Chinese Students’ Metacognitive Experiences in Learning to Write in English as a Foreign Language (EFL): Metacognitive Growth and Writing Development
Many researchers have acknowledged the facilitating role of metacognition in learning to write in English as a foreign language (EFL). Although research on metacognitive knowledge and metacognitive strategies in the field of EFL writing has flourished, little is known about the effect of learners’ metacognitive experiences on their learning of EFL writing. To fill such an important gap, this study had three main focuses: 1) investigating Chinese students’ metacognitive experiences in learning EFL writing through developing and validating three scales to measure them; 2) examining the relationship between the EFL learners’ metacognitive experiences and their writing performance in terms of complexity, accuracy, fluency, and overall writing quality; and 3) measuring their progression in metacognitive experiences and development in EFL writing proficiency. In addition, it took into account the role of Chinese cultures of learning in affecting these students’ learning of EFL writing. This study recruited 901 second-year non-English-major undergraduates (i.e., two independent samples of 340 and 561 undergraduates) from a national university in Northeast China and employed a mixed-methods research design with two phases: scale development and main study. The purpose of scale development was to taxonomise Chinese students’ metacognitive experiences in learning EFL writing. Three questionnaires were developed and validated to measure the EFL learners’ metacognitive experiences in learning to write. The three newly developed questionnaires are the Pre-Writing Metacognitive Experiences Questionnaire (PWMEQ), the During-Writing Metacognitive Experiences Questionnaire (DWMEQ), and the Post-Writing Metacognitive Experiences Questionnaire (POWMEQ). Data were collected from 340 undergraduates at the focal university. Results of exploratory factor analysis generated a taxonomy of students’ metacognitive experiences in learning EFL writing. The main study of this research included an observational study and a case study. The observational study (Stage one) examined the relationships between EFL learners’ metacognitive experiences and their writing performance as well as how their metacognitive experiences and writing performance developed over the semester. For the observational study, 561 Chinese EFL learners were invited to participate using convenience sampling. Data were collected from the three questionnaires (i.e., PWMEQ, DWMEQ, and POWMEQ) and two argumentative writing tasks at the beginning and at the end of the semester (i.e., four writing tasks in total). They were subjected to confirmatory factor analysis, multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), structural equation modelling, multiple regression analyses, and paired-samples t-tests. Results of confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the structure of the three newly developed questionnaires. Findings from MANOVAs showed that EFL learners’ writing proficiency was a significant factor affecting their metacognitive experiences in writing. Results of structural equation modelling suggested that EFL learners’ metacognitive experiences generally contributed significantly to their writing performance in terms of complexity, accuracy, and fluency. Multiple regression analyses suggested that the subcategories of EFL writers’ metacognitive experiences (i.e., pre-writing metacognitive strategies and estimates of EFL writing) made significant, independent contributions to their overall writing quality. Results of paired-samples t-tests showed that three subcategories of metacognitive experiences (i.e., estimate of effort expenditure, negative metacognitive feelings, and positive metacognitive feelings) significantly changed over the semester. There was some evidence that such changes accompanied EFL learners’ improvement in writing performance in terms of complexity and fluency. The case study (Stage two) was to deepen the understanding of EFL learners’ metacognitive experiences in learning to write. Data were collected from 10 of the 561 participants using semi-structured interviews and journal writing with four entries. The triangulation results from the qualitative data confirmed a four-factor model of EFL writing metacognitive experiences (i.e., metacognitive feelings, metacognitive judgments/estimates, online task-specific metacognitive knowledge, and online taskspecific metacognitive strategies). Furthermore, findings from the case study identified factors influencing EFL learners’ metacognitive experiences, including Chinese cultures of learning. Findings also identified subcategories of Chinese cultures of learning and how Chinese cultures of learning affected students’ learning of EFL writing. This research contributes to an understanding of the nature of students’ metacognitive experiences in learning EFL writing and the role of metacognitive experiences in influencing students’ EFL writing. Another main contribution is the attempt to adapt the framework of metacognitive experiences from educational psychology to the study of EFL writing. The study also has methodological and pedagogical implications.
Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations