the role of metacognitive knowledge in writing ability of iranian efl learners

the role of metacognitive knowledge in writing ability of iranian efl learners

metacognitive knowledge shows a significant effect on cognitive tasks regarding language acquisition. the present study through mixed method data analysis examined the effect of metacognitive knowledge on the writing performance of iranian efl university students and investigated instructors’ attitudes towards the implementation of metacognitive knowledge awareness in the higher educational context.

to this end through stratified random sampling 300 freshmen, english language students in islamic azad university(iau), and 30 instructors in (iau) were selected as the participants of the study. after conducting oxford placement test (opt) 169 students, whose level of language proficiency was estimated above intermediate were selected as participants.

the study was conducted for 16 weeks which involved pre-and post-tests. the results revealed that learners’ metacognitive knowledge and related constructs are positively correlated with the writing ability of efl learners. furthermore, effective application of metacognitive knowledge awareness assisted students writing performance. besides, the results of the semi-structured interviews revealed that instructors’ had a positive attitude towards the implementation of metacognitive knowledge awareness in the higher educational context.

in this study, the researcher took the initiative to make a distinction between person knowledge, task knowledge, and strategy knowledge. the study has some implications for the efl/esl students in writing pedagogy and can provide some hints for developing a comprehensive model for the writing process. the teachers could employ metacognitive knowledge awareness tasks in their writing classes.