Exploring the role of phraseological knowledge and syntactic knowledge in L2 listening comprehension

Abstract Drawing on the fact that formulaic sequences are ubiquitous in language use and that they constitute a significant proportion of spoken English discourse, it is reasonable to believe that L2 learners would encounter a large number of formulaic sequences during the process of listening comprehension. We hypothesize that the knowledge of formulaic sequences, i.e., phraseological knowledge, may play an important role in L2 listening comprehension. Besides, the contribution of syntactic knowledge to L2 listening comprehension has seldom been investigated. This study aims to explore the role of phraseological knowledge and syntactic knowledge in L2 listening comprehension respectively. A cohort of 105 students who majored in English performed tests of aural vocabulary knowledge, phraseological knowledge, syntactic knowledge, metacognition, and L2 listening comprehension. Hierarchical multiple regressions were conducted. Results show that both phraseological knowledge and syntactic knowledge are significant factors in L2 listening comprehension.