The effect of metacognitive strategy training on reading comprehension and metacognitive knowledge

Abstract

This article discusses the results of research investigating the effect of metacognitive strategy training on the reading comprehension and metacognitive knowledge of Polish intermediate learners of English as a foreign language. Results of a pretest and posttest questionnaire and a reading comprehension test administered to both an experimental and a control group of students suggest that students who were taught to apply self-regulatory strategies while performing a task related to reading could enhance their metacognitive knowledge of themselves as readers, their perceptions of the reading process and reading strategies, and their motivation as well as self-evaluation of reading skills. With respect to the students’ reading comprehension, a comparison of the effect of the training on students at two levels of language competence indicates that the training was more effective for the less proficient students. The study points to the effectiveness of metacognitive strategy training for students at an intermediate level of language proficiency. It also stresses the significance of learners’ beliefs concerning reading and underscores the role of metacognition in developing reading skills.