Section 1 format, timing and the two-listening strategy

1. What Section 1 asks you to do

The Stage 2 EAL examination is one 160-minute e-exam in two sections. Section 1: Comprehending Multimodal Texts tests whether you can understand aural and visual texts and use information from them in your answers. Section 2: Extended Response asks you to read related texts and write an essay, persuasive piece or report. The subject outline says that in Section 1 you must use information from the texts, and that the texts may be discussions, interviews, broadcasts, podcasts, lectures or advertisements.

• Part A has one text, heard twice. There are no set pause times before or after it, so you decide how long to spend on the answers. Task types named in the outline: taking notes from a lecture, inserting information in a table, chart or diagram, responding to cues in the text, giving a summary, and planning the structure of an extended response.
• Part B has two texts on a shared theme. At least one has an aural component (a radio excerpt, an interview, an aural advertisement) or an aural and visual component (a trailer, a television interview, a recorded lecture). Here the focus shifts from understanding to analysing how language persuades: purpose, audience, reliability, techniques, context and a comparison.

The official exam is graded against the performance standards, not a published mark total. The Subject Assessment Advice (SAA) for 2022 printed part marks of 10 for Part A and 20 for Part B, and the 2023 SAA again showed Part B worth 20. This hub's practice papers use that 10 + 20 split for Section 1 and add a stated practice score of 30 for Section 2 (a 60-mark practice model, not an official SACE figure).

Keep the difference between the two parts clear in your head. The 2025 SAA asks teachers to make plain "the difference between understanding and analysing": Part A rewards accurate retrieval of what was said; Part B rewards explaining how and why a text works on its audience.

2. Planning 160 minutes with no reading time

EAL is printed in blue on the 2026 timetable (an e-exam) rather than red, so there is no separate reading time: the clock runs from the start. You control when each listening text plays by pressing a play button, and you can hear each text twice. That freedom is a trap if you have no plan, because it is easy to spend forty minutes polishing Part A answers worth a small share of the paper.

A sensible practice split (a suggestion, not an official SACE rule) is:

Two rules make the plan work. First, never press play before you have read every question for that text; the questions tell you what to listen for. Second, set a hard stop for each part and move on, returning only if time remains. Section 2 is where most of the practice marks sit and where markers repeatedly criticise responses that are "significantly under 500 words" (SAA 2022, 2023), and a rushed essay usually comes from losing time earlier.

Write the finish times on your scrap paper as soon as the exam opens. If the exam starts at 1.30 pm, your targets might read: Part A done by 1.55, Part B done by 2.50, essay plan done by 3.15, writing done by 4.00, final check until 4.10.

3. Before you press play: predicting from the questions

The few minutes before the first listening are the most valuable in Section 1. Read each question and decide what kind of answer it needs. The question word and the mark allocation together predict the answer: a number, a name, a list, a definition, a reason or a process.

Underline or highlight the keyword in each question (for example 'heat island', 'year', 'services', 'council'). In the recording these words, or close synonyms, act as alarms: when you hear them, the answer is usually within the next two or three sentences. Be ready for paraphrase. A question about "costs" may be answered when the speaker says "the fee is" or "you will pay"; a question about "problems" may be answered after "the challenge is" or "unfortunately".

Also notice the order of the questions. Part A questions normally follow the order of the text, so if you hear the answer to (c) you have probably missed (b) and should catch it on the second listening rather than panic.

Finally, draw a quick answer frame on scrap paper or in the notes box: (a) ____ / ____ ; (b) 1. ____ 2. ____ ; (c) tern __ whale __ etc. A frame turns listening into filling gaps.

4. The first listening: gist and structure

The 2025 SAA advises listening twice with different aims (the 2024 SAA simply reminds teachers that students can hear each text twice): the first time for overall meaning, the second for specific details, "rather than attempting to capture all information in one attempt". Students who try to write every word on the first listening miss the shape of the talk and then cannot find details later.

On the first listening, write only what lets you map the text:

• Who is speaking and to whom (a council officer to residents; a lecturer to first-year students; a principal to parents).
• Topic and purpose in a few words (e.g. "new recycling rules - inform + instruct").
• Signposts that divide the text into stages: "First of all", "Let's turn to", "Another reason", "So what can we do?", "To sum up".
• Any detail that matches a question and is easy to catch at once.

Consider this ORIGINAL transcript opening, constructed for practice: "Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to the Riverside Community Garden information session. I'm Dana, the volunteer coordinator. Tonight I'll cover three things: how plots are allocated, what members are expected to do, and the new water-saving rules that start in March."

After one hearing, a strong student's notes look like this: Dana - vol. coord. / new members? / 1 plots 2 expectations 3 water rules (Mar). That is enough: the speaker has given you the structure, and you now know where in the text each later question will be answered. Notice how much of the opening is a "preview" sentence; speakers in information sessions and lectures almost always announce their stages, and these previews are the map you need.

Keep your hand light on the first pass. Abbreviate, skip articles, and leave space under each stage heading for the details you will add on the second listening.

5. The second listening: catching the details

The second listening is targeted. You already know the structure, so you can wait for each question's section and listen closely. This is the moment for numbers, names, dates, lists, definitions and reasons. Before pressing play again, look at your answer frame and see which gaps remain.

Detail answers depend on accuracy. The 2022 marking guide for a distance question accepted the figure in numerals or in words, with or without the unit, but only the correct figure. That tells you what matters: get the exact number, then present it clearly with its unit.

Work through a short ORIGINAL example. The transcript continues: "Plots are three metres by four and cost forty-five dollars a year, though concession card holders pay twenty. Members must attend at least two working bees each season and keep paths clear. From the first of March, hoses are banned; you can use watering cans or the drip system, and the tanks near the shed are for members only."

Note the traps the text sets. "Three metres by four" is a size, not a price; "first of March" is a date that must not be confused with "two" or "three" elsewhere; "hoses are banned" names what is not allowed. Second-listening errors usually come from writing the first number you hear rather than the number linked to the question's keyword.

If a detail is still missing after the second listening, write your best reasoned answer from the context rather than leaving a blank; a partly correct answer can still earn a mark.

6. Writing your answers in the e-exam

The online exam has no fixed answer space, and the 2022 SAA warns that because "students can type as much as they want", they must "only answer the question and don't waste time including unnecessary information". Every SAA from 2022 to 2025 also returns to accuracy: subject-verb agreement, capital letters at the start of sentences, full stops, and typing errors that "impact on meaning".

Use this short routine for each Part A answer:

• Count the marks. One mark usually means one point; a 3-mark list wants three separate items. Put each item on its own line or separate them with semicolons.
• Answer in the speaker's information, not your general knowledge. If the speaker gives two reasons for flooding and you know a third, the third earns nothing.
• Choose phrase or sentence deliberately. For lists and figures, a clear phrase is enough ("Install focused streetlights."). For "what is" or "why" questions, a short complete sentence shows understanding ("A heat island is a city area that becomes much hotter than nearby rural land because hard surfaces store heat.").
• Proofread for meaning. Check numbers twice, then check verbs: "The program help students" must be "The program helps students"; "There is three sessions" must be "There are three sessions".

Typing speed matters. The SAA notes that the online format "benefits students who are competent at typing and using word shortcuts". Practise with the keyboard you will use, learn shortcuts for copy, paste and undo, and turn off any habit of relying on autocorrect, which will not be there to fix spelling.

Finally, use the dictionary tool the SAA describes when a question word is unclear. The 2022 SAA recorded students confusing "context" with "content"; a ten-second dictionary check would have saved those marks.

7. Building listening stamina before November

Listening comprehension improves with frequent, short, purposeful practice rather than occasional long sessions. Build a weekly routine across Term 3 and Term 4 that mirrors the exam's two-listening structure.

Choose varied sources: university open lectures, public radio interviews, council or school information sessions, museum audio guides, and short documentary segments. Vary accents and speeds; Australian speakers often reduce words ("gonna", "'cause") and use local vocabulary ("arvo", "uni", "footy"), so practise hearing natural speech, not only scripted recordings.

Keep an error log. After each drill, note what went wrong: a misheard number (fifteen/fifty), a missed signpost, a list item you merged with another, a verb you mistyped. Patterns appear within two or three weeks, and those patterns tell you exactly what to target.

Past examinations are useful, but the SAA repeatedly cautions against assuming "the questions, skills, and content will be the same every year". Practise every task type in the outline, including tables, summaries and planning tasks, even if a recent paper did not use them.