Investigating EFL Learners' User of Listening Comprehension Strategies.

Abstract

The purpose of the present study is to investigate the relationship between proficiency level in listening comprehension and the use of listening comprehension strategies by Japanese junior high school students learning English as a Foreign Language. The subjects in the present research were 91 third-year students in a junior high school. They were classified into a High group, Middle group, and Low group according to scores on a listening comprehension test. They were then given a questionnaire in order to identify listening comprehension strategies used in listening comprehension tasks. The ANOVA identified significant differences in strategy use by successful and less successful learners. Successful learners used metacognitive strategies such as planning and monitoring more frequently than less successful learners. Also, we can claim that successful learners take an interactive approach in applying top-down and bottom-up processes while they do listening comprehension tasks. The article concludes with a discussion of the use of strategy instruction in the classroom for developing learners' listening skills.