The Metacognitive Awareness Listening Questionnaire: Development and Validation

TLDR

The study develops and validates the Metacognitive Awareness Listening Questionnaire (MALQ) to assess second‑language listeners’ metacognitive awareness and strategy use during oral comprehension. The authors constructed the MALQ and evaluated its psychometric properties through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses on two large samples (N = 966 and N = 512), drawing on literature on metacognition and listening‑strategy regulation. The analyses yielded a 21‑item, five‑factor instrument—problem‑solving, planning/evaluation, mental translation, person knowledge, and directed attention—that shows strong reliability, factorial validity, and a significant correlation with L2 listening comprehension performance, suggesting useful applications for research and instruction.

Abstract

This article describes the development and validation of a listening questionnaire designed to assess second language (L2) listeners' metacognitive awareness and perceived use of strategies while listening to oral texts. The process of instrument development and validation is described, along with a review of the relevant literature related to metacognition and learners' regulation of listening comprehension strategies. An exploratory factor analysis of the responses of a large sample ( N = 966) of language learners and a subsequent confirmatory factor analysis with another large but different sample ( N = 512) resulted in a 21‐item instrument with robust psychometric properties. Five distinct factors emerged: problem‐solving, planning and evaluation, mental translation, person knowledge, and directed attention. The reliability and factorial validity of the instrument are presented along with evidence for a statistically significant relationship between student response on the instrument and L2 listening comprehension success. The article concludes with a discussion of the potential uses of the Metacognitive Awareness Listening Questionnaire (MALQ).