THE COMPARATIVE EFFECT OF TEACHING METACOGNITIVE STRATEGIES AND COGNITIVE STRATEGIES ON EFL LEARNERS’ READING AUTONOMY

Considering the changing theory and practice of language teaching and learning towards a more learner-centered approach, learners have become the center of concentration (Yang, 1998, cited in Fahim and Behdani 2011). Consequently, the importance of helping students to become autonomous has gained a crucial importance and has become one of the significant themes (Benson, 2001). On the other hand, competence in reading is crucial for functioning adequately both in native language and especially in Foreign Language Learning, as reading is the most frequent skill attempted. In this respect, encouraging students to read frequently seems essential (Naeghel, Van Keer, Vanderlinde, 2014). There are critical strategies which can promote autonomous readers. Having a repertoire of reading strategies can help students become more autonomous readers. The present experimental study aimed to investigate the comparative effect of teaching metacognitive strategies and cognitive strategies on EFL learners’ reading autonomy. Sixty homogeneous intermediate EFL learners chosen based on convenient random sampling out of 90 students through devising a sample piloted PET proficiency test were randomly assigned to two experimental groups, one going through cognitive strategy teaching and the other being taught metacognitive strategies. Before treatment, reading autonomy questionnaire by Cottrell (2000) was administered to both groups as pretest. The training in both groups was based on Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach (CALLA) by O’Malley and Chamot 1994. In the metacognitive strategy group, the researcher first introduced the strategies and asked the students to repeat the discussed strategy in order to make sure that the learner had understood it. Then she and the learners practiced the strategy together. Next, the teacher asked the students to evaluate how they learned and what they did and finally, the students talked about the strategy and their idea about it and whether they were going to use it while they were reading the texts or not. As for the cognitive strategies group, at first the students identified the strategies they used and tried to have a connection between their cognitive knowledge and the way of learning. Then the teacher modeled the cognitive strategy. She talked about the usage of the strategy and showed her own strategy to the learners. In the next phase, students were given the opportunity to practice the strategies they were taught and later, they were provided by some opportunities to assess their own success in using the strategies they already learned. In the last phase students were encouraged to use the strategies that they found most effective and tried to apply those strategies to next contexts. At the end of the treatment, the reading autonomy questionnaire was administered and the Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) showed that there was no significant difference between the participants. In fact, by using cognitive strategies and activating cognitions, learners may be able to construct knowledge through a variety of different ways which may lead them to be more autonomous readers who can use their cognition in order to read more independently. Equally, equipping learners with metacognitive strategies may help them identify the time when they no longer understand the text leading them to try to do something which can help them in becoming more autonomous.