Abstract
This article focuses on the role that metacognition can effectively play in the development of second language listening comprehension, and specifically, how a mobile app can be specified for this end. A social mobile assisted listening app, ANT (Audio News Trainer), is presented as a prototype for exploring the way in which students can be helped to use metacognition to improve relevant linguistic communicative competences. A study has been undertaken with students using ANT to explore the intricate nature of the listening comprehension development process and the main metacognitive strategies that can be successfully applied. Special attention is paid to the implicitly and explicitly applied metacognitive strategies within the app, and related social network, where follow-on activities were undertaken, the strategies in question being: focus (a conscious effort on the gradual development of individual skills), engagement (interest is enhanced when a learning activity is enjoyable/successful), interaction (since collective activities seem to enhance emotional and social involvement), reflection (upon what works and does not work for each individual), self-regulation (through data about the students’ own progress and achievements), and attitude (here a further distinction is made between satisfaction, self-confidence and encouragement). The stages of engagement of a student with the app are explored in relation to the metacognitive strategy used and how they can contribute to the overall success of the learning experience. A final reflection is made about how metacognitive strategies offer an effective way to compensate for the lack of teacher presence, support and guidance on a medium/long term basis. However, although the study of the initial use of this social listening training app shows the potential for incorporating ‘knowing about knowing’ into mobile technology, it is suggested that future research is required to provide further finer-grained insights into this process.
Highlights
This article focuses on the role that metacognition can effectively play in the development of second language listening comprehension, and how a mobile app can be specified to this end
Listening as a second language skill is well documented in the literature, where it is argued to be more than just perceiving meaning directly from sound1 (Anderson and Lynch, 1988; O’Malley, Chamot, & Kupper, 1989; Underwood, 1989; Vandergrift, 1997; Gilakjani & Ahmadi, 2011)
As Vandergrift (2011) notes, listening comprehension occurs within milliseconds of hearing, and involves the interaction of different cognitive processes, such as access fluidity and attention (Segalowitz, 2007)
Summary
This article focuses on the role that metacognition can effectively play in the development of second language listening comprehension, and how a mobile app can be specified to this end. In the distance-learning context, where there is typically very little contact between the students and the teaching team, so it was decided that the metacognitive knowledge and learning strategies necessary for the students to undertake listening comprehension effectively would be included in the app and related activity instructions, and not provided a priori by the teaching team.
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