How To Improve Your TOEFL Listening Score

During the listening section of the TOEFL, you are being tested on your ability to understand spoken English in academic settings. You are listening for comprehension, basic understanding and to try and connect and combine ideas you have heard in different sections of the recording. The timer does not run when you are listening to the passages and your time limit of 10 minutes per section is only for answering the questions.

When listening, pay attention to major words that signal the main idea or a change in the focus of the passage – introduction, major themes, examples, conclusion etc.  Make brief notes while you listen so that you can refer to them when tackling the questions. Since you can only listen to each  passage once, the notes will help you find important details.

Pay attention to the speaker's tone of voice and do not try to write down everything that is being said. Your notes should help you remember important information discussed so focus most of your attention on listening to the conversation and understanding what is being said. 
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Remember that you may not return to the previous question to correct an answer and that you have to confirm your answer twice, by pressing next and then ok.  When you have pressed next, you do have one last chance to correct an answer before moving to the ok prompt. I would not recommend this, since with effective notes, you should be fairly sure about your answer. Do not second guess yourself.

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