The Effect of Metacognitive Instruction on L2 Learners’ Listening Abilities and Beliefs about Listening

Abstract

Framed in metacognition and sociocultural theory, the present study aims at probing the effect of metacognitive instruction on the learners’ perceptions about listening in one hand, and examining whether this pedagogical sequence of teaching listening may lead to the learners’ listening development in the course of one semester on the other. To gather desirable data, 90 (50 males and 40 females) young Iranian EFL (English as a foreign language) learners, who were studying English in a private language institute, were the potential participants of the study. Data was gathered through semi-structured interview, open-ended questionnaire, as well as KET (Key English Test) listening test. Findings highlighted the occurrence of changes in the learners’ beliefs about listening at the end of the term after they received metacognitive listening instruction. Similarly, quantitative data analysis of the pre-and post-test indicated that the participants in the experimental group outperformed those of the control group. Results revealed that metacognitive listening instruction seems to be more beneficial for less-skilled (novice) listeners to take advantage of a process-based listening instruction to improve their listening abilities.