A Holistic Metacognitive Approach to EFL Listening and towards a Model of a ‘Good’ Listener: A Mixed-Methods Study

Metacognition is increasingly being credited as an influential factor in learning to listen in an L2. Some studies on metacognition, however, fail to show any link between metacognition and L2 listening. Furthermore, most of the existing studies investigated either strategy use or metacognitive knowledge as an amenable component of metacognition; a very few studies have explored metacognition from a holistic perspective. Therefore, this study fills this gap by exploring EFL listeners’ both strategy use and metacognitive knowledge, particularly looking into differences between the less successful listeners (LSLs) and the more successful listeners (MSLs).
An explanatory mixed methods design was used to elicit data from EFL undergraduate learners majoring in English at public universities in Bangladesh. Data were collected in two phases over a period of 14 weeks: elicitation of quantitative data on perceived strategy use via an EFL Listening Strategy Questionnaire (EFLLSQ) from 395 students at seven universities was followed by elicitation of qualitative data on task-based, on-line strategy use via think aloud protocol, and metacognitive knowledge via semi-structured interview from a subsample of 15 LSLs and 15 MSLs.
Findings suggest a link between learners’ listening comprehension and metacognition, and significant and considerable differences between the LSLs and the MSLs. Triangulation of strategies tapped via three tools suggests the think aloud technique as the most sensitive and suitable one. Finally, synthesis and triangulation of: (a) MSLs’ strategy use; (b) MSLs’ metacognitive knowledge, and (c) both LSLs and MSLs’ perceptions of what makes a ‘Good’ Listener (GL), suggests a tentative model of a holistic GL. The study, therefore, argues that there is a positive link between metacognition and listening comprehension, and the metacognitive model of a GL can be used as a checklist in the context of the continuum of listening development for understanding listeners’ metacognitive awareness and metacognition in action.