CELPIP Listening Part 5: Listening to a Discussion
Can you follow three people discussing an issue — on video — and keep track of who holds which position as the discussion evolves?
How this part works
The one part with VIDEO: you watch three people discuss a workplace or community issue, played once, then answer questions. With three voices, most questions are who-thinks-what, who-agrees-with-whom, and how someone's position shifts.
The one thing that scores 9+
The moment the speakers appear, give each a one-letter label and note their opening stance. Then track MOVEMENT: who concedes, who doubles down, who proposes the compromise. Eight questions across three speakers means attribution errors are fatal here even more than in Part 2. The video helps — posture and nodding often telegraph agreement before it's spoken — so watch, don't just listen.
A worked example
Original — the audio is summarised so you can see the trap on paper. On the real test you'd hear it once, not read it.
What you'd hear: Three colleagues discuss switching the office to a four-day week. Priya is enthusiastic from the start. Tom worries clients will get slower responses. Grace is unsure, asks both for evidence, and by the end proposes a three-month trial — which Tom says he could accept if client emails are covered on Fridays.
How does Tom feel about the four-day week by the end of the discussion?
- He fully supports it with no conditions
- He accepts a trial if client coverage is arranged
- He remains completely opposed
- He suggests the three-month trial himself
Answer: He accepts a trial if client coverage is arranged
Why: Tom's position MOVES — from objection to conditional acceptance — and the question targets the endpoint. "Remains opposed" rewards people who stopped tracking him after his first statement; "suggests the trial himself" mis-attributes Grace's idea to him.
What caps people at Level 7
- Losing track of who's who when two speakers have similar voices — label them immediately.
- Freezing a speaker at their opening position and missing the shift.
- Ignoring the video and treating it as audio-only; visual agreement cues are free marks.
Practise this part under real conditions
Reading tactics only gets you so far — single-play listening is a habit you build. Drill the real question formats in free CELPIP Listening practice, sit the full section in the free CELPIP mock, and see what your score means in the CELPIP score decoder. The whole test's structure is in the CELPIP format guide.