From Needs Analysis to Instructional Design: Developing a Metacognitive Instructional Model for Teaching Workplace English Listening and Speaking in Thai Higher Education

Abstract

Metacognitive strategies can potentially develop EFL students’ English listening and speaking skills and foster metacognitive awareness and systematic, self-regulated learning. Nonetheless, metacognitive instruction has been limited to stand-alone interventions investigating listening or speaking skill development. Consequently, this mixed-methods study conducts a needs analysis—indispensable for instructional model development—to investigate the learning needs and target needs of 88 Thai EFL undergraduates, five Thai EFL teachers, and 28 employers, with the aim of developing a metacognitive instructional model for teaching workplace English listening and speaking at a Thai public university. Employing data and methodological triangulation, the instruments included online questionnaires, semi-structured interview questions, and a classroom observation protocol. Semi-structured interviews were conducted until data saturation was reached with fourteen undergraduates, five teachers, and four employers. Three randomly selected classrooms of the English for Working Skills course were observed twice. Data were analysed quantitatively and qualitatively. The findings revealed learning needs related to segregated-skill instruction and integrated-skill practice, incorporating diverse activities and integrating 21st-century skills. Target needs comprised necessities, lacks, and wants associated with workplace success. A theoretical, contextually informed metacognitive instructional model is then proposed, comprising in-class and out-of-class sections, with activities structured around the planning, monitoring, and reflecting phases to promote English communication and self-regulation.