Goh, Christine Chuen Meng

The strategy approach is by now familiar to many teachers. While it emphasizes the use of various techniques to facilitate comprehension, strategy training alone does not go far enough in addressing learners’ cognitive, affective and social needs that can influence second language listening development. The aim of this chapter is to provide a theoretical framework that takes account of these needs and suggest practical ideas for developing learners’ ability to facilitate and improve their own listening development. Grounded in the concept of metacognition which encompasses both knowledge about and control over learning processes, the activities and materials I am proposing can help learners become more aware about themselves as L2 listeners, as well as better understand the cognitive, linguistic and social demands of L2 listening. The first kind of activities – integrated experiential learning tasks – can be used with existing listening tasks in a language course, whereas the second – guided reflections on listening – can be carried out before or after listening tasks to help direct learners’ efforts at planning, monitoring and evaluating their listening and learning experiences. By using materials based on a principled and systematic metacognitive approach, we are enabling learners to comprehend listening texts better while at the same time guiding them in taking greater control over their listening development.