PTE is a crucial exam for those planning to study abroad. Hence, many students take the PTE exam every year. Moreover, out of many tasks in this test, the write from dictation is an important one. So, to ace this task you will need to fathom the PTE exam pattern for it. Thus, in this article, the mentors are discussing the dictation task along with the methods to solve it. You will also learn some of the expert tips that will be useful in the test.
Listening Module: Write from Dictation Question
The listening section comprises a 30 to 43-minute part of the PTE test. This module determines how much spoken English can a student understand. As per the PTE exam syllabus, this section has a total of 8 tasks. Out of all these, the last task is the one called” write from dictation”. In this, a 3-5 second recording consisting of 3 to 4 sentences is played. The examinee needs to listen to it and then write it down in the response box. Along with that, the number of correct words will decide the score of this task. Below are some ways that can assist students when they are solving this question:
Directions to Outshine in Dictation
This is one of the important tasks from the listening part of the exam. This is because as per the PTE exam pattern it influences the marking of both the listening and the writing parts. Moreover, this task is moderately complex and getting regular practice can result in a high score. On the other hand, partial scoring also benefits when you might have written or spelt a word wrong. As in this, you will get marks for partly correct answers as well. Following are some techniques you can employ when you are taking the PTE exam for real:
Strategies
There are different strategies for attempting a particular type of question. However, the students must choose the one which suits them the most. Before you listen to the audio calm down your mind and stay ready with your cursor in the response box. When listening, focus on the tense and verb of the line. Then, write it down immediately so that you do not forget it.
Echoing
This is another way that learners can use to remember the sentence. As the name suggests, in the present approach, the students should think of the sentence repeatedly to keep it in mind while they type. When the audio is playing during the PTE exam, closing your eyes to focus on it can also help in memorizing it.
Chunking
The literal meaning of the word is a grouping of items. It becomes easier for the mind to remember words if they are in a group rather than single ones. In this method, you can divide the sentence into manageable groups and then memorize them. The length of the group can be as per the examinee.
Content Words
The term refers to those words which are responsible for giving meaning to the whole sentence. These can be verbs, nouns, or adjectives. The students can remember these words during the PTE exam when the audio is played. Then later on they can add the other words to form a complete meaningful sentence.
Proofreading
This is the approach that learners need to take after they finish typing the sentences. The grammar, punctuation and the spelling of the lines should be correct. In addition, there must be a verb tense agreement. When reading, the sentence should make sense.
Students can use any one or a mix of these methods when taking up the dictation task. The next section will discuss some essential tips that can help you improve your performance:
Tips to Improve the Scores in Dictation Task
The above methods will help you recall the whole sentence and write it down. However, here are some more pointers that will ensure that you surely get the correct response.
- Fathom the PTE exam pattern of the task.
- Decide beforehand if you want to listen and then type or type while listening.
- Try to apprehend the meaning of the sentence to retain it well.
- If you are not able to recall the lines write the words you remember in a correct order.
- Daily take a PTE practice test to enhance your skills.
- Listen to podcasts and audio with varying accents to aid you.
- Improve your typing so that you can type fast the sentences and not get confused.
- Use abbreviation for writing the sentence on the notepad.
Conclusion
Summing up, these are some tips which can help you hone your skills for the dictation question of the listening section. In addition, you can also go through the examples to better understand the type of sentences. Moreover, abroad experts like Gradding, provide the sentences that can come in this task. They also offer students info about the PTE exam syllabus and free mock tests. You can get help from them as well for practice and tips on how to excel at your exam.
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