Metacognitive awareness of reading strategies of University of Botswana English as Second Language students of different academic reading proficiencies

Abstract

This study explored metacognitive awareness level of University of Botswana students in the Faculty of Social Sciences. It also considered the more recent research focusing on the role of metacognitive awareness in reading and how it relates to proficiency. The following questions are addressed: (1) What are the self-reported reading proficiencies of the University of Botswana students? (2) Are the University of Botswana students aware of their metacognitive reading strategies? (3) What kind of metacognitive reading strategies are frequently used? (4) Is there a difference in metacognitive awareness of reading strategies used by high- and low-proficiency students respectively? The Survey of Reading Strategies Questionnaire (SORS) developed by Mokhtari and Sheorey (2002), and the semi-structured interview technique were used to collect data for this study. The findings indicate that University of Botswana English as Second Language (ESL) students reported high reading proficiency and high use of metacognitive strategies, but there was no vast difference in terms of proficiency. Students who reported their proficiency as high had an edge over low-proficiency ones mainly because their management and monitoring of reading was guided more by the goals they have set themselves than by the tests and assignments they were supposed to write.

English as a Foreign Language Learners’ Major and Meta-cognitive Reading Strategy Use at Al-Balqa Applied University

“…proved that they are high users of the overall strategies (M=3.6023, S.D.=1.3189). This outcome supports previous studies like Jom'a (2013), Chen and Chen (2015), Mahasneh, Alkhawaldeh and Almakanin (2016), Monsakorn (2012), Zarrabi (2015), Rastegar, Kirmani and Khabir (2017), Poole (2009), Magogwe (2013 and Lien (2014) Who regardless of the aims of their studies have found their participants to be high users of the overall metacognitive reading strategies. The results of the present study are not consistent with other studies like Tabtabaei and Assari (2011), Jafari and Shokrpour (2012), Shikano (2013), Lee (2012), Tavakoli (2014), Hoang (2016 who conducted studies for a variety of aims found their participants to be moderate users of the overall reading strategies.…”

“…Jafari andShokrpour (2012), Jom'a (2013), Magogwe (2013), Shikano (2013) and Mahasneh, Alkhawaldeh and Almakanin (2016). Studies that do not support these findings do also exist.…”

“…(Monsakorn, 2012). Researchers like Magogwe (2013) and Lein (2014) divide the reading strategies into two categories. The first category constitutes the cognitive reading strategies which support the learners with the skills that enable them to infer the meaning from the text they tackle.…”

Metacognitive Reading Strategies, Motivation, and Reading Comprehension Performance of Saudi EFL Students

“…It also supports the findings of Hong-Nam and Page (2014) on the moderate use of metacognitive reading strategies of ELLs in America. However, this particular result of the study does not coincide with the general findings of previous researches showing active (High) overall use of metacognitive reading strategies by EFL students in Yemen (Al-Sobhani, 2013) and by those ESL students in Malaysia (Pammu, Amir, & Maasum, 2014;Maasum & Maarof, 2012) and in Botswana (Magogwe, 2013). This finding suggests that use of metacognitive strategies vary depending on language learners' settings and orientations.…”

“…Awareness and use of metacognitive reading strategies have positive and direct relationship with reading comprehension performance; thus, students who use these strategies perform better in reading proficiency tests / courses (Yuksel & Yuksel, 2012;Pressley, et al, 1998;Al-Sobhani, 2013;Tavakoli;Magogwe, 2013;Hong-Nam, 2014;Zhang & Seepho, 2013;Memis & Bozkurt, 2013;Phakiti, 2006;Kummin & Rahman, 2010). Therefore, learning metacognitive reading strategy skills can be one solution to the problem of poor reading comprehension, hence, the need for it to be developed and emphasized in the EFL teaching and learning processes.…”