed?
The questions do not necessarily focus on a detailed understanding of the text alone. The six questions in this part will typically cover a range of focuses such as understanding gist, function, purpose, topic, attitude, feeling, opinion and inference. Each question in a pair will generally have a different focus, for example a question focused on identifying the topic of a discussion between colleagues might be followed by one on the attitude or opinion of one or both of the speakers.

How long is each listening extract?
Each extract lasts about 1 minute and is repeated.

Understanding the Task

To understand better how candidates need to approach this task, it may help you to do the activity yourself and analyse what you had to do to find the right answer.
Look at this Part 1 task from the ICFE sample paper. Complete the task, thinking about how you are doing it.

Task, recording, tapescript, and answers (PDF)

Things to consider

Now look at these questions about how you approached the task and consider your answers.

  1. What did you do in the pauses before listening to the recordings?

  2. How did you use the task to help you with the answers?

  3. What was the focus of the questions?

  4. How did you decide which option to choose?

  5. What did you do after the first listening?

  6. What did you do during the second listening?