LANY

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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
1.1 INTRODUCTION
This chapter discusses the background for the basis of the study, the rationale of the
study, statement of problem, significance of the study, objectives of the study, research
questions, null hypotheses as well as the definitions of terms used in the study.
1.2 BACKGROUND
The education domain has witnessed a gradual but significant shift towards greater
emphasis on learners and learning (Nunan, 1988) in the last two decades. This resulted in
an increasing awareness and interest in resources for learning styles and language
learning strategies in foreign and second language teaching and learning. (Abu Shmais,
2000). Research by Oxford (1990a), Cohen (1987), and O’Malley and Chamot (1990),
stressed on the use of variety of different strategies and techniques by effective learners in
language acquisition. These research in the area of ESL set out to identify how learners
processed new information and the kinds of strategies they used to understand, learn and
remember information. Cognitive strategies, affective and social strategies are a few
examples of strategy types used by language learners.
Recent development in language research has now moved its focus on the used of
metacognitive reading strategies (MRS) in reading comprehension. Previous research has
proved that reading comprehension is not just understand words, sentences, or event texts,
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but involves a complex integration of the reader’s prior knowledge, language proficiency
and their metacognitive strategies (Hammadou, 1991). Metacognitive awareness is
considered by most educators to be an element necessary for many cognitive learning
tasks (Li and Munby, 1996). Learners who have knowledge about their cognition
processes are able to use that knowledge to choose the most efficient strategies for
problem solving (Flavell, 1976).
The current explosion of research in the second language reading has begun to focus
on readers’ strategies. According to Rigney (1978), reading strategies are of interest for
what they reveal about the way readers manage their interaction with written text and how
these strategies are related to text comprehension. Research has identified variety of
strategies used by learners to assist them with the acquisition, storage and retrieval of
information. In the context of second language learning, distinction is made between
strategies that make learning more effective, versus strategies that improve
comprehension. The former refers to learning strategies in the second language literature
while the latter, indicates how readers perceive a task, how they make sense of what they
read, and what they do when they do not understand. In short, such strategies are
processes used by the learner to enhance reading comprehension and overcome
comprehension failures (Oxford and Crookall, 1989).
Many studies have supported the notion that good readers are more strategic in their
reading process than poor readers and thus they appear to be more metacognitively aware
than poor readers (Byrd and Gholson, 1985; Dewitz et al., 1987; Palincsar and Ransom,
1988; Brenna, 1995). Paris and Myers (1981) found that good readers know more than
poor readers about reading strategies, detect errors more often while reading and have
better recall of text information. In addition, good readers are actively involved in the
comprehension process (Block, 1986). They select and use appropriate strategies and
monitor their comprehension (Schmitt, 1990). Evidence suggests that differences in
reading achievements are related to the use of efficient reading strategies (Byrd and
Gholson, 1985). Differences in the ability of good and poor readers to use efficient
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reading strategies could be related to differences in their metacognitive knowledge about

reading.
1.3 RATIONALE OF THE STUDY
Of the four English language skills, reading is probably used most by students in the
academic context (Carrel, 1989; Livingston, 1996). Students have to acquire this crucial
and essential skill in order to achieve both language competency and proficiency. Many
quarters, especially the working sectors, lament the poor achievement and low
proficiency of our students especially in the English language. If the results from the
public examinations are anything to go by, everyone has every reason to be concerned.
Recently, with the introduction of teaching of Mathematics and Science in English, the
responses were mixed. Some favour the move as this was seen as a way to revive the
fledging standard of English in our schools, on the other hand, there were others who
opposed the move as this was seen as a threat to the present status of Bahasa Melayu as
the medium of instruction.
Most of our students lack critical reading skills; few read regularly (Barton, 1997).
According to Keene and Zimmermann (1997), educators and the public are in a frenzy
over how to boost reading comprehension scores. As educators and teachers, our greatest
challenge would be to equip our students with the appropriate learning skills and
strategies in order to enhance the competency and proficiency of learners in reading all
kinds of texts types. Reading in a way is a way of processing information from text and
comprehending the meaning before it could be used beneficially.
Reading comprehension depends on being able to successfully and appropriately use a

number of strategies: accessing prior knowledge, creating mental images of information,
making predictions and inferences, monitoring understanding, and using “fix-up”
strategies when necessary (Davey, 1983). If students know which strategies to use and
when to use them, they can monitor and control their own comprehension processing
(Baumann et al., 1993; Vacca and Vacca, 1993).
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Reading strategies can be defined as reading skills that are used purposefully and
independently to the reader (Paris et al., 1983). “The reader must know how and when to
apply the skill; that is what elevates the skill to the strategy level” (Routman, 1995: 135).
Of the many reading strategies that exist, there are both cognitive and metacognitive
strategies. Cognitive strategies refer to those strategies that involve perceiving,
understanding, remembering and other such behaviours. Metacognitive strategies refer to
strategies that involve thinking about one’s own perceiving, understanding, remembering,
etc. (Garner, 1987). While cognitive strategies are application of skills, metacognitive
strategies are knowing when and how to apply the skills.
Strategic reading has been found to be related to metacognitive ability. Metacognition

has been defined as “one’s knowledge concerning one’s cognitive processes and products
or anything related to them…” (Flavell, 1976: 232). It has also been defined as readers’
awareness of their level or degree of understanding and their ability to regulate the
process of comprehension as they proceed through texts (Dewitz et al., 1987). It is the
cognitive skills that are involved in reading that accompany the acquisition of strategies
and fluent reading that enable this awareness of strategies used, or metacognition (Paris
and Jacobs, 1984). Metacognitive theory states that reading comprehension is improved
by the used of metacognitive strategies (Lopez, 1992). This metacognitive awareness is a
crucial component of learning, because it enables learners to assess their level of
comprehension and adjust their strategies for greater success (Baker and Brown, 1984).
Basically, metacognitively-oriented students would not only be aware of their own
characteristics, as learners, but also the demands of the task. They would select, employ,
monitor and evaluate their used of strategies, and would be able to recognize and correct
comprehension failures (Wong and Chang, 2001).
1.4 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Many quarters lamented the decline in the English language performance and proficiency
among Malaysian students in this last decade. This alarming trend seems to be the norm
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in a few years to come. This situation had even prompted our then Prime Minister, Datuk
Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, to comment that today’s youths lacked a good command of
the language and as a result, they are unable to integrate and face challenges of the new
economy (New Straits Times: May 7, 2002: 1).
Results of Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) and Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) in
previous years were not much of a comfort to the education ministry, education ministers
and officers, educational policy makers, educators, and parents alike. Students were
solely lacking in both the competency and proficiency of the English language. Results of
PMR and SPM for rural students from 1999 – 2001 are presented in Table 1.4.1, and
1.4.2.
TABLE 1.4.1 Analysis of English Language Performance in Rural Areas

PMR – National Level
Year Number of Performance %

Candidates A B C D ABCD E
1999 198250 6.0 10.0 14.5 23.1 53.6 46.4
2000 210747 4.3 9.1 13.6 22.3 49.6 50.4
2001 212301 4.4 9.5 15.4 23.9 53.2 46.8
TABLE 1.4.2 Analysis of English Language Performance in Rural Areas

SPM – National Level
Year Number of Performance %

Candidates 1&2 3 -6 7&8 9
1999 155836 2.4 16.0 31.9 49.7
2000 173358 1.5 17.7 33.3 47.5
2001 171101 2.6 16.9 36.5 44.0
On closer examination of the tables, the dismal results of both PMR and SPM
examinations reflect the gravity of the situation our students found themselves in. The
PMR examination throughout the three years (1999-2001) yielded 47.9% of the mean
percentage of failures at the national level. The results for SPM examination for the same
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period of time, yielded 47.1% of the mean percentage of failures at the national level. It is
no wonder why there is a cause for alarm.
The lack of reading skill among ESL students is one of the factors that bring about
such disappointing performance at the national level examinations. Most of the students
do not possess strategic reading skills. Reading in a way, is a way of processing
information from text and comprehending the meaning before it could be used
beneficially. Students have to acquire this crucial and essential skill in order to achieve
both language competency and proficiency. Sadly, in spite of its importance, reading skill
seems to be the least of the skills to be successfully mastered by students in our language
classroom (Lee, 1994).
Studies done by Sykerman (1988), and Soars (1995) examined the reading strategies
of Malaysian students in an ESL context. Other studies such as by Noraini (1997) on
tertiary students also provides a valuable insight into the reading behaviour of students.
The findings of the studies revealed that effective reading strategies such as
metacognitive reading strategies were not often used by students when reading. In spite of
that, several good cognitive strategies were used by students in order to enhance their
comprehension and understanding of the reading texts.
This study sets out to investigate the metacognitive reading strategies or MRS, as it
will also be known from this point onwards, among Form Four students when reading
academic materials.
1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
Although there are a number of studies on various aspects of second and foreign language
reading, there is not many research that has been carried out on the knowledge and used
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of metacognitive reading strategies of Malaysian ESL classroom. Hitherto, there is

substantial number of studies that had been carried out to investigate the metacognitive
knowledge and awareness of metacognitive reading strategies of Malaysian students.
Thus, this study hopes to contribute to the present body of knowledge on the use of
metacognitive strategies by ESL students.
This study will give English teachers valuable information on how their students
process information, plan and select appropriate strategies to aid understanding of the
reading texts. Consequently, teachers will be able to help their students become better
language learners by training them in using appropriate strategies.
This study would also be important because of its pedagogical implications. Teachers,
being aware of the crucial role metacognitive awareness play in language teaching and
learning context, would be able to incorporate the teaching of metacognitive reading
strategies in their teaching and learning lessons. Ample opportunities will also be given to
students to develop their knowledge and skills as well as to be trained in the used of the
metacognitive strategies during academic reading.
In addition, this study will also help to shed lights on how the awareness and used of
metacognitive strategies affect low achievers’ and high achievers’ academic performance.
Besides, it will reveal the types of metacognitive reading strategies most often used by
these two groups. The difference in the ability to use efficient reading strategies could be
related to differences in students’ metacognitive knowledge when they go about reading
(Byrd & Gholson, 1985). This knowledge of what students can or cannot do would help
classroom teachers to develop essential skills in students. It is important that teachers
teach their students metacognitive skills in addition to cognitive skills (Anderson, 2002).
Graham (1997: 42-43) cited in Anderson (2002) posits that:
“The distinctions between cognitive and metacognitive strategies

are important, partly because they give some indication of which
strategies are the most crucial in determining the effectiveness of
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learning. It seems that metacognitives strategies, that allow

students to plan, control, and evaluate their learning, have the
most central role to play in this respect, rather than those that
merely maximize interaction and input…Thus the ability to
choose and evaluate one’s strategies is of central importance”.
1.6 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The objectives of the study are:

1. to investigate whether low achievers and high achievers differ in
their used of metacognitive reading strategies;
2. to investigate whether male and female students differ in their used
of metacognitive reading strategies;
3. to investigate whether urban schools and rural schools students
differ in their used of metacognitive reading strategies;
1.7 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The research questions for the study are as follow:

1. Is there a significant difference between low achievers and high
achievers in the used of metacognitive reading strategies?
2. Is there a significant difference between male and female students
in the used of metacognitive reading strategies?
3. Is there a significant difference between urban schools and rural
schools students in the used of metacognitive reading strategies?
1.8 NULL HYPOTHESES
The following hypotheses covered the study:

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H01: There is no significance difference between low achievers

and high achievers in the used of metacognitive reading
strategies;
H02: There is no significant difference between male and female
students in the used of metacognitive reading strategies;
H03: There is no significant difference between urban schools and
rural schools students in the used of metacognitive reading
strategies;
DEFINITION OF TERMS
1.9.1 Metacognition
Metacognition refers to the ability to reflect upon, understand, and control one’s learning
(Schraw & Dennison, 1994). It is thinking about thinking, knowing "what we know" and
"what we don't know" (Blakey and Spence, 1990).
1.9.2 Metacognitive Reading Strategies
Metacognitive reading strategies refer to strategies that involve thinking about one’s own
perceiving, understanding, remembering, etc. (Garner, 1987). Metacognitive reading
strategies can be divided into at least three categories: (1) planning—identifying a
purpose for reading and selecting particular actions to reach one’s reading goals for a
passage; (2) regulation—monitoring and redirecting one’s efforts during the course of
reading to reach the desired goals (Paris & Jacobs, 1984); (3) evaluation—assessing one’s
cognitive abilities to carry out the task and reach one’s reading goals (Brown and
Palinscar, 1982).
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CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1 INTRODUCTION
This chapter will discuss the conceptual framework of the study, theoretical views of
reading, and theoretical views of metacognition. Reviews of other research are also
presented in the study.
2.2 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
We engage in metacognitive activities daily. Metacognition enables students to be

successful learners, and has been associated with intelligence (Borkowski et al, 1987;
Sternberg, 1984, 1986a, 1986b). Metacognition plays a critical role in successful learning.
Thus, much effort has been intensified over the years to study metacognitive activity and
development on how students can better apply their cognitive resources through
metacognitive control. Paris et al. (1983) categorized this metacognitive awareness about
cognition or strategic reading in three ways: declarative knowledge, procedural
knowledge and conditional knowledge. Others such as Cross and Paris (1988) defined
metacognition as the “knowledge and control children have over their own thinking and
learning activities, including reading. Metacognition, according to You and Joe (2001), is
the knowledge and regulation about cognitive phenomena.
The conceptual framework for this study is adapted from Flavell’s theory (1979,
1987). According to Flavell (1979),, metacognition
m is “knowing about knowing.” He
categorized metacognition into two concepts: metacognitive knowledge and
metacognitive experience. These two concepts are further divided into three categories:
knowledge of person variables, task variables and strategy variables. These factors
interact closely with each other which eventually result in development of metacognitive
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strategies as part of students’ strategic reading skills repertoire. This will further enhance
and improve students’ language proficiency.
Self
Students need to understand their
own learning abilities.
Metacognitive awareness
The ability to reflect upon,
understand, and control one’s
learning by employing
metacognitive strategies in
one’s reading.
Task Strategies
Students need to be Students need to
able to analyze the Enhancement of language performance decide on ways to
demands of a task. and proficiency go about
performing the task.
DIAGRAM 2.2.1 The Conceptual Framework
The first factor, knowledge of person variables refers to general knowledge about how
human beings learn and process information, as well as individual knowledge of one's
own learning processes ( Dewitz et al, 1987; Livingston, 1997). For example, a student
may be aware that his or her study session will be more productive if he or she works in
the quiet library rather than at home where there are many distractions.
The second factor, knowledge of task variables include knowledge about the nature of
the task as well as the type of processing demands that it will place upon the individual
(Bonds, 1992; Garner, 1987). For example, a student may be aware that it will take more
time for him or her to read and comprehend a science text than it would be for him or her
to read and comprehend a novel.
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The third factor, knowledge about strategy variables include knowledge of both
cognitive and metacognitive strategies, as well as conditional knowledge about when and
where it is appropriate to use such strategies (Algozzine et al., 1997; Guerlene, 2002). For
example, a student would resort to more advanced reading strategies when reading an
expository text than when reading a narrative text.
The interaction of these three factors are crucial in developing metacognitive skills in
students as they are exposed to the knowledge on how they can control, plan and regulate
their learning activities, including reading. Their success in learning depends a lot on
metacognitive awareness and strategies they used to enhance comprehension.
2.3 THEORETICAL VIEWS OF READING
From the early 1900s to mid 1960s, early models of reading were quite linear and they
did not acknowledge the crucial role of the reader or knowledge as well as information
that a reader bring with him or her in the reading process (Samuels and Kamil, 1984).
Models such as the Gough Model described reading as a linear process where each stage
in the reading process works independently and does not interact with each other as
information is passed to the next higher stage (Samuels and Kamil, 1984). These types of
models failed to consider the process a reader underwent as he or she checked his or her
understanding by making changes according to new information he or she have received.
It was only in the mid 1970s that Rumelhart (1977) introduced a more interactive
process of reading. Reading is then seen as a more interactive process which views
comprehension as an active process of hypotheses testing or schema building (Boling,
___). Some researchers posited that reading is a bottom-up, language based process. This
bottom-up processing ensures that the readers will be sensitive to information that is
totally new or that does not fit their upheld belief on the content or structure of the text
(Carrell & Eisterhold, 1983). Others believed that reading is a top down, knowledge-
based process. This top-down processing helps readers to select appropriate
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interpretations of meanings when faced with ambiguous alternatives (Carrell and

Eisterhold, 1983). More recently, most researchers agreed and accepted that the two
processes interact (Carrell et al, 1988; Grabe, 1991; Rumelhart, 1977; Stanovich, 1980).
Reading in any language is cognitively demanding, involving the coordination of

attention, memory, perceptual process, and comprehension process (Kern, 1989).
Research has demonstrated that reading comprehension is not just understand words,
sentences or event texts, but involves a complex integration of reader’s prior knowledge,
language proficiency and their metacognitive strategies (Hammadou, 1991). Reading is
an interactive process, emphasizing the important role of the reader in constructing
meaning from text. This interpretation of the reading process places responsibility on the
reader for generating meaning from text and monitoring his or her thinking to ensure
accurate comprehension (Dewitz et al., 1987). It also requires ongoing monitoring of
comprehension and regulation of reading according to the goals of reading (Kolic-
Vehovec and Bajsanski, 2001). Monitoring and regulation of reading are usually
considered fundamental components of metacognition (Flavell, 1979; Baker and Brown,
1984; Paris et al., 1984). In most recent development, most researchers have attested to
the fact that “metacognition plays an important role in reading comprehension. Further
research shows that students’ performance improves when their metacognitive knowledge
increases, and provides vital insights into learners’ conceptions of task demands, and
awareness of their own level of reading comprehension and strategy monitoring (You and
Joe, 2001).
Readers with reading difficulties will be inadequately equipped with the reading
comprehension skills needed in order to deal with higher level text as they progress to
upper forms (Guerlene, 2002). These struggling readers lack knowledge of reading
process, have poor reading attitudes and lack a repertoire of reading strategies (Algozzine
et al., 1997).
2.4 THEORETICAL VIEWS OF METACOGNITION
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Metacognition is a theory, which states that learners benefit thoughtfully and reflectively
considering the things they are learning, and the ways in which they are learning them.
Others such as Cross & Paris (1988) defined metacognition as the “knowledge and
control children have over their own thinking and learning activities, including reading.
Metacognition, according to You and Shih (2001) is the knowledge and regulation about
cognitive phenomena. Flavell (1979) categorized metacognition into two concepts:
metacognitive knowledge and metacognitive experience. Paris et al. (1983) categorized
this metacognitive awareness about cognition or strategic reading in three ways:
declarative knowledge, procedural knowledge and conditional knowledge. Declarative
knowledge about reading includes an understanding of what factors influence reading
while procedural knowledge indicates how skills operate or are applied. Conditional
knowledge, on the other hand, is an understanding of the occasions when particular
strategies are required and why they affect reading. However, metacognition often
interacts closely with other variables such as affective factors and motivation.
Consequently, metacognition “includes informed, affective, and motivated self-appraisal”
(Cross and Paris, 1988).
Others such as Fitzgerald (1983) expanded the definitions of metacognition to include

four separate perspectives: 1) readers know when they know and when they don’t know;
2) readers know what they knew; 3) readers know what they need to know; and 4) readers
know the usefulness of intervention strategies.
In addition, metacognition includes several types of skills in evaluating, planning and

regulating one’s own reading (Paris and Lindauer, 1982). In the context of reading,
evaluation refers to reader’s ability to differentiate the task characteristics and personal
ability that would aid understanding; planning involves one’s selection of particular
strategies to achieve reading’s goals; and regulation is the monitoring and redirection of
reader’s activities during the course of reading to attain the goals that have been set
(Cross & Paris, 1988).
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Metacognition theory states that reading comprehension is enhanced by the used of

metacognitive strategies. Most research support the notion that good readers are more
strategic in their reading process than poor readers and are more metacognitively-
oriented. The research on metacognition indicates that metacognitively aware learners are
more strategic and perform better that unaware learners. As claimed by Schraw and
Dennison (1994), “…metacognitive awareness allows individuals to plan, sequence, and
monitor their learning in a way that directly improves performance” (p. 460). Thus, good
learners appear to be more metacognitively aware than poor readers (Block, 1986; Dewitz
et al.,1987; Bialystok and Mitterer, 1987).
Metacognitive abilities help students to be more consciously aware of what they learn,
situations where the knowledge may be used and the procedures for using it (Abromitis,
1994). These skills are crucial to efficient reading (Wixson and Peters, 1987).
Researchers have reported differences in metacognitive abilities between successful and
less successful learners. Students with successful academic records tend to possess more
metacognitive skills than their less successful counterparts (Everson, 1997).
2.5 RESEARCH REVIEW
In a study carried out by Early (1984) more than two decades ago, she presented an
overview of middle school students’ reading development. She described three main
characteristics of average middle school readers. First, they can read fairly accurately and
fluently in grade level texts. Second, they have mastered basic comprehension processes
with texts that deal with concrete experiences, but they have problems dealing with
abstractions. Third, middle school students do not read much. This description pretty
much reflects the present scenario of the local school contexts whereby most of our
students struggle constantly with reading tasks, and which often enough left, many a
teacher perplexed when faces with “.. a student who appears to understand every sentence
and yet cannot answer the simplest question about a passage as a whole” (Eskey,
1973:177).
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Empirical studies and investigations have shown that middle school students who
have difficulty reading do not use effective strategies (e.g., August et al, 1984; Holmes,
1983; Winograd, 1984). Other studies indicated that young adolescents do not read much
outside of school (Anderson et al., 1988), read less than they did in earlier years (Ley et
al., 1994), and develop negative attitudes toward reading as they approach the middle
grades (McKenna at al, 1995). It can be concluded from the studies that for many young
adolescents, reading is a difficult, unsuccessful, and unappealing activity.
A study conducted by Swanson (1990) found that student’s metacognitive knowledge

about text learning strategies combined closely with the extent of domain knowledge in
accounting for recall. Domain novices as well as domain experts with more metacognitive
knowledge recalled more than novices/experts with less metacognitive knowledge.
Swanson (1990) carried out a study on 56 children from elementary grades 4 and 5. He
tested on the children’s quality of problem solving: 24 heuristic and strategy components
from thinking aloud protocols using combinatorial task and pendulum task (Inhelder &
Piaget, 1958). The findings revealed that high-metacognitive students outperformed lower
metacognitive students in problem solving regardless of their overall aptitude level. In
addition, high metacognitive skills compensated for overall ability by providing a certain
knowledge about cognition. Nevertheless, the used of problem-solving heuristics was
related to a combination of both high aptitude and high metacognition.
Paris and Myers (1981) investigated good and poor fourth grade readers in individual
25 minutes sessions with predetermined set of 20 reading strategies to note whether they
were being utilized. Findings revealed that greater strategic used as well as awareness of
strategies were used by the good fourth grade readers. In their study, Short and Ryan
(1984) found that less skilled readers were quite capable of using story schemata to aid
their comprehension but in the absence of reading strategy training, they failed to use the
knowledge of stories spontaneously. The findings suggested that poor readers have less
awareness of the “meaning getting” nature of reading and therefore are less
metacognitively-aware. Instead, they see reading as merely “knowing all the words”
(Palinscar & Ransom, 1988). It has also been found that by enhancing metacognitive
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awareness and providing systematic reading strategies, less skilled readers may be
enabled to develop efficient reading skills (Short and Ryan, 1984; Nolan, 1991).
These studies are relevant because they revealed the strong relation between
metacognitive strategies and reading performance (Wagner et al, 1989). There is a need to
research on students’ reading strategies at varying levels of reading performance. If
teachers know the reading strategies good readers used, and the techniques to teach these
reading strategies, they may be able to teach readers what reading strategies they need to
use to help them become successful readers.
Green (1992), Green and Oxford (1993), Oxford (1993) and Noguichi (1991), have
carried out studies on the relationship between the use of metacognitive reading
awareness and gender. Their findings revealed that female respondents were more
frequent users of metacognitive reading awareness compared to male respondents. They
were able to select appropriate strategies, plan their reading to meet the demands of the
reading tasks, and regulate their comprehension of the materials.
Studies were also carried out on the effect between the use of MRS and types of
school. One particular study by Lidgus & Vassos (1996) on seventh grade students in 2
rural middle schools in United States showed that students in their study lacked
metacognitives learning strategies in their reading. This learning strategies deficiency
could be a probable cause of students’ poor academic performance. Others such as
Blemiller & Meichenbaum (1992), suggested that students from sub-rural schools did not
have a range of effective strategies to choose from in order to meet the demands of
reading task.
Metacognition has been found to be the central aspect of students’ steadily improving
reading activity (Bonds, 1992). A study conducted by Kreutzer et al., (1975) was to
investigate kindergarten, first, third and fifth grade children’s knowledge of memory
information. Data was gathered from individual 30 minutes interview sessions which
were audiotaped and transcribed. They discovered that older children were aware of
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variables affecting their own memory performance. The younger children used more
decoding skills and had a seemingly lack of knowledge of strategy used while reading as
compared to the older readers.
Baker and Brown (1984) noted that several factors that distinguished good readers
from poor readers. Good readers progress smoothly and rapidly as long as the material is
understood; once there is a breakdown of comprehension, the process is slowed down.
Then, the material is closely scrutinized, analysed, and reread in order to aid better
understanding. Poor readers, on the other hand, would fail to attend to the most important
aspects of a task and fail to implement strategies that would facilitate comprehension
(Cattell, 1999).
There still remain the significant differences between good and poor readers at all
level (Abromitis, 1994). For successful readers, metacognitive development is found to
exist together with their cognitive development in reading, whereas poor readers’
metacognitive development lags behind their cognitive development (Otto, 1985).
Moreover, good readers are much more in control of their reading. Pearson and
Camperall (1985) found that good readers were able to match their reading to the
structure of the text, and were able to recall better than those who were not
metacognitively aware. Besides, they were aware of the different purposes for reading,
able to assess their own knowledge pertaining to specific task, to monitor their own
comprehension, and to implement corrective strategies when needed (Anderson et al.,
1985). On the other hand, less skilled readers were often unaware of poor reading
practices when reading (Paris & Myers, 1981). Though they may be aware of the same
strategies as the good readers, they used them less frequently and effectively (Hare and
Smith, 1982; Olshavy, 1976-1977).
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CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
3.1 INTRODUCTION
This chapter discusses the study design, the respondents, the instrument, the procedure
and the data analysis that were involved in carrying out of the study.
3.2 STUDY DESIGN
This is a quantitative study. The study was carried out by conducting a survey on
students from Form Four classes. The survey was done by completing questionnaires
based on a metacognitive reading strategies inventory. For this particular study, 200
students were taken from five schools; 3 urban schools and 2 rural schools located in
Miri, Sarawak. This is a random sampling. The survey was done during normal language
lessons. Students were given a set of questionnaires to respond to. These questionnaires
were then collected to be analysed.
3.3 INSTRUMENT
A metacognitive inventory was administered to determine the subjects’ knowledge and

use of metacognition. Metacognitive Awareness Of Reading Strategy Inventory (MARSI)
provided the crucial data on the students’ reading awareness and knowledge of
metacognitive reading strategies.
3.3.1 Metacognitive Awareness Of Reading Strategy Inventory (MARSI)

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The inventory used for this purpose is the Metacognitive Awareness Of Reading Strategy
Inventory (MARSI) which was developed by Mokhtari and Reichard (2002). The
development of this instrument was guided by several underlying theoretical framework
on metacognition and reading comprehension such as Barnett (1988), Pressley and
Afflerbach’s (1995) notion of constructively responsive reading such as the top down
processing model of reading in schema theory (Anderson and Pearson, 1984), bottom-up
text processing strategies by van Dijk and Kintsch (1983), and the comprehension
monitoring process by Baker and Brown (1984), Garner (1987) and Paris and Winograd
(1990). The instruments were administered to a sample of 443 students in Grades 6-12.
The analysis of the 30-items yielded three factors or subscales. The correlation between
the factors and Cronbach’s alpha reliabilities are .92, .20 and .73
This inventory was used to assess students’ metacognitive awareness of reading

strategies. The instrument contains 30 items and with three categories of items: global
reading strategies (13 items), problem solving strategies (8 items), and support reading
strategies (9 items). The global reading strategies represented a set of reading strategies
oriented toward a global analysis of text; the problem-solving strategies appeared to be
oriented around strategies for solving problems when text becomes difficult to read; and
the support reading strategies involved the use of outside reference materials, taking
notes, and other practical strategies that might described as functional of support
strategies. These three types of strategies interact with each other and have an important
influence of the text comprehension (Mokhtari and Reichard, 2002).
Metacognitive Awareness Of Reading Strategy Inventory (MARSI; Mokhtari and

Reichard, 2002) is used to assess students’ metacognitive awareness of reading strategies.
The instrument contains 30 items: 13 items on global reading strategies, 8 items on
problem-solving strategies and 9 items on support reading strategies. The responses to
each item are measured on a 5-point Likert scale. The scale ranges from 1 – 5 with the
following verbal descriptors: 1 – “I never or almost never do this”, 2 – “I do this
21
occasionally”, 3 – “I sometimes do this”, 4 – “I usually do this”, 5 – “I always or almost

do this”.
The questionnaires were slightly adapted to clarify certain statements that might be
ambiguous to the respondents. The questionnaires were also translated into Malay
Language (Bahasa Melayu) to enable the respondents to give responses as accurately as
possible.
3.4 RESPONDENTS
Two hundred respondents (n = 200) were taken among students of Form Four classes
from several urban and rural schools in Miri, Sarawak. 3 of the urban schools were
located in Miri town, Sarawak; 1 of the schools involved in the study was a fully
residential school while the other 2 were day schools. 2 of the rural schools were semi
residential schools located more than 85 kilometres from Miri. One hundred and eight (n
= 108) of the respondents were males while ninety-two (n = 92) were females (see Table
3.4.2). One hundred and seven (n = 107) respondents from urban schools and ninety-three
(n = 93) respondents from the rural schools were involved in the study (see Table 3.4.3).
The respondents were taken from students from different ethnic backgrounds such as
Malays (n = 30), Chinese (n = 15), Ibans (n = 80), Orang Ulus (n= 57) and Bidayuhs (n =
18) (see Table 3.4.4). These students were selected from both Arts (n = 99) and Science
(n = 101) streams (see Table 3.4.5).
These respondents were divided into 2 groups: one hundred (n = 10) respondents were
categorized as low achievers while one hundred (n = 10) respondents were categorized as
high achievers (see Table 3.4.1). The selection of these respondents was based on their
academic performance in English Language in the previous PMR examinations and First
term examinations. Definitions of the high achievers group are as follow: (1) they scored
more than 70 percent in their first-term examination, (2) obtained at least a grade B in
English subject in their PMR Definitions of the low achievers group are as follow: (1)
they scored below 30 percent in their first-term examination, (2) obtained grade E in
22
English subject in their PMR Students were selected by the form teachers and English
teachers because they would have known each student’s ability and reading proficiency
better. In addition, these students were selected because they would have at this point, a
fairly good repertoire of reading strategies and more importantly, they were not from the
examination classes.
Table 3.4.1: Numbers of Low Achievers and High Achievers Respondents

Group N= 200 (%)
Low Achievers 100 50
High Achievers 100 50
Total 200 100
Table 3.4.2: Numbers of Male and Female Respondents

Gender N= 200 (%)
Males 108 54
Females 92 46
Total 200 100
Table 3.4.3: Numbers of Urban and Rural Schools Respondents

Types of Schools N= 200 (%)
Urban 107 53.5
Rural 93 46.5
Total 200 100
Table 3.4.4: Breakdown of Respondents’ Ethnicities

Ethnic Group N= 200 (%)
Malays 30 15
Chinese 15 7.5
Ibans 80 40
Orang Ulus 57 28.5
23
Bidayuhs 18 9
Total 200 100
Table 3.4.5: Numbers of respondents based on class of streaming

Streams N= 200 (%)
Arts 99 49.5
Science 101 50.5
Total 200 100
3.5 PROCEDURE
Permission was first obtained from the respective school principals beforehand. A
consultation with the form teachers and English teachers to discuss the selection
procedures was then held. The questionnaires were handed over to the teachers to be
conducted and administered at their own disposal within the time allotted. The
questionnaires were given out to respondents ten minutes before lesson ended. The whole
session took about 2 days to conduct due to time constraints and the tight schedule of
those involved. The questionnaires were then collected to be analysed.
3.6 DATA ANALYSIS
The data was collected through questionnaires based on Mokhtari & Reichard’s (2002)
Metacognitive Awareness Of Reading Strategy Inventory (MARSI). The data was then
analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS). T-test was run on
each item of the questionnaires to find out whether there are significance differences
between the three variables: 1) low achievers and high achievers; 2) male and female
students; and 3) urban and rural schools students with respect to metacognitive reading
24
strategies used. A p-value of <.05 was used to determine the level of significance for each
item with respect to the three variables mentioned earlier.
CHAPTER IV
DATA ANALYSIS
25
4.1 INTRODUCTION
This chapter discusses the sample of the study, the procedure, the research findings as
well as the discussions on the findings.
4.2 SAMPLE
A sample of 200 students was chosen for this study of which 108 are males and 92 are
females. They were selected from five secondary schools in Miri, Sarawak. 103 of the
students came from 3 urban schools while 97 students came from 2 rural schools The
sample selected for the purpose of the study was taken among Form Four students. 100
students were selected from the high achievers group while another 100 students were
selected from the low achievers group. The students were aged between 16 – 17 years of
age.
4.3 PROCEDURE
Written permissions were first procured from the Ministry of Education as well as the
Sarawak State Education Department before the study could be carried out. The principal
of each school selected for the study was then consulted on the purpose and design of the
study. With the help of the Head of English Department and the English language teacher
from each school, students were then selected and grouped under the high achiever and
low achiever groups. The participants were then briefed on the purpose of the study
which was to investigate the knowledge and used of metacognitive strategies in their
reading. The researcher went through the questionnaires with the respondents and
explained any difficulties they may encounter while completing the questionnaires. The
questionnaires were then handed over to the English teacher to be administered during
English lessons. Respondents were then asked to complete the MARSI questionnaires.
The questionnaires were successfully completed by the students in the time allotted.
4.4 RESEARCH FINDINGS

26
This study has answered three research questions. The findings are discussed in terms of
the following aspects: “setting purpose for reading”, “taking notes while reading”,
“activating prior knowledge”, “previewing text before reading”, “reading text out loud
when face with difficulty”, “summarizing on important information”, “checking whether
text content fits purpose”, “reading slowly and carefully”, “discussing reading with
others”, “skimming to note text characteristics”, “getting back on track when losing
concentration”, “underlining text information”, “adjusting reading rate”, “making
decisions in relation to what to read closely”, “using reference materials as aids”, “paying
close attention to reading”, “using tables, figures, and pictures in text to increase
understanding”, “using context clues”, “restate ideas in own words”, “visualizing
information read”, “using typographical aids to identify key information”, “analysing
and evaluating information critically“, “revisiting previously read information”,
“checking understanding when come across conflicting information”, “predicting what
text is about”, “rereading”, “asking self questions”, “checking predictions against text
content” and “guessing meaning of unknown words”.
Table 4.4.1: Used of Metacognitive Reading Strategies between Low Achievers and High
Achievers
No. Question Items Means Of Means Of p-value

Low High
Achievers Achievers
1. setting purpose for reading 2.90 4.18 .000
2. taking notes while reading 2.30 3.24 .013
3. activating prior knowledge 2.74 4.01 .190*
4. previewing text before reading 2.90 4.18 .000
5. reading text out loud when face with 2.71 4.02 .000
difficulty
27
6. summarizing on important information 2.45 3.99 .018

7. checking whether text content fits purpose 2.26 3.82 .001
8. reading slowly and carefully 3.06 3.59 .000
9. discussing reading with others 2.61 3.36 .002
10. skimming to note text characteristics 2.42 3.68 .000
11. getting back on track when losing 2.27 3.21 .012
concentration
12. underlining text information 2.57 3.76 .055*
13. adjusting reading rate 2.45 3.99 .018
14. making decisions in relation to what to read 2.44 3.84 .335*
closely
15. using reference materials as aids 2.53 4.11 .019
16. paying close attention to reading 2.29 3.23 .013
17. using tables, figures, and pictures in text to 2.59 4.51 .219*
increase understanding
18. pausing to reflect on reading 2.90 4.18 .000
19. using context clues 2.52 4.08 .321*
20. restate ideas in own words 2.51 4.10 .019
21. visualizing information read 2.71 4.02 .000
22. using typographical aids to identify key 2.30 3.24 .013
information
23. analysing and evaluating information 2.62 3.89 .166*

critically
24. revisiting previously read information 2.44 3.97 .018
25. checking understanding when come across 2.29 3.11 .013
conflicting information
26. predicting what text is about 2.64 4.32 .000
27. rereading 2.69 4.52 .219*
28. asking self questions 2.52 4.08 .321*
29. checking predictions against text content 2.39 3.98 .018
30. guessing meaning of unknown words 2.90 4.18 .000
For the first research question, “Is there a significant difference between low
achievers and high achievers in the used of metacognitive reading strategies?”, the
findings indicated that majority of the items showed significant difference between the
low and high achievers with respect to the used of metacognitive reading strategies. The
significant items are “setting purpose for reading”, (low= 2.90; high= 4.18), “taking notes
while reading”, (low= 2.30; high= 3.24), “previewing text before reading”, (low= 2.90;
28
high= 4.18), “reading text out loud when face with difficulty”, (low= 2.71; high= 4.02),
“summarizing on important information”, (low= 2.45; high= 3.99), “checking whether
text content fits purpose”, (low= 2.26; high= 3.82), “reading slowly and carefully”, (low=
3.06; high= 3.59), “discussing reading with others”, (low= 2.61; high= 3.36), “skimming
to note text characteristics”, (low= 2.42; high= 3.68), “getting back on track when losing
concentration”, (low= 2.27; high= 3.21), “adjusting reading rate”, (low= 2.45; high=
3.99), “using reference materials as aids”, (low= 2.53; high= 4.11), “paying close
attention to reading”, (low= 2.29; high= 3.23), “pausing to reflect on reading”, (low=
2.90; high= 4.18), “restate ideas in own words “, (low= 2.51; high= 4.10), “visualizing
information read”, (low= 2.71; high= 4.02), “using typographical aids to identify key
information”, (low= 2.30; high= 3.24), “revisiting previously read information”, (low=
2.44; high= 3.97), “checking understanding when come across conflicting information”,
(low= 2.29; high= 3.11), “predicting what text is about”, (low= 2.64; high= 4.32),
“checking predictions against text content”, (low= 2.39; high= 3.98), “guessing meaning
of unknown words”, (low= 2.90; high= 4.18).
The insignificant items (indicated by an *) are “activating prior knowledge”, (low=

2.74; high= 4.01), “underlining text information”, (low= 2.57; high= 3.76), “making
decisions in relation to what to read closely”, (low= 2.44; high= 3.84), “using tables,
figures, and pictures in text to increase understanding”, (low= 2.59; high= 4.51), “using
context clues”, (low=2.52; high= 4.08), “analysing and evaluating information critically”,
(low= 2.62; high= 3.89), “rereading”, (low= 2.69; high= 4.52), and “asking self
questions”, (low= 2.52; high= 4.08).
Table 4.4.2: Used of Metacognitive Reading Strategies between Male and Female
Students
Female Males
Students Students
1. setting purpose for reading 3.70 3.13 .016
2. taking notes while reading 3.35 2.88 .028
3. activating prior knowledge 3.81 3.16 .049
4. previewing text before reading 3.39 2.76 .058*
29
5. reading text out loud when face with 3.85 3.30 .039
difficulty
6. summarizing on important information 3.98 2.39 .018
8. reading slowly and carefully 2.29 3.23 .013
10. skimming to note text characteristics 3.48 2.85 .092*
concentration
12. underlining text information 1.64 1.17 .031
14. making decisions in relation to what to read 3.26 2.74 .443*
closely

17. using tables, figures, and pictures in text to 2.44 3.97 .018
18. pausing to reflect on reading 2.36 1.61 .002
19. using context clues 3.24 2.90 .063*
20. restate ideas in own words 3.35 2.88 .028
22. using typographical aids to identify key 3.41 3.05 .405*
information
23. analysing and evaluating information 3.24 2.30 .013
critically
27. rereading 3.29 2.80 .654*
28. asking self questions 4.07 3.06 .001
30. guessing meaning of unknown words 3.50 2.82 .490*
For the second research question, “Is there a significant difference between females
and males students in the used of metacognitive reading strategies?”, findings indicated
that majority of the items showed significant difference between female and male
students with respect to the used of metacognitive reading strategies. The significant
items are “setting purpose for reading”, (females= 3.70; males= 3.13), “taking notes while
30
reading”, (females= 3.35; males= 2.88), “activating prior knowledge”, (females= 3.81;
males= 3.16), “reading text out loud when face with difficulty”, (females= 3.85; males=
3.30), “summarizing on important information”, (females= 3.98; males= 2.39),
“checking whether text content fits purpose”, (females= 4.02; males= 2.71), “reading
slowly and carefully”, (females= 2.29; males= 3.23), “discussing reading with others”,
(females= 2.11; males= 2.71), “getting back on track when losing concentration”,
(females= 2.53; males= 3.99), “underlining text information”, (females= 1.64; males=
1.17), “adjusting reading rate”, (females= 2.29; males= 1.34), “making decisions in
relation to what to read closely”, (females= 3.26; males= 2.74), “using reference materials
as aids”, (females= 2.13; males= 1.66), “paying close attention to reading”, (females=
2.29; males= 1.72), “using tables, figures, and pictures in text to increase understanding”,
(females= 2.44; males= 3.97), “pausing to reflect on reading”, (females= 2.36; males=
1.61), “restate ideas in own words”, (females= 3.35; males= 2.88), “visualizing
information read”, (females= 2.90; males= 4.18), “analysing and evaluating information
critically”, (females= 3.24; males= 2.30), “revisiting previously read information”,
(females= 3.68; males= 2.42), “checking understanding when come across conflicting
information”, (females= 4.31; males= 2.63), “predicting what text is about”, (females=
1.86; males= 2.72), “asking self questions”, (females= 4.07; males= 3.06), “checking
predictions against text content”, (females= 3.59; males= 3.06).
However, there is no significant difference (indicated by a *) between the two groups

with regards to “previewing text before reading”, (females= 3.39; males= 2.76),
“skimming to note text characteristics”, (females= 3.48; males= 2.85), “making decisions
in relation to what to read closely”, (females= 3.26; males= 2.74), “using context clues”,
(females= 3.24; males= 2.90), “using typographical aids to identify key information”,
(females= 3.41; males= 3.05), “rereading”, (females= 3.29; males= 2.80), and “guessing
meaning of unknown words”, (females = 3.50; male = 2.82),
Table 4.4.3: Used of Metacognitive Reading Strategies between Urban Schools and
Rural Schools students

31
Urban Rural
Schools Schools
Students Students
1. setting purpose for reading 3.64 3.08 .175*
2. taking notes while reading 3.50 2.76 .143*
3. activating prior knowledge 3.59 3.06 .000
4. previewing text before reading 4.07 3.06 .001
5. reading text out loud when face with 3.90 3.15 .094*
difficulty
6. summarizing on important information 3.82 3.22 .144*
8. reading slowly and carefully 3.42 3.06 .327*
10. skimming to note text characteristics 3.27 2.74 .173*
concentration
12. underlining text information 3.84 3.06 .073*
14. making decisions in relation to what to read 4.07 3.06 .001
closely
17. using tables, figures, and pictures in text to 3.24 2.30 .013
18. pausing to reflect on reading 3.42 2.87 .055*
19. using context clues 3.35 2.88 .028
20. restate ideas in own words 3.42 3.22 .144*
22. using typographical aids to identify key 2.29 1.72 .034
information
23. analysing and evaluating information 2.36 1.61 .002
critically
27. rereading 3.35 2.88 .028
28. asking self questions 3.42 3.06 .327*

32
30. guessing meaning of unknown words 3.50 2.76 .143*
For the third research question, “Is there a significant difference between urban and
rural schools students?”, findings showed that most of the items showed significant
difference between urban school students and rural school students with regards to items
such as these: “activating prior knowledge”, (urban= 3.59; rural= 3.06), “previewing text
before reading”, (urban= 4.07; rural= 3.06), “checking whether text content fits purpose”,
(urban= 3.11; rural= 2.29), “discussing reading with others”, (urban= 3.68; rural= 2.42),
“getting back on track when losing concentration”, (urban= 2.29; rural= 3.11), “adjusting
reading rate”, (urban= 3.24; rural= 2.30), “making decisions in relation to what to read
closely”, (urban= 4.07; rural= 3.06), “using reference materials as aids”, (urban= 2.53;
rural= 3.99), “paying close attention to reading”, (urban= 2.11; rural= 2.71), “using
tables, figures, and pictures in text to increase understanding”, (urban= 3.24; rural= 2.30),
“using context clues”, (urban= 3.35; rural= 2.88), “visualizing information read”, (urban=
4.02; rural= 2.71), “using typographical aids to identify key information”, (urban= 2.29;
rural= 1.72), “analyzing and evaluating information critically”, (urban= 2.36; rural=
1.61), “revisiting previously read information”, (urban= 3.85; rural= 3.30), “checking
understanding when come across conflicting information”, (urban= 2.36; rural= 1.16),
“predicting what text is about”, (urban= 3.98; rural= 2.39), “rereading”, (urban= 3.35;
rural= 2.28), and finally “checking predictions against text content”, (urban= 3. 81; rural=
3.16),
Nevertherless, there is no significant differences (indicated by an *) between the two

groups with respect to “setting purpose for reading”, (urban= 3.64; rural= 3.08), “taking
notes while reading”, (urban= 3.50; rural= 2.76), “reading text out loud when face with
difficulty”, (urban= 3.90; rural= 3.15), “summarizing on important information”, (urban=
3.82; rural = 3.22), “reading slowly and carefully”, (urban= 3.42; rural= 3.06), “skimming
to note text characteristics”, (urban= 3.27; rural= 2.74), “underlining text information”,
(urban= 3.84; rural= 3.06), “pausing to reflect on reading”, (urban= 3.42; rural= 2.87),
“restate ideas in own words”, (urban= 3.42; rural= 3.22), “asking self questions”, (urban=
33
3.42; rural= 3.06), and “guessing meaning of unknown words”, (urban= 3.50; rural=
2.76).
Based on the above findings, students showed significant differences in majority of

the metacognitive reading strategies used. The high achievers displayed better awareness
and frequent used of metacognitive reading strategies than low achievers. Female students
used metacognitive reading strategies more frequently and effectively than do male
students when reading comprehension texts. In addition, urban schools students have
wider knowledge of metacognitive reading strategies than rural school students. The
former used more strategic reading skills as compared to the latter.
Thus, increased proficiency and improved achievements in English are due to greater
awareness and more effective use of metacognitive reading strategies by students in their
reading.
4.5 DISCUSSIONS
The purpose of this study was to investigate the used of metacognitive strategies among
Form Four students in reading. The results indicated the significant differences in the
used and knowledge of metacognitive reading strategies by low and high achievers, male
and female students, as well as urban and rural schools students.
Based on the findings, it appeared that high achievers are more aware of
metacognitive strategies and use them twice as often as the low achievers. The outcomes
of this study support Baker’s (1989) view that generally good readers, who are generally
good students, appear to have more metacognitive awareness than poor readers. Based on
her study, good readers or “expert reader”, as they are also referred to, interact with
domain-specific knowledge; they are able to consciously select effective reading
strategies to enhance their reading comprehension. In addition, they are "more aware than
novices of when they need to check for errors, why they fail to comprehend, and how
they need to redirect their efforts” (Ridley et al, 1992). Low achievers may not have
34
developed certain skills or strategies or they may simply failed to use them in their
reading.
Chern’s study (1994) apparently is consistent with the findings. In her study of 28
native speakers of Mandarin Chinese who learned English as a Second Language (ESL),
her findings indicated that more proficient language learners are more aware of the
strategies they used in reading. Experienced readers selected appropriate metacognitive
reading strategies when reading while inexperienced readers were intimidated by the
unfamiliar words they encountered in their reading tasks. Persson’s study (1994) on 53
Swedish students in grade 6 and 8 is also consistent with previous similar research. Her
findings indicated that firstly, good readers organized their knowledge and used it
appropriately; secondly, good readers’ metacognitive abilities were well integrated;
thirdly, poor readers were less confident than good readers, and the former regarded
themselves as poor learners and their verbal responses were less elaborate; finally, poor
readers’ decoding was often less automatic, thus rendering them unable to comprehend
their reading texts.
The findings of this study also indicated substantial findings of significant differences
between gender and used of metacognitive reading awareness. The knowledge and used
of metacognitive reading strategies differ significantly between male and female students.
The results showed that female students display better metacognitive awareness compared
to male students. This study appears consistent with a study by Kaylani (1996). She
examined the influence of gender and motivation on 12th grade high school students in
Jordan. Her study reported that there was a strong relationship between gender and
metacognitive knowledge and used. According to the findings, female subjects reported a
higher used of the metacognitive strategies and showed better performance in their
reading tasks as compared to male subjects. Other similar studies carried out by Ehrman
and Oxford (1989), Oxford and Nyikos (1989), and Green and Oxford (1995) concluded
that females used metacognitive reading strategies more frequently than males. Moreover,
female subjects differed from male subjects in their frequency and variety of
metacognitive strategies used.
35
A study conducted by Lee ( ____ ) on the used of language learning strategies by 325
Korean secondary school students of English as a foreign language, of which 163 boys
and 162 girls participated revealed that the girls showed more frequent used of all
selected metacognitive strategies categories than boys. Similar findings were also
concluded by Oxford et al. (1988), Lee (1994), Kim (1995) and Oh (1996). According to
these studies, the sex of the students makes a significant difference in learning a second or
foreign language and, more often than not, the female subjects showed greater use of
these metacognitive reading strategies.
The findings of this study also indicated significant differences between location or
types of schools and used of metacognitive reading strategies. Results of the study
suggest that urban school students displayed better metacognitive awareness than rural
schools students. This indicated that teaching of metacognition is more deliberate and
planned among urban language classrooms than those in rural schools. This findings
support Mngadi’s (1992) study on metacognitive strategies among college students. She
found that urban students differed substantially in their metacognitive awareness
compared to rural students. Urban students displayed higher awareness of metacognitive
strategies than the rural students. She suggests that the lack of formal metacognitive
strategy instruction is one of the factors contributing to such discrepancies between urban
and rural students.
Findings from the study also support the suggestions that metacognitive awareness
enhance and improve students’ language proficiency. The more strategic the reader, the
more proficient he or she becomes. High achievers may attribute their academic success
to their higher metacognitive awareness and efficient used of these strategic reading skills
(Oxford and Burry-stock, 1995).
From the findings of the study, it becomes clear that there are indeed differences
between successful or good readers, and less successful or poor readers in terms of
strategy used. There is also a strong relationship between reading strategies used by
36
readers and proficiency level. Overall, successful readers or high proficient readers,
appear to be using a wider range of strategies. Moreover, these readers also appear to use
strategies more frequently than less successful or poor readers. Results of some studies
have also shown that successful readers know when and how to apply reading strategies
on a given task (Singhal, 2001).
4.6 CONCLUSION
To conclude, the present study has found evidence to support other research findings that
demonstrated that successful learners often use metacognitive strategies to enhance their
learning experience compared to unsuccessful learners. Many studies showed that
students who use metacognitive skills are more successful compared to the ones who do
not. Swanson’s (1988), and Zimmerman’s (1989) studies, among others, showed that
academically achieving students are better on metacognitive “measures” while low
performance students failed to recognize what they do not understand.
Oster (2001) suggests that metacognitive awareness is critical to learning. Once

students have identified their level of comprehension, they are then able to select or
readjust their strategies based on the reading task demanded of them. More importantly,
the ability to select, plan and regulate their understanding will eventually lead to our
students being autonomous and independent learners. Independence leads to ownership as
students realize that they can pursue their own intellectual needs and discover a world of
information at their fingertips ( Graham, 1997).
37
CHAPTER V
CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS
5.1 INTRODUCTION
This chapter discusses the synthesis of the findings, recommendations and implications
for the study and scope for future research.
5.2 SYNTHESIS OF FINDINGS
This study sets out to investigate whether there are any differences in the knowledge and
used of metacognitive reading strategies by Form Four students. It also sets out to
investigate the used of metacognitive reading strategies by Form Four students of English
as a Second Language (ESL).
This section discusses the main findings obtained from the data. The discussion will
summarize the findings of this study based on the three research questions below:
1. Is there a significant difference between low and high achievers in the used of
metacognitive reading strategies?
2. Is there a significant difference between male and female students in the used
of metacognitive reading strategies?
3. Is there a significant difference between urban and rural schools students in
the used of metacognitive reading strategies?
For research question 1, research findings revealed that the high achievers used
efficient reading strategies in their reading more than low achievers. Low achievers are
significantly less likely than highly achieving students to demonstrate metacognitive
38
knowledge, self-regulation skills, and the effective used of metacognitive knowledge.

According to Johnston & Winograd (1985), the knowledge of metacognitive strategies
(e.g., task demands, relation between reading variables and reading comprehension) does
facilitates reading comprehension .
For research question 2, findings of this study revealed that a substantial difference
exists in the used of MRS between female students and male students. Female students
were reported to select appropriate strategies, plan their reading tasks well, and regulate
their understanding of the text in order to enhance better understanding of the reading
materials (O’Malley et al, 1985). Although they may have some awareness of
metacognitives strategies, male students failed to use these learning strategies efficiently
(Flavell, 1979). Female students appeared to focus mainly on important clues that would
help them arrive at meaning while male students spent a great deal of time engaging in
decoding activities than making activities that will lead to better text comprehension
(Schmitt, 1990).
For research question 3, the findings provided evidence that is a strong relation
between metacognitive knowledge and types of schools. As mentioned earlier,
metacognitive reading strategies enable students to control their cognitive activities used
for understanding, and allow them to assess to what extent these strategies are performed
successfully (Anderson, 2002). Though they may have some awareness of metacognitive
strategies, rural students failed to use these learning strategies efficiently (Flavell, 1979).
One reason for their failure in adopting these strategies may be due to the differences in
metacognitive instruction urban schools students and rural schools students received.
Urban students were given sufficient training in the used of reading metacognitive skills
and ample time to develop these vital reading skills which enhance their comprehension
(Anderson, 2002).
Thus, it can be deduced that the students with high academic performance used more
metacognitive strategies than students with low academic performance. The results
indicate that more proficient students are aware of their needs and look for more
39
opportunities to enhance their understanding of the language. The used of more

metacognitive strategies by more proficient students can be attributed to these students'
need to process information more efficiently for better enhancement of the English
language (Cattell, 1999).
5.3 IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The findings of the study offer several pedagogical implications for language lessons in
our ESL contexts. Even though there are limitations to how much metacognitive
awareness can aid reading comprehension, a teacher can find ways of helping students
become better, more aware readers who are better able to monitor their understanding of
texts better. The following suggestions could benefit teachers who are constantly in
search of approaches and techniques that work effectively in the English language
classrooms.
Firstly, teachers can help readers acquire self-regulated use of comprehension
strategies (Guerlene, 2002). Secondly, they can aid metacognitive development by
providing students the opportunity to check their understanding with sources other than
the text. They can help students learn that they can improve their understanding of the
text if they go beyond the primary source, the text that they are reading, to consult
secondary sources, such as other people or other texts (Carrell, 1989).
Thirdly, it is important for teachers to help readers develop metacognitive awareness

because metacognitive skills play a large role in the self-regulated monitoring that takes
place during reading comprehension (Paris & Jacobs, 1984). Teachers need to be aware
that readers who have developed metacognitive awareness will be better at monitoring
their understanding of text than readers who have not developed metacognitive
awareness. Teachers also need to be aware that helping readers develop metacognitive
awareness does not come without its challenges and limitations (Brenna, 1995).
In addition, teachers should be aware that metacognitive processing can influence

reading comprehension. Students should be encouraged to monitor their metacognition in
40
reading and focus on effective processing strategies. Teachers and students should be
aware that effective strategies may vary from one context to another, and from one
proficiency level to another (Cattell, 1999).
The teaching of metacognitive strategies to our language learners would invariably

enhance their learning and thus, improve their proficiency in the language. Hacker (1998)
has identified several strategies that strong readers and learners have and which teachers
can use in the classrooms:
1. Predicting - encourages students to read with a purpose and to confirm or correct

what they predicted. For example, teachers can provide students with a list of
questions that will guide students to make intellectual guesses at a particular
topic before reading on it. This list can be referred to from time to time.
2. Self-questioning - allows learners to actively check how much they understand
while reading. Students can pose questions such as, "What is the main idea?"
and "Are there examples to help me understand what I just read?" Students who
ask their own questions show greater improvement in comprehension.
3. Paraphrasing - puts the concepts of a passage or section into their own words, or
by summarizing the main points, students get a sense of how much they
understand.
4. Visual Representation - creates visual models of ideas within a text provides a
means of organizing information into understandable wholes, and promotes the
visualization of relationships.
5. Lookback - involves referring to what has already been read in order to increase
understanding of the material.
6. Changing Reading Speed - when encountering obstacles like an unusual writing
style or too many unknown words, students can modify their reading speed.
Good readers are able to determine the appropriate pace for their purpose. For
example, they can determine when it is best to quickly scan the material such as
newspapers, and when to read slowly and deliberately such as a science
textbook.
41
Many research carried out emphasize on the importance of metacognitive awareness.

How crucial is metacognition in language teaching? As students become more skilled at
using metacognitive strategies, they gain confidence and become more independent as
learners. Independence leads to ownership as student's realize they can pursue their own
intellectual needs and discover a world of information at their fingertips. The task of
educators is to acknowledge, cultivate, exploit and enhance the metacognitive capabilities
of all learners (Gavelek & Raphael, 1996).
Thus, given that metacognitive strategies can be taught, the ultimate goal of
teaching reading is to help students develop as strategic readers. The best implication of
this study is that instruction must include direct teaching of metacognitive strategies to
both urban and rural schools children (Kaylani, 1996). Metacognitive instruction in our
ESL classrooms should be a deliberate and systematic attempt to develop and enhance
students’ reading ability. Making them aware of these strategies through explicit or
implicit training during classroom teaching would be beneficial to them in the long run.
Finally, teachers also need to bear in mind that instruction in metacognitive awareness
does not have to wait until students are fluent in English. They can practice metacognitive
strategies with texts in their mother tongue, and the strategies will transfer to English
texts as they become more proficient in English.
5.4 SCOPE FOR FUTURE RESEARCH
This study has only attempt to investigate the knowledge of metacognitive strategies
among Form Four students in selected urban and rural schools and the used of these
strategies in their reading comprehension by them. There is still much scope for further
research on this topic.
It would be interesting to carry out a longitudinal study to investigate metacognitive

used among students of different cultural backgrounds. This would shed lights into the
42
differences in the intensity of the use of language learning strategies and try to analyze
the differences from learners’ cultural background point of view.
It would also be beneficial to teachers if study is carried out to look into the
metacognitive awareness of lower forms particularly the Form One students. This would
give better insights into learners’ characteristics and factors that might interfere with their
ability to effectively monitor and understand reading text from the initial stage.
Consequently, proper planning of metacognitive teaching as part of students’ language
instruction could be carry out in our language classroom as students progress further in
their learning.
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APPENDIX I
Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies Inventory

(Mokhtari and Reichard, 2002)
Directions: Listed below are statements about what people do when they read academic or school-
related materials such as textbooks or library books. Five numbers follow each statement (1,2,3,4,5),
and each number means the following:
Arahan: Tersenarai di bawah adalah pernyataan mengenai cara orang membaca buku ilmiah atau
bahan bacaan sekolah seperti buku teks atau buku perpustakaan. Terdapat 5 numbor selepas setiap
pernyataan (1,2,3,4,5), dan setiap numbor bermaksud:
• 1 means “I never or almost never do this”
1 bermaksud “Saya tidak pernah sama sekali melakukan ini”

• 2 means “I do this only occasionally”
2 bermaksud “Saya melakukan ini sekali sekala”
• 3 means “I sometimes do this” (about 50% of the time)
3 bermaksud “Saya kadang-kadang melakukan ini” (50% daripada masa)
• 4 means “I usually do this”
4 bermaksud “Saya selalu melakukan ini”
• 5 means “I always or almost do this”
5 bermaksud “Saya kerap kali melakukan ini”
After reading each statement, circle the number (1,2,3,4 or 5) that applies to you using the scales
provided. Please note that there are no right or wrong answers to the statements in this inventory.
Setelah membaca setiap pernyataan, bulatkan numbor (1,2,3,4 or 5) yang berkenaan dengan
menggunakan skala yang diberi. Sila ambil perhatian bahawa tidak terdapat jawapan yang betul atau
salah mengenai pernyataan-pernyataan di dalam senarai semak ini.
Strategy/Strategi Scale/Skala
1. I have a purpose in mind when I read. 1 2 3 4 5
Saya mempunyai sesuatu tujuan apabila saya membaca.
2. I take notes while reading to help me understand what I read. 1 2 3 4 5
Saya mengambil nota semasa membaca bagi membantu saya memahami apa yang
sedang dibaca.
3. I think about what I know to help me understand what I read. 1 2 3 4 5
Saya memikir apa yang telah saya ketahui bagi membantu saya memahami apa
yang saya baca.
4. I skim the text to see what it’s about before reading it. 1 2 3 4 5
Saya mengimbas sesuatu petikan sebelum membaca bagi mengetahui isi
kandungannya.
5. When text becomes difficult, I read aloud to help me understand what I read. 1 2 3 4 5
Sekiranya petikan semakin sukar difahami, saya akan membaca dengan kuat bagi
membantu saya memahaminya.
53
6. I summarize what I read to think about important information in the text. 1 2 3 4 5
Saya meringkas apa yang telah saya baca bagi mengingat maklumat penting yang
terdapat dalam petikan.
7. I think about whether the content of the text fits my reading purpose. 1 2 3 4 5
Saya memikir semada kandungan petikan yang dibaca sesuai dengan tujuan saya.
8. I read slowly but carefully to be sure I understand what I’m reading. 1 2 3 4 5
Saya membaca dengan perlahan dan teliti bagi memastikan saya memahami apa
yang dibaca.
9. I discuss what I read with others to check my understanding. 1 2 3 4 5
Saya berbincang dengan orang lain bagi memastikan saya telah memahami apa
yang dibaca.
10. I skim the text first by looking at the characteristics like length and organization. 1 2 3 4 5
Saya meninjau sesuatu petikan terlebih dahulu sebelum membaca dengan melihat
ciri-ciri seperti panjang dan susun-aturnya.
11. I try to get back on track when I lose concentration. 1 2 3 4 5
Saya akan kembali kepada bacaan saya apabila saya mula hilang tumpuan.
12. I underline or circle information in the text to help me remember it. 1 2 3 4 5
Saya menggaris atau membulatkan maklumat yang terdapat di dalam petikan bagi
membantu saya mengingatinya.
13. I adjust my reading speed according to what I’m reading. 1 2 3 4 5
Saya mengubah suai kelajuan membaca mengikut jenis bacaan yang saya baca.
14. I decide what to read closely and what to ignore. 1 2 3 4 5
Saya menetapkan apa yang perlu diberi tumpuan dan apa yang diabaikan.
15. I use reference materials such as dictionaries to help me understand what I read. 1 2 3 4 5
Saya menggunakan bahan rujukan seperti kamus bagi membantu saya memahami
apa yang sedang saya baca.
16. When text becomes difficult, I pay closer attention to what I’m reading. 1 2 3 4 5
Saya memberi lebih tumpuan kepada bacaan saya sekiranya petikan yang dibaca
sukar difahami.
17. I use tables, figures, and pictures in text to increase my understanding. 1 2 3 4 5
Saya menggunakan jadual, rajah, serta gambar di dalam petikan bagi
meningkatkan pemahaman saya.
18. I stop from time to time and think about what I’m reading. 1 2 3 4 5
Saya akan berhenti dari masa ke semasa dan memikir apa yang sedang saya baca.
19. I use context clues to help me better understand what I’m reading. 1 2 3 4 5
Saya menggunakan petunjuk di dalam konteks bagi membantu saya memahami
dengan lebih baik.
20. I paraphrase (restate ideas in my own words) to better understand what I read. 1 2 3 4 5
Saya menggunakan perkataan sendiri bagi membantu saya memahami dengan
lebih baik.
54
21. I try to picture or visualize information to help remember what I read. 1 2 3 4 5
Saya membuat gambaran mengenai sesuatu maklumat bagi membantu saya
mengingati dengan lebih baik.
22. I use typographical aids like boldface and italics to identify key information. 1 2 3 4 5
Saya menggunakan bantuan topografikal seperti tulisan gelap atau tulisan
condong bagi mengenalpasti maklumat penting.
23. I critically analyze and evaluate the information presented in the text. 1 2 3 4 5
Saya menganalisa dan menilai secara kritikal maklumat yang terdapat di dalam
petikan.
24. I go back and forth in the text to find relationship among ideas in it. 1 2 3 4 5
Saya kerap merujuk kepada maklumat yang sebelum dan sesudah bagi mencari
hubungkait yang terdapat di dalam teks petikan.
25. I check my understanding when I come across conflicting information. 1 2 3 4 5
Saya akan merujuk kepada pemahaman saya apabila menemui sesuatu maklumat
yang bercanggah.
26. I try to guess what the material is about when I read. 1 2 3 4 5
Saya cuba meneka mengenai kandungan sesuatu bahan sebelum saya membaca.
27. When text becomes difficult, I reread to increase my understanding. 1 2 3 4 5
Saya mengulanig bacaan bagi meningkatkan pemahaman saya sekiranya petikan
terlalu rumit.
28. I ask myself questions I like to have answered in the text. 1 2 3 4 5
Saya menanya diri sendiri mengenai soalan-soalan yang akan terjawab di dalam
petikan.
29. I check to see if my guesses about the text are right or wrong. 1 2 3 4 5
Saya akan menyemak sekiranya tekaan saya mengenai sesuatu petikan itu tepat
atau silap.
30. I try to guess the meaning of unknown words or phrases. 1 2 3 4 5
Saya cuba meneka maksud perkataan- perkataan atau frasa- frasa yang tidak saya
ketahui.
55
APPENDIX B
LETTER OF PERMISSION
56
APPENDIX C
LETTER OF PERMISSION

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reading strategies could be related to differences in their metacognitive knowledge about

1.3 RATIONALE OF THE STUDY

Reading comprehension depends on being able to successfully and appropriately use a

Strategic reading has been found to be related to metacognitive ability. Metacognition

1.4 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

TABLE 1.4.1 Analysis of English Language Performance in Rural Areas

Year Number of Performance %

TABLE 1.4.2 Analysis of English Language Performance in Rural Areas

Year Number of Performance %

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

of metacognitive reading strategies of Malaysian ESL classroom. Hitherto, there is

“The distinctions between cognitive and metacognitive strategies

learning. It seems that metacognitives strategies, that allow

1.6 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The objectives of the study are:

1.7 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The research questions for the study are as follow:

1.8 NULL HYPOTHESES

The following hypotheses covered the study:

H01: There is no significance difference between low achievers

1.9.2 Metacognitive Reading Strategies

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

2.2 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

We engage in metacognitive activities daily. Metacognition enables students to be

DIAGRAM 2.2.1 The Conceptual Framework

2.3 THEORETICAL VIEWS OF READING

interpretations of meanings when faced with ambiguous alternatives (Carrell and

Reading in any language is cognitively demanding, involving the coordination of

Others such as Fitzgerald (1983) expanded the definitions of metacognition to include

In addition, metacognition includes several types of skills in evaluating, planning and

Metacognition theory states that reading comprehension is enhanced by the used of

2.5 RESEARCH REVIEW

A study conducted by Swanson (1990) found that student’s metacognitive knowledge

3.2 STUDY DESIGN

A metacognitive inventory was administered to determine the subjects’ knowledge and

3.3.1 Metacognitive Awareness Of Reading Strategy Inventory (MARSI)

This inventory was used to assess students’ metacognitive awareness of reading

Metacognitive Awareness Of Reading Strategy Inventory (MARSI; Mokhtari and

occasionally”, 3 – “I sometimes do this”, 4 – “I usually do this”, 5 – “I always or almost

Table 3.4.1: Numbers of Low Achievers and High Achievers Respondents

Table 3.4.2: Numbers of Male and Female Respondents

Table 3.4.3: Numbers of Urban and Rural Schools Respondents

Table 3.4.4: Breakdown of Respondents’ Ethnicities

Table 3.4.5: Numbers of respondents based on class of streaming

3.6 DATA ANALYSIS

4.4 RESEARCH FINDINGS

No. Question Items Means Of Means Of p-value

6. summarizing on important information 2.45 3.99 .018

23. analysing and evaluating information 2.62 3.89 .166*

The insignificant items (indicated by an *) are “activating prior knowledge”, (low=

15. using reference materials as aids 2.13 1.66 .022

However, there is no significant difference (indicated by a *) between the two groups

No. Question Items Means Of Means Of p-value

29. checking predictions against text content 3.81 3.16 .049

30. guessing meaning of unknown words 3.50 2.76 .143*

Nevertherless, there is no significant differences (indicated by an *) between the two

Based on the above findings, students showed significant differences in majority of

Oster (2001) suggests that metacognitive awareness is critical to learning. Once

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

5.2 SYNTHESIS OF FINDINGS

knowledge, self-regulation skills, and the effective used of metacognitive knowledge.

opportunities to enhance their understanding of the language. The used of more

Boling, E. . The Role of Metacognitive Awareness in Reading Comprehension.