Assessing listening skills with the GSE

Leonor Corradi
Leonor Corradi
A teacher standing next to a student who is sat down, he has a pen and is gesturing to her work on the table.
Reading time: 4 minutes

In today’s interconnected world, effective communication in English is more crucial than ever. As educators and language learners seek to measure and improve English proficiency, a resource like the Global Scale of English (GSE) offers a valuable framework for assessment. This blog post will explore how the GSE can be used to assess listening skills, providing insights into how it also helps tailor instruction and support language development.

For listening skills, the GSE focuses on how well learners can understand spoken English in different contexts. It assesses comprehension at varying levels of complexity:

Understanding simple information: At lower levels, learners are expected to understand basic information, such as simple instructions or everyday topics. The GSE provides learning objectives for how well learners can grasp essential details.

Understanding main ideas: As proficiency grows, learners should be able to identify main ideas and key points in more complex spoken texts, such as conversations and broadcasts. The GSE outlines how well learners can extract important information from various sources.

Understanding detailed information: At advanced levels, learners are expected to comprehend detailed and nuanced information, including implicit meaning and speaker intent. The GSE describes the level of detail and depth of understanding required at these stages.

The GSE also shows how students engage in different operations of listening, from global comprehension, recognizing information and identifying specific information to extracting information. By taking this into account, teachers can monitor students’ progress and assess their listening skills. An example will show this in action.

Let’s consider a level, say GSE 30-35 (equivalent to low A2 on the CEFR) and focus on how students process information. When checking a listening activity, rather than simply focusing on whether the answers are correct or incorrect, we can analyze our learners using the GSE and see what progress they are making and what we need to do as teachers to help them move on. Heres how:

Learning objectives

GSE

Date 1

Date 2

Date 3

Date 4

Can understand basic information about someone when introduced to them using simple language.

28

 

 

 

 

Can recognize phrases and content words related to basic personal and family information.

30

 

 

 

 

Can identify simple information in a short video, provided that the visual supports this information and the delivery is slow and clear.

30

 

 

 

 

Can extract key factual information - prices, times and dates - from short clear, simple announcements.

30

 

 

 

 

Can identify basic factual information in short, simple dialogues or narratives on familiar everyday topics, if spoken slowly and clearly.

32

 

 

 

 

Can understand key information about arrangements in simple dialogues spoken slowly and clearly.

32

 

 

 

 

Can understand information related to people's daily routines.

32

 

 

 

 

Can understand the main information in short, simple dialogues about familiar activities, if spoken slowly and clearly.

33

 

 

 

 

Can identify key information from short audio recordings, if spoken slowly and clearly.

33

 

 

 

 

Can understand the main information in simple conversations about hobbies and interests.

34

 

 

 

 

Can extract key factual information such as prices, times and dates from a recorded phone message.

35

 

 

 

 

Can recognize some fixed expressions used to confirm information.

35

 

 

 

 

Can identify specific information in short, simple dialogues in which speakers make arrangements to do something, if spoken slowly and clearly.

35

 

 

 

 
We should analyze the items in the listening activity using the following criteria, criteria that we can find by analyzing the learning objectives
  • Should there be any support?
  • Are learners being asked to use a number of different listening modes?

Every class will include a range of different abilities: some students get all of the questions right, whereas others may not. In this case, the GSE provides teachers with an extremely valuable tool to assess learners’ performance.

We may see that students are performing well at the understanding and recognition level but still find it hard to identify and extract specific information. Will we solve this by simply giving them more listening activities? Well, no. To support them in identifying and extracting specific information, we need to help them understand and identify clues in a text. Analyzing the written audioscripts is the best way to help learners understand what they are listening to.

We can also use the same table, above, to record information each time we do a listening activity.

Students write the date and compare results to the ones they fill out in the future. This way, they can truly see progress and if they’ve mastered a particular learning objective, something hard for them to see, even if we tell them so.

Utilizing the GSE

The Global Scale of English provides a structured and detailed approach to assessing speaking and listening skills. By using the GSE framework, teachers can offer precise, level-appropriate feedback and tailor their instruction to meet learners' needs. This not only enhances the learning experience but also ensures that learners effectively develop their English communication skills. Whether you're a teacher or a learner, embracing the GSE can lead to more targeted, effective, and meaningful language assessment.

Explore the teaching resources available at GSE to support learning, including tools like our GSE Toolkit. 

Read our other post 'How the GSE can help teachers personalize activities'.

Learn more about the GSE

More blogs from Pearson

  • A woman on a laptop with headphones on and writing down on paper
    Are online checks reliable for English tests?
    By Alice Bazzi
    Reading time: 3 minutes

    Identity verification is one of the most critical steps in any English language test. For institutions and governments, the question is clear: can online ID checks really be trusted? With modern technology, the answer is simply yes. And, in many cases, they are even more robust than manual checks. 

    PTE Express uses advanced biometric verification, combining facial recognition with real-time ID validation. Candidates are required to present official identification, which is cross-checked using automated systems that detect inconsistencies, fraudulent markers and different forms of tampering. 

    What makes this approach particularly powerful is the consistency. Unlike human-led checks, which can vary depending on conditions, staff training or volume, AI-driven verification applies the same rigorous standard to every candidate. 

    Additionally, liveness detection technology ensures that the person taking the tests are physically present and not using any static image or recording. This eliminates common fraud risks that are associated with impersonation.

  • two business people sat together talking
    How to motivate employees to learn a new language
    By Charlotte Guest
    Reading time: 4 minutes

    Global business has made multilingual communication more valuable than ever, but simply offering language training doesn't guarantee that employees will use it. Many organizations invest in language learning programs only to see participation decline after the first few weeks as workloads increase and priorities shift. The most successful companies recognize that motivation, not just access to training, is what drives results. 

    The key is to make language learning relevant, social and easy to incorporate into the working week. Here are some ways that managers and HR teams can encourage long-term engagement.

    Link learning to career development

    Employees are more motivated when they understand why learning a language matters. Explain how language skills can support promotions, international projects, business travel or working with global clients. Include language development in performance reviews or personal development plans to reinforce its value.

    Schedule time for learning

    Busy schedules are one of the biggest barriers to learning. Consider setting aside 30 minutes each week for employees to complete lessons during work hours. This demonstrates that learning is part of the company's culture rather than an extra task to fit in after work.

    Make learning social

    People are more likely to stay motivated when they're learning together. Try activities such as:

    • Weekly lunchtime conversation clubs where employees practice speaking in a relaxed setting
    • "Language Buddy" schemes that pair learners for short practice sessions.
    • Team vocabulary challenges, where departments compete to learn themed business phrases each week. These activities encourage accountability while making learning more enjoyable.
  • Students sat together at a table working together
    Mind the gap in your English lesson planning
    By Ehsan Gorji
    Reading time: 4 minutes

    Professional English teachers love lesson planning. They can always teach a class using their full wardrobe of methods, techniques and games, but a detailed plan means they can deliver a richer and more modern lesson – after all, a teacher usually plans using their full potential.

    Whenever I observe a teacher in their classroom, I try to outline a sketch of their English lesson plan according to what is going on. I am careful to observe any "magic moments" and deviations from the written plan and note them down separately. Some teachers seize these magic moments; others do not. Some teachers prepare a thorough lesson plan; others are happy with a basic to-do list. There are also teachers who have yet to believe the miracles a lesson plan could produce for them, and therefore their sketch does not live up to expectations.

    The "language chunks" mission

    After each classroom observation, I'll have a briefing meeting with the English teacher. If the observation takes place in another city and we cannot arrange another face-to-face meeting, we'll instead go online and discuss. At this point, I'll elicit more about the teacher's lesson plan and see to what extent I have been an accurate observer.

    I have found that Language Inspection is the most frequent gap in lesson planning by Iranian teachers. Most of them fully know what type of class they will teach, they'll set SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timely) objectives, consider the probable challenges, prepare high-quality material, break the language systems into chunks and artistically engineer the lesson. Yet, they often do not consider how those language chunks will perform within a set class time – and their mission fails.

    The Language Inspection stage asks a teacher to go a bit further with their lesson planning and look at the level of difficulty of various pieces of content in the lesson. Is there enough balance so that students can successfully meet the lesson objectives? If the grammar, vocabulary and skills are all above a student's ability, then the lesson will be too complex. Language Inspection allows a thoughtful teacher to closely align the objective with the difficulty of the grammar, vocabulary and skill. Like a train running along a fixed track, Language Inspection can help make sure that our lessons run smoothly.

    Lesson planning made easy with the GSE Teacher Toolkit

    If a lesson consists of some or many language chunks, those are the vocabulary, grammar and learning objectives we expect to become learning outcomes by the end of the class or course. While Language Analysis in a lesson plan reveals the vocabulary, grammar and learning objectives, in Language Inspection each chunk is examined to determine what they really do, how they can be presented, and – more importantly – to assess the learning outcomes required.

    The Global Scale of English (GSE) Teacher Toolkit can be a teacher's faithful lesson-planning companion, especially when it comes to Language Inspection. It's simple to use, yet modern and exciting. It is detailed and delivers everything you need.

    To use it, all you need is an internet connection on your mobile phone, tablet, laptop or PC. Launch the GSE Teacher Toolkit and you'll have the ability to delve into the heart of your lesson. You'll be able to identify any gaps in a lesson – much like seeing the gap between a train and a platform's edge.

    Ask yourself questions such as:

    • Does this grammar form belong in this lesson?
    • Do I need to include some vocabulary to fill this gap?
    • Is it time to move forward because my students are mastering this skill earlier than expected?

    The GSE Teacher Toolkit gives you the ability to assess your lesson for these gaps – whether small or large – in your teaching. By doing this, you can plan thoughtfully and clearly to better support your students. It really is an opportunity to "mind the gap" in your English lesson planning.