The Effect of Metacognitive Instruction on L2 Learners' Listening Comprehension across Personality Styles: The Case of Introvert/Extrovert Learners

The present thesis aimed at examining the effect of metacognitive instruction on introvert/extrovert learners' listening development. Following a placement test, 72 homogeneous intermediate male L2 learners from among 98 students studying at Kish Air English language institute of Babolsar, Mazandaran, Iran who participated in this study have been chosen. (From among 98 students studying at Kish Air English language institute of Babolsar, Mazandaran, Iran, 72 homogeneous intermediate male L2 learners have been chosen). They were divided into one control and two experimental groups. Based on the result of Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (Eysenck, 1999), the experimental group was divided into two groups of introverts and extroverts. The participants were given the pre-test before metacognitive listening treatment and then the learners in the experimental group went through the process of metacognitive listening instruction as proposed by Vandergrift (2004). The Metacognitive Awareness Listening Questionnaire (Vandergrift, Goh, Tafaghodtari & Mareschal, 2006) was also distributed among the learners after the treatment to assess the learners' use of different metacognitive strategies. Following the posttest, to check the effectiveness of the instruction, the data were analyzed through independent- and paired-sample t-tests. The results of the study revealed that the metacognitive listening instruction affects the learners' listening development and that the extroverts outperformed the introverts on the listening tasks. On implication side, the study suggests a need for equipping second language learners with the metacognitive strategies for listening comprehension.