METACOGNITIVE LISTENING ACTIVITIES USE TO ENHANCE FIRST-YEAR NON-ENGLISH MAJORED STUDENTS’ LISTENING COMPREHENSION: AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT

Abstract

The action research project was conducted with the aim of exploring if the use of the metacognitive listening activities could improve non-English majored students’ listening comprehension and how students’ awareness of the listening strategy use is affected. To collect data, the researchers used a questionnaire, pre-test and post-test and students’ journals. There are two major findings of the study. In terms of the test score, students’ listening comprehension scored improved after the integration of the metacognitive listening activities. In addition, the data from students’ journals demonstrated a number of examples of broadened metacognitive knowledge about listening, which were reflected through three elements: (1) the awareness of the nature of listening (task knowledge), 2) greater motivation and better ability to work collaboratively (personal knowledge), 3) the awareness of the importance of planning/prediction and making self-evaluation (strategy knowledge). A number of implications based on the main findings were then given for language instructors, materials developers, and others in the field of language learning and assessment.