Study Guide

Field 020: French
Sample Listening Comprehension Assignment

The following materials contain:

Test Directions for the Listening Comprehension Assignment

[Note to examinee: These test directions are provided here to familiarize you with the directions you will see on the actual test. They may refer to features whose functionality is not enabled in this study guide.]

This section of the test consists of a listening comprehension assignment. You will listen to an audio recording. The listening passage will be read twice. After you have heard the passage twice, you will respond in writing to the assignment presented.

Your response may be written in either the target language or English. This should be your original work, written in your own words, and not copied or paraphrased from some other work. You may use the erasable notebooklet to make notes, write an outline, or otherwise prepare your response. However, your final response to the assignment must be typed in the response box provided for the assignment.

Please note that special characters (such as letters with accents or other diacritical marks) cannot be entered using the keyboard but are available for insertion in the on-screen response box. To access these characters, click on the symbol button that appears in the upper left corner of the screen. Using the mouse, click on the character you wish to include in your response and then select "Insert ." The character will be inserted where the cursor is positioned in the response box.

Your response to the listening comprehension assignment in this section will be evaluated on the basis of the following criteria.

LISTENING COMPREHENSION: accuracy and completeness in comprehending spoken language

INFERENCE: demonstrated ability to infer information accurately from spoken language, including subtleties such as tone

Please be aware that the visual enhancements normal color scheme and small font are NOT available during this section of the test. Please DO NOT use these features until you have completed all listening items and proceeded to the remaining sections of the test.

Select the Next button to continue.

[After completing the listening comprehension assignment, you will see on the screen:]

This is the end of the listening comprehension section of the test. You may now remove your headset.

Select the Next button to continue with the remainder of the test.

Sample Listening Comprehension Assignment

Subarea 1
Listening Comprehension

[Notes to examinee: During the test, you will listen to a passage read twice and then respond to the assignment in writing, in either French or English. (For complete test directions to this assignment, see above.) The dialogue shown below represents the recorded text you would hear on the actual test. It is shown here for study purposes only; on the actual test you will not see printed text accompanying the recordings.]

(female voice): Je suis très inquiète pour mon Charles; ses notes continuent à baisser et je n'arrive pas à lui faire comprendre l'importance de ses études.
(male voice): En effet, son travail est beaucoup moins bon qu'au début de l'année. Il semble souvent distrait. Son travail de classe n'est pas soigné et il refuse systématiquement de faire ses devoirs.
(female voice): Comment se comporte-t-il vis-à-vis des autres élèves?
(male voice): Il semble n'avoir qu'un bon ami, Paul, mais je ne suis pas sûr que Paul soit une très bonne influence. Il y a également la petite Carine qui est toujours accrochée à lui. Ecoutez: si vous souhaitez, je peux contacter la psychologue scolaire afin de fixer un rendez-vous. Il faudrait que nous nous réunissions le plus tôt possible, d'autant plus que l'année prochaine, c'est la terminale qui, comme vous savez, n'est pas facile . . . .

Write a brief response in which you:

Strong Response Characteristics for the Listening Comprehension Assignment

An excellent response would demonstrate a thorough and accurate understanding of the content of the passage, including virtually all significant details. The examinee would accurately infer information implied in the passage, even if it is subtly conveyed in the recording. Because this exercise is designed to test your listening skills and not your writing ability, you may write your response in either the target language or English. You should choose the language that is more familiar to you.

Sample Strong Response to the Listening Comprehension Assignment

Please note: The sample response provided below is for review purposes only and should not be used in a response on an operational exam.

Les personnes qui parlent sont la mère et le professeur de Charles.

La conversation a probablement lieu au printemps; la mère de Charles es probablement chez elle, le professeur à l'école.

Il va y avoir une réunion entre la mère de Charles, le professeur et la psychologue de l'école. Les trois participants parleront des problèmes académiques et personnels de Charles et des mesures à prendre pour qu'il améliore son travail scolaire de manière à pouvoir passer en terminale l'automne prochain.

Performance Characteristics for the Listening Comprehension Assignment

The following characteristics guide the scoring of responses to the listening comprehension assignment.

Characteristics that guide the scoring of responses
LISTENING COMPREHENSION accuracy and completeness in comprehending spoken language
INFERENCE demonstrated ability to infer information accurately from spoken language, including subtleties such as tone

Scoring Scale for the Listening Comprehension Assignment

Scores will be assigned to each response to the listening comprehension assignment according to the following scoring scale.

Score Scale with description for each score point.
Score Point Score Point Description
4
  • The candidate demonstrates thorough comprehension of the literal content of a sample of spoken language.
  • The candidate accurately infers implied information, including correctly characterizing tone when it is a factor in comprehension.
3
  • The candidate demonstrates good overall comprehension of the literal content, though some details may be misunderstood or missed.
  • The candidate shows some ability to infer implied information, though some subtleties in tone may be misinterpreted or missed.
2
  • The candidate shows partial comprehension discerning the main idea but does not understand significant supporting ideas and details.
  • The candidate generally does not infer information or discern tone.
1
  • The candidate does not demonstrate understanding of the main idea, showing comprehension only of isolated words and phrases.
  • The candidate does not infer information or discern tone.
U The response is unrelated to the assigned topic, illegible, not written in the required language, not of sufficient length to score, or merely a repetition of the assignment.
B There is no response to the assignment.