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This study investigates the effect of activating metacognitive strategies on the listening performance of English as a foreign language (EFL) university students and explores the impact of such strategies on their metacognitive awareness of the listening task. The participants were N = 50 students of English literature at the state university of Qom, Iran. After screening the participants from among 60 students, they were randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups. The experimental group (n = 25) received the metacognitive strategy instruction based on the models proposed by Vandergrift and Tafaghodtari (2010), while the control group (n = 25) received just the listening input with no strategy instruction. The listening module of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) was utilized to evaluate the listening performance of the participants in both groups in pretests and posttests, and the Metacognitive Awareness Listening Questionnaire (MALQ) instrument was applied to measure the metacognitive awareness of the treatment group before and after the treatment. The results of the IELTS test revealed that the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group on the posttest and according to the analysis of the MALQ instrument there was a significant improvement in the students’ level of metacognitive awareness after strategy instruction. The interview results in the discussion section also supported the findings and shed more light on the details.
This study is an attempt to gain new insight, on behalf of science teachers, into the integration of metacognition (MC) into science education. Participants were 44 elementary school science teachers attending an in-service teacher-training (INST) program. Data collection was carried out by several data sources: recordings of all verbal discussions that took place during the program, teachers’ written reflections, and semi-structured individual interviews. Our study provides a qualitative analysis of the 44 teachers’ voices as a group, as well as a detailed case-study narrative analysis of three teachers’ stories The findings show that the teachers’ intuitive (pre-instructional) thinking was incomplete and unsatisfactory and their voices were skeptical and against the integration of MC. After teachers had mastered the notion of MC in the INST program, the following outcomes have been identified: (a) teachers expressed amazement at how such an important and relevant issue had been almost invisible to them; (b) teachers identified the affective character of metacognitive experiences as the most significant facet of MC, which acts as a mediator between teaching and learning; (c) the complete lack of learning materials addressing MC and the absence of supportive in-classroom guidance were identified as the major obstacles for its implementation; (d) teachers expressed a willingness to continue their professional development toward expanding their abilities to integrate MC as an inseparable component of the science curriculum. The implications of the findings for professional development courses in the field of MC are discussed.
We know that metacognitive students are successful in school (Sternberg Instructional Science 26:127–140, 1998). However, despite the recognition of the role of metacognition in student success, limited research has been done to explore
teachers’ explicit awareness of their metacognition and their ability to think about, talk about, and write about their thinking
(Zohar Teaching and Teacher Education 15:413-429, 1999). Therefore, the current study investigates teachers’ understanding of metacognition and their pedagogical understanding
of metacognition, and the nature of what it means to teach students to be metacognitive. One hundred-five graduate students
in education participated in this study. The data analysis results, using mixed research method, suggest that the participant’s
metacognitive knowledge had a significant impact on his/her pedagogical understanding of metacognition. The results revealed
that teachers who have a rich understanding of metacognition report that teaching students to be metacognitive requires a
complex understanding of both the concept of metacognition and metacognitive thinking strategies.
KeywordsMetacognition-Metacognitive thinking-Teachers-Instruction-Learning-Pedagogical understanding
Metacognitive knowledge – what students know about themselves, the tasks they complete and their learning strategies – is essential for successful self-directed learning. It follows that those who work in self-directed learning settings need to stimulate their students’ metacognitive development. Previous research in metacognition has defined its characteristics and contribution to language learning, but little has been written about how it develops or can be promoted. This paper seeks to fill that gap by reporting on a three-year study involving more than 400 Japanese students of English which investigated the development of their metacognitive knowledge.The paper will first discuss research in metacognitive knowledge as it relates to language learning. Then, it will describe the aims and nature of the learning opportunities provided in the study before describing the research methodology. Thirdly, the results of analysing quantitative and qualitative data gathered will be presented and discussed. The data provide evidence of change in the students’ beliefs about assuming control of their learning, and reflect increases in their ability to plan, monitor and evaluate their learning. It is argued that distinctive elements in the learning structure contributed to the growth of students’ metacognitive knowledge.
The promotion of autonomous approaches to language learning is justified on ideological, psychological and economic grounds (Crabbe, 1993: p. 443). This paper argues that before any intervention occurs, it is necessary to gauge learners' readiness for the changes in behaviour and beliefs which autonomy implies. Firstly the paper presents data on learner beliefs collected in a study which involved the development and administration of a questionnaire on learner beliefs about language learning. Factor analysis of subjects' responses to the questionnaire revealed the existence of six dimensions underlying the responses. The paper then discusses each factor in turn, examining the claims that have been made in the literature about the role that factor plays in language learning and exploring the hypothesized relationship of each factor to autonomous language learning behaviour. The paper concludes by reiterating the importance of investigating the beliefs which learners hold. These beliefs are likely to reflect learners' “readiness” for autonomy.
The aim of this study was to investigate the role of English as Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ metacognitive listening strategies awareness and podcast-use readiness in using podcasting technology for learning English as a foreign language. One hundred and forty-one EFL students completed Metacognitive Awareness Listening Questionnaire (MALQ) that assessed their awareness and perceived use of listening strategies in five components including planning-evaluation, directed attention, person knowledge, mental translation, and problem solving. They also completed a questionnaire that assessed their readiness to use podcasting in terms of familiarity, attitude, and experience. Information on participants’ frequency of podcast use for learning English, frequency of the internet use, and digital device ownership was also obtained. The result of the analysis revealed that podcasting use was significantly related to metacognitive listening strategies awareness in general and its entire components except mental translation strategies while the strongest correlation was found with problem solving strategies (r = .49, p < 0.01). Podcasting use was also found to be significantly related to perceived podcast-use readiness and internet use hours. Further, multiple regressions showed that perceived podcast-use readiness, problem solving, and person knowledge -in order of power prediction- were good predictors of podcasting use for learning English as a foreign language.
We constructed a 52-item inventory to measure adults′ metacognitive awareness. Items were classified into eight subcomponents subsumed under two broader categories, knowledge of cognition and regulation of cognition. Two experiments supported the two-factor model. Factors were reliable (i.e., α = .90) and inter-correlated (r = .54). Experiment 2 reported the knowledge of cognition factor was related to pre-test judgments of monitoring ability and performance on a reading comprehension test, but was unrelated to monitoring accuracy. Implications for educational assessment and future research were discussed.
This article presents findings from research into listening strategies and tactics of ESL learners from the People’s Republic of China studying on an intensive English language and academic skills programme in a university in Singapore. This research makes a distinction between strategies and tactics, with the term ‘strategy’ referring to a general approach and ‘tactic’ meaning a specific action or step. In this article I identify the cognitive and metacognitive strategies and tactics used by 16 ESL learners, and compare the way high- and low-ability listeners applied them. I specifically examine the frequency and the types of strategies and tactics used. To find evidence of these cognitive processes, retrospective verbal reports were analysed. The study showed that the high-ability listeners used more strategies and tactics than the low- ability ones. They were also able to vary their application of tactics within each strategy. Both groups used more cognitive strategies and tactics than metacognitive ones, but the low-ability listeners were particularly poor at it. In addition to reporting the results from the study, the article also discusses issues related to using verbal reports as data and training learners to use listening strategies.
This is a report on several aspects of a research study designed to investigate the learning strategies in oral communication employed by Chinese EFL students in the People's Republic of China. Sixty graduating (fourth year) English majors in a tertiary level language institute were given an oral test as well as learning strategies questionnaire. In order to obtain more in-depth information, interviews were done with the ten highest and nine lowest achievers on the oral communication test.
The results support the critical role of functional practice in language learning as previously suggested in Bialystok (1978, 1979). Reading practice also stood out as the most significant predictor of oral proficiency when examined along with speaking and listening practice.
The notion of learner-centred instruction in foreign arid second languages grew out of the recognition that language learners, are diverse, in their reasons for learning another language, their approach to learning, and their abilities. This article is about learner development, a learner-centred innovation in FL/SL instruction that responds to learner diversity by aiming to improve the language learner's ability to learn a language. First, in overview of concepts and practices that defined learner-centred language teaching are provided. Then, the foundational ideas that shaped early practice in learner development and the changes in the field that resulted as these ideas were implemented in language programmes in various world regions are described. An evaluation of the theory and practice in learner development from the perspective of selected theories in SLA follows. The conclusion provides Suggestions for future development.
The past three decades have seen a growing body of research into language learner metacognitive knowledge, strategy use, and the relationship between them. However, the correlation between knowledge about strategies and strategy use in ESL listening and speaking has not been explored. This study investigates 278 Singaporean students’ knowledge and use of 40 listening and speaking strategies, and the relationship between these two variables. Distinctions were made among use-focused and form-focused learning strategies, comprehension strategies and communication strategies. The results showed that the students tended to believe in the usefulness of all four groups of strategies but seemed more often to use use-focused ones. Of the 40 strategies, 32 were perceived as useful by half the students, whereas only 13 were reported as used frequently. The discrepancy indicates that, while the students were generally aware of the usefulness of the strategies, they were not yet conscious and confident strategy users. There seems to be a need to increase their repertoire of strategies. Correlations were found between perceptions of the usefulness and perceived use of the strategies. The paper ends by considering teaching implications and future research.
This paper examines trends in second language (L2) communication strategy (CS) research to date. We give a comprehensive review of the relevant literature from the last two decades, with particular consideration of the different ways in which CSs have been defined and of corresponding influences on the organization of strategy taxonomies. We first outline the history of CS research and discuss problem-orientedness and consciousness as defining criteria for CSs. We then offer a comprehensive list of strategic language devices and describe the major CS taxonomies, noting key trends, with special attention to current and future research orientations.
This article describes the development and validation of a listening questionnaire designed to assess second language (L2) listeners' metacognitive awareness and perceived use of strategies while listening to oral texts. The process of instrument development and validation is described, along with a review of the relevant literature related to metacognition and learners' regulation of listening comprehension strategies. An exploratory factor analysis of the responses of a large sample (N= 966) of language learners and a subsequent confirmatory factor analysis with another large but different sample (N= 512) resulted in a 21-item instrument with robust psychometric properties. Five distinct factors emerged: problem-solving, planning and evaluation, mental translation, person knowledge, and directed attention. The reliability and factorial validity of the instrument are presented along with evidence for a statistically significant relationship between student response on the instrument and L2 listening comprehension success. The article concludes with a discussion of the potential uses of the Metacognitive Awareness Listening Questionnaire (MALQ).
How are foreign language/second language learners' beliefs about language learning related to their learning strategy use? The present study addresses this question by investigating the relationship between college EFL (English as a foreign language) students' beliefs about language learning and their use of learning strategies. This study found that language learners' self-efficacy beliefs about learning English were strongly related to their use of all types of learning strategies, especially functional practice strategies. Also, learners' beliefs about the value and nature of learning spoken English were closely linked to their use of formal oral-practice strategies. The results of this study suggested cyclical relationships between learners' beliefs and strategy use. A theoretical construct of learners' beliefs was then proposed and pedagogical implications were discussed.
Dating back to the early 80s, the FL/SL literature on learner strategies and on self-directed language learning documents
an ongoing recognition of the need to help language learners reflect upon and refine their beliefs and knowledge about learning,
ie. their metacognitive knowledge. To date, however, this literature has not been explicit about the function of this knowledge
in language learning. This article reviews selected theoretical and research literature on metacognition to address this lack.
It argues that insights provided by the review can enhance our understanding of those approaches to second language acquisition
which assign an active role to the learner, and concludes with a consideration of practical implications for foreign and second
language instruction
This paper examines the relationships among motivation, metacognition, and proficiency in listening comprehension. Adolescent learners of French ( N = 57) completed two questionnaires. A motivation questionnaire tapped student responses to three orientations related to motivation: amotivation, intrinsic, and extrinsic. A metacognitive awareness questionnaire tapped the metacognitive strategies students reported using when listening to authentic texts in French. Student responses on both instruments were correlated to determine any possible relationship between the three types of motivation and the metacognitive listening strategies. Responses to the motivation questionnaire were also correlated with listening proficiency, as determined by a listening comprehension test. As hypothesized, students reporting a greater use of metacognitive strategies also reported more motivational intensity, with some evidence of a self-determination continuum evident in the response patterns. Listening proficiency correlated negatively with amotivation; however, correlations with intrinsic and extrinsic motivation were not as high as anticipated. The results of this study provide some empirical support for the hypothesized links between self-determination theory, self-regulated learning, learner autonomy, and metacognition.