An Investigative Study of Cognitive and Metacognitive Paraphrasing Strategies in ESL Writing

Paraphrasing is not an easy task as it involves the writer using many levels of knowledge. A writer needs to use both reading and writing skills to write. He/she needs to go through the stages of before, during and after writing processes in order to reach the final draft. Paraphrasing is not an easy task as it requires the writer to use both cognitive and metacognitive strategies. This study explores the aspects of cognitive and metacognitive strategies that is used by the writer to paraphrase. A survey is use to elicit responses from purposely random chose ESL writers who went through a semester of academic writing class. Findings revealed that writers consciously and unconsciously use components of cognitive and metacognitive strategies to paraphrase. The results of this study bear interesting implications in the teaching and learning of academic writing for ESL learners.