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.

Boosting Listening Skills in Non-English Major Freshmen

“…Overall, the average accuracy rate for Part 2 is 76.7%, indicating a reasonably good performance but with noticeable room for improvement in specific areas, particularly in differentiating similar sounds. To enhance students' listening skills, especially in distinguishing subtle phonetic differences, educators should consider integrating more focused auditory discrimination exercises and training in their curriculum (H. D. Nguyen & Dinh, 2023;Richard, 2021). This could include drills that emphasize the nuances of similar-sounding words and sentences, as well as strategies to improve concentration and attentive listening.…”

“…Both those who speak English as their primary language and those who use it as a second or foreign language utilize it as an international language for information communication (Guo, 2021;Sofyan, 2021). A strong command of the English language is helpful for many people who are looking to further their education, study, and career (H. D. Nguyen & Dinh, 2023;Pham & Nguyen, 2021).…”

“…Both those who speak English as their primary language and those who use it as a second or foreign language utilize it as an international language for information communication (Guo, 2021;Sofyan, 2021). A strong command of the English language is helpful for many people who are looking to further their education, study, and career (H. D. Nguyen & Dinh, 2023;Pham & Nguyen, 2021).The ability to listen is one of the four essential communication skills as it enables students to take in information about their surroundings (Suyitno et al, 2021). Speaking makes up 25-30% of everyday communication activities, listening makes up 40-50%, reading makes up 11-16%, and writing makes up just 9% (Newton & Nation, 2009; Tunagür et al, 2021).…”