Metacognitive reading strategy instruction: improving second language reading comprehension and reading motivation

The project aims to identify the effects of metacognitive reading strategy instruction on second language reading comprehension and reading motivation by a meta-analysis and a teaching intervention. There have been contradictory findings in the literature regarding the impacts of metacognitive reading strategy instruction. This raises questions about the general effects of metacognitive reading strategy instruction and the conditions where the instruction works best. When it comes to the conditions in which metacognitive reading strategies are taught, there are numerous moderating variables such as teaching length, teaching resources, teaching models, text types and so on. Participants’ age is one of the most differing moderating variables with the widest range of possible options such as children, primary school, secondary school, high school students, undergraduate students, teenagers, adults. Examining the correlation between outcomes and participants’ age can have practical implications for second language teaching. Therefore, a meta-analysis was conducted to establish up-to-date overall effects of metacognitive reading strategy instruction on second language reading comprehension and determine treatment patterns. Such a meta-analysis had not been conducted yet. In addition to a meta-analysis, a teaching intervention on effects of metacognitive reading strategy instruction on second language reading comprehension and motivation of Vietnamese 5th graders was carried out to address the lack of relevant research on Vietnamese young learners. The results of 20 up-to-date empirical quantitative studies in the meta-analysis were transformed into effect sizes, then all the effect sizes were aggregated. The result of the meta-analysis is an effect size of 1.09, which shows the positive effects of metacognitive reading strategy instruction on second language reading comprehension of students from secondary school to university students. Moreover, the mean effect sizes of studies with the same options of participants’ age were compared and the result is that participants’ age does not influence effects of metacognitive reading strategy instruction on reading comprehension. In the teaching intervention, 40 Vietnamese 5th graders in 2 elementary classes at an English centre in Vietnam were assigned to two groups. One teacher at the centre gave metacognitive reading strategy instruction to the experimental group and non- metacognitive instruction to the control group. Both groups completed the pre-tests, post- tests and inventories before and after the instruction. Focus group interviews with the participants before and after the teaching intervention were also conducted. The result of the quantitative data analysis from the tests and inventories with the use of SPSS and Excel is that metacognitive reading strategy instruction has significantly positive impacts on reading comprehension and metacognitive reading strategy use of the experimental group. The analysis of the interviews started with identifying what reading motivation categories were reported, using a thematic analysis framework. Next, conversation analysis was employed to understand how the reading motivation was reported. The thematic analysis showed a lack of intrinsic reading motivation in both groups and the conversation analysis helped discuss its reason which is the contexts of the interviews, course and exam. The interview results also contribute to the current literature on reading motivation by highlighting the unimportance of distinguishing among categories and sub-categories of reading motivation because of their causal relationships and unclear distinction. Importantly, small but noticeable positive changes in second language reading motivation of the experimental group, namely reading motivation of competitiveness and challenges resulted in a big positive difference in second language reading comprehension of the Vietnamese primary school students, particularly the Vietnamese 5th graders, which indicates the power of motivation. This also reveals the strong power of metacognition because the changes in motivation result from the autonomy and independence gained from the use of metacognitive strategies to control one’s thinking such as planning, self-monitoring and self-evaluating. Thus, based on the previous theories and practical evidence of metacognition, the current project has successfully established the importance of metacognition and discussed the benefits of introducing metacognition to young learners. Metacognition should be used as a skill to ensure that our goals are achieved.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

PhD

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

PhD thesis

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Middlesex University

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Nguyen, T.K.T.

Identifier

oai:repository.mdx.ac.uk:340vv9

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repository.mdx.ac.uk:340vv9