Metacognitive Listening Strategies and Academic Motivation of Korean EFL Adolescent Learners

Abstract

While the role of metacognition has proven to be critical in L2 listening instruction, the connection between the learners’ metacognitive L2 listening strategies and academic motivation has been scantly researched. The purpose of the study was to research 312 middle school learners’ metacognition during L2 listening in relation to motivation they exhibited towards studying English. The learners were asked to complete the Metacognitive Listening Awareness Questionnaire and Academic Self-Regulation Questionnaire. There was use of descriptive statistics, MANOVA, and multiple regression to analyze the data. Results indicated that there was increased use of metacognitive L2 listening strategies with rising levels of proficiency. For academic motivation, amotivation, identification and intrinsic motivation related significantly to the employment of metacognitive L2 listening strategies with the exclusion of person knowledge. For predicting L2 listening ability, planning & evaluation, directed attention and person knowledge were significant. This indicated that the listeners’ attempt to stay focused on the task, and solve listening problems with existing knowledge were helpful for successful comprehension. However, increased person knowledge that reflected learners’ listening anxiety was found to be detrimental to listening performance. The results of the study are presented in light of teaching implications.