OET LISTENING from September,2018
The OET Listening test is one test for all Healthcare Professionals. This means that you may be presented with a listening text which has specific vocab from a profession other than your own. This can be a challenge as the OET covers a wide range of health professionals.
There are 3 sections to the listening test:
Listening part A: 2 sections of a dialogue or consultation between a patient and a healthcare professional
Listening part B: 6 short dialogues which healthcare professionals might listen to in the workplace.
Listening Part C: 2 short presentations or interviews of around 4.5 - 5 mins each
Remember that even though you hear the listening test once only, it is not all at once. You will complete Listening A, then Listening B and C together.
If the listening text speaks about a study or research, you will expect to hear numbers and percentages. You may also hear words like increased, decreased, deficit in, oversupply of etc.
In the new OET Listening, you will find more emphasis on listening to people's attitudes or opinions, rather than a lot of facts. So, you should listen for phrases which indicate that attitudes or differing opinions are being discussed. E.g.
X noted that....
X suggested that...
Whilst X suggested that...., Y presented a different view.
Some people believe xxxx, however, many others do not agree with this.
Listening A is assessed by what is called 'structured note-taking'. Candidates makes notes under headings using bullet points. Some notes will already be completed, leaving candidates to complete the gaps.
Here is an example of what this looks like: