【戦略を立てよう！】現状分析と改善策 〜Listening編〜

こんにちは！なつ姫です！

TOEFL点数を上げるために、今の自分に何が足りないんだろう…。。

と悩んで、色々ウェブ検索していたところ、

公式サイトESTに点数別の改善方法が記載されているのを発見しました！

TOEFL iBT: Improve Your Skills

私が1年前に初めてTOEFLを受けた時の点数・・・

Listening 21 (Intermidiate)

Reading 17 (Intermidiate)

Writing 11 (Limited)

Speaking 9 (Weak)

TOTAL、58点！うえーん。・゜・(/Д`)・゜・。破壊力抜群です。。。

でも、めげない(っ｀Д´)っ

ということで、まずは、

得点が一番高いListening(Intermidiate)の改善方法！

1. Practice listening to something in English every day and gradually increase the amount of time that you listen.(これに尽きるよね)
   • Listen to different kinds of materials.
     • Listen actively. Try to answer the "wh" questions.
       • who
       • what
       • when
       • where
       • why
       • how
     • Listen passively to get the general idea of what's being said.
   • Keep a listening log (a list of everything you listen to each day/week).
     • Write a 1-sentence summary to remember the main idea of what you heard.
     • Write down new expressions, idioms, and vocabulary that you hear.
   • Use dictations and other exercises to help your listening ability.
     • Ask an English speaker to dictate an article to you. Good sources of material are newspapers, magazines, and textbooks.
       • First, write down exactly what you hear
       • Then only take notes on the important points that you hear
     • Do information gap exercises, using unfamiliar content and complex structures.
2. Use the resources in your community to practice listening to English.
   • Visit places in your community where you can practice listening to English.
     • If possible, enroll in an English class.
     • Go to a museum and take an audio tour in English.
     • Follow a guided tour in English in your city.
     • Call or visit a hotel where tourists stay and get information in English about room rates, hotel availability, or hotel facilities.
     • Call and listen to information recorded in English, such as a movie schedule, a weather report, or information about an airplane flight.
   • Watch or listen to programs recorded in English.
     • Watch television programs.
       • CNN, the Discovery Channel or National Geographic
       • Watch movies, soap operas or situation comedies on television
       • Do this with a friend and talk about the program together
     • Watch movies or other videos online (turn off the captions!) or go to a movie in English.
     • Listen to an audiobook in English.
     • Listen to music in English and then check your accuracy by finding the lyrics on the internet (e.g., www.lyrics.com).
     • Listen to English language recordings that come with a transcript. Listen to each recording at least 3 times.（何回も聴くのって大事だ…）
       • The first time, take notes about the main ideas you hear
       • The second time, read the transcript and listen for the ideas you wrote down
       • The third time, write down any words and phrases that you didn't understand and look them up
   • Go to internet sites to practice listening.
     • National Public Radio (www.npr.org)
     • CBS News (www.cbsnews.com)
     • Randall’s Cyber Listening Lab (www.esl-lab.com)
     • BBC World Service.com Learning English (www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish)
   • Practice speaking English with others.
     • Exchange language lessons with an English speaker who wants to learn your language.
3. Begin to prepare for academic situations.
   • Visit academic classes in English.
   • Record lectures or presentations and replay them several times.
     • Listen to short sections several times until you understand the main points and the flow of ideas.
     • Stop the recording in the middle and predict what will come next.
   • Become familiar with the organization or structure of academic lectures.
     • Pay attention to the difference between main ideas and details presented.
       • Listen for the general (main) ideas
       • Pay attention to details
         • facts
         • examples
         • opinions
     • Pay attention to the structure.
       • lecture or presentation — introduction, body, and conclusion
       • narrative story — beginning, middle, and end
     • Learn to recognize different styles of organization.
       • theory and evidence
       • cause and effect
       • steps of a process
       • comparison of two things
   • Think carefully about the purpose of the lecture.
     • Try to answer the question, "What is the professor trying to accomplish in this lecture?"
     • Write down only the information that you hear. Be careful not to interpret information based on your personal understanding or knowledge of the topic.
   • Take notes while you listen to a talk or lecture. This will help you identify the main ideas of the talk.（ノート取ること意識してなかった。大学講義受けると思えば当たり前なのに！）
     • Practice doing simple dictations to work on your ability to listen and write at the same time.
     • Work with a partner. Listen to a talk and take notes individually.
       • Compare your notes with your partner's and check for differences (and similarities)
       • Use your notes to tell your partner what you heard
     • Use your notes to write an outline or summary.
     • Gradually increase the length of the talks (and your summaries).
4. Listen for signals that will help you understand the organization of a talk, connections between ideas, and the importance of ideas.
   • Listen for expressions and vocabulary that tell you the type of information being given.
     • Think carefully about the type of information that these phrases show.
       • opinion (I think, It appears that, It is thought that)
       • theory (In theory)
       • inference (therefore, then)
       • negatives (not, words that begin with "un," "non," "dis," "a")
       • fillers (non-essential information) (uh, er, um)
     • Identify digressions (discussion of a different topic from the main topic) or jokes that are not important to the main lecture. (It’s okay not to understand these!)
   • Listen for signal words or phrases that connect ideas in order to recognize the relationship between ideas.
     • Think carefully about the connection between ideas that these words show.
       • reasons (because, since)
       • results (as a result, so, therefore, thus, consequently)
       • examples (for example, such as)
       • comparisons (in contrast, than)
       • an opposing idea (on the other hand, however)
       • another idea (furthermore, moreover, besides)
       • a similar idea (similarly, likewise)
       • restatements of information (in other words, that is)
       • conclusions (in conclusion, in summary)
     • Pay attention to the connections between examples.
       • When you hear two details, identify the relationship between them
       • Write a sentence connecting the examples using the appropriate connecting word
   • Pay attention to intonation and other ways that speakers indicate that information is important
     • Important key words are often
       • repeated
       • paraphrased (repeated information but using different words)
       • said louder and clearer
       • stressed
     • Pay attention to body language and intonation patterns used to express different emotions.
       • Emotions are often expressed through changes in intonation or stress
       • Facial expressions or word choices can indicate excitement, anger, happiness, or frustration
     • Listen for pauses between important points.
     • During a lecture, pay attention to words that are written on the board.
       • Listen for numbers that you might hear in prices, times, or addresses
       • Listen for verbs and other expressions that show if an event is happening in the past, present, or future

大事なところ・今の自分に不足しているところは、ハイライトしました。

結論！！

【Listeningまとめ】

✴︎毎日リスニングする

　下記要領で、最低限３回は聴く。

　1回目：リスニングし、ノートを取る

　2回目：スクリプトを読んでから、再度リスニング

　3回目：理解できなかった文法・単語を書き取る

✴︎要約文を書く（ログ取り）

✴︎教材は、TV、News、Movies、様々な内容に触れること

　オーディオブック聴いてみたいと思ってた！やってみよう。

なつ姫