Important Test-Taking Strategies for Answering Audio Clues

Listening is one of the most important section of the examination. It usually comes in the Language testing skills. Candidates often find sections of listening in exams harder than the reading part because in some cases audio is played only once. In such exams, the candidate is not allowed to go back and listen again. This is the reason audio clues become more difficult than other sections of the exam for the candidates.

Listening exams contain audio recordings. Before listening to each of them you are provided with sufficient time to read the questions. You should use this time well. When you are reading questions, analyze important things like-

• What information is required?
• What types of questions are they?

These will help you give valuable clues to understand the audio recordings and identify correct responses.

We will share with you some important strategies that you can use while answering the questions based on Audio Clues-

Common Mistakes to be avoided

Listening to the audio without any intent

If you are not aware of the intent or you don't know what information you will get from it you can get confused while answering. You won't be able to find the correct answer. Hence you should thoroughly read the instructions, look for clues and determine the crux or the context of the audio that you are going to listen to. In addition to this, reading the questions carefully beforehand will help you to recognize the information easily.

Prediction skills

While listening to the audio clues, you should be able to predict certain aspects like

• The kind of audio you will be listening to.
• Specific information related to the questions being asked.

Without any prediction, it can become difficult for you to respond. You should underline the key points or the keywords that can help you predict the response. When you are listening to the audio focus where the keywords or important phrases are used. Listening carefully can help you focus and find the right answer.

Focus

You may often come across a question that creates a dilemma and you are not able to fetch the answer. So you shouldn't stick yourself to one question. Just maintain your focus, stay calm and move on to the next one.

Avoid distractors

Often in certain exams, distractors are used to trick the candidates. These are unuseful information that appears right to the candidates. You should avoid such elements and instead should pay more attention to finding the correct response.

Paying attention to the instructions

Always pay careful attention to the instructions. It will help you makeing the right choice and gives you the direction.

For example- If the instructions provided are- “answer in no more than one or two words”. Then you should strictly avoid writing the answer in detail with a description. Writing long answers will not result in any benefit.

Try not to leave the response blank

In certain exams, you don't lose marks for incorrect answers. So even if you don't know, you can still afford to make a guess. The reason for doing it is you don't lose marks if the response is not correct. So make an educated guess rather than leaving the response blank.

Avoid writing while listening to the audio

Since in certain exams you get to hear the audio-only once, therefore it is important that you neither get distracted nor miss on any important information. Reading, shuffling, from question to answer while listening to the audios is not feasible. It will consume more of your time, effort and would distract you. At the moment, just focus on one thing that is listening. Start writing the response once you are finished with the listening process during the audio play.

We hope the above-mentioned tips and strategies will surely be helpful for you in dealing with audio questions in the examination.