PTE Exam or the Pearson Test of English Academic is an English proficiency exam taken by candidates who wish to go abroad for higher studies or acquire a job in a native English-speaking country. A candidate is required to take the PTE Exam on a computer, the duration for which is three hours. The exam has three sections to test three different skills – Speaking & Writing Skills, Reading Skills, and Listening Skills. The scores for the exam are declared to the candidates within 4-5 business days.
PTE Write From Dictation is a section of the PTE that tests a candidate’s ability to listen and write. How to write from dictation in the PTE exam? The task is simple; it requires the candidates to listen carefully to what is being spoken and write their answers in the exact order.
How to Score in Write From Dictation in PTE: Scoring Pattern and Marking Structure
The scoring of Write From Dictation mostly depends on the correct words that the candidate is writing. All correct words score 1 point, and incorrect or misspelt words get a 0.
For example, in the sentence: “Your summary should be as clear and concise as possible”,
if the candidate writes “Your summary should be as clear and concise as posiblle”, they will get 0 for misspelling the word ‘possible’ as ‘posiblle’. And if the candidate writes all the words of the sentence correctly, they score on all of them.
PTE Write From Dictation scoring is carried out in a manner wherein the candidate still gets scored even if they have missed certain words of a sentence. If the candidate has written all the keywords or they have written most of them, they will get scores for those.
For instance, take the sentence “Observers waited nervously and held their breath for the concert”. If the candidate writes the keywords ‘observers’, ‘nervously’, and ‘concert’ correctly and misses out on a few less important words, the candidate has a chance of scoring well.
Also Read: Most Repeated Write from Dictation Question in PTE: Answering Write From Dictation
PTE Write From Dictation marks are awarded for each word in the sentence spoken. The marking criteria vary depending on the sentence structure and the words in it. Take a look at the sentence “Undergraduate students may participate in specific stages within the program.” In this sentence, words like ‘undergraduate’ and ‘participate’ have more marks than ‘may’ and ‘stages’.
Therefore, it is the length of the word in a sentence and the difficulty level of the spelling that comes with length that ensures more marks for the candidate. It should be understood by the candidate that they are writing the word correctly as the incorrect word will not be marked or scored well.
How many Write From Dictation in PTE Marks Affect the Scores?
The section of Write From Dictation has 3 or 4 questions in the PTE Exam. The audio for each of these questions has a gap of a few seconds between them. There is no time limit to answer the write from dictation questions.
As the section requires the candidate to listen to the audio and write down the sentence as spoken, it adds to the scores for listening and writing part of the whole scoring card of a candidate. The candidate will score more on these components if they have a firm grasp on their listening and writing abilities, an extensive vocabulary and flawless spelling skills.
Also Read: Write from Dictation in PTE: Question Format, Details, and Scoring Tips
How to Score in Write From Dictation in PTE: Tips and Strategies to Follow
#1. Improve Your Listening Ability
To improve your listening ability, you must engage in listening to various audios in English. Podcasts prove to be more helpful in increasing the listening ability as it is a digital audio file with no visual cues that you would have to infer.
Listening to a podcast of your interest would be more beneficial as you would be even more engaged in listening.
#2. Take Rest and Sleep Good
Do not overdo and rack your brain too much. Complete rest and a good amount of sleep are necessary for full focus and attention while taking the exam. It is understood that any candidate would be nervous before taking the exam but this nervousness should not interfere so much that you become unable to perform as expected on the actual exam day. Eat good, have enough rest, and be prepared.
#3. Take Mock Tests
Mock tests would prepare you for your final exam. Questions from a mock test will also give you an idea of how the exam is conducted and where you stand in terms of scoring. The more you practise by taking mock tests, the more you will progress with your listening and writing abilities.
#4. Place the Words in Correct Order
You can easily get confused in recapitulating the correct order of words in the sentences in your head. With a clear headspace, arrange the sentence in your mind and then write it on the scratchpad. Once you are sure of the final answer, you can type it out.
#5. No Time Limit
The Write From Dictation section of PTE has no limit set to it. This means that the candidate can focus on one question at a time. You cannot afford to make the mistake of listening and writing simultaneously, as it would lead you to miss out on words, affecting the overall marks and scoring for your exam.
This is one of the biggest and commonest mistakes people make while attempting to write from the dictation section. This can be easily avoided if you only concentrate on one thing at a time. Listen to the audio first, with full concentration on each word. After you have understood the audio completely, you can proceed to write your answer.
#6. Write First Type Later
You may have the best ability to type fast, but it is suggested that you utilise the scratchpad to write down whatever you have heard on the audio. When you are done writing and rearranging the sentence, then type out the final answer.
Also Read: PTE Academic Exam Format: Eligibility Criteria, Exam Format, Registration Process Overview
#7. Make Use of Scratchpad/Erasable Notepad
While taking the PTE exam, the scratchpad proves to be extremely helpful for the candidates. The scratchpad is meant for writing rough answers before typing the final version on the computer. You can write again and again on the scratchpad, make all the required changes, proofread all the answers and then type them out on the computer. All the queries and doubts about the correct answer sequence can be cleared out with the help of the scratchpad.
#8. Abbreviate Words on the Scratchpad
While writing the answers on the scratchpad, there are no rules to follow through. Hence, the candidate can always abbreviate the answers the way they want to. For example, you can abbreviate the word ‘developmental’ as ‘devel-al’ or the word ‘establishment’ to ‘estb.’
Another helpful trick to use is to look at the pronunciation. There might be many words that you do not know the spelling of. In cases like this you can look at the pronunciation of that particular word and break it down into smaller units. For example, the word ‘correspondence’ can be broken down as ‘cor – us – pon – dense’. When broken down, the word might not make much sense, but it will help you understand the actual word that was spoken.
#9. Spellcheck, Grammar Check, and Punctuation Check
When you are typing the final answer in the space provided, make sure that the first word of the sentence is capitalised. Also, the sentence should end with a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark, whatever is required in the answer. The grammar should also be checked by you before final submission. Spellings of the easiest words should be rechecked too. Do not mistakenly type the abbreviated version of a word while typing in the answer.
Also Read: PTE Tutorials for Reading, Listening, Writing and Speaking: Know What to Learn from it
#10. Review the Answers
Reviewing and going through all the answers is of utmost importance. Before the final submission, review all of the answers that you have typed. The last minute check can help you out with minor mistakes that you might have made. Take a look at the scratchpad, cross check and verify the answers. See that you have not missed out on any of the words in any sentences.
Once you are done checking and rechecking, submit the exam.
Conclusion
All these strategies are extremely helpful in scoring decent marks for your Write from Dictation exercise in the PTE Exam. While applying these strategies, you should also learn from the experts the best way to score decently in the exam.
The subject matter experts at IELTS Ninja will help you streamline your preparations for PTE. They have a team of experienced mentors who help you solve the doubts and improve your weak areas in the subject. You can book a masterclass today and experience their unique pedagogical methods for yourself.
Also Read: Can We Extend the PTE Exam Date? Know The Upcoming Dates and How To Book It
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