| Listening is an indispensable skill in English learning.It is a primary way of language input,which helps students improve language sense and lay a solid foundation for language acquisition.Listening is a complex cognitive processing,which is influenced by many factors,including cognitive styles and listening strategies.However,in most listening classes of the middle school,English teachers teach listening by playing recordings and checking the answers,and they pay more attention to the results rather than the process,which results in that students lack guidance for effective listening strategy and leads to the low efficiency of listening class.Besides,teachers and students know little about cognitive styles.Therefore,it is worth studying to understand the relationship among students’ cognitive styles,listening strategies and listening achievements,to provide students with listening strategies and to improve the effectiveness of listening classes.This study consists of two parts.The first part involved 87 students in the first grade of a middle school in Wuhan,who played the role of research objects,to explore the relationship among field cognitive styles(field-independent/field-dependent cognitive style),listening strategies(metacognitive strategy,cognitive strategy,social/emotional strategy)and listening achievements through the Group Embedded Figures Test,Listening Strategy Questionnaire and Listening Test I.The results indicated that:(1)the listening achievements of students with field-independence were significantly higher than those of students with field-dependence;(2)the frequency of usage of metacognitive strategies and cognitive strategies of students with field-independence was significantly higher than that of students with field-dependent,but there was no significant difference between them in the frequency of the usage of social/emotional strategies;(3)metacognitive strategies,cognitive strategies and the social/emotional strategies could explain 55.4%variation of the listening achievements,among which metacognitive strategies had the most predictive effect on listening achievements;(4)metacognitive strategies played a partial mediating role between the field independent/field dependent cognitive style and listening achievements,and the indirect effect value is 0.237.The second part was conducted with the same students in the first part and a 7-week training was conducted on metacognitive listening strategies.To discuss whether metacognitive strategy training can improve the frequency of usage of listening strategies and achievements through the Listening Strategy Questionnaire and Listening Test Ⅱ.The results demonstrated that:(1)the frequency of usage of metacognitive strategy,cognitive strategy and social/emotional strategy had been improved after metacognitive strategy training,speaking more specifically,the frequency of usage of metacognitive strategy and cognitive strategy had been improved significantly in Class One,Grade One.At the same time,the frequency of using the three strategies of students with field-independence and with field-independence had basically increased.Among them,the frequency of usage of metacognitive strategies by students with field independence increased significantly.(2)the listening performance of both classes improved significantly,the listening scores of both kinds of students improved significantly,and the effect of metacognitive strategy training was better for the low-level students.The results of the study have some implications to the English listening teaching in middle school:(1)to understand the students’ field cognition style,and to educate students in accordance with their aptitude,(2)to pay more attention to students with field-independent in the process of listening teaching,(3)to encourage students to develop another field cognitive style,and to achieve the integration of different field cognitive styles,and(4)to integrate the strategic guidance throughout the daily listening teaching. |
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