Self-regulation in L2 listening: The role of teacher and learner self-efficacy and the mediating influence of metacognition

Abstract

Strong listening proficiency underpins many aspects of foreign language learning. Yet the role of teacher-related factors in its development and their interaction with learner variables is unclear and underexplored, particularly compared to linguistic factors such as aural vocabulary knowledge (AVK). This study investigated how far the listening proficiency of 186 university English as a Foreign Language learners was predicted by key aspects of self-regulation, namely teacher self-efficacy for teaching listening, learner self-efficacy for listening and learner metacognition. The predictive role of AVK was also investigated alongside these variables, before and after a metacognition and strategy-based intervention implemented by Intervention Group teachers who had been trained prior to the intervention. Data were collected using teacher and learner questionnaires as well as learner listening tests. We show, through sequential multiple regression and mediation analysis, that even after controlling for AVK, both teacher and learner self-efficacy were significant predictors at post-test for the Intervention Group only, while they had an indirect effect through metacognition at pre-test for the sample as a whole. These findings illuminate the complexity of the relationship between teacher and learner self-efficacy, and learner outcomes, as well as the impact teacher professional development may have on that relationship. They thus offer a novel perspective through which to understand L2 listening proficiency and the role of the teacher in its development.