Learning Styles and Metacognitive Awareness: How They Affect the L2 Listening Process of At-Risk Students in a Modified Foreign Language Program (MFLP)

Authors

William Keith Corbitt, West Chester University

Publication Date

3-1-2017

Abstract

Research on the acquisition of foreign languages by at-risk students has primarily focused on the Linguistic Coding Deficit Hypothesis (Horwitz, 2000). Recently, there has been a growing discussion regarding the effects of learning style rigidity (Castro, 2006; Castro and Peck, 2005; Corbitt, 2011; Sparks, 2006) and metacognitive awareness (Corbitt, 2013) on the acquisition of Spanish by at-risk students in Modified Foreign Language Programs (MFLPs). This pilot study seeks to expand the conversation to include a discussion on foreign language listening. MFLP and non-MFLP participants completed the Metacognitive Awareness of Listening Questionnaire (Vandergrift, Goh, Mareschal, & Tafaghodtari; 2006) and the Learning Style Survey: Assessing Your Learning Styles (Cohen, Oxford, & Chi, 2001). The data were subjected to independent sample t-tests, ANOVAs, and a linear regression analysis to determine the relationship between and differences in learning styles and perceived metacognitive listening strategy use for each group. The findings suggest that MFLP and non-MFLP students diverge in their perceived usage of metacognitive listening strategies and MFLP students have a very strong visual learning style preference (p < .05). Pedagogical implications and recommendations for future research are discussed.

Recommended Citation

Corbitt, William Keith (2017) "Learning Styles and Metacognitive Awareness: How They Affect the L2 Listening Process of At-Risk Students in a Modified Foreign Language Program (MFLP)," Dimensions: Vol. 52, Article 5.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/dimensions/vol52/iss1/5