DEVELOPING L2 LISTENING COMPREHENSION: CONSTRAINTS AND STRATEGY-BASED FACILITATION (LITERATURE REVIEW)
Khikmatova Malika Bakhtiyorovna
Keywords: listening comprehension, second language acquisition, listening strategies, metacognition, strategy instruction
Abstract
Listening comprehension matters a great deal in learning a second language (L2), yet it often gets less attention than reading and speaking. This review asks two questions. What makes L2 listening hard to develop? And what helps it grow? The review draws on theory and on studies of listening strategies. It argues that listening comprehension is the work of building meaning from sound, using what we know about language and the world. Learners struggle mostly because speech comes fast and cannot be controlled. In the studies reviewed here, the clearest help comes from teaching learners to plan, monitor and reflect on their listening, and from doing this inside real listening tasks. Most of this evidence comes from a few groups of learners. The review ends with ideas for further research.
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