Listening is one of the most important skills that learners should possess.

According to

the Indeed Editorial Team (2022), listening refers to a skill that adds to your ability to accurately

receive information when communicating with others. In addition, listening comprehension

involves various processes of understanding language as it is heard, interpreted, and spoken

(Avendano, 2024). Numerous studies have examined the critical role that metacognitive listening

strategy awareness and listening comprehension strategy training play in learners' learning and

success across a range of disciplines (Ismail & Tawalbeh, 2015). However, even though listening

has such a significant impact on the development of communicative ability, it is often

overlooked in the language classroom (Kök, 2018).

Based on the International Journal of English Language and Literature Studies (2020), it

is believed that one of the most crucial abilities for a language learner to acquire in order to

utilize a language effectively is listening. Lee and Hatesohl (2021) compared listening to other

macro skills and found that most people spend 45% of their communication time on listening,

30% on speaking, 16% on reading, and 9% on writing. This indicates that listening is the most 2

used among any other macro skills. However, according to a Cambridge University study (2016),

listening is one of the hardest skills to get better at, especially once you are beyond the absolute

novice stage. Even in their sixth year of language study, learners have been seen to need help

with speech segmentation, distinguishing familiar vocabulary in the speech stream, poor

monitoring of understanding, and poor application of prior information.

Additionally, a study by Rost (2015) shows that English second language learners are

struggling to learn languages since they fail to enhance their listening in order to comprehend

what they have heard, which means that learners struggle with listening because most of the
school communities are more focused on reading, speaking, and writing. Listening indeed poses

the greatest challenge among the four language skills, given its inherent lack of explicit

instruction (Graham, Santos, & Francis-Brophy, 2014). Hamouda (2015) further underscores that

listening needs to be more frequently addressed compared to other language skills, highlighting a

significant gap in language education priorities.

In the Philippine educational landscape, listening is also frequently overlooked. The

Department of Education (2012) highlighted in the K-12 toolkit that high school-level integrated

language arts education prioritizes the enhancement of reading comprehension across diverse

texts, fostering writing skills and composition, and instilling study and thinking strategies, all

aimed at nurturing critical and creative thinking abilities. However, listening tends to receive less

emphasis. Moreover, in the two primary national assessments for Junior High School learners,

such as the National Achievement Test (NAT) and the National Career Assessment Examination 3

(NCAE), there is a notable absence of listening evaluation. This indicates a significant gap in the

assessment of this skill, revealing that the existing curriculum needs to prioritize the

enhancement of listening proficiency.

Furthermore, research conducted at Tarlac State University revealed that learners face

various challenges that hinder their listening comprehension. (Calub et al., 2018). These

challenges encompass seven key areas, including the complexities of the listening

comprehension process itself and the linguistic complexities present within texts. Additionally,

issues such as maintaining concentration, as well as psychological factors related to interest,

attitude towards the text, and confidence levels, significantly impact learners' ability to grasp and

retain information from spoken content. Moreover, individual differences among listeners,
variations in the delivery and clarity of the speaker or reader, and the complexity of the text's

content further compound these difficulties.

Given the perceived difficulty in listening, Kurudayıoğlu and Kiraz (2020) emphasize the

crucial role of employing strategies during the listening process. Graham and Santos (2015)

describe strategy awareness as familiarizing learners with the process of listening and

introducing strategies that can help them address their listening difficulties. According to Kahtali

and Mehmet (2021), when these general strategies are considered within the listening process, a

process-based sequence is observed. This order is known as pre-listening, while-listening, and

post-listening. İnce and Boztilki (2016) suggest that pre-listening involves task introduction or

interest strategies, while-listening confirms understanding and predictions, and post-listening

tasks analyze the text using acquired information.

Moreover, according to Bingol et al. (2014), listening comprehension strategies have 4

three different types which are metacognitive, cognitive, and socio-affective that may help the

learners learn how to monitor, plan, and evaluate collected information based on listening.

Learners may have unresolved conflicts in understanding the complexity of linguistic and

nonlinguistic stimuli if they do not have enough knowledge in utilizing effective listening

strategies. Failure to pay attention to this matter may cause a lack of motivation (Graham, 2017),

activeness, and participation among the learners during the teaching-learning process which can

lead to ineffective listening (Robillos, 2019).

Studies conducted in the Philippines have also highlighted the importance of utilizing

listening comprehension strategies to enhance learners' listening skills. Velasco and Acuña

(2021) suggested that second language (L2) learners employ a range of listening comprehension
strategies, and consistent, systematic, and suitable application of metacognitive, cognitive, and

socio-affective listening comprehension strategies can positively impact the listening

comprehension of ESL learners. Additionally, research conducted at Tarlac State University by

Calub et al. (2018) indicates that employing various listening comprehension strategies can assist

learners in addressing challenges they encounter in understanding spoken language.

Several studies have emphasized the significance of metacognitive awareness as one of

the strategies for enhancing listening comprehension among language learners. Metacognition

refers to the ability to monitor, regulate, and control one's cognitive processes, including

awareness of one's thinking and understanding. Vandergrift and Goh (2016) highlighted the

importance of metacognitive strategies such as planning, monitoring, and evaluating in

facilitating effective listening. Lee (2018) emphasized that explicit training in metacognitive 5

strategies led to notable improvements in listening outcomes. Additionally, Bermillo and

Aradilla (2022) found that incorporating metacognitive strategies into listening instruction could

lead to better outcomes for learners.

Cognitive strategies, on the other hand, refer to the mental processes involved in gaining

knowledge and comprehension. These include thinking, knowing, remembering, judging, and

problem-solving (Cherry, 2023). Recent research has shown that cognitive strategies play a

significant role in listening. For instance, a study by Wang and Gathercole (2021) found that

working memory, a cognitive ability related to temporarily holding and manipulating

information, strongly influences listening skills in adolescents. Moreover, the study of

Shahrokhi, et al. (2015) shows that cognitive strategies enhance our listening comprehension.

These findings highlight the importance of considering cognitive factors when studying listening.
 Socio-affective strategies involve understanding and responding to the emotions,

thoughts, and behaviors of oneself and others in social situations. These strategies consider

factors such as emotions and attitudes (Oxford, 1990). Several studies reported the benefits of

the use of socio-affective strategies in listening. For example, in the study of Bao and Guan

(2019), they found that socio-affective strategies were labeled as cooperative in listening

techniques. Sumalinog (2018) found that learners often communicate with their teachers and

classmates when they encounter difficulty in listening. Furthermore, in the study of Budiman

(2019), it was shown that socio-affective strategies have a big impact on learners’ language

achievement.

In addition to the benefits of listening comprehension strategies, it is imperative to

consider the broader context of enhancing listening comprehension strategies among Grade 10 6

learners. The study of Lanuza (2020) titled “Comprehensive Analysis on the Listening

Competence of Grade 10 Students: Basis for a Proposed Listening Enhancement Program”

indicated the necessity for enhancing and improving the learners' listening abilities in Grade 10

since they will employ these abilities when they enter senior high school, where the lessons and

information they will be receiving will be more complex, difficult, and specialized.

Additionally, Capas National High School stands as the central high school in Capas,

Tarlac, accommodating the largest student population from various barangays in the

municipality. However, a concerning issue has surfaced regarding the listening comprehension

of some learners, particularly in their English subject. Notably, an English teacher from the

school expressed concerns about Grade 10 learners struggling to grasp spoken language,
emphasizing the critical role of listening in language acquisition. This challenge poses a

significant concern for language educators at Capas National High School.

This study aimed to describe the listening comprehension strategies of Grade 10 learners

of Capas National High School. Listening is critical to language learning and it has been a skill

largely neglected in teaching-learning process, hence this study was presented. This study aimed

to provide meaningful insights and recommendations related to the study's area of research.