Effects of a Metacognitive Approach to Teaching L2 Listening

• Main Author: Webb, Tina
• Format: Others
• Language: Swedish
• Published: Malmö högskola, Fakulteten för lärande och samhälle (LS) 2017
• Subjects: metacognition; metacognitive awareness; action research; teaching listening in L2; Humanities and the Arts; Humaniora och konst
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-35495

Metacognitive listening instruction is the method recommended to Swedish teachers by the Swedish National Board of Education (Skolverket) in a document authored by Lena Börjesson (2012) found in the commentary material to the steering documents. This method is based on a metacognitive pedagogical sequence of L2 listening instruction suggested by Vandergrift and Goh (2012). In this study, I test this method using action research. The participants of the study were first year upper secondary school students from a vocational program, the control group consisted of students from a preparatory program. In general, the treatment group exhibited low motivation to study, while the second group had higher motivation. Both groups attended an upper secondary school in the South of Sweden. During seven classes, the treatment group (n=16) received training in the method, and the control group (n=21) was given more traditional tests during six classes. In this study, I used the following methods to obtain my data: the PET listening test, the listening segment of the Swedish National Test of English and the Metacognitive Awareness Listening Questionnaire (MALQ). The results demonstrated that both groups improved their results on the listening aptitude test significantly; however, the treatment group did not with a statistical significance improve more than the control group. Secondly, the students did not perceive that they were using more strategies after the explicit strategy training they had received; both groups reported to using strategies less, as the listening texts became increasingly difficult. Thirdly, the students from the two groups did not report perceiving any difference in learning how to listen, despite one of the groups receiving explicit instruction in listening strategies. Finally, the students both in the treatment group and in the control group have reported to increasing listening anxiety after the instructional period, but the levels of anxiety increased less in the treatment group. The results of this study thus do not unequivocally suggest the effectiveness of the method for teaching listening recommended by Skolverket. In particular, it is questionable whether the method is at all suitable for students with low motivation as those who have participated in the study.