Role of metalinguistic awareness intraining for reading: a quasi-experimental study with Saudi EFL learners

Abstract

Background Metalinguistic awareness plays an important role in developing foreign learners' repertoire in the underlying system of the target language. Therefore, this study addresses the research gap in the Saudi context regarding the role of metalinguistic awareness in teaching reading comprehension. Moreover, it also verifies the level of application ofmetalinguistic strategies in the English as a first language (EFL) classroom. Methods The study employs a quasi-experimental research design with 70 EFL Saudi learners at Hail University as the participants. The duration of the experiment was twelve weeks and results are compared between control and experimental groups who were tested for homogeneity by administering the TOEFL reading comprehension test. The impact of metalinguistic awareness in developing Saudi learners' reading comprehension skills was verified by administering a questionnaire to the participants. Results The findings of the study show that the reading abilities of both groups of learners developed, but the development in the experimental group was significant. Planning was not enhanced in either the experimental or control group, monitoring and assessment were enhanced only in the experimental group. Conclusions Consequent to the findings the study recommends that EFL instructors directly train their students on metacognitive strategies to improve their reading comprehension.