The Investigation of the Relationship between L2 Listeners’ Task Dependent Metacognitive Awareness and L2 Listening Comprehension

The purpose of this quasi-experimental study is to examine the relationship between L2 listeners’ metacognitive awareness depending on various task demands and conditions, and L2 listening comprehension ability. Metacognitive awareness is one of the significant factors that account for L2 listening comprehension ability. Previous research has pointed at research as well as pedagogical needs for exploring how metacognitive awareness and its sub-factors are related to task variables, and ultimately to L2 listening comprehension ability. The two major task factors the study probes are the modes of delivery (audio and audiovisual) and aural text interactiveness (news and film) A total of 62 tertiary-level students participated in the study. The data sources included a listening comprehension test, Metacognitive Awareness Listening Questionnaire (MALQ) for both overall and task-specific tasks. Results of the study suggest metacognitive awareness and its dimensions served as predictive powers for L2 listening performance. It was also suggested that task variables such as text genres and delivery modes influence the predictive power of learners metacognitive awareness for L2 listening. Research and pedagogical implications are discussed.