The present study intended to probe into whether Taiwanese junior high school EFL students’ awareness of metacognitive vocabulary and listening learning strategy use and their readiness towards mobile-assisted language learning are related to each other. And, whether the components of metacognitive awareness can be predictors of mobile readiness was investigated. The questionnaires used in the present study were adopted from the questionnaires in the previous studies (Rahimi & Katal, 2012; Tsung, 2012; Vandergrift et al., 2006). The entire questionnaire comprised five sections. The first section was designed to elicit the demographic information of the respondents.
Section two assessed the participants’ readiness towards using smartphones to learn English vocabulary. Section three assessed the participants’ readiness towards using
smartphones to learn English listening. Their awareness and perceived strategy use for vocabulary learning and listening were then evaluated respectively in the fourth and the last sections.
3.2.1 Demographic Information Questionnaire
The demographic information questionnaire was used to elicit the information on the respondents’ backgrounds. The respondents were asked to provide their demographic information, including their current grade levels (7th grade/8th grade/9th grade), gender (male/female), proficiency levels, and ownership duration (less than six months/six months to one year/more than one year). In order to get more valid and reliable information about their ability in English (Chen & Hsu, 2008), the results of the GEPT tests were used as the criterion. With the information about whether the learners’ had passed any level of the GEPT tests and which level they had passed (the elementary level/the intermediate level/the high-intermediate level in GEPT, we could have better idea about their English proficiency levels.
3.2.2 Metacognitive Vocabulary Learning Strategy Awareness Questionnaire
The second kind of questionnaire used in the present study was metacognitive vocabulary learning strategy awareness questionnaire, which was developed and translated by Tsung (2012). The questionnaire was originally a combination of the two frameworks in the previous studies, that is, Gu and Johnson’s (1996) Vocabulary
Learning Metacognitive Strategies and the Metacognitive Strategies in Schmitt’s Taxonomy of Vocabulary Learning Strategies (1997). According to Tsung (2012), the
two frameworks are complementary rather than contradictory in that they respectively provide the two perspectives, Discovery and Consolidation, which are the two distinct function of strategies in vocabulary learning (Schmitt, 1997). To be more specific, Gu and Johnson’s (1996) strategy categories, Self-Initiation and Selective Attention, pertain to the discovery function of strategies used for/upon the encounter of new words, while Schmitt’s (1997) Metacognitive Strategies are related to the Consolidation function of strategies for improving learned word knowledge. The innovative fusion of the metacognitive strategies suggested by Gu and Johnson (1996) and Schmitt (1997) in Tsung’s (2012) study leads to an integral interpretation of metacognitive awareness in application to second language vocabulary acquisition.There are a total of 17 items in the questionnaire. Items 1-7 concern learners’
strategy use in Selective Attention, with which they judge whether the newly encountered words are worth attention and further learning. In addition, Self-Initiation
strategies are related to the learning of new words by using extracurricular resources.
Items 8-12 aim to find out to what extent and in what ways learners can take active and autonomous control over their vocabulary learning. In order to meet the participants’ learning situation and clarify the descriptions, Tsung (2012) made some adaptations and modifications with great efforts. For example, she replaced a word
“things” with “English vocabulary” to avoid obscurity. Negatively-worded items were also changed into positively-worded statements. The present study adopted the adaptations and Chinese translation by Tsung (2012).
Furthermore, Tsung (2012) used Schmitt’s (1997) category of metacognitive strategies and renamed it as Consolidation in her study. Consolidation explores how learners stabilize their learning of introduced words through self-planning and self-monitoring. In order to make the investigation more comprehensive, Tsung (2012) adapted Hu’s (2007) translation of Schmitt’s (1997) metacognitive strategies with some deletion and addition to the items. The present study also adopted the modification and translation in Tsung (2012). A 4-point Likert scale was used to rate the items Tsung’s (2012) questionnaire, while the questionnaire in the present study anchored on a 5-point scale to ensure the consistency with the other questionnaires.
3.2.3 Metacognitive Awareness Listening Questionnaire (MALQ)
Vandergrift, Goh, Mareschal, and Tafaghodtari (2006) developed and validated a listening questionnaire named Metacognitive Awareness Listening Questionnaire (MALQ). The questionnaire is designed for researchers and instructors “to assess the extent to which language learners are aware of and can regulate the process of L2 listening comprehension” (Vandergrift et al., 2006). It can also be used as a self-assessment and self-report instrument for learners to evaluate the current level of their awareness of the listening process and to reflect on their strategy use when listening to L2 oral texts. Five distinct factors were identified through an exploratory factor analysis of the responses of a large sample of language learners and a subsequent confirmatory factor analysis with another large but different sample:
problem-solving, planning and evaluation, mental translation, person knowledge, and directed attention. The five factors comprised 21 items with robust psychometric properties, including problem-solving (6 items), planning and evaluation (5 items), mental translation (3 items), person knowledge (3 items), and directed attention (4 items). Each item is rated on a 6-point Likert scale rating from 1 (strongly disagree) to 6 (strongly agree). The scale without a neutral point was chosen to be used so that respondents could not hedge. The MALQ has been demonstrated to have substantial psychometric properties as a measure of listening awareness. Furthermore, the study
indicated a significant relationship between MALQ scores and actual listening behavior. Therefore, according to the researchers, L2 learners can be enabled and empowered to become self-regulated listeners by using the MALQ. They can thus make better use of the aural input that they receive. If learners’ awareness of the listening process can be improved, they may become better listeners who can learn another language more quickly and efficiently. All of the 21 items in the MALQ were adopted in the present study and translated into Chinese for the participants by the researcher himself. However, a 5-point Likert scale was adopted to ensure the consistent rating scales for the other three questionnaires.
3.2.4 Mobile Vocabulary and Listening Learning Readiness Questionnaires
Rahimi and Katal’s (2012) podcast-use readiness questionnaire was chosen to test learners’ readiness for mobile-learning, while it underwent a lot of modification because the mobile devices discussed in the present study were smartphones.
Following previous researchers, Rahimi and Katal (2012) developed the questionnaire to assess learners’ readiness for using podcasting based on the questionnaire in Walls
et al. (2010). The questionnaires developed and administered by Walls et al. (2010)
was to explore students’ readiness and attitudes towards podcasting technology for repetitive and supplemental content, focusing on how students made use of or were influenced by the different types of podcasts. In their study, students’ readiness and attitudes were deemed as separate groups, and students’ readiness was divided into students’ access, proficiency/familiarity, habits, and experiences. Later, in Rahimi and Katal’s (2012) study, attitude was grouped under the idea of readiness as one of the three aspects of readiness, which were familiarity, attitude, and experience. That is, the podcast-use readiness questionnaire assessed learners’ readiness to use podcasting in terms of Familiarity, Attitude, and Experience. The questionnaire consisted of 10 closed-ended items that assessed students familiarity with podcasting (4 items), podcasting experience in learning (3 items), and attitudes towards the value of podcasting in learning English as a foreign language (3 items). The questionnaire anchored on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from ‘not at all’ like me to ‘very much’like me. Based on the categorization in Rahimi and Katal (2012), the aspects of learners’ readiness for mobile learning in the questionnaire of the present study were also divided into the same categories: Familiarity, Attitude, and Experience. However, because the mobile devices discussed in the present study were smartphones, the descriptions about the use of podcasting were adapted and changed into the ones about using smartphones. In addition, while the podcast-use readiness focused only on listening learning, the present study investigated the readiness towards vocabulary and
listening learning at the same time. Therefore, the researcher himself developed the questionnaire for mobile learning readiness towards vocabulary learning. In addition, the researcher increased the items under each aspect in the questionnaires assessing the learners’ mobile vocabulary and listening learning readiness, with 7 items for Familiarity, 6 items for Attitude, and 8 items for Experience. The questionnaires were also translated into Chinese by the researcher himself for the participants.