Facilitating College English Majors' Listening Comprehension Through Metacognitive Strategies Training

Metacognitive strategy, as one of the branches of learning strategies, has recently drawn the attention of researchers in the fields of education and psychology. As a higher order of executive learning strategies, different researchers have provided varied definitions and classifications depending on their research focuses. However, no matter how varied the definitions and classifications are, it is evident that metacognitive strategies involve thinking about or knowledge of the learning process, planning for learning, monitoring learning while it is taking place, or self-evaluation of learning after the task has been completed. They contribute to make learning more goal-oriented, task-based, self-regulated and enjoyable.Although studies on metacognitive strategies are a major concern of ESL/EFL, few researchers touched on their relationship to listening comprehension. Listening has been regarded as an important linguistic skill to be developed when learning a second language. However, there are still some misunderstandings which exist among both teachers and students. Traditional listening instruction has placed too much emphasis on the role of the teacher, which assumes that the teacher's instruction and the frequency of listening are the...