Listening Skills: Listening for signal words for listing

Listing is a common-used way to organize and develop ideas. When you listen to speeches, lectures, or conversations, you often need to identify and take notes of a list of items, such as a list of examples, a list of problems, a list of suggestions, or a list of benefits. One strategy that can help you get the relevant information is to listen for signal words for listing.

Signal words for listing are words or expressions used to indicate that a speaker will list items one by one.

Usually expressions such as one, first, firstly, first of all, to begin with, and to start with are used to signal the beginning of listing.

Expressions like two, second, secondly, next, another, the other, moreover, furthermore, in addition, besides, and what’s more are used for the following listed items.

And expressions like the last, the final, lastly, the last but not the least, and finally are often used to signal the end of the listing.

And sometimes apart from using the above-mentioned signal words, the total number of listed items may be mentioned first, as in the following example:

Let’s look at three of the most important environmental problems. The first problem is water…. Our second problem is the animals…. And the last problem on our list, but not the least important, is the weather.

So when you are listening to materials including listed items, you should listen first for the total number of listed items, if it is given, and then bear that number in mind to make sure that you will not miss any items.

If one of the listed items is of special importance, then expressions such as above all, the most important, obvious / noteworthy, and adjectives like main, vital, significant, chief, central, principal, primary, major, distinctive, and the –est forms of adjectives can be used to indicate that the mentioned item is especially important.

If the listening material you listen to is a conversation, then apart from the above signal words, questions like Have you got anything / any ideas? and Any ideas for…? may also serve as signals for the beginning of listing, and questions like Anything else? and What other … do you have? may also indicate that there are more items to follow. Therefore you should also be alert to these questions.

In the following exercises you are going to listen to a radio program in which some of the above mentioned signal words for listing are used. Identify the signal words, and pay close attention to what follows the signal words in the program.