Lecture about some useful information when you go to study overseas - IELTS Listening Sample

In the IELTS Listening test, candidates will listen to 4 different recordings and answer 40 questions. Section 4 of the IELTS Listening test, is a lecture about some useful information when you go to study overseas This particular sample answer contains the following question types:

1. Summary completion
2. Table completion

Candidates can refer to IELTS listening practice papers for more such topics.

Section 4

Audio Transcript:

You will hear a lecture about some useful information when you go to study overseas.

First, you have some time to look at questions 31 to 40.

Now listen carefully and answer questions 31 to 40.

Hello everybody. Thank you for coming. I know that you are all very busy at this time. But I hope that by coming to this talk, you’ll at least get some useful information for when you go to study overseas. Well today, I want to talk about the effect of cultural background on learning style (i.e) how our learners’ culture might impact on his or her approach to study. I want to begin by looking at some basic cultural values and how these affect teaching and learning. I’ll then go on to present evidence that shows that approaches to learning which are acceptable in one culture may not be acceptable in another. If you have any questions, I would be happy to answer them at the end of the talk. Now, I want to start by introducing the two concepts. They are actually contrasting concepts. These are conserving and extending cultures. What do these terms mean? Experts have categorized cultures as being either basically conserving or extending in their attitude to the transmission of knowledge. Let me give you an example to try to make this clear. A good example of a conserving cultural attitude is demonstrated by most Arabic cultures.

Here there is the requirement to learn the holy book, the Quran, by heart. This demands a huge effort of memorization, as you can imagine the way the coroner’s learned impacts the way other subjects are learned generally. It might also have an effect on learner’s perception of what constitutes an acceptable teaching style. By this, I mean that the unquestioning acceptance of the messages in the Quran and the concentration and repetition necessary to memorize those messages are transferred to the learning of school subjects and to the expectations students have on teachers. That’s Arab culture.

Let’s turn now to Chinese culture. There is evidence to suggest that Chinese culture is conserving nature. For example, keeping quiet in the classroom, listening to the teacher, not talking to other students not interacting. These tend to characterize the Chinese classroom. As a result, Chinese Learners do not develop argumentation skills as quickly as their American counterparts. American students tend to be actively encouraged to question their teachers, their materials and to interact with other classmates. However, I have to say in the interest of balance the Chinese students tend to work with greater concentration, but this is not the point I'm trying to make. The point is that some cultures display a conserving attitude to teaching and learning while others display a more extending attitude to learning. Now, the memorization and non-interactive styles of learning encouraged for example in Arabic and Chinese cultures, made disadvantaged learners at least initially when they progress from Secondary School to University. Why is this? Well, it’s because universities worldwide are increasingly adopting with a few local variations, the Western requirement for students to show argumentation skills in written assignments and effective interpersonal skills in tutorials and seminars. In other words, the world model for University teaching and learning is now the Western model, the interactive mode if you like, now, of course, students from conserving backgrounds who go on to study in and extending culture will obviously need to adapt to a different learning style to accommodate to the new conditions. This unsurprisingly can often prove to be a painful process.

However, such learners are able to make the transition quite successfully with guidance from academic staff and a lot of determination from their own part to unlearn or dismantled the study-related approaches and strategies acquired in their own cultures. Let me give you some examples from real life to try to illuminate this issue. I have put these on slides. Now, let’s look at the comments made by three Asian students who found the Western University system of teaching and learning very different from their previous experience, if you just look at the screen, I have put these comments on slides as I said, this is what a Chinese undergraduate from Shanghai studying at an Australian University had to say, “Generally many of us are trained in a system where you don’t contribute much to classroom discussions some students even hesitate to ask questions from lecturers.” Here’s what a master’s student from Japan studying at an English University in London had to say, “In Japanese culture and education the emphasis on training seems to be on intuition rather than logical construction of arguments. This makes it much harder to study at my British University.”

Finally, let’s take a look at the comments by an Indian research student studying at an American University, one problem was getting used to the American system where a student is expected to find out for herself or himself the requirements and facilities of the University - this contrasts with the system at home, whereby a person generally the lecturer supervisor is responsible for the needs of the student. To sum up, then there is certainly evidence to show that the cultural values of a society affect the way that society’s educational institution’s function and how the teaching in them is carried out.

While ensuring the continuation of cultural identity and solidarity the existence of culturally determined patterns of teaching and learning means that the individual learning style the way a learner would prefer to learn is largely ignored in classrooms around the world.

That’s all I want to say for the moment. I hope you’ll find what I said interesting and useful when you go overseas to study. Are there any questions?

Questions 31-32

Complete the following summary of the lecturer’s introduction by using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS.

The lecturer says that he will first look at how some cultural values influence 31______________ and that then he will 32_______________ demonstrating that approaches to learning in one culture may not be considered suitable in others.

Question 31.

Answer: teaching and learning

Explanation: The lecture starts with understanding the basic values and the effects of this on teaching and learning.

Question 32.

Answer: present evidence

Explanation: After analyzing the basic value the lecturer will present the evidence that shows the vivid teaching approaches that are acceptable in different countries.

Questions 33-36

Complete the notes on the way students learn in different cultures. Use only ONE word for each answer.

Question 33.

Answer: conserving

Explanation: Arab culture is a very good example of conserving cultural attitude.

Question 34.

Answer: memorization

Explanation: In Arab culture, there is a requirement to learn the holy book, Quran which demands an effort of memorization.

Question 35.

Answer: interacting/intercation

Explanation: In Chinese culture, they give importance to conserving nature. They listen carefully to their teacher and do not interact with other students.

Question 36.

Answer: argumentation

Explanation: As compared to American students Chinese learners do not develop argumentation skills quickly.

Questions 37-40

Complete the notes on three Asian students and their experiences. Use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS.

Question 37.

Answer: undergraduate

Explanation: Many students don’t contribute to the classroom discussions because of hesitation. This is said by a Chinese undergraduate from shanghai studying at an Australian university.

Question 38.

Answer: hesitate

Explanation: Students hesitate to ask questions to their teachers in the classroom. They do not even ask questions from lecturers.

Question 39.

Answer: logical arguments

Explanation: Japanese culture focuses on intuitive training instead of logical arguments, which makes it even harder to study at a British university.

Question 40.

Answer: lecturer or supervisor

Explanation: The lecturer or supervisor are the people responsible for the needs of students. The cultural values of society directly affect the society’s educational institution’s function