In this blog, we will brief on Listening: Summarize Spoken Text: its format, how to prepare it, what is the scoring criteria is, test-day strategies, common mistakes to avoid, and useful resources to guide you.

Understand the PTE CORE: Summarize Spoken Text task

It is the first type of question in listening module. In this task, an audio or audio-visual automatically plays for 45 to 75 seconds after few seconds and you are required to write a summary in between 20 and 30 words. You will listen to the audio once and you will be provided 8 minutes to listen and write your summary within the given word limit.

It assesses Listening and Writing skills.

Task Format

• Prompt Length: Up to 75 seconds
• Skills Assessed: Listening and Writing
• Time to Answer: within 8 minutes
• Skills Profile: Multiple Skill Comprehension 
• No. of Tasks: 1-2

Scoring Pattern of Summarize Spoken Text

Summary of Spoken Text is rated on FIVE criteria:

Content: Content score out of 2. To score full marks, the main aspects of the topic should be covered so that the purpose or the opinion is not misrepresented. The distortion of the topic into a summary shall not be awarded a score point. The best answers are based on the following components of the Summary:

The main idea with supporting points must be provided.

The emphasis should be on the interpretation of the key information presented in the paragraph.

Form: Form out of 2, the summarization of the summary should fall between 20 to 30 words. If the summary contains 5-19 words or 31-40 words, then the score is 1 but it is 0 if less than 5 words or more than 40 words are typed in the summary.

Grammar: Grammar scores are out of 2, where the grammar score is based on the basic grammar structure, for example, Punctuation and the proper usage of the verb form as per the sentence formation. This cannot be avoided, and the best answer usually has this main clause and subordinate clause in it.

Vocabulary: 2 marks, Use of vocabulary pertinent to the response and appropriate in an academic setting, using effective synonyms which reflect understanding and linguistic diversity while appropriately including words from the passage.

Spelling: Scores that will be given out of 2, but if there is a single spelling mistake then that score received will be 1 and if there are more than a single error then the score will be ZERO, PTE Academic accepts all English conventions of spelling from United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada. However, there should be one spelling convention that is followed consistently in a specific response.

Tips & Tricks for Retell Lecture

The audio of the lecture starts automatically after a few seconds. As soon as the recording starts, gaze at the image or visual you have on the screen to get an idea about the topic. Keep your notepad ready with you to make notes while listening to the lecture. You can change the volume using the slider.

The audio or the audio-visual concludes. Start writing in the summary box. You are given 8 minutes for this exercise. Do not go over the word count of 20-30 words else you will lose marks for your exercise.

Save 2-3 minutes towards the end for revising your written answer and cross-check your grammar and spellings as both matter to score good otherwise you would lose marks in both if any mistake is found.

Test Tips

• Take notes as you listen
• Try writing the main and supporting ideas of the topic.
• Only write the key terms, abbreviations, and symbols and use the arrow to record the most important ideas.
• Organize your thoughts in a way that you can construct your essays using your notes.
• When the recording stops, plan how to begin writing the topic and in which order to present the information.
• Keep your notes in front of you and include the examples, as well as any implications and conclusions.
• No grammatical and spell errors within the required word count. Use connecting words to keep the flow of information going.

Preparation

• Attempt to create your own note-taking techniques using the acronyms and symbols.
• One always should start answering with a topic sentence.
• Your response should include the intro information, key data of the lecture, and conclusion.
• Hence, find different topics in a form of podcast and lectures practice on note-taking and writing down a summary of those topics example- BBC Podcasts and Ted talks.
• Practice writing grammatically correct sentences. Write some simple sentences and avoid any grammatical or spelling mistakes.

Note

Partial credit is awarded in Summarize Spoken Text, so no score will be given for no response or off topic response. This question type affects the Listening and Writing module. Listen to the podcasts of the speakers while speaking with different accents, so you would be familiar with the different accents and will help you to memorize the sentences.

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