CELPIP wiki

CELPIP Listening Part 5: Listening to a Discussion (Video)

Part 5 is the only part delivered as video: three people discussing a plan or issue. With 8 questions and three voices, keeping each opinion attached to the right person is the entire skill.

Quick answer

Three speakers, one job: keep opinions attached to owners.

Short answer: CELPIP Listening Part 5 (Listening to a Discussion) is the only video-based part: three speakers discuss a workplace or daily-life matter, followed by 8 questions. The questions overwhelmingly test attribution — who holds which view, who objects, who changes their mind — so notes need three columns from the first seconds, one per speaker.

The video helps and hurts: faces make speakers easier to distinguish, but watching replaces noting. Treat the visuals as a name tag, not as content, and keep the pen moving.

Strategy

A practical Part 5 routine that survives single-play audio

1. Open three columns

Label a column per speaker in the first seconds - initials are enough.

2. Log stances, not sentences

A plus, minus, or two-word position under the right column per turn.

3. Track the shifts

Someone concedes or switches sides mid-discussion; mark the change.

4. Close with the outcome

Note what the group converged on, and who still disagreed.

Note routine: 3 columns by speaker -> stance marks per turn -> flag the mind-change -> group outcome + holdout.

Question pattern

Eight questions, and most of them are who-questions

Tied with Part 1 as the largest listening part, Part 5 asks who suggested it, who disagreed and why, whose position changed, and what was agreed. A distractor is usually a real opinion assigned to the wrong face. Column notes convert those traps into free points.

What the 8 questions test

Each speaker's position, reasons for agreement or objection, mid-discussion changes of mind, and the group's final direction.

What to review after practice

For each miss, check whether the opinion was logged under the wrong column or the mind-change was missed; both are note-discipline fixes.

Common mistakes

Part 5 answers usually weaken in the same three ways

Mistake

Watching instead of noting

The video absorbs attention and turns three clear voices into one unattributed memory.

Mistake

One-stream notes

Notes without speaker columns cannot answer who-questions no matter how complete they are.

Mistake

Missing the concession

A speaker's okay, that's fair changes their position, and the question asks for the after, not the before.

What to do next

Run one timed attempt, then review the transcript, not the audio

Practice this part under timing

Run Part 5 inside a timed listening set so the single-play pressure and note routine get tested together.

Open listening practice

Review with transcripts

After the attempt, locate the clue sentence behind every miss in the transcript before replaying anything.

Open transcript practice

FAQ

Part 5 questions

How many questions does CELPIP Listening Part 5 have?

Eight questions, tied with Part 1 as the largest listening part - and the only one presented as a video.

Does the video part need a different strategy?

Yes: use faces only to identify who is talking, and keep eyes down on three-column notes otherwise. Watching the discussion like a show is the most common cause of attribution misses.

What if two speakers agree with each other?

Log the agreement under both columns; questions distinguish between the person who proposed an idea and the person who merely supported it.

Related guides

Keep the Part 5 discussion loop moving