Orchestrating listening in EMI university lectures: how listening proficiency and motivation shape students’ use of metacognitive listening strategies

Abstract Recent research has called for cultivating strategic learners in globally expanding English medium instruction (EMI) university programs, so as to help them effectively orchestrate resources to handle the challenging task of learning subject knowledge through an L2. EMI studies exploring students’ strategies have thus far primarily categorized strategy types, with scant research investigating what key learner variables affect their strategic choices. This study focuses on students’ use of metacognitive listening strategies during EMI lectures, and explores how their strategic preferences differ across three groups of English listening proficiency and are influenced by motivational beliefs of self-efficacy, goal orientation, and task value. Results of ANOVA tests and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis of students’ questionnaire responses ( N = 412) revealed significant variations in strategy types across different proficiency levels. Although students were found to be highly motivated by extrinsic goals and utility-based task values, these motivational beliefs failed to significantly predict any metacognitive strategy use. Both intrinsic learning goals and self-efficacy significantly predicted the use of directed attention, problem solving, and plan-evaluation strategies, highlighting the pedagogical needs to foster these motivational beliefs of students in EMI university programs to help them become strategic and independent listeners in academic lectures.