1.4　Aims of the Study

1.4AimsoftheStudy

ThoughtheChineseEducationMinistry'sCollegeEnglishCurriculumRequirementsplacesastrongemphasisoninstructioninlisteninginuniversitylevelcourses,thereis,todate,stillagapbetweentherequirementsforlisteningandtheactualteachingoflisteninginChina.Tobemorespecific,instructionintheuseoflisteningstrategieshasonlybeguninthelasttwodecadesandthatinstructionwasmainlyconfinedtotheteachingofsomeveryconcreteandeasy-to-learncognitivestrategiessuchaslisteningforthemainidea,payingattentiontosuchdetailsasnumbersandnames,etc.Strategiesfordevelopingmetacognitiveawareness,despitetheircrucialroleinfacilitatinglistening,havebeenlargelyneglected.TheeffectsofmetacognitivelisteningstrategytrainingonChineseEFLlearners'listeningcomprehensionhavebeenscarcelystudiedandlittleisknownabouttherelationshipbetweentheChineseuniversityEFLlearners'metacognitivelisteningawarenessandtheirlisteningcomprehension.Thisstudyaimstofillthesegapsintheresearch.

Asamajorcomponentoflisteninginput,vocabularyisofprimaryimportancetoChineseEFLlearners'listeningcomprehension,andincidentalvocabularyacquisitionthroughlisteningisapromisingsourceofnewvocabulary.However,incidentalvocabularyacquisitionthroughlisteninghasreceivedlittleattention.Infact,tothebestoftheauthor'sknowledge,therearenopreviousstudiesofincidentalvocabularyacquisitionthroughlisteningbyChineselearners,norhastherelationshipbetweenChineseuniversityEFLlearners'vocabularyacquisitionandtheirmetacognitiveawarenessbeenstudied.Thisisanotheraimofthestudy.

Insummary,themainaimofthestudyistotrytofilltheaboveresearchgapsbyinvestigatingtherelationshipsbetweenChineseuniversityEFLlearners'listeningcomprehension,metacognitiveawarenessandincidentalvocabularyacquisitionfromlisteningtasks.