Interplay of Working Memory Capacity with Implicit/Explicit Metacognitive Strategy Instruction: Listening Comprehension Performance in Focus

This study investigated the differential effect of implicit/explicit metacognitive strategy instruction on the listening comprehension performance of Iranian EFL learners. It also explored the possible interaction of metacognitive strategy instruction with EFL learners’ working memory capacity. To achieve these objectives, 63 EFL learners were selected as participants based on their performance on a placement test and were randomly assigned to two experimental (implicit/explicit metacognitive strategy instruction) and two control (active and passive) groups. A task-based explicit metacognitive strategy instruction model was implemented in the explicit group. The implicit group received instruction based on a hybrid metacognitive strategy instruction model. All participants took the Automated Operation Span Test (AOST) as well as a PET listening paper. They also took the listening section of the FCE as their transfer test. The obtained results revealed that while both implicit and explicit metacognitive strategy instructions significantly affected the participants’ listening comprehension performance, explicit instruction was of greater effect. The results also showed that listening comprehension variations were not significant in the active control group, which indicated that no positive results can be achieved just by introducing strategies without contextualizing them in practice. Working memory capacity (WMC) also showed to be of significant predictive power for listening comprehension improvement in the explicit instruction group. Finally, the findings of the study demonstrated that implicit metacognitive strategy instruction works much better for learners with limited WMC or groups of learners with heterogeneous WMCs.