Metacognitive Strategies Within Foreign Language Reading Classroom

Abstract

Many current researchers believe that readers need to be aware of and employ effective reading strategies so they accurately understand and retain the information being presented (Maasum & Maarof, 2012). Available literature suggests that metacognitive strategies can help foreign language learners read with better degrees of competency. This work sought to find evidence of metacognitive strategy success rates in 1st, 2nd and 3rd year ESL students on the university level. Student reading success was evaluated using pre and post test tools. The control and experimental group were divided between those who were exposed to the Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategy Inventory (MARSI) and those who were not (control). Based on the research findings, it was concluded that metacognitive strategies for reading do have a positive effect on ESL learners on the university level. In all situations, those students who were exposed to metacognitive strategies on average outperformed their counterparts who were exposed to no such strategies. The way in which it influences test performance, however, does vary according to the evaluation tool.

Keywords: Metacognitive Strategies, EFL, Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategy Inventory (MARSI), second language acquisition, foreign language learners, reading comprehension.