Abstract

This study aims to explore the relationship between metacognitive strategies, self-efficacy, and English listening ability among non-English major college students in China. Based on self-efficacy theory and metacognitive strategy theory, it explores how psychological factors such as metacognitive strategies and self-efficacy are intrinsically related to students' own English listening ability. Adopting a quantitative, correlational research design, we used a combination of questionnaires and listening tests, and employed cluster sampling to select 406 non-English major college students as samples from eight public colleges in Henan Province to conduct correlation analyses and regression analyses. The results of the study: the overall English listening ability and metacognitive strategy use ability of the tested students were at a moderately high level, while listening self-efficacy was at a moderate level. There were significant positive correlations between metacognitive strategy dimensions and self-efficacy and English listening ability. Metacognitive strategies and self-efficacy were significant predictors of English listening ability, with the strongest correlation being for conditioning strategies. In addition, the model explained about 35.1% of the variance in listening performance, suggesting that learners' psychological and strategic factors play an important role in English listening learning. The present study highlights the need for systematic metacognitive strategy training and self-efficacy development in English listening instruction to help learners improve their ability and confidence in regulating listening tasks. It enriches empirical research on related psychological mechanisms and provides a clear guidance programme of metacognitive strategies in the pre-listening, listening, and post-listening phases for English listening teaching in colleges.