The Effects Of Metacognitive Strategy Instruction On EFL Thai Students Reading Comprehension Ability

Abstract

This study examined the effectiveness of explicit instruction of metacognitive strategies over a 14-week semester with a group of 40 EFL learners at a private university in Thailand. A metacognitive questionnaire and a reading test were administered at the beginning and at the end of the course to find the changes in both the questionnaire responses and test scores. The data obtained were analyzed by using mean, standard deviation, and paired sample t-tests. Qualitative data from a semi-structured interview were also analyzed to explore students views on the strategy-based instruction. It was found that after the instruction, the reading score and metacognitive strategy use of the three groups namely: high, moderate, low were significantly higher than those before the instruction at the .05 level. In addition, different types of learners exhibited different responses to the strategy instruction. This studys findings contribute to a better understanding of strategy instruction and support the belief that strategy training should be conducted to enhance reading performance of the learners.