Impact of Metacognitive Self-Regulated Listening Approach on EFL Learners’ Listening Proficiency and Strategy Use

Abstract

Self-regulation plays a vital role in language learning; however, little research has been conducted on the contribution of self-regulated learning to L2 listening. This study addresses this gap by examining the extent to which metacognitive intervention enhances listening proficiency within a self-regulated learning framework. A total of 138 first-year EFL learners from a public university in China participated in this study. The experimental group received additional instruction on metacognitive self-regulated listening strategies while the control group received only traditional instruction. The mean scores of the experimental group increased from 82.84 (pre-test) to 86.55 (post-test), demonstrating a significant improvement over the control group. In addition, the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group in strategy use across all three phases: in the Forethought phase, in the Performance phase, and in the Self-reflection phase, indicating that the intervention could enhance learners’ listening comprehension abilities and improve their use of self-regulated listening strategies. Moreover, high-proficient listeners exhibited significantly higher use frequency of goal-setting and comprehension monitoring strategies than low-proficient listeners. This study adds empirical evidence on the impacts of self-regulated learning on listening achievement and provides important insights into the integration of metacognitive strategy instruction with self-regulated learning in informal settings.