A study on difficulties and solutions to improve ielts listening skill for the third year english major students at hung yen university of technology and education

HUNG YEN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION
FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES
---------------------------------------

GRADUATION PAPER
FIELD: ENGLISH LINGUISTICS

A STUDY ON DIFFICULTIS AND SOLUTIONS
TO IMPROVE IELTS LISTENING SKILL FOR
THE THIRD- YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS
AT HUNG YEN UNIVERSITY OF
TECHNOLOGYAND EDUCATION
(NGHIÊN CỨU NHỮNG KHÓ KHĂN VÀ GIẢI
PHÁP NHẰM CẢI THIỆN KỸ NĂNG NGHE IELTS
CHO SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ BA CHUYÊN NGÀNH
NGÔN NGỮ ANH TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC SƯ PHẠM
KỸ THUẬT HƯNG YÊN)

Supervisor: Hoang Thi Ngoc Lan, MA
Student: Hoang Lan
Student number: 11317031

Hung Yen – 2021


HUNG YEN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION
FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES
---------------------------------------

GRADUATION PAPER
FIELD: ENGLISH LINGUISTICS

A STUDY ON DIFFICULTIS AND SOLUTIONS TO
IMPROVE IELTS LISTENING SKILL FOR THE
THIRD- YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS
AT HUNG YEN UNIVERSITY OF
TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION

(NGHIÊN CỨU NHỮNG KHÓ KHĂN VÀ GIẢI
PHÁP NHẰM CẢI THIỆN KỸ NĂNG NGHE IELTS
CHO SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ BA CHUYÊN NGÀNH
NGÔN NGỮ ANH TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC SƯ PHẠM
KỸ THUẬT HƯNG YÊN)
Student: Hoang Lan
Student number: 11317031
Supervisor: Hoang Thi Ngoc Lan, MA.

Hung Yen – 2021


i

DECLARATION
I certify that the thesis entitled “A study on difficulties and solutions to improve
IELTS listening skill for the third-year English major students at Hung Yen
University of Technology and Education” is the result of my own research and the
substance of this thesis has not been submitted for a degree to any other university or
institution.
Hung Yen, June 2020
Signature
Hoang Lan

ii

ABSTRACT
Listening is considered to a very essential skill as well as difficult skill in learning
English language. In addition, IELTS listening skill is one of the difficult parts in listening.
Most of students claimed that IELTS listening is difficult and they always get low marks.
Realizing the problems from learning experiences and finding the techniques to deal with
these problems, the author would like to do a research titled “A study on difficulties and
solution to improve IELTS listening skill for the third-year English major students at Hung
Yen University of technology and Education”. The thesis will study the problems in IELTS
listening and find out the solutions for students in learning IELTS listening skill. So the data
collection instrument included survey questionnaires that were distributed to 45 third-year
English major students in the Faculty of Foreign Languages at UTEHY, but only 40 of them
took part in this survey. And the interviews were conducted by 5 students only. The result
of the research will point out the difficulties those listeners meet when they learn IELTS
listening and more importantly, it helps the author work out the right solutions to the
problems.


iii

ACKNOWLEDMENTS

During the process of doing this graduation paper, I have received many
necessary assistances, precious ideas and timely encouragements from my
teachers, family and friends.
First of all, I wish to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Mrs.
Hoang Thi Ngoc Lan, MA who has always been willing to give me the most

valuable advices, experienced guidance and suggestions in order that I can
complete this study successfully.
In addition, my sincere thanks are also sent to the teachers in the Faculty of
Foreign Languages of Hung Yen University of Technology and Education, who
helped me collect data to complete the study and gave me a great deal of helpful
and valuable support.
In my study, it is inevitable that the ideas of many writers in the field are
reflected and developed. To all the authors of the publications in the list of
references, I offer my sincere thanks.
Last but not least, I also would like to express my special thanks to the thirdyear students in the Faculty of Foreign .


iv

TABLE CONTENTS
DECLARATION .................................................................................................................... i
ABSTRACT........................................................................................................................... ii
ACKNOWLEDMENTS ....................................................................................................... iii
TABLE CONTENTS ............................................................................................................ iv
LIST OF CHARTS AND TABLES .................................................................................... vii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................. viii
CHAPTER 1: INTROCUTION ............................................................................................. 1
1.1. Rationale of the study.................................................................................................. 1
1.2. Aims of the study. ....................................................................................................... 2
1.3. Research question........................................................................................................ 2
1.4. Scope of the study. ...................................................................................................... 3
1.5. Methods of the study ................................................................................................... 3
1.5.1 Survey questionnaire ............................................................................................. 3
1.5.2 Interview ................................................................................................................ 3
1.6. Organization of the study ............................................................................................ 4

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................... 5
2.1 An overview of listening skill ...................................................................................... 5
2.1.1 Definitions of listening .......................................................................................... 5
2.1.2 Stages of listening.................................................................................................. 6
2.1.3 The importance of listening ................................................................................... 7
2.2 An overview of IELTS listening .................................................................................. 8
2.2.1 About IELTS listening module ............................................................................. 8
2.2.2. Type of questions ................................................................................................. 9
2.2.3. Difficulties and techniques for each type of questions in IELTS listening skill 11


v

2.2.3.1. Multiple choices .............................................................................................. 11
2.2.3.2. Matching questions .......................................................................................... 11
2.2.3.3 Plan/map/diagram labeling ............................................................................... 12
2.2.3.4 Form/note/table/flow-chart/summary completion ............................................ 13
2.2.3.5 Short-answer questions ..................................................................................... 13
2.2.3.6 Sentence completion ......................................................................................... 14
2.3 Difficulties in IELTS listening ................................................................................... 15
2.4 Techniques to improve IELTS listening skill ............................................................ 19
CHAPTER 3: THE STUDY ................................................................................................ 22
3.1. The participants ......................................................................................................... 22
3.2. Methodology ............................................................................................................. 22
3.2.1 Survey questionnaire ........................................................................................... 22
3.2.2 Interview ............................................................................................................. 23
3.3 Data analysis .............................................................................................................. 23
3.3.1 Analysis of the questionnaire .............................................................................. 23
3.3.1.1 The current situation in learning IELTS listening of third-year English major
students at UTEHY....................................................................................................... 23

3.3.1.2 Students’ difficulties in learning IELTS listening for the third- year English
majors at UTEHY. ........................................................................................................ 25
3.3.1.3 Techniques used in IELTS listening for the third- year English majors at
UTEHY......................................................................................................................... 28
3.3.2 An analysis of interview questions ...................................................................... 32
3.4 Main findings ............................................................................................................. 34
3.4.1 The current situation of the third- year English major students towards learning
IELTS listening at UTEHY. ......................................................................................... 34


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3.4.2 The difficulties that the third- year English major students at UTEHY face when
learning IELTS listening. ............................................................................................. 34
3.4.3 Techniques should be used to improve IELTS listening skill listening for the
third year English major students at UTEHY............................................................... 35
3.5 Recommendations for improving IELTS listening skill ............................................ 35
CHAPTER 4: CONCLUSION ............................................................................................ 38
4.1 Summary of the study ................................................................................................ 38
4.2 Limitations of the study ............................................................................................. 38
REFFERENCES .................................................................................................................. 40
APPENNDICES ..................................................................................................................... I
APPENNDIX 1: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS .................................... I
APPENDIX 2: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR STUDENTS. ........................................ VI


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LIST OF CHARTS AND TABLES
1. Chart 1: The importance of IELTS listening skill

2. Chart 2: Students’ assessment on difficulty of IELTS listening
3. Chart 3: Students' self- assessment of their IELTS listening skill
4. Chart 4: Frequency of students’ difficulty in learning IELTS listening skill
5. Chart 5: Percentage of students practice IELTS listening skill at home
6. Chart 6: Time students spend on learning IELTS listening skill at home every day
7. Table 1: The difficulties third-year English major students in IELTS listening
8. Table 2: Student’s difficulties in certain IELTS listening tasks.
9. Table 3: Student’s opinions on skills and knowledge perform in an IELTS
listening
10. Table 4: Students’ opinions about the usefulness of techniques to improve IELTS
listening skill


viii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

1.

FFL: Faculty of Foreign Languages

2. UTEHY: Hung Yen University of Technology and Education
3. M.A: Master of art in teaching English as a foreign language
4. K16: the third- year English major students at Faculty of Foreign Languages in
Hung Yen University of Technology and Education


1

CHAPTER 1: INTROCUTION

1.1. Rationale of the study
It cannot be denied that in the whole world English has become more and more
important as the international means of communication in many fields of our life such as
aviation, business, service, culture, education, economy, and so on. Thus, learning English
has become a compulsory requirement of studying and working.
Vietnam is not out of this circle, learning English has been paid more and more
attention to and has begun to be used widely in education and others fields. Actually,
listening skill play a very important role in learning a language of four skills. It is the most
important skill in communication in the real life. In learning English as a foreign language
in Vietnam, listening has always paid a great deal of attention. That was because listening is
a useful means of providing learners with comprehensible input, which is an essential
component of the whole language learning process.
However, in comparison with speaking, reading and writing skills in English, listening
is believed to be the most challenging due to the complex and subtle nature of listening
comprehension. And because the listening skill is very difficult, the listeners may have little
experience of listening since leaving secondary school, high school or even college and when
they are contacted with IELTS listening skill, they may be very anxious and worry about
listening parts in IELTS examination.
Moreover, the English proficiency of Vietnamese students even at the university level
is often less than satisfactory. The reason is that English is taught as a separate subject rather
than being used as the medium of communication. Most students rarely have opportunities
to use English outside the class and they have little chance to practice listening skills in
general and IELTS listening skill in particular. Moreover, the formative test in most listening
programs stress understanding questions, which require background knowledge, various
new words, familiarity with the text topic and predicting ability. Students have very few
actual opportunities to complete fully the whole IELTS listening test because of the long
spoken text, long message and time pressure.


2

At Hung Yen University of Technology and Education (UTEHY), for the third-year
English major students, they cannot avoid common problems related to IELTS listening
about the test form or some programs require listening skill. Therefore, it is essential for
students to be fluent in English. However, learning IELTS listening skill at UTEHY still
have many difficulties due to lack of effective methods that stimulate the student’s interests.
Therefore, it is very necessary to find out the effective methods in learning IELTS listening
skill for all English major students as well.
From the above reasons, a study entitled: “A study on difficulties and solutions to
improve IELTS listening skill for the third- year English major students at Hung Yen
University of Technology and Education” to find out appropriate methods, techniques to
improve IELTS listening skill.
1.2. Aims of the study.
The vital purpose of the study: Investigate difficulties and solutions to improve IELTS
listening skill for the third- year English major students at Hung Yen University of
Technology and Education.
The objectives of this study are:
-

Investigate the current situation of learning IELTS listening skill.

-

Find out the difficulties of the third- year English major students in learning
IELTS listening skill.

-

Give some suggestions to improve IELTS listening for the third- year English
majors.

1.3. Research question.
In order to achieve the aims of the study, the following research questions were given:
1. What is the current situation of learning IELTS listening at Hung Yen University of
Technology and Education?
2. What are the difficulties of the third-year English major students in learning IELTS
listening?
3. What techniques should be used to improve IELTS listening skill for the third-year
English major students at UTEHY?


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1.4. Scope of the study.
The study is about learning IELTS listening skill for the third-year English major
students at UTEHY. Because of the limitations of time and knowledge, the shortage of
reference materials, this study cannot cover the whole issue of IELTS listening skill. It only
focuses on exploring common difficulties of students and find out some solutions to help
student improve their IELTS listening.
Moreover, the study could not touch upon all the students at UTEHY. It is confined to
the third year English major students at Faculty of Foreign Language, UTEHY only.
1.5. Methods of the study
In order to collect the data for researching, the author use both quantitative and
qualitative methods including survey questionnaires, and interview questions for students
(consist of 10 questions for survey questionnaire and 5 questions for interview). The
questionnaires and interview questions were designed basing on the main aims of the study.
After getting the results, the authors will use the tables and charts for presenting the collect
data.
1.5.1 Survey questionnaire
Questionnaire (including 10 question) for 45 students but only 40 students of K16 at

UTEHY participated in the survey to find out some new techniques for research:


Part 1: The current situation of learning IELTS listening skill. (3 questions)



Part 2: The difficulties of learning IELTS listening skill for the third- year English
majors at UTEHY. (3 questions)



Part 3: Techniques for improving IELTS listening for the third- year English majors
at UTEHY. (4 questions)

1.5.2 Interview
An interview is done with 5 students of K16 in Faculty of Foreign Languages at Hung
Yen University of Technology and Education. There are 5 opened questions were designed
according to the aims of the study.
1. How would you rate your IELTS listening skill?
2. What type of IELTS listening questions are the most difficult?


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3. What are your difficulties in learning IELTS listening?
4. What do you often do to improve your IELTS listening skill?
5. How often do you practice IELTS listening skill?
After the interview, the researcher based on the interview results to analyze the data. The
interview data analysis will be presented with the collected data from the questionnaire in

each part.
1.6. Organization of the study
The study consists of four chapters below:
Chapter 1: Introduction – Give information about the rationale of the study, the aims of
the study, the scope of the study, the methods of the study and the organization of the study.
Chapter 2: Literature review – Discusses the relevant theories related to IELTS listening:
definitions, stages of listening, type of questions, difficulties and techniques.
Chapter 3: The study – Consist of parts: The participants of the study, methodology, data
analysis, main findings, recommendations.
Chapter 4: Conclusion – Provides some brief information about the limitations of the study
and suggestions for the study.


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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 An overview of listening skill
2.1.1 Definitions of listening
Listening is believed to be a key and essential area of the development in a native
language and in a second or foreign language as well; hence, there have been varieties of
definitions of listening by Thomlison, Bentley & Bacon (1996); Grey Buck (2001); (Rost,
2002), Woven and Coakley (1985) which hold different views towards the concept.
According to Thomlison's (1984) listening is the ability to identify and understand what
others are saying. This process involves understanding a speaker's accent or pronunciation,
the speaker’s grammar and vocabulary, and comprehension of meaning. An able listener is
capable of doing these four things simultaneously.
Bentley & Bacon (1996) state that listening, an important part of the second language
learning process has also been defined as an active process during which the listener
constructs meaning from oral input.
Grey Buck (2001: 31) shares the idea that " listening comprehension is an active process

of constructing meaning and this is done by applying knowledge to the incoming sounds" in
which " number of different types of knowledge are involved: both linguistic knowledge and
non-linguistic knowledge".
Listening comprehension is regarded as a complex, interactive process in which listeners
are involved in a dynamic construction of meaning. Listeners understand the oral input from
sound discrimination, prior knowledge of vocabulary, grammatical structures, stress and
intonation, as well as other use linguistic, paralinguistic, or even non-linguistic clues in
contextual utterance (Rost, 2002).
Woven and Coakley (1985) hold the different idea. They see listening as "the process
of receiving, attending to and assigning meaning to aural stimuli". This definition indicates
that listening is a complex process which students have to deal with. The task of listening is
not only perception of sound, but it also requires comprehension of meaning. This definition
is the same with second language theory which regards listening to spoken language as an
active and complex process in which listeners pay much attention to aspects of aural input,


6

generate meaning, and link what they hear to existing knowledge (O'Malley & Chabot, 1989;
Byrnes, 1984; Richards, 1985; Howard, 1983).
Scott Shelton (2008) thinks that listening effectively is a demanding and involved
process. One must be able to deal with different accents or pronunciation, unfamiliar lexical
items and syntactic structures, competing background noise, and also make a conscious
effort to not 'switch off' or become distracted while listening. All of this must be achieved
and dealt with more or less simultaneously in order to identify and understand the meaning
in any given message.
To sum up, the issue of whether which view is the best is controversial. However, in the
final analysis, the definition of Wolvin and Coakley (1985) which considers listening as the
process of receiving, attending to and assigning meaning to aural stimuli; that is, message
transmitted through the medium of sound is highly appreciated.

2.1.2 Stages of listening
There are many listening processes of a lot of researchers but from my experience as the
forth-year English major student, I agree with five listening stages below:
Receiving
The first stage of the listening process is the receiving stage, which involves hearing and
attending: Hearing- It refer to the response caused by sound waves stimulating the sensory
receptors of the ear, it is physical response. Attending- Brain screens stimuli and permits
only a select few to come into focus- these selective perceptions is known as attention, an
important requirement for effective listening.
Understanding
The understanding stage is the stage during which the listener determines the context
and meanings of the words that are heard.
Remembering
It is important listening process because it means that an individual has not only received
and interpreted a message but has also added it to the mind’s storage bank; but just as our


7

attention is selective, so too is our memory- what is remembered may be quite different from
what was originally seen or heard.
Evaluating
It is a stage in which active listeners participate; it is at these points that the active
listener weighs evidence, sort fact from opinion, and determines the presence or absence of
bias or prejudice in a message.
Responding
This stage requires that the receiver complete the process through verbal and/or
nonverbal feedback; because the speaker has no other way to determine if a massage has
been received; this stage becomes the only overt means by which the sender may determine
the degree of success in transmitting the massage.

2.1.3 The importance of listening
Listening is getting more and more important in many foreign language contexts, which
have until relatively recently focused their efforts on the development of other language
skills such as writing skills. This growing importance is reflected in the proliferation of
commercial listening courses. The importance of listening in second and foreign language
learning is admirably summarized in a recent publication by Rost (1994):
'Listening is vital in the language classroom because it provides input for the learners.
Without understanding input at the right level, any learning simply cannot begin'.
Brett (1997: 39) also states that "listening is a key language skill. It has a vital role in
the language acquisition process". In comparison with other language skills, some researches
on listening suggests that on average people can expect to listen "twice as much as we speak,
four times more than what we read and five times more than we usually write" (Morley,
2001). More importantly, there are more and more studies indicating the sheer importance
of listening in communication and language learning (Anderson and Lynch, 1988; Dunkel,
1991). Being an essential skill for almost interaction, listening is therefore the most primary
medium for input in language learning process and by speeding up the students' ability to
perceive speech, the amount of input they get will increase and thus aid students' language
acquisition.


8

It is obvious that we listen for many different purposes in and out of the classroom; this
has an effect on the way we listen. McCarthy, (1991) in Discourse, defines transactional talk
(and listening) as communication for getting business done. Interactional communication,
on the other hand, has to do with lubricating the social wheels. In listening (1988) Anderson
and Lynch describe them as (transactional) listening when the main purpose is to achieve a
successful transfer of information, while interactional listening is defined as listening for
social reasons, and to establish or maintain friendly relations between interlocutors.
In short, listening is essential not only as receptive skill but also to the development of

spoken language prophecy.
2.2 An overview of IELTS listening
2.2.1 About IELTS listening module
The listening Sub-test takes 30 minutes; approximately 20 minutes to listen to the tape
and answer the questions, and 10 minutes to transfer your answers to an Answer Sheet
provided with the test booklet. The test consists of 4 sections and you will hear the tape only
once. There are 40 questions in total.


Section 1 is based on social or life situations; for example, travel arrangements,
visiting a new city, or making arrangements to go out. This is usually a conversation
between at least two speakers.



Section 2 is also based on social or life situations; for example, a news broadcast, or
a description of college facilities. This is usually a passage with only one person
speaking.



Section 3 is usually based on education and training situations; for example, a group
of students plans a project, or a tutor and a student discussing career options. This is
often a conversation with up to four speakers.



Section 4 is also based on education and training; for example, a lecture or a talk of
general academic interest.

Spelling is not important in the Listening Sub-test, except that you must spell words
correctly when they are spelt out for you on the tape. Your answers need to be legible, that
is, they must be able to be read. This applies to all the types of answers you give: letters,
numbers and phrases. You write your answers on the question paper as you do the Listening


9

Sub-test, and when it is completed, you have 10 minutes to transfer them carefully onto the
Answer Sheet. Make sure that each answer is transferred accurately and is legible. (Garry
Adam & Terry Peck, 2000, p.6).
2.2.2. Type of questions
1 – Multiple choices
The IELTS multiple choice question tasks require you to listen to a passage of spoken
English, often a conversation between two people, or a lecture or talk, and make a choice
between a number of possible given answer choices. The candidates have a 25% chance of
being correct. However, you also have a 75% chance of being wrong because there are four
choices in a question; which is why multiple choice questions are harder than the test-takers
seen. The choices for answers to a multiple choice question are either directly or indirectly
supported (correct), directly or indirectly contradicted (incorrect), or not mentioned at all
(incorrect). (Adams and Austen Press,2000, p.27).
2 – Matching questions
In this type of question, you have to match a list of items from the recording to a list of
options on the question paper, and then write the correct letter on the answer sheet.
This type of question tests your ability to: Listen for detailed information. For example,
whether you can understand information about the type of hotel or guest house
accommodation in an everyday conversation. Follow a conversation between two people.
recognize how facts in the recording are connected to each other.
3 – Plan/map/diagram labeling
In this type of question, you have to complete labels on a visual which may be: a diagram

(e.g. a piece of equipment), a set of pictures, a plan (e.g. of a building), a map (of part of a
town). You may have to select your answers from list in the question paper, and then write
the correct letter on the answer sheet. Besides, you may also have to select words from the
recording which fit into gaps on the question paper. In this case, you will need to keep to the
word limit given in the instructions. You do not have to change the words in the recording
in anyway.


10

This type of question tests your ability to understand, for example, a description of a
place, and how this description relates to the visual. It may also test your ability to understand
explanations of where things are and follow directions.
4 – Form/note/table/flow chart/summary completion
Summary completion tasks cover four forms of information presentation.
-

Form: It is typically used to record facts (e.g., names, dates, etc.).

-

Notes: Usually presented in a set, they are used to summarize information
and highlight the different items’ connections.

-

Table: It is used to summarize information by categorizing them.

-

Flow-Chart: It is used to summarize a process.

-

Summary: summarizes the essays.

Candidates have to fill in gaps in an outline of part of all of the listening text. The outline
will focus on the main ideas in the text. In all cases except the summary, note form can be
used when completing the gaps. This means that articles, auxiliary verbs etc. may be omitted
when they are not necessary for the meaning. The summary is written in connected sentences
and so it must be grammatically correct. This type of question focuses on the main points
the person listening would naturally write down.
5 – Short-answer questions
According to Adams and Austen Press, short-answer question tasks come later in the
listening test, and, therefore, the listening passages are longer and more difficult to
understand. The IELTS short-answer question tasks require you to listen to a passage of
spoken English, often a conversation between two people, and choose words or phrases from
the dialogue which best answer the given questions. This type of question focuses on your
ability to listen for facts, such as places, prices or times, heard in the recording. You should
wait for the speaker to sum up before giving your short answer to a question.
6 – Sentence completion


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Sentence completion: These are simply gap-fill questions. You must read sentences that
summaries important information from either all of the audio clip or from one part of it. You
have to fill in a gap in each sentence using information from the listening.
According to Paul Davey, the questions might be worded differently from what’s heard
on the IELTS listening, they will use synonyms (type/kind; focus on/specialize in), and

paraphrasing. But always write down the exact words you hear.
2.2.3. Difficulties and techniques for each type of questions in IELTS listening skill
2.2.3.1. Multiple choices


Common difficulties in multiple choice

Simon points out some common difficulties in multiple choice questions of IELTS
listening skill are: There's a lot of information in the question choices, so there's a lot to think
about while you're listening. Some of the choices might be similar. All of the choices might
be mentioned in some way. Synonyms or paraphrasing may be used instead of the words
that you see in the choices.


Techniques in multiple choice questions of the IELTS listening

Some techniques to do well in multiple choice questions of IELTS listening are: Read
the questions and predict the types of information you need before starting the module. Be
alert for: synonyms for words and phrases in the options, the same idea expressed during
different parts of speech, specific information, e.g., dates or numbers. Keep track of the time.
You have a few seconds to read each section before you listen. You will however have ten
(10) minutes at the end to put your answers on the answer sheet. Each listening text will only
be heard once; it is important that you look for key words and phrases before you actually
start the exam. The questions are in the same order as you hear the answers. Don't spend too
much time trying to think of an answer. If you need to make a guess, base it on key words
and phrases you have heard.
2.2.3.2. Matching questions


Common difficulties in matching questions

According to Wise English, some common difficulties in matching questions of
IELTS listening skill are: You don't understand the different symbols and arrows in the


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flow chart. You fill in more than the required number of words. You do not know the
words that describe the objects, processes, and cycles that appear in the problem


Techniques in matching questions of IELTS listening

Wise English points out some techniques in matching questions of IELTS listening skill
are: Before starting to listen, carefully read the numbered and lettered lists. The numbered
list would always be in the same order as you would hear it in the recording. The ideas in
the lists might not be expressed in the same way as those in the recording. In this type of
question, you should listen for ideas; never listen for particular words or phrases. When
you've chosen something from the list, put a line through it so you won't get to use it again.
2.2.3.3 Plan/map/diagram labeling


Common difficulties in plan/map/diagram labeling

Wise English gives the common difficulties encountered in in plan/map/diagram
labeling of IELTS listening: You cannot determine the starting position on
Map/Plan/Diagram Labeling. You can't read the map/chart/diagram and don't understand
how to move between directions. For example: conjunction, behind, between, not far, in
front of.... It is easy to miss information because when you can't hear one idea, the following
ideas will be difficult to keep up. You choose the answer on the first mention without

checking its authenticity. Usually, the speaker will refer to the change in the position of
objects or places in Map/Plan/Diagram Labeling


Techniques in plan/map/diagram labeling of IELTS listening

Firstly, Read the information. Reading the information will also allow you to become
familiar with the topic, which is particularly helpful for the more abstract and educational
topics (Sections 3 and 4). Keep in mind that this section will usually not feature questions,
but rather, information and key words. Secondly, underline key words.

For the

plan/map/diagram labelling question type, this step will be minimal, because there will not
be many words. Moreover, pay attention to directions. In addition to key words in the
questions, you will need to pay attention to the directions of your map, plan, or diagram.
Additionally, you should pay attention to direction words that are used when discussing
images and maps. This will help you answer the questions quicker and keep up with the pace


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of the speaker. You should pay attention to these words, which will help you write the correct
type of answer.
2.2.3.4 Form/note/table/flow-chart/summary completion


Common difficulties in form/note/table/flow-chart/summary completion

Wise English points out some common difficulties in form/note/table/flowchart/summary completion of IELTS listening skill are: Answer more than the allowed

number of words. Information heard in the conversation is rewritten according to their own
ideas. Spelling mistakes or not using the correct form of words. This is the type of IELTS
listening test with the highest academic requirements. The content of the listening lesson is
long and complicated, in addition, candidates need to fill in the answers and ensure correct
grammar. All of that is very time-consuming, leading to candidates often "drifting" when
listening. Because of the difficulty of vocabulary, when drifting, it is also difficult to catch
the right keywords and follow the listening lesson


Techniques in form/note/table/flow-chart/summary completion of IELTS listening

Techniques in form/note/table/flow-chart/summary completion of IELTS listening are:
Follow the instructions. Be mindful of the word limit. It’s usually specified in the
instructions; for example, “no more than one word.” You will be penalized if you go over or
under it. The second, expand your vocabulary. If the instructions have a word count limit,
chances are you’ll have to rephrase the statement. You may need to change nouns to verbs,
verbs to nouns, and so on. You may also need to use synonyms instead of the actual word or
expression. So, build up your vocabulary. Besides, know your choices. Before listening to
the recording, check out your options. Underline keywords and phrases. It’ll make it easier
for you to choose one later on
2.2.3.5 Short-answer questions


Common difficulties in short-answer questions

The most common difficulties in short-answer questions are: Not paying attention to
the number of words to fill in. This is a very common mistake made by candidates when
doing Short-answer questions. Moreover, after completing the test, you also do not review
the work according to the requirements of the topic, leading to unfortunate cases. Many of

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you have the habit of only paying attention to the keyword without listening to the entire
tape. This is a very serious mistake, because sometimes speakers use synonyms for
keywords that you don't know, leading you to "miss" the question. In addition, not
listening to the entire tape makes it easy to give the wrong answer, especially in cases
where the speaker changes his mind, using words like: however, no, but. Some of you
have a subjective mentality, so you often skip the "Predicting the answer" step because you
think you can hear and write the correct answer. However, with complex cases and
informational listening, not anticipating the answer can lead to you giving the wrong
answer, leading to extremely unfortunate cases.


Techniques in short-answer questions of IELTS Listening
Techniques in short-answer questions of IELTS Listening are: Skim and scan the

questions in your booklet before you listen, then determine what situation might be
required. Predict the type of information you should listen for (e.g. "How far has" indicates
distance). Be alert or synonyms and paraphrases. There will be times when the information
expressed in the question would not be expressed in the same way as those you would get
to hear. Read instructions carefully. Write what you hear. The needed information is
always exactly in the form that you should place in the blanks. Note the maximum number
of words you should write. Check your spelling.
2.2.3.6 Sentence completion


Common difficulties in sentence completion

According to Wise English, some common difficulties encountered in sentence

completion of IELTS listening. Firstly, can't read the whole topic because the topic of this
part four is quite long, the reading time is still equal to the reading time of the previous
sections. As a result, it will be difficult for them to read the entire text. Secondly, can hear –
cannot fill in. It's not that you can't hear what the lesson is talking about, but the problem
here is that you haven't practiced enough for the exam. Moreover, misspelled. They often
don't pay attention to spelling mistakes, but they also cost a lot of points in their test. A
common mistake is that for singular and plural nouns, with an "s" or without an "s". Because
when listening, if they don't really concentrate, they won't hear the last sound of the word,
and end up wondering if there is an "s" at the end of the word.


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

Techniques in sentence completion of IELTS listening
Some techniques to help you do better in sentence completion of IELTS listening are:

Make it a point to read the sentences before you listen. Predict not only the type of
information or part of speech that is needed, but also what the missing word or words could
actually be. Write your answers exactly as you hear them. Re-check your answers to
determine if they grammatically fit. Check for correct spelling. Be alert. The answers could
be mentioned one after the other.
2.3 Difficulties in IELTS listening
Text difficulties
Buck (2001) identifies numerous difficulties which can be confronted in listening tasks
such as unknown vocabularies, unfamiliar with the text topics, fast speech rate and the length
of the spoken text.
Van Duzer, 1997 & Schmidt – Rinehart, 1994 indicated that familiarity with the topic
facilitates listening comprehension. Moreover, Schmidt-Rinehart (1994) claimed that

students scored considerably higher on the familiar topic than on the new one. She argues
that background knowledge in the form of topic familiarity emerges as a powerful factor in
facilitating listening comprehension.
Related to the difficulties of vocabulary, Muhammad Naeem Butt, 2010; and Hanoi,
2010 reported that the major problem hindering listening comprehension was that the
students’ vocabulary was too limited to understand the message. Furthermore, Underwood
(1989) also claims that lack of vocabulary is a big obstacle to most students in listening skill.
In addition to the insufficiency of vocabulary, the length of the text can be one major
factor that negatively affects the learners’ listening comprehension. Ur’s (1984) argues that
the difficulty in listening comprehension is partly due to the length of the listening text itself
which bore listeners and distract their concentration. Therefore, it is possible to infer that
long spoken texts interfere with the learners’ listening comprehension.
Questions difficulties