IB MYP Language Acquisition – Criterion A – Listening to spoken multimodal texts Practice Questions

These are original questions written for Marlbridge, for revision and practice on this content. They are not reproduced past-paper questions, and they do not replicate the exam’s exact structure, question count or mark tariffs – the IB holds copyright in its own papers. Use these alongside the official past papers available through your school or the IB store.

This practice set covers Criterion A: Listening for IB MYP Language Acquisition, aligned to the International Baccalaureate Organization, Middle Years Programme Subject Brief – Language acquisition, from 2020 (first eAssessment May 2023/November 2023). It suits MYP years 4 and 5, from emergent to proficient level; there is no SL/HL split. MYP has no prescribed content list – schools design their own units – and this page trains a skill named by one of the brief’s four criteria.

Every question trains Criterion A. Real MYP work is judged against criterion level descriptors (achievement levels 1-8), so the [1] points below are a revision aid, not IB marks. All people, places and organisations are fictional.

How to use the transcripts. Ask a friend or family member to read each transcript aloud twice while you look only at the visual notes. Then answer. For target-language practice, have the transcript translated and read aloud in your target language, and answer in that language.

Study first: Criterion A study guide and revision notes. Also: course hub, checklist, criteria in practice questions.

Questions

Source A – original transcript written for Marlbridge. A voicemail (emergent level).

“Hi Sam, it’s Lena. Quick change for Saturday. We’re not meeting at the park at ten any more. Let’s meet at half past ten at the station café, OK? The train to the coast is at quarter to eleven. Oh, and bring a jacket – my dad says it’ll be windy. Call me back tonight. Bye!”

1. (Criterion A) State the new meeting time and the new meeting place. [2]

2. (Criterion A) How many minutes will Sam and Lena have between meeting and the train? Show how you know. [2]

3. (Criterion A) Identify two conventions that show this is an informal voicemail. [2]

Source B – original transcript written for Marlbridge. A 30-second video advert (capable level). Visual notes in square brackets.

[Dark blue screen. Soft, echoing music. A torch beam moves across a glass tank.] VOICE-OVER (whispering): What happens at the aquarium… after dark? [On-screen text: “Night Dive – Fridays, 6 pm to 10 pm”.] VOICE-OVER (normal voice): Join Kestrel Bay Aquarium’s Night Dive. Watch the octopus hunt, hear the keepers’ stories and explore by torchlight. [On-screen text: “Adults 12 euros – Under-16s 7 euros – Family ticket (2 adults + 2 under-16s) 32 euros”.] CHILD (excited, face lit by a tank): It glowed! The jellyfish actually glowed! VOICE-OVER: Places are limited. Book online today.

4. (Criterion A)

(a) How long does each Night Dive session last? [1] (b) Two adults and three children aged 12, 10 and 7 want to go. Find the cheapest total cost. [2]

5. (Criterion A) Explain how the whispering voice-over and the opening images work together at the start of the advert. [3]

6. (Criterion A) Identify the main audience and the purpose of the advert, giving one piece of evidence for each. [4]

Source C – original transcript written for Marlbridge. A podcast extract (capable to proficient level).

HOST: Welcome back to Corridor Talk, the podcast made by students at Linwood School. Today: the new phone rule. Jaya, you’re in Year 10. Phones locked away all day. Thoughts? JAYA: (laughs) Well, I suppose my screen time report has never looked healthier. But, you know, I used my phone to check the bus times, so now I just… guess. Wonderful. HOST: And lunch breaks? JAYA: Honestly? People actually talk now. I didn’t expect that. I’m not saying I love the rule. I’m saying it’s… not all bad.

7. (Criterion A) Infer Jaya’s overall attitude to the phone rule. Support your answer with two pieces of evidence from her words or tone. [4]

8. (Criterion A) Identify three conventions of a podcast in Source C. [3]

Source D – original transcript written for Marlbridge. A local news report (proficient level).

[Caption: “Repair Café – Norhaven Community Hall”.] REPORTER: Every Saturday, this hall fills with broken toasters, torn jackets and silent radios. Volunteers here have mended hundreds of items this year. [Close-up: an older volunteer shows a teenager how to use a soldering iron.] VOLUNTEER: Throwing things away is easy. Fixing them – that’s where you learn something. [Caption: “412 items brought in this year – 3 in 4 repaired”.] REPORTER: For Norhaven, it seems, “old” no longer means “rubbish”.

9. (Criterion A)

(a) List two kinds of item the reporter says people bring. [1] (b) Explain what the second caption adds to the reporter’s words, and calculate how many items were repaired. [2] (c) Explain how the close-up and the volunteer’s words convey values about repairing and learning. Refer to the audience in your answer. [4]

Source E – original transcript written for Marlbridge. A short documentary clip (proficient level).

[Slow piano music. Wide shot: a narrow village street packed with tourists holding phones up.] NARRATOR (calm, warm voice): Tolvik. A quiet fishing village, where time moves slowly. [Shot: a fisherman waits while a queue of tour buses blocks the harbour road.] NARRATOR: Visitors come for the peace. They come for the views. [Shot: a café sign: “Toilets for customers only. No photos inside.”] FISHERMAN (tired): In summer, I spend more time waiting for buses than fishing. NARRATOR: Tolvik: still waiting to be discovered? [Music stops. Silence over a final shot of an empty boat.]

10. (Criterion A) Analyse how the narration, the images, the music and the fisherman’s comment work together to convey the documentary’s attitude to tourism in Tolvik. Finish with a short personal response linking the text to a place you know. [9]

Answers

1. Half past ten (10:30) [1]; at the station café [1]. 10:30, station café [2] Examiner insight: “Park at ten” is the cancelled plan; writing the first details heard, not the correction, loses both points.

2. Meeting at 10:30, train at quarter to eleven (10:45) [1]; so 15 minutes [1]. [2] Examiner insight: The train time is spoken as “quarter to eleven”, not in figures; convert spoken time words carefully before calculating.

3. Any two, each with a quoted example: greeting with first name (“Hi Sam”) [1]; caller names herself (“it’s Lena”), a voicemail convention, or informal language and contractions such as “OK?”, “Bye!”, or a request to call back [1]. [2] Examiner insight: A convention must be supported by the actual words; “it is informal” alone does not identify a feature.

4. (a) 6 pm to 10 pm, so 4 hours [1]. (b) Family ticket covers 2 adults and 2 children: 32 euros; add one under-16 ticket at 7 euros [1]; total 39 euros (cheaper than 2 × 12 + 3 × 7 = 45 euros) [1]. Examiner insight: Information split between speech and on-screen text must be combined; answers that use only the spoken words cannot find the prices.

5. The whispering voice and the question “What happens… after dark?” create mystery and curiosity [1]. The dark blue screen and the moving torch beam reinforce this by showing the aquarium at night [1]. Together they make the viewer want to find out more, which leads into the invitation to “Join” [1]. [3] Examiner insight: Name both modes and the link between them (here, reinforce), then the effect on the viewer; describing the images alone earns only one point.

6. Audience: families with children [1]. Evidence: the family ticket price, or the excited child saying “It glowed!” [1]. Purpose: to persuade people to book the event [1]. Evidence: the call to action “Book online today”, or “Places are limited” creating urgency [1]. [4] Examiner insight: Each claim needs its own evidence; one piece of evidence stretched to cover both audience and purpose usually earns only half.

7. Overall attitude: mixed, but reluctantly more positive than negative [1]. Evidence 1: the sarcastic “Wonderful” after “now I just… guess” shows annoyance about losing bus times [1]. Evidence 2: “People actually talk now. I didn’t expect that” shows a surprising benefit [1]. Explanation: her closing “not all bad”, with the hesitation, shows she accepts the rule without loving it [1]. [4] Examiner insight: “Wonderful” is ironic; taking it literally as praise shows the tone was missed. Inference answers need quoted words and a comment on tone.

8. Any three: show name and welcome (“Welcome back to Corridor Talk”) [1]; host introduces the guest and topic (“Jaya, you’re in Year 10”) [1]; question-and-answer turn-taking, or informal fillers (“you know”, “Honestly?”), or laughter [1]. [3] Examiner insight: Three different conventions are needed; two examples of fillers count as one convention.

9. (a) Any two of: toasters, jackets, radios [1]. (b) The caption adds a precise figure where the reporter only says “hundreds” [1]; 3/4 × 412 = 309 items repaired [1]. (c) The close-up of an older volunteer teaching a teenager shows skills passed between generations [1]. The volunteer’s words contrast “easy” throwing away with fixing as learning, presenting repair as valuable [1]. The image reinforces the words: we see the learning happen [1]. Aimed at a local audience, it suggests values of thrift, community and less waste, encouraging viewers to take part [1]. [7] Examiner insight: “Values” questions need the value named (thrift, sharing skills) and linked to specific words and images; retelling the report earns little.

10. Indicative points:

• Narration presents Tolvik as “quiet” and a place where “time moves slowly” [1].
• The wide shot of a crowded street with phones held up contrasts with “quiet” [1].
• The tour buses blocking the harbour contrast with “peace” and show tourism disrupting local life [1].
• The café sign adds information: locals limit visitors, suggesting tension [1].
• The calm, warm voice and slow piano sound like a travel advert, so the contrast creates irony [1].
• The fisherman’s tired tone and “more time waiting for buses than fishing” give a local perspective and support the critical view [1].
• The final question “still waiting to be discovered?” is ironic: the village has been over-discovered [1].
• Silence and the empty boat end on loss, suggesting fishing life is fading [1].
• Personal response linked to the text with a reason (for example, a busy beach town at home where residents feel similar pressure) [1]. [9] Examiner insight: Extended responses are judged on analysis of how modes interact; a list of what is seen and heard, without naming contrast or irony and explaining the attitude, stays in the lower bands.

Where marks are usually lost

• Writing the first detail heard (“the park at ten”) when the speaker later changes it.
• Not converting spoken times (“quarter to eleven”) before calculating.
• Using only the speech and missing prices or figures shown on screen.
• Taking sarcasm or irony literally (“Wonderful”, “still waiting to be discovered?”).
• Describing images without naming the link to speech: reinforce, add or contrast.
• Giving an audience or purpose without separate evidence for each.
• Naming a value or attitude with no quoted words or tone to support it.
• Personal responses that do not refer back to the text.

Next steps

• Criterion A revision notes
• Criterion A study guide
• IB MYP Language Acquisition course hub
• Printable MYP Language Acquisition checklist
• All free 10-minute diagnostics
• Book a free trial class

Official syllabus

International Baccalaureate Organization, Middle Years Programme Subject Brief – Language acquisition, from 2020 (first eAssessment May 2023/November 2023), published by the IB. The brief names Criterion A: Listening and gives 24 on-screen examination marks for comprehending spoken multimodal texts. All transcripts and questions here are original.