Relationship Between Test-Taking Motivation and Listening Metacognitive Awareness in EFL Listening Context

Background: This quantitative study examines the unique effect of four different test-taking motivation variables (i.e., expectancy, importance, interest, and anxiety) on overall listening metacognitive awareness and its four dimensions (directed attention, mental translation, planning and evaluation, and problem-solving). Methods: A questionnaire survey was used to collect data from 525 university students. Path model analysis was performed to analyze the questionnaire data. Results: Results showed that the overall listening metacognitive awareness was positively associated with expectancy and importance. Results also indicated various patterns of relationship between variables, of which the following are noteworthy: expectancy was positively associated with directed attention, problem-solving, and planning and evaluation; interest was only positively correlated with planning and evaluation; listening anxiety was related to higher levels of mental translation and planning and evaluation but lower levels of directed attention; and importance was positively correlated with all four dimensions of listening metacognitive awareness. Discussion: The implications for English listening teaching, learning, and testing are also discussed.