Exploring the Effect of Metacognitive Strategy Instruction on Metacognitive Awareness and Listening Performance Through a Process-Based Approach

This study explored the effect of metacognitive strategy instruction on the listening performance and metacognitive awareness of English as a foreign language (EFL) learners in Iran. It also strove to investigate how various aspects of learners’ metacognitive awareness, as measured by each of the five Metacognitive Awareness Listening Questionnaire (MALQ) factors, were affected by metacognitive strategy instruction. The participants were 60 intermediate EFL listeners in two groups, ranging in age from 20 to 26. The experimental group (N = 30) went through a guided lesson plan in metacognition for 10 weeks, which focused on planning, monitoring, and evaluation. The control group (N = 30) was taught by the same teacher and listened to the same texts without any guided attention to process. The MALQ and a listening test were also used before and after the intervention to track the changes in metacognitive awareness and listening performance. The results showed that metacognitive strategy instruction led to a considerable variance in overall listening performance and metacognitive awareness of learners. Furthermore, the analysis of the five MALQ factors revealed a significant impact of metacognitive strategy instruction on the metacognitive awareness of listeners.