METACOGNITIVE AWARENESS IN SECOND LANGUAGE LISTENING AND THE ROLE OF STRATEGY TRAINING

Year 2017, Volume: 7 , 93 - 97, 04.08.2017

Sezen Balaban Zeynep Camlıbel-acar

Abstract

Listening
is an essential skill and plays a crucial role in learning and using a second
language. It is stated by various researchers that learners become successful
and efficient listeners by means of employing strategies during listening
(Gilakjani & Ahmadi, 2011). This study included the aim to provide learners
with training in two different types of listening strategies, namely
note-taking and shadowing. While there is abundant information on L2 learners’
metacognitive awareness in listening, there is the need to analyze
metacognition in relation to different listening strategies. For this purpose,
the present study intends to investigate the influence of note-taking and
shadowing as two listening strategies on learners’ awareness of their own
second language listening process. The specific research question asked was: Is
there a significant difference in metacognitive listening awareness levels of
students who receive shadowing training and who receive note-taking training?
In order to gather data, the Meta-cognitive Awareness Listening Questionnaire
(MALQ) was implemented on 82 English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners who
were pre-intermediate level students at the language preparatory classes of a
state university in Turkey. Half of the participants had shadowing instruction
and practice, whereas the other half had note-taking instruction and practice
in their listening lessons for six weeks. All of the participants answered the
questionnaire both before and after the treatment period. In order to analyze
the data, means were calculated and statistical tests were run. To compare the
listening meta-cognitive awareness levels of students in the two groups, the
Mann Whitney U-test was employed. Results show a statistically significant
difference between the two groups on twelve items in various components of the
scale, with the advantage of shadowing group. 

Keywords

EFL listening, listening strategies, MALQ, shadowing, note-taking

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