Teaching Metacognitive Strategies through Anderson’s Model: Does It Affect EFL Learners’ Listening Comprehension?

Abstract

Metacognitive Strategies (MS), as one of the main categories of language learning strategies, are presumed to encourage higher-order thinking, autonomous learning, and, in all actuality, better learning. Based on this premise, this study attempts to investigate the effect of teaching MS on intermediate-level EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners’ Listening Comprehension (LC). To fulfill this objective, a group of 130 male and female EFL learners, attending a TOEFL test preparation course, took a sample of Preliminary English Test (PET) as a proficiency test, and 90 of them were selected as homogeneous learners. This homogeneous group, then, took a LC (pre)test whose scores functioned as the basis for selecting a number of 60 male and female students, between the ages of 18 to 35 (M age = 26), as the participants of this study. The participants were randomly assigned to two experimental groups and two control groups (n = 15 in each class). These four classes were instructed by four EFL teachers, employing the same textbook and content, over 18 sessions. Only the two experimental groups received MS training based on Anderson’s 2002 model. At the end of the training course, a listening posttest was administered to all four classes. Analyzing the data through a t- test revealed that the two experimental groups significantly outperformed the other two control groups; accordingly, it was confirmed that teaching MS has a significant and positive impact on EFL learners’ LC in this context. The study concludes with stating some pedagogical implications and highlighting some avenues for future research.