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Understanding L2 Proficiency: Theoretical and meta-analytic investigations
Edited by Eun Hee Jeon and Yo In'nami
[Bilingual Processing and Acquisition 13] 2022
► pp. 235–283

Chapter 8
L2 listening and its correlates

A meta-analysis

ORCID logo | Chuo University
ORCID logo | Seisen University
ORCID logo | University of North Carolina at Pembroke
 | Waseda University
Second-language (L2) listening ability is considered to consist of a diverse range of components that collectively help one to understand aural messages (e.g., Vandergrift & Goh, 2012). By building on and expanding previous meta-analyses, this chapter reports on a meta-analysis of L2 listening and its components. Two research questions were addressed: (1) what is the overall relationship between L2 listening and all its components collectively? and (2) what is the relationship between L2 listening and each of its components? Regarding (1), results from 118 studies (533 correlations) showed a significant, moderate relationship between L2 listening and its components overall (r = .446). Regarding (2), L2 listening was more strongly related to linguistic knowledge (grammar and vocabulary) than cognitive ability and affective features (aptitude, metacognitive awareness, working memory, attitude, and motivation), with anxiety (another affective feature) located in between. These results suggest how various components relate to L2 listening. The results also support the prediction that generally core components (i.e., linguistic knowledge) were expected to be more strongly correlated with L2 listening than were peripheral components (i.e., cognitive ability).
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Literature review
    • 2.1Linguistic knowledge
      • 2.1.1Grammar
      • 2.1.2Vocabulary
      • 2.1.3Phonological awareness
      • 2.1.4Morphological knowledge
    • 2.2Cognitive ability
      • 2.2.1Aptitude
      • 2.2.2Metacognitive awareness
      • 2.2.3Working memory
    • 2.3Affective features
      • 2.3.1Attitude and motivation
      • 2.3.2Anxiety
    • 2.4Core and peripheral components of proficiency
  • 3.Research questions
  • 4.Method
    • 4.1Literature search
    • 4.2Study inclusion criteria
    • 4.3Coding
      • Linguistic knowledge
      • Cognitive ability
      • Affective features
      • Other issues
    • 4.4Analyses
  • 5.Results
    • 5.1L2 listening and its overall components
    • 5.2L2 listening and each of its components
  • 6.Discussion
    • 6.1Linguistic knowledge
      • 6.1.1Grammar
      • 6.1.2Vocabulary
      • 6.1.3Phonological awareness
      • 6.1.4Morphological knowledge
    • 6.2Cognitive Ability
      • 6.2.1Aptitude
      • 6.2.2Metacognitive awareness
      • 6.2.3Working memory
    • 6.3Affective features
      • 6.3.1Attitude and motivation
      • 6.3.2Anxiety
    • 6.4Relationship between core and peripheral components of proficiency
    • 6.5Reliability issues
  • 7.Conclusion
  • References
  • Appendix
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at [email protected].

Published online: 4 August 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/bpa.13.08inn
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