Investigating Metacognitive Awareness and Reading Strategy Use of EFL Korean University Students

Abstract

The metacognitive awareness and reading strategy use by Korean university students in Korea was investigated. The relationships between reading strategy use, self-rated English proficiency, and self-rated reading proficiency were examined. Differences in reading strategy use were also explored by gender and academic classification. Problem-solving strategies were the Korean students’ most preferred strategies. The relationship between strategy use and reading proficiency was linear, while a curvilinear relationship between strategy use and English proficiency was found. While no significant difference in strategy use between females and males was found, senior and junior level students reported higher use of strategies.