Developing an effective cognitive and metacognitive listening strategy training programme for Turkish advanced EFL learner

Considering the importance of listening as a skill in the EFL context, the impact of cognitive and metacognitive strategies on listening achievement has been discussed for a long time. Regarding the importance of explicit instruction in order to promote listening skills, this dissertation focused on explicit instruction of cognitive and metacognitive strategies in listening. The primary purpose of this study was to develop a cognitive and metacognitive listening strategy training programme (LSTP) and investigate the effects of this programme on the employment of listening strategies and listening achievement. Within this purpose, a mixed-method design pilot study was conducted in the ELT department of a state university in the western part of Turkey, including 10 first-year students, in order to see the effects of the LSTP developed by the researcher. After getting the pilot study results, the mixed-method main study based on grounded theory was conducted with 10 participants from the same university in the ELT department. A pre and post-listening test was administered in the study, and the LSTP was implemented for 6 weeks. Throughout these 6 weeks, interviews with the students, video recordings of the instructions and weekly diaries of the students were employed as the data collection tools. The quantitative data in the study demonstrated the LSTP had a significantly positive effect on the listening performance of the participants. Although students were aware of some of the listening strategies before the implementation of LSTP, it was clearly shown in the study that the programme helped participants gain awareness about which strategy to use, how to use it and when to use it, which might be explained by declarative, procedural and conditional knowledge.

Keywords: Listening Strategy, Cognitive Strategies, Metacognitive Strategies, Strategy Instruction.