IB MYP Language Acquisition – Criterion A – Listening to spoken multimodal texts Study Guide

This study guide teaches Criterion A: Listening for IB MYP Language Acquisition. It is 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 and all three proficiency levels the brief names for eAssessment: emergent, capable and proficient. There is no SL/HL split in the MYP.

MYP has no prescribed content list. Schools design their own units, so this page covers a skill that one of the brief’s four assessment criteria names: understanding spoken multimodal texts. Your teacher will share the task-specific clarifications and level descriptors your school uses.

The page is written in English, and the model transcript is in English. Every strategy works the same way in your target language: see “Applying this in your target language” below.

Use this guide with the Criterion A revision notes and the Criterion A practice questions. For the wider course, see the IB MYP Language Acquisition course hub and the printable checklist.

What this unit covers

Skill	What you must be able to do	Typical emphasis (your teacher will confirm)
Explicit information	Pick out facts that are stated aloud: who, what, where, when, how much	All levels
Implicit information	Work out attitudes, opinions and meaning that are suggested, not stated	All levels; more weight as texts get harder
Conventions	Recognise features of the spoken text type and say why they are used	All levels
Audience and purpose	Say who the text is for and what it wants to achieve, with evidence	All levels
Speech and images together	Explain how visuals, on-screen text and sound support, add to or contrast with what is said	All levels
Personal response	Connect the ideas in the text to your own experience or culture	Mainly capable and proficient

What the brief says about Criterion A

The brief sets out four equally weighted criteria: A Listening, B Reading, C Speaking and D Writing. Each has eight achievement levels (1-8) in four bands. For Criterion A, the brief says you interpret and construct meaning from spoken multimodal text. It adds that you should understand how images and other spatial aspects, presented with the oral text, work together to convey ideas, values and attitudes.

In the eAssessment, the on-screen examination has three tasks and carries 24 marks for each of Criteria A, B and D. The brief says the mark distribution may vary by no more than three marks from the published blueprint. Speaking (Criterion C) is a separate, teacher-marked and IB-moderated examination. The eAssessment exam preparation page covers the structure; this page is about the listening skill itself.

What a spoken multimodal text is

A spoken multimodal text combines speech with at least one other mode. The other modes can be:

• images: photos, video footage, close-ups, maps, icons
• written words on screen: captions, subtitles, titles, a logo, a price banner
• sound: music, sound effects, background noise, silence
• the speaker’s delivery: tone, speed, stress, pauses, laughter
• body language in video: gesture, facial expression, where the speaker stands

Common examples are a video advert, a podcast extract, a short news report, an interview, a vlog, a public announcement, a voicemail and a documentary clip. The listening is only half of the task. The other modes carry meaning too.

Skill 1: explicit information

Explicit information is said directly. Questions ask you to identify, list or state it.

Method

1. Read every question before the recording starts. Underline the key word in each (a time, a price, a place).
2. Predict the type of answer: a number, a name, a day, a reason.
3. On the first listen, write short notes in the order you hear them. Questions usually follow the order of the text.
4. On the second listen, check anything you marked with “?”.

Watch for three traps.

• Paraphrase. The question says “cost”; the speaker says “you’ll pay”. The answer is rarely in the same words as the question.
• Self-correction. “We meet on Tuesday – no, sorry, Wednesday.” The last version is the answer.
• Distractors. A speaker mentions two times or two prices. Only one answers the question.

Skill 2: implicit information

Implicit information is suggested, not stated. You infer it from evidence. Questions use words such as infer, suggest, interpret or what does the speaker think.

Evidence for an inference can come from:

• word choice: “finally” suggests the speaker was waiting; “just a small fee” plays down a cost
• tone: an enthusiastic rise, a flat or sarcastic delivery
• what is left out: an advert that never mentions the price
• the visuals: a smiling crowd tells you the speaker wants you to feel the event is popular

An inference always needs a quoted or described piece of evidence. “The speaker is worried” earns little. “The speaker is worried because she repeats ‘I really hope’ and her voice drops” earns much more.

Skill 3: conventions

Conventions are the usual features of a text type. The brief lists conventions as an example of a related concept in language acquisition. Written text types are covered in text types and conventions; here the focus is on spoken ones.

Spoken text type	Typical conventions
Video advert	Hook question, direct address (“you”), slogan, call to action, logo at the end, upbeat music
Podcast	Greeting and show name, host introduces guest, turn-taking, questions, informal fillers, sign-off
News report	Headline first, neutral tone, facts and figures, named reporter, caption with place name
Voicemail	Name at the start, reason for calling, key details repeated, request to call back
Announcement	Attention signal (chime), who it is for, key information, repetition

Naming a convention is only the start. Say why it is used: “The advert repeats the web address twice so listeners can remember it.”

Skill 4: audience and purpose

The audience is who the text is for. The purpose is what it wants to do: inform, persuade, entertain, instruct, warn.

Find evidence in:

• register: informal (“hey, guys”) or formal (“good evening, residents”)
• content: prices for families, homework tips for students
• visuals: who appears on screen, what they are doing
• the ending: a call to action shows persuasion; a summary shows information

Skill 5: how speech and images work together

This is the part the brief stresses. For visuals in general, see multimodal texts and visuals. In listening, look for three relationships.

Relationship	What it means	Example
Reinforce	The image shows what the speech says	Speaker says “the park is quiet”; footage shows an empty path
Add	The image gives information the speech does not	A caption shows a date the speaker never says
Contrast	The image and speech seem to disagree, often for humour or criticism	Speaker says “relaxing holiday”; footage shows a queue in the rain

In an answer, name the relationship, give the specific image and the specific words, and explain the effect on the audience.

Worked example

Source A – original transcript written for Marlbridge. A 40-second video advert for a fictional town’s bike-share scheme. Visual notes are in square brackets.

[Opening shot: a queue of cars at traffic lights. Low, slow music.] VOICE-OVER: Stuck again? Every morning, the same traffic, the same wait. [Music changes to a fast guitar beat. A teenager releases a green bike with a phone app.] VOICE-OVER: Meet Rivermead Wheels. Two hundred bikes, forty docking stations, and your first thirty minutes are free. [On-screen text: “Day pass 3 euros – Year pass 40 euros”.] TEENAGER (smiling, riding past the queue): Honestly? I get to school before my brother gets out of the car park. [Final shot: logo and web address. The voice-over reads the address twice.] VOICE-OVER: Rivermead Wheels. Ride your own way.

(a) State two facts about the scheme that the voice-over gives. Any two of: there are two hundred bikes; there are forty docking stations; the first thirty minutes are free. These are explicit.

(b) What information does the on-screen text add? The prices: a day pass costs 3 euros and a year pass costs 40 euros. The voice-over never says the prices, so the text adds information. It also suggests value: 14 day passes (42 euros) already cost more than a year pass.

(c) What does the teenager’s comment suggest about the scheme? Give evidence. It suggests that cycling is faster than driving in town. She does not say “it is faster”; she implies it by joking that she arrives before her brother leaves the car park. Her smile and the shot of her passing the queue reinforce the point.

(d) Identify the audience and purpose, with evidence. The audience is young people and commuters in the town. Evidence: the teenager going to school, the direct question “Stuck again?” aimed at drivers. The purpose is to persuade people to join. Evidence: the slogan “Ride your own way”, the call to action with the web address read twice, and the free first thirty minutes.

(e) Explain how the music and images work with the speech. The slow music and the traffic queue reinforce “the same wait” and create frustration. The switch to fast guitar music when the bike appears signals a change of mood: the scheme is presented as the escape. The contrast between the two halves of the advert is the main persuasive device.

(f) Personal response. A strong answer compares the text with your own context: “In my town, most students are driven to school, so an advert like this would need safe cycle lanes to be convincing.” It links to the text and gives a reason.

Across the three proficiency levels

The brief names three levels for eAssessment but does not describe the listening texts at each level. In general, as you move from emergent towards proficient, expect:

• Emergent: short, clear texts on familiar topics; mostly explicit questions; visuals that strongly support the speech.
• Capable: longer texts with more than one speaker; some inference; visuals that add information.
• Proficient: less familiar topics, natural speed, opinions and humour; more inference, contrast between modes and questions on attitudes and values.

Check your own level with your teacher. The proficiency phases guide explains how levels and phases relate.

Applying this in your target language

• Practise with short authentic clips in your target language: adverts, weather forecasts, podcast intros.
• Build a list of paraphrase pairs (for example, words for “cost”, “open”, “cancelled”) because questions rarely repeat the recording’s words.
• Learn the discourse markers that signal a correction or a contrast, such as the equivalents of “actually”, “but” and “sorry, I mean”.
• Answer in the language the task asks for. If a question asks you to quote, copy the exact target-language words.

Common errors

• Writing the first time or price you hear, when the speaker corrects it later.
• Describing an image (“there is a bike”) without linking it to the speech or the audience.
• Stating an attitude with no evidence from words, tone or visuals.
• Naming a convention without saying why it is used.
• Giving one-word audience answers (“teenagers”) with no evidence.
• Ignoring music, captions and on-screen text because “it’s a listening task”.

Next steps

Condense this into the Criterion A revision notes, then test yourself with the Criterion A practice questions. For how all four criteria compare, read the four criteria in practice.

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 the on-screen examination mark (24) for comprehending spoken multimodal texts. All texts on this page are original.