Purpose , Method, and Attitude Questions

Remember there are 6 important listening skills for the TOEFL test• Understanding the main idea • Understanding facts• Drawing inferences • Identifying attitude/purpose (today’s lesson)• Ordering• Analyzing charts

Today, we will learn how to understand the purpose, method and attitude of the speaker

Purpose questions –

• These questions ask why a speaker says something, what is his motivation.

Why Why Why Why Why?

Ex from page 73 –

Why does the professor mention his wife?

Method Questions –

• These questions ask how the speaker introduces a topic or idea.

• A speaker may Compare/contrast two ideas Give examples Provide statistics

Ex. How does the speaker introduce the topic of Venus?

Attitude Questions – • These questions ask about the speaker’s

attitude towards someone or something.

• The answer to these questions is never mentioned in the conversation/lecture. You must infer.

• Ex. What is the professor’s attitude toward the topic that the student wants to write about?

Once again, taking good notes is crucial to answering these questions correctly.