Comparative Effects of AI-Assisted vs. Teacher-Assisted Collaborative Listening on EFL Learners’ Self-Efficacy and Metacognitive Awareness

Listening comprehension remains one of the most challenging skills for EFL learners, often hindered by rapid speech and unfamiliar vocabulary. However, little is known about how learners’ self-efficacy and metacognitive awareness respond to different modes of instructional mediation. To do this, the present research sought to determine the comparative impacts of AI-assisted collaborative listening (AI-CL) to teacher-assisted collaborative listening (T-CL) on listening self-efficacy and metacognitive awareness among Iranian EFL learners. The study employed a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest control group design. The participants were selected from three intact undergraduate (BA-level) TEFL classes at Tabriz Islamic Azad University, where Persian serves as the official language of instruction. After homogenization using the Cambridge Listening Key English Test, the final sample included 60 upper-intermediate EFL learners (aged 18-24), both male and female, who were native speakers of Azari. They were randomly assigned to three groups, including the AI-CL group, T-CL group, and control group. The Metacognitive Awareness Listening Questionnaire and Second Language Listening Self-Efficacy Questionnaire were administered to collect the data, which were analyzed using ANCOVA. The results indicated that AI-CL and T-CL had equal effect in increasing metacognitive awareness, and neither had a significant short-term effect on self-efficacy. This study highlighted that AI can be used as a helpful guidance tool, yet teachers are still necessary to hold motivational and affective aspects of language learning.