Some learners struggle to follow SIGNPOSTING (starting, listing, adding, digressing, returning to topic, concluding, etc.) and other ways of cohesive linking in LISTENING tasks on the IELTS exam.
As a result, they might have a hard time noticing where the speaker(s) change the topic slightly and move on to another aspect within it, which might be where they answer the next question.
To help them, try this exercise.
Besides chronological sequencing and listing items in a list, linking phrases can ‘do’ a lot of other things in a text, to orient the listener. Read the following categories A-D, and match them to the linking phrases 1-20 below.
CATEGORIES
A) starting:
B) digressing:
C) returning to the subject:
D) concluding:
LINKING PHRASES
1) By the way
2) Anyway
3) I’d like to begin with
4) To sum up
5) Speaking of
6) First and foremost
7) While we’re on the subject of
8) At any rate
9) All in all
10) In short
11) On the whole
12) In any case
13) In any event
14) To start with
15) First of all
16) Incidentally
17) Concerning
18) In conclusion
19) Basically
20) Anyhow
Can you add ONE more to each category?
(ANSWER KEY:
A) 3, 6, 14, 15, 19
B) 1, 5, 7, 16, 17
C) 2, 8, 12, 13, 20
D) 4, 9, 10, 11, 18)
— —
Hi. I’m Fatime. I’m an IELTS Teacher Trainer, helping CELTA-qualified English language teachers become better at teaching SKILLS, as opposed to just testing them.
Check out my courses here:
How to Teach IELTS Listening:
How to Teach IELTS Reading:
How to Teach IELTS Writing:
How to Teach IELTS Speaking:
