1、中国最大的论文知识平台 How May An English Major Develop His Listening Comprehension Through Metacognitive Strategy Training?Abstract:As the word “metacognition” becomes one of the hottest words in language learning, more and more researches find out that metacognition plays a critical role in successful learni
2、ng. Metacognition enables students to be successful learners. Therefore, it is important to know howmetacognition affects listening ability and how one can be trained to enhance listening comprehension. The essay attempts to find out the relationship between metacognition and listening ability; to p
3、rove strategy training as an effective way to enhance listening comprehension; and to put forward some suggestions to help students overcome listening obstacles. The first part deals with a survey involving the second-year English majors of the university, to find out the answers to the following qu
4、estions: (1) Can the training of metacognitive strategies improve the students listening comprehension? (2) Can the training of metacognitive strategies enhance the students awareness? (3) Does the training of metacognitive strategies have the same effect on successful listeners and unsuccessful lis
5、teners? The second part offers some suggestions on training of metacognitive strategy i.e. on how to improve listening ability as English majors.Key Words: metacognitive strategies；listening comprehension；English majors英语专业学生如何培养元认知策略提高听力理解水平摘 要：在语言习得中，元认知这个词变得越来越热门。许多研究表明，良好运用元认知策略对于成为成功的外语学习者有着巨大的
6、建设作用。因此，了解元认知如何影响听力理解水平就变得极其重要。本文致力于寻找元认知与听力理解能力的关系，试图证明元认知策略对提高听力理解水平有积极意义，并提出一些扫除听力障碍的方法。文章第一部分是关于大学二年级英语专业学生元认知策略的运用调查，主要回答以下三个问题：1通过元认知策略的培养能否提高听力理解能力？2通过元认知策略的培养能否提高学生策略意识？3元认知策略的培养对成功学生和不成功学生是否有相同的效果？文章第二部分提出了一些关于如何培养元认知策略来提高听力理解能力的方法和建议。关键词：元认知策略； 听力理解； 英语专业学生中国最大的论文知识平台 IntroductionWith the
7、development of economy in China, it is necessary for English learners to master this language and to learn how to use it successfully. Therefore how to improve learners listening comprehension has become one of my major concerns.English learners, especially those English majors, who are the focus in
8、 this essay, have a strong wish to improve their listening comprehension. They have to do listening comprehension questions as a necessary part of the college entrance exam, normally accounting for 20 percent of the total scores. However, some of them often complain that they cannot understand half
9、of what the native speakers say. On the other hand, the traditional teaching method -the grammar-translation method has taken a deep root ever since the beginning of the teaching of English as a foreign language. Landed in an awkward time-consuming but ineffective situation,both teachers and student
10、s are facing enough problems. Teachers may have offered a great deal of suggestions about how to improve students listening ability, and students may also have adopted and applied all kinds of means. However, the students may most probably have found out that it is difficult to figure out which will
11、 be the right one for their learning.As the word “metacognition” becomes one of the hottest words in language learning, more and more researches find out that metacognition plays a critical role in successful learning. Metacognition enables students to be successful learners. Therefore, it is import
12、ant to know howmetacognition affects listening ability and how one can be trained to enhance listening comprehension.1. The Review of Previous Study1.1The Importance of ListeningCommunication, for most of us, involves the exchange of messages and is usually accomplished by listening, speaking, readi
13、ng, and writing, among which listening is perhaps the most common activity. Klemmer and Sydneys study (1972) showed that people generally spend 68% of their day in communicative activity, and of that time 62% was talking “face to face”. 中国最大的论文知识平台 Klemmer and Sydney did not distinguish speaking and
14、 listening, but it seems safe to assume that at least half of the face-to-face activity was listening. This is a time of the “global village” and the “world wide web”, when communication between people has expanded way beyond their local speech communities. As never before, people have to learn a fo
15、reign language, not just as a pleasing pastime, but often as a means of obtaining an education or securing employmentA famous educationist during World War I, H.E.Palmer, emphasized the importance of listening comprehension, and pointed out that students should follow the steps of listening, speakin
16、g, reading, writing in learning a foreign language. Since then, listening comprehension has received considerable attention in the field of TEFL. The importance of listening comprehension in the process of learning a foreign language has been emphasized in various kinds of models and theories of for
17、eign language learning. Krashen and Terrell (1983)6 stated that all foreign language acquisition takes place through receiving comprehensive input that is slightly above the learners present level. Some teaching methods, such as Total Physical Response, rely heavily on the listening input at the beg
18、inning stages of learning a language. Just as important at the beginners level, however, the importance of listening comprehension does not decrease with the learners progress to more advanced levels. It also said that practicing listening at all stages of learning not only develops this skill but a
19、lso expands and consolidates other elements of language knowledge, such as vocabulary, grammar and intonation. We may also see the importance of listening comprehension in these facts that Hollywood movies are enjoyed and applauded everywhere; CET, WSK, TOEFL, EPT and so on and so forth, have listen
20、ing as their compulsory part of testing, which has a relatively high percent of the whole score ranging from 20%in EPT, CET-4, CET-6 to33%in TOEFL; BBC and VOA are available everywhere and even selected as listening materials; and the English songs are popular all over the world.1.2 Three Major Type
21、s of Language Learning StrategiesOMally and Chamots (1990, cited in Rod Ellis, 1994: 537-538) 7 model distinguishes three major types of language learning strategies: cognitive strategies, metacognitive strategies and social/affective strategies. Cognitive strategies refer to the steps or operations
22、 used in problem-solving that requires directed analysis, transformation or synthesis of learning materials (Rubin1981) 9. They focus on 中国最大的论文知识平台 the processes through which an individual obtains knowledge or conceptual understanding. Cognitive strategies have an operative or cognitive processing
23、 function. They appear to be directly linked with the performance of particular learning tasks.Metacognitive strategies (OMally and Chamot 1990) 7 make use of knowledge of cognitive strategies and constitute an attempt to regulate language learning by means of planning, monitoring, and evaluating. T
24、hey have an executive function. Metacognitive strategies particularly emphasize the regulatory processes in which learners plan, monitor, and evaluate their learning. Social/affective strategies (OMally and Chamot 1990) 7concerns the ways in which learners select to interact with other learners and
25、native speakers.Different from Oxford(1990)8,OMally and Chamot also assume that these components do not stand in parallel with each other, as metacognitive strategies are higher executive skills that may entail planning for, monitoring, or evaluating the success of a learning activity.1.3 Researches
26、 on MetacognitionThere are many versions of the definition of metacognition. “Metacognitive skills include taking conscious control of learning, planning and selecting strategies, monitoring the progress of learning, correcting errors, analyzing the effectiveness of learning strategies, and changing
27、 learning behaviors and strategies when necessary .” 2Metacognition is an important concept in cognitive theory. It consists of two basic processes occurring simultaneously: monitoring your progress as you learn, and adapting your strategies if you perceive you are not doing so well. Its about self-
28、reflection, self-responsibility and initiative, as well as goal setting and time management.(Winn, W. Flavell, 1976; 1979; 1982). Their early studies involved controlled laboratory experiments that showed that young children could be helped to improve their own memory performances when researchers h
29、elped them think about the tasks they faced and possible strategies they might use (e.g., Brown, 1975; 1987; Flavell,19703).Since that time the research literature on metacognition has flourished, and it has moved from a context that is primarily laboratory based to one that also involves the creati
30、on of social support in classroom environments that foster metacognitive reflection (e.g., Brown, 1997; Brown Scardamalia Vye, Schwartz, Bransford, Barron, White Lin, 2001; Sato, 1997). Students academic achievement and strategies for learning are taken seriously, but so is their ability to create a
31、 role for themselves in a community, where they build friendships, contribute to the values of the community, and involve themselves in its academic, social, and civic activities. Developing cognitively and socially competent metacognitive learners raises a number of important issues about the desig
32、n of learning environments (e.g., Brown, 1992). Some issues center on approaches to designing metacognitive supports. Others concern the content that is taught using these approaches. These issues serve as a foundation for the framework developed in this article for analyzing metacognitive research
33、interventions. Over the past decades, researchers in metacognition have adopted two basic approaches to supporting metacognitive development. They are (a) strategy training and (b) creating a supportive social environment (or social supports) as ways to foster metacognitive activities. There are als
34、o two kinds of content that are taught using these two approaches. They are knowledge (a) about a specific domain (e.g., science, mathematics, reading comprehension, writing skills, or problem solving) and (b) about the self-as-learner (e.g., personal or selfknowledge developed from participating in
35、 both academic or community activities, including social skills for becoming a contributing member of a community) ( Bandura, 1997; Dweck 1999; Dweck McCombs, in press). Most of the research programs 中国最大的论文知识平台 focus on just one approach and content, even though all are important aspects of metacog
36、nitive development (e.g., Brown, 1987)1.4 The Importance of Metacognition in Learning and TeachingRelating metacognition to developing ones self-knowledge and ability to learn how to learn resulted in metacognition being awarded a high status as a feature of learning. The ground for developing such
37、an interest proved particularly fertile, especially in view of a constantly changing technological world when not only it is impossible for individuals to acquire all existing knowledge, but it is also difficult to envisage what knowledge will be essential for the future. The subsequent calling for
38、inclusion of metacognition in the development of school curricula, therefore, seems fully justified. Flavell (1987)5 proposed thatgood schools should be hotbeds of metacognitive development because of the opportunities they offer for self-conscious learning. Similarly, Paris and Winograd (1990) have
39、 argued that students learning can be enhanced by becoming aware of their own thinking as they read, write, and solve problems in school, and that teachers should promote this awareness directly by informing their students about effective problem-solving strategies and discussing cognitive and motiv
40、ational characteristics of thinking. Clearly sharing this view, Gunstone and Northfield (1994) took a step further and argued infavor of a central position of metacognitive instruction within teacher education. Borkowski and Muthukrishna (1992) similarly have argued that metacognitive theory has con
41、siderable potential for aiding teachers in their efforts to construct classroom environments that focus on flexible and creative strategic learning. Voices advocating the importance of metacognitive activity within educational contexts have resulted in placing metacognition high on educational resea
42、rch agendas.In the course of learning a foreign language, learners metacognition is self-recognition and self-introspect of how to study a foreign language10. “The strategies can plan, regulate and monitor the whole process of language learning, and make foreign language learning become the learners
43、 conscious and cognitive activity” (Brown, 1994). So, it is obvious that metacognitive strategies play the important role of direction and coordination in foreign language learning. In some aspects, metacognitive strategy is conducive to tracking down the reason why in the school there are high and
44、low scores on foreign language examinations; and even to discovering the origins of mistakes in the process of language learning.1.5 Three Important Components of Metacognitive StrategyMetacognitive strategy involves thinking about the learning process, planning for learning, monitoring the learning
45、 task, and evaluating how well one has learned.( O Malley proposing strategies for handling an upcoming task; generating a plan for the parts, sequence, main ideas, or language functions to be used in handling a task. It is an important metacognitive skill. Learners plan and arrange the learning goa
46、l, course and steps or stages before the learning activities begin, for instance, settling down the goal of learning, predicting the key and difficult points, having the questions to be answered, analyzing how to finish the learning task, and arranging the learning time, etc.By engaging in preparati
47、on and planning in relation to a learning goal, students are thinking about what they need or want to accomplish and how they intend to go about accomplishing it. Teachers can promote this reflection by being explicit about the particular learning goals they have set for the class and guiding the st
48、udents in setting their goals. The more clearly articulated the goal, the easier it will be for the learners to measure their progress. Monitoring The strategies of monitoring refer to consciously monitoring the learning process, learning methods and the situation of carrying on the learning plan du
49、ring the process of learning activity according to the learning goal. By monitoring their use of learning strategies, students are better able to keep themselves ontrack to meet their learning goals. Once they have selected and begun to implement specific strategies, they need to ask themselves periodically whether or not they are still using these strategies as intended. Evaluating Strategies of evaluating refer to assessing ones own learning process，and adjustin
