Listening comprehension is an essential ability in learning English as a Foreign
Language (EFL), but, many students still face problems due to limits in cognitive
processing and the use of efficient listening tactics. The present study attempted to
explore the cognitive processes and listening strategies used by EFL learners in
listening comprehension tasks. The research was based on Anderson’s (2021)
Cognitive Information Processing Theory and Bouchard’s (2005) Comprehension
Strategies Framework. This study adopted a qualitative case study design involving
undergraduate students in the English Education Department of a private institution
in Indonesia. Data were primarily acquired through classroom observations of
thirty-three students, supported by semi-structured interviews with ten selected
participants and documentation, and were analysed using Template Analysis (King,
2012) based on a coding template derived from Anderson's (2021) Cognitive
Information Processing Theory and Vandergrift and Goh's (2012) listening strategy
framework. The interview analysis produced 211 coded segments, with the most
salient themes being bottom-up processing and cognitive strategies (41 occurrences
each), (19,43%), followed by socio-affective strategies (39), (18,48%), top-down
processing (37), (17,54%), metacognitive strategies (33), (15,64%) and interactive
processing (20), (9,48%). The results of the observation of 33 students showed that
the most observed in listening activities were bottom-up processing (28 students),
cognitive strategies (30 students), and metacognitive strategies (26 students. And
the lowest observed were interactive processing (20 students), socio-affective
strategies (22 students) and top-down processing (24 students). The findings imply
that the integration of cognitive processes with strategic listening practices can
boost listening comprehension and develop more self-regulated EFL learners.