Self-assessing Metacognitive Listening Strategies: Do They Have any Effect on Listening Comprehension of L2 Learners?

Subject Areas : Research in English Language Pedagogy

Hiwa Weisi ¹ , Reza Mirderikvand ² , Ahmad Goodarzi ³

1 - English Language Department, Faculty of Humanities, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran
2 - English Language Department, Razi University, Kermashan, Iran
3 - Department of English Language, Faculty of Humanities, Ayatollah Ozma Borujerdi University, Borujerd, Iran

Received: 2023-12-04 Accepted : 2024-09-17 Published : 2024-10-19

Keywords: Languaging, Listening Comprehension, Metacognitive Awareness Listening Questionnaire, Metacognitive Listening Strategies, Written Languaging,

Abstract :

Listening comprehension, despite having been attended recently, has been construed as the Cinderella of language teaching for long. Recently, the attention has shifted to the metacognitive processes involved in listening comprehension. Hence, some researchers offer using a written self-assessment checklist for assessing and fostering metacognitive awareness of listening strategies; however, dearth of research in this area has deterred practitioners from making thorough conclusions. Thus, the present study was an attempt to probe into the effect of self-assessing metacognitive listening strategies (MLSs) on listening comprehension of Iranian English as a second/foreign (L2) learners. To this aim, using convenient sampling method, 40 Iranian intermediate EFL learners piloted and assigned into two groups: the experimental group (n=20) and the conventional one (n=20). The former used the written self-assessment checklist to generate written languaging during different phases of teaching listening while the latter was not involved in producing written languaging. Both groups took the listening section of the IELTS and Metacognitive Awareness Listening Questionnaire (MALQ) before and after the study. After 14 sessions of treatment, both groups took the listening post-test and MALQ. Results indicated that listening accompanied with written languaging significantly improved awareness of MLSs and gains in listening comprehension. The outperformance of the experimental group over the conventional one was in line with the findings of previous studies on written languaging and process-based approaches to listening. The findings offer some pedagogical implications for L2 teachers and teacher trainers to take advantage of some tools such as a self-assessment checklist to get students to produce written languaging and hence deepen their understanding of MLSs and listening skill. After 14 sessions of treatment, both groups took the listening post-test and MALQ. Results indicated that listening accompanied with written languaging significantly improved awareness of MLSs and gains in listening comprehension. The outperformance of the experimental group over the conventional one was in line with the findings of previous studies on written languaging and process-based approaches to listening. The findings offer some pedagogical implications for L2 teachers and teacher trainers to take advantage of some tools such as a self-assessment checklist to get students to produce written languaging and hence deepen their understanding of MLSs and listening skill.

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