Research on Listening Strategies for English Majors

Abstract

Listening, as a core input skill in English learning, is closely associated with the development of speaking, reading, and writing abilities, and accounts for a significant proportion in important English proficiency tests such as CET-4, CET-6, TEM-4 and TEM-8. However, many English majors encounter difficulties in listening comprehension, lacking the application of targeted strategies, and relying on blind training. To address this issue, this study aims to investigate the overall use of listening strategies by English majors, explore the differences in strategy application among students of different grades and listening proficiency levels, and clarify the correlation and predictive effect between listening strategies and listening scores. A questionnaire survey was conducted among 112 English majors from a university in Hubei Province, and SPSS 26.0 was used for descriptive statistics. The results show that: (1) Among the three types of listening strategies, metacognitive strategies are used the most frequently, followed by cognitive strategies, and affective strategies the least; (2) There is no significant difference in the use of listening strategies between lower-grade students (freshmen and sophomores) and upper-grade students (juniors and seniors), though upper-grade students use metacognitive strategies slightly more frequently; (3) There is a significant difference in the use of metacognitive strategies between students with high and low listening proficiency, with high-proficiency students using them more often; (4) Metacognitive strategies are significantly positively correlated with listening scores and can significantly predict listening scores, while cognitive and affective strategies show no significant correlation with listening scores. Based on the research results, this study suggests that English listening teaching should strengthen the training of metacognitive strategies, cultivate students’ awareness of autonomous learning, and improve their listening comprehension ability through targeted strategy guidance.