The Importance of Metacognitive Listening Strategy in English Listening Improvement: A Review

The metacognitive listening strategy has an important role in the process of enhancing English listening comprehension. This article reviewed six empirical studies related to the impact of metacognitive listening strategy use while learners tried to improve their listening comprehension in different environments. The findings showed that learners used some metacognitive listening strategies to help them to comprehend the listening text tasks. It also indicated that various factors affect learners’ successful learning on their listening comprehension improvement. It can be concluded that the metacognitive listening strategy has had a positive impact while they are used regularly in the language learning process.

Calling in to Cut back: Settlers learning to listen for a decolonial future

Clearing the gorse, a particularly aggressive invasive plant, so that native plants can flourish has been used as a potent metaphor for decolonization ( Came, 2014 ), and described as labour appropriate for settlers to perform in the interest of just relations with Indigenous peoples. Yet, this labour is not simply one of negation, for it involves learning to bring one’s group difference alongside that of others rather than continuing to mistake that difference for the unmarked context of Indigenous-settler relations. Clearing the gorse is thus also connected to the labour of “gathering at the gate”: the requirement according to Māori protocols of encounter that visitors develop a sense of collective identity and purpose before any meeting can take place. Settler societies, as a rule, operate without a collective sense of the specific identity and history of being a settler people. How would these two forms of labour appropriate for tauiwi Pākehā to perform be connected, and how would performing them together serve broader projects of decolonization and honouring settler commitments in Te Tiriti o Waitangi? I reflect upon this question in light of insights from Tauiwi Tautoko, a recent nationwide anti-racism programme wherein tauiwi (non-Māori settlers) addressed anti-Māori racism online. Core to the programme’s novel anti-racism approach were listening strategies that both invited and modelled acknowledgment of the particular ground from which tauiwi Pākehā see and speak. These strategies have proven effective in creating openings and shifts regarding racist views in otherwise adversarial and toxic spaces. They offer innovative practical resources for the work settlers can and must do with our own people, if we are to contribute to a decolonial future.

METACOGNITIVE AWARENESS OF LISTENING STRATEGIES AND PERCEPTION OF LISTENING SKILL DURING REMOTE LEARNING

The online classes associated with the Covid-19 pandemic have resulted in the magnitude of remote learning of ESL (English as a second language). Sustaining the quality of teaching and learning of listening skills has become more challenging for everyone. Listening is one of the fundamental skills to acquire knowledge in an academic setting. Every instructor and learner need to perceive that listening is not an innate skill, understand the processes involved in listening comprehension, and integrate strategies while listening. The present study explores Metacognitive Awareness of Listening Strategies (MALS) and students’ perceptions about learning listening skills during remote learning. The current study was conducted through a multimethod research design where both quantitative and qualitative data were involved. Two instruments were utilised, which are the Metacognitive Awareness of Listening Questionnaire (MALQ) and the online discussion board. The participants were chosen based on simple random sampling consisting of 51 pre-university students enrolled in the Science Foundation programme in the 2020/2021 session. The first part of the results depicted students had an average level of MALS with directed attention strategies as the factor with the highest average. The second part of the results reported that students who scored a higher average score of MALS tend to use problem-solving strategies. Lastly, the board postings were analysed thematically and categorised to three different themes which are challenges, strategies, and activities of learning skills. It is hoped that this study will shed light on empirical strategies and evidence of listening practices during online classes. Both teachers and learners may have clearer insights on how to manage listening comprehension effort and use learning inherent to tackle remote learning.

Validating Listening Strategies Using Ordinal Response Models

<p>This thesis illustrates statistical methodology for identifying the effects of explanatory variables, for the response variables with an ordinal nature. The dataset applied to this methodology is a Listening Strategy dataset collected by The Language Learner Strategy Team at the National Institute of Education from Singapore. In this dataset, eight strategies were formed from 38 questions based on Linguistic theory. The core objective of this thesis is to validate whether 38 questions were aggregated appropriately. We use the proportional odds model, which is the most popular for ordinal responses, and the generalised estimating equations (GEE) method to analyse repeated measurements. Although there are several ways to analyse repeated categorical responses, this thesis only demonstrates the marginal approach using the GEE method. By fitting proportional odds models, we evaluate whether student’s English Language test result associated with the questions are at the same level within each strategy. Results show that the English Language test result effects for the questions associated with Self-initiation, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluating, Prediction and Utilisation strategies are similar. On the other hand, the effects for the questions associated with Perceptual processing, Inferencing and Socio-affective strategies are significantly different. We also use a simulation study to show that when the ordinal response is treated as continuous, ordinary least square regression might have misleading results.</p>

Validating Listening Strategies Using Ordinal Response Models

<p>This thesis illustrates statistical methodology for identifying the effects of explanatory variables, for the response variables with an ordinal nature. The dataset applied to this methodology is a Listening Strategy dataset collected by The Language Learner Strategy Team at the National Institute of Education from Singapore. In this dataset, eight strategies were formed from 38 questions based on Linguistic theory. The core objective of this thesis is to validate whether 38 questions were aggregated appropriately. We use the proportional odds model, which is the most popular for ordinal responses, and the generalised estimating equations (GEE) method to analyse repeated measurements. Although there are several ways to analyse repeated categorical responses, this thesis only demonstrates the marginal approach using the GEE method. By fitting proportional odds models, we evaluate whether student’s English Language test result associated with the questions are at the same level within each strategy. Results show that the English Language test result effects for the questions associated with Self-initiation, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluating, Prediction and Utilisation strategies are similar. On the other hand, the effects for the questions associated with Perceptual processing, Inferencing and Socio-affective strategies are significantly different. We also use a simulation study to show that when the ordinal response is treated as continuous, ordinary least square regression might have misleading results.</p>

Cluster verification for listening learner strategies

<p>This thesis presents a comparison of statistical methodologies for cluster verification on ordinal response variables. Methodologies will be applied to a Listening Strategy dataset collected by the Language Learner Strategies research team at the National Institute of Education in Singapore. From this listening dataset, eight clusters suggested by Linguistics theory require verification. The methodologies undertaken is to find which listening strategies have been formed well. Methods used includes the proportional odds model, confirmatory factor analysis and ordinal agreement model. The proportional odds model is used to establish how well each cluster of questions is built. This is established by checking how similar questions within clusters are. The confirmatory factor analysis is used to verify how well the overall listening clusters have been built. This will be compared to clusters proposed by a statistical method. Lastly, the ordinal agreement model is applied to see how much agreement there is within each of the listening clusters. This will be able to show us which clusters is built better than the other clusters for this listening questionnaire. Results show that the prediction listening strategy has the highest level of agreement as well as no difference between questions within this cluster. The Socio-affective listening strategy has the lowest level of agreement and very strong evidence of a difference between questions within the cluster. This suggests that the prediction cluster has been formed better than the Socio-affective cluster.</p>

Cluster verification for listening learner strategies

<p>This thesis presents a comparison of statistical methodologies for cluster verification on ordinal response variables. Methodologies will be applied to a Listening Strategy dataset collected by the Language Learner Strategies research team at the National Institute of Education in Singapore. From this listening dataset, eight clusters suggested by Linguistics theory require verification. The methodologies undertaken is to find which listening strategies have been formed well. Methods used includes the proportional odds model, confirmatory factor analysis and ordinal agreement model. The proportional odds model is used to establish how well each cluster of questions is built. This is established by checking how similar questions within clusters are. The confirmatory factor analysis is used to verify how well the overall listening clusters have been built. This will be compared to clusters proposed by a statistical method. Lastly, the ordinal agreement model is applied to see how much agreement there is within each of the listening clusters. This will be able to show us which clusters is built better than the other clusters for this listening questionnaire. Results show that the prediction listening strategy has the highest level of agreement as well as no difference between questions within this cluster. The Socio-affective listening strategy has the lowest level of agreement and very strong evidence of a difference between questions within the cluster. This suggests that the prediction cluster has been formed better than the Socio-affective cluster.</p>

Individual Hearing Outcomes in Cochlear Implant Users Influence Social Engagement and Listening Behavior in Everyday Life

Purpose The goal of this study was to assess the listening behavior and social engagement of cochlear implant (CI) users and normal-hearing (NH) adults in daily life and relate these actions to objective hearing outcomes. Method Ecological momentary assessments (EMAs) collected using a smartphone app were used to probe patterns of listening behavior in CI users and age-matched NH adults to detect differences in social engagement and listening behavior in daily life. Participants completed very short surveys every 2 hr to provide snapshots of typical, everyday listening and socializing, as well as longer, reflective surveys at the end of the day to assess listening strategies and coping behavior. Speech perception testing, with accompanying ratings of task difficulty, was also performed in a lab setting to uncover possible correlations between objective and subjective listening behavior. Results Comparisons between speech intelligibility testing and EMA responses showed poorer performing CI users spending more time at home and less time conversing with others than higher performing CI users and their NH peers. Perception of listening difficulty was also very different for CI users and NH listeners, with CI users reporting little difficulty despite poor speech perception performance. However, both CI users and NH listeners spent most of their time in listening environments they considered “not difficult.” CI users also reported using several compensatory listening strategies, such as visual cues, whereas NH listeners did not. Conclusion Overall, the data indicate systematic differences between how individual CI users and NH adults navigate and manipulate listening and social environments in everyday life.

Effects of Task Demands on Neural Correlates of Acoustic and Semantic Processing in Challenging Listening Conditions

Purpose Listeners shift their listening strategies between lower level acoustic information and higher level semantic information to prioritize maximum speech intelligibility in challenging listening conditions. Although increasing task demands via acoustic degradation modulates lexical-semantic processing, the neural mechanisms underlying different listening strategies are unclear. The current study examined the extent to which encoding of lower level acoustic cues is modulated by task demand and associations with lexical-semantic processes. Method Electroencephalography was acquired while participants listened to sentences in the presence of four-talker babble that contained either higher or lower probability final words. Task difficulty was modulated by time available to process responses. Cortical tracking of speech—neural correlates of acoustic temporal envelope processing—were estimated using temporal response functions. Results Task difficulty did not affect cortical tracking of temporal envelope of speech under challenging listening conditions. Neural indices of lexical-semantic processing (N400 amplitudes) were larger with increased task difficulty. No correlations were observed between the cortical tracking of temporal envelope of speech and lexical-semantic processes, even after controlling for the effect of individualized signal-to-noise ratios. Conclusions Cortical tracking of the temporal envelope of speech and semantic processing are differentially influenced by task difficulty. While increased task demands modulated higher level semantic processing, cortical tracking of the temporal envelope of speech may be influenced by task difficulty primarily when the demand is manipulated in terms of acoustic properties of the stimulus, consistent with an emerging perspective in speech perception.

ENGLISH-MAJORED STUDENTS’ LISTENING DIFFICULTIES AND USE OF STRATEGIES AT MIEN DONG UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, VIETNAM

<p>Through the years, difficulties in English listening and listening strategies have been conducted by many researchers. Most of studies have pointed out the common difficulties and strategies which students often have. Focusing on the same subject with a new perspective, this research aimed at understanding English majors’ difficulties in listening and use of listening strategies. A total of ninety eight freshmen English-majored students at Mien Dong University took part in answering the questionnaire and five students answered the semi-structure interview questions. The data gained from the questionnaire were analyzed by SPSS version 20.0 in terms of descriptive statistic. The findings revealed that English-majored students had many difficulties in listening such as the difficulties related to the listener, the content of the dialogue, the speaker, the physical setting and the linguistic factors. In terms of listening strategies, the finding showed that the cognitive listening strategies were used more frequently than metacognitive and socio-affective strategies. Based on the findings, some implications were made to contribute to the administrations, teachers and students at Mien Dong University of Technology.</p><p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0891/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>