Effectiveness Of Metacognitive Strategy Training In EFL Listening Learning

According to the findings of cognitive psychology, O'Malley and Chamot (1985) have differentiated learning strategies into three categories depending on the level or type of processing involved. They are metacognitive strategies, cognitive strategies, and social/affective strategies. They state that metacognitive strategies are higher order of executive skills because they may entail planning for, monitoring, regulating or evaluating the success of a learning activity. In recent years, many researchers have been attracted to the research of metacognitive strategies. Regarded as a higher-order executive skill, it involves an ability to consciously use metacognitive knowledge to plan, monitor and evaluate the learning process. Once having a good command of metacognitive strategy, students will be able to assess the situation, to plan and select appropriate strategies, to coordinate them, to monitor or evaluate the effectiveness of the strategies used and to revise their plans whenever necessary. So far, research on learning strategies has pointed to the powerful role of metacognition in language learning and the potential for greater use of metacognitive strategy in learning process. Researches on the second language learning strategies have confirmed the impact of metacognitive strategy on language learning that it enables students to assess the learning situation, to select appropriate strategies to coordinate them, to monitor or evaluate the effectiveness of the strategy use and the learning process (Anderson, 2002).However, as for the research on evaluation of the effectiveness of strategy training, most studies have been product-oriented, i.e. they have quantitatively measured improvements in learners' test scores following the completion of a strategy training program. But such evaluation methods are only partial, and they must be supplemented by a qualitative analysis of the impact that strategy training has on the learning process. Based on the study of the relevant literature home and abroad, the aim of this thesis is to inspect and discover such qualitative & quantitative evaluation method on the effectiveness of metacognitive strategy training in English as a foreign language (EFL) learning by the empirical study. Forty-eight non-English major sophomores participated in the eight weeks' training. They received metacognitive strategy-centered training which was based on normal strategy component.After the eight weeks' training program, the different scores and percentages from pretest and posttest and from the same questionnaire, the learners' working journals and teacher-student interview will give numeric data and other important information which help to find out what the students thought and felt when they experienced the acquiring skill of listening during and after the training program. Analyzing these, we can see metacognitive strategy that has been applied is beneficial. The combination of both quantitative and qualitative design into this study makes it more useful and adds to the scope of the evaluation methods. Thus, the study provides a complete picture; evaluation methods need to be expanded in focus from measuring final results or achieved proficiency to aspects of qualitative, process-centered and learner-centered assessment.