VSTEPListening- Listening for Details
Posted on September 11, 2015 by 14E2 iTUTOR Program

This is an essential listening skill in many work and social situations; for example, taking a phone message or an order, listening for key instructions or safety warnings. Moreover, listening for details is one of the needed skills when doing listening exercises, as the frequency of questions related to details is considerably high. Today, we will go through some strategies as well as listening for details tips
I- Wording of questions for details
According to ______, who/when/where/what/why/how____?
What are__________________?
Which of the following is____________?
Which of the following is NOT______________?
II- Notes
 
Distinguish between major points and minor ones.
        ® Major points are often related to the main idea of the lecture or the conversation.
Example:
The main idea of the lecture is the causes of Civil war, then the important details are cause 1, cause 2, cause 3…
The main purpose of the conversation is to ask the professor to write a letter of recommendation, then the important details are the reasons for the letter and maybe the importance of the letter.
Major points often include:
Definition of new terms/ concepts/ ideas:
 
Example:
So, first of all, what is an elector? Well, an elector is a person-a member of a political party-who has been chosen by that party in a given state. Ok, so this person, this elector, is pledged to his or her party’s candidate for president.
 
New facts, reasons, results and examples.
Ways to recognize “new factors”: People often say that…, but the fact is….
 
Example:
 So today I want to go over the main points about what’s called the Electoral College, that is, the way that presidents are chosen in the United States. Also vice president too, of course. Now some of you may think that the president is the candidate who gets the most votes from the voting public. Often that’s true. But the way it works, it’s not necessarily the ones who get the most votes from the public. In practice, it’s the candidate who wins the most votes from the Electoral College.
 
Important features of things/ concepts
Example:
Today, we’ll cover the really fascinating layer underneath the surface and mantle: the Earth’s core.
See, the core of the Earth is unique for many different reasons. To begin with, it is extremely hot in its interior, about as hot as the surface of the sun. It is also immense, about the size of the planet Mars. Now, there are two parts of the cores: the inner and outer core. The inner core, despite its intense heat, is actually solid. This is because it is under such intense pressure from all other layers of the Earth. The great pressure keeps its molecules tightly packed together, even under intense heat.
 
Causes or effects of specific events
 
Example:
So, what exactly brought about this destructive conflict? Well, a lot of things. Tension had been building up for a long time between Southern states, which permitted slavery, and Northern states, which prohibited it. It was the debate over whether slavery was moral or not that divided everyone. Beyond that, there were so many cultural differences between the two regions. The North was primarily industrial and politically progressive, while the South relied on farming and was politically conservative.
 
Pay attention to signpost words to follow the lecture or the conversation more easily
 
Example:
Today, we’ll cover the really fascinating layer underneath the surface and mantle: the Earth’s core.
See, the core of the Earth is unique for many different reasons. To begin with, it is extremely hot-in its interior, about as hot as the surface of the sun. It is also immense, about the size of the planet Mars. Now, there are two parts of the cores: the inner and outer core.
 
Here are some signpost markers
To list example
For example/ For instance/ such as/Let us take the example of
To show you what I mean…
I’d like to point out things
An example of this is
Just look at
Especially
According to
From this we can see that
To define
Is also called, that is, which means, in other words
Another term
Another term for X is
X is usually defined as
 
Options that have the following EXAGGERATING/ EXTREME words tend to be FALSE
Always, never, all, none, no, nothing, every, only,…
Be careful: an option may include words or phrases from the recording, but this does not necessarily mean that the option is correct.
If you are listening for numbers and dates, you may not hear the number or date you want, but you will hear some information that will tell