日本大学歯学部紀要 38，45‑52，2010

Metacognitive strategies in English learning
Michio Tajima and Daniel J.Waldhoff

Abstract
This paper describes the concept of metacognitive strategies applied in the English classroom. These are approaches to teaching intended to give students better access to thelearning process.M etacognitive strategies are intended to help students activate and actualize the learning process by examining it on a personal level,as individual learners and using
the “tools”that are most appropriate for them. Also examined are various tool and tactics
used in M etacognitive strategies.
Key words: appropriate learning strategies, autonomous learning, motivation

１. “Learner‑centered”
English education has been, even if it might not have been dramatically, changing over thelast couple of decades.The author still remembers that people often criticized translation workand grammar learning as useless.These two methods are not entirelywrong,as theyhave theirown advantages,and of course there are still many courses specifically about language translation and grammar rules, but it is also true that they do not provide answers to every requirement in using English. On the other hand, the communicative approach is receiving more andmore popularityamong language learners and teachers.Reflecting this trend,manyresearcherspresent their study results and opinions. For example, Siegel mentioned after the 2008 JALT
conference, a transition of;... from treating a student body as a monolith to better understanding individual learner
psychology; a change from pre‑specified inflexible course design to more fluid material
that addresses specific local needs; a shift from teacher‑focused content to learner‑centeredness; a move from neglecting individuality to seeking and recognizing student
investment. ... I believe existing strategies should be incorporated and nurtured ; teachers
may provide alternative options but should not slight those strategies initially selected bylearners. (Siegel, 2009. p182).
In short,he saw the transition of teacher‑centered classroom management to learner‑centered one.
A student‑centered curriculum “
is not static,it is impossible to expect that the developer be
in a position to identify the perfect balance of the abilities noted above for anyparticular group
日本大学歯学部

英語

Nihon University School of Dentistry
1‑8‑13 Kanda‑Surugadai, Chiyoda‑ku, Tokyo 101‑8310, Japan〒 101‑8310 東京都千代田区神田駿河台１‑８‑13(受理：2010年９月 30日)

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日本大学歯学部紀要 38，45‑52，2010

of learners”(Gatehouse, 2001). It is more about learner psychology and linguistics, about howlearners acquire language and about how languages are acquired. Therefore, need analysis is
one step that teachers should remember to conduct,because learners have different 1) learning
strategies, 2) learning skills, 3) learning schemata, 4) motivational levels, and 5) interests. It
means teachers do not only hand down language knowledge systematically, but they are
expected to be flexible according to learner learning tendencies, motivation, attitude, andinterests, nor do they ignore the learning methods that students prefer.
There are different insights between teachers and learners concerning the unwillingness tostudy in the classroom.According to Christmas (2009),teachers see students as not participating when they use the cell phone,do make‑up,sleep,are absent,lack preparation and come tolessons without pencils, textbook, or homework. Of course, students might not take part inclassroom activities at all. On the other hand, for students, problems exist like boredom,classroom anxiety,and the inability to recognize the necessityof subject matter.She commentsthat it is crucial to help learners to re‑connect with subject matter and with other learners in
the classroom to let more learning take place and that learner motivation largely depends onteachers.She might be right to a certain degree,but there are some students,whose interest andwillingness are practically zero in required courses,or who dislike to get connected with otherstudents at all.Besides,teachers trying so much in the classroom and preparing so that learners
can easily participate may actually spoil learners and may create even more dependantlearners.
Active learner participation is ideal in connection with a learner‑centered classroom andhigher motivation can vitalize participation. In order to raise learner motivation and create apositive attitude toward learning, autonomy can be one important factor. Autonomy can be
accelerated when learners are aware of metacognitive strategies. They need to recognize
learning strategies and skills, feel their progress with achievable goals. They can be moreautonomous when they are certain what to do.To avoid issues like learners being reluctant in
the classroom and incapable of relating to subjects, again, it seems beneficial to create anautonomous learning environment, too.
２. Motivation and metacognitive approach
Among different components of motivation,learners with intrinsic motivation are considered
to learn the target language the most effectively. Feeling satisfied with learning must be one
important factor in order to raise intrinsic motivation,because the drive to learn is because it
is fun to learn.To achieve some satisfaction,learners should have learning goals and recognize
how to learn rather than just do tasks imposed on them by teachers without thinking about its
objective.
Small and Venkatesh (2000) also write that learning satisfaction is useful for educators
because satisfaction can enhance intrinsic motivation and let one continue learning.It might be46

M etacognitive strategies in English learningeasier to be satisfied if learners can be involved with some decision making concerning learning
itself and this type of involvement and satisfaction may draw out confidence.Another thing ateacher should keep in their mind is that learners have positive closure and also more clear
closure to foster clear satisfaction (Small & Venkatesh, 2000). Seeing the end of each task
positively allows them to feel achievement and confidence more.
Acknowledging what is going on in learning can enhance motivation, and a metacognitive
approach is one way to prompt learners to be aware of learning methods or process.Carrell etal (1998)explain metacognition, saying that thinking about the learning process, planning forlearning, the monitoring of comprehension or production while it is taking place, and the self
‑evaluation of learning after the language activity is completed. Likewise, Chiquito (1995)
writes “metacognitive strategies of learning involve thinking about or planning a learning
process before the actual learning activity, monitoring the acquisition of new knowledge or
carrying out a critical self‑evaluation of the results obtained after a learning process”(p211)
and goes on to say those strategies “
are supposed to arouse learner awareness of possible
relationships between previously acquired knowledge and new information”(p211).
M etacognitive strategies consist basically of becoming aware of the cognitive approach.
M etacognitive strategies cover different aspects and stages in learning and each stage allow
learners to be aware of the learning process.Oishi and Kinoshita (2004)explain metacognitive
strategies with 1) selective attention, 2) planning, 3) monitoring, and 4) evaluation. Learners
are expected to be reflective regarding their purpose, process, achievement, and new goal
settings.This cycle can be short or long term,or combinations of both.It could be more useful
to have a series of short term cycles to construct a long term one.With this reflection within
learners, they can be more conscious of learning skills and strategies.
There are differences between learning skills and strategies. Paris et al (1983)explain thatthe former is applied to a text unconsciously for many reasons including expertise, repeatedpractice,compliance with directions,luck,and native use.On the other hand,the latter is about
an action deliberately chosen to achieve particular goals.Learners need to payattention to new
ways of learning or learning methods which they are not accustomed to yet and when they
deliberately choose certain skills to gain certain knowledge, it is called strategy. So it is notdifference in methods themselves, the difference lies among psychological aspect of learners.
Paris et al (1983)write “strategic actions are ...skills that are made deliberate,it follows thata “strategy”can mirror any level of skill.Deliberate,strategic allocation of effort to mimic amodeled behavior is often a precursor to skill acquisition”(p296). Through language development due to learning, “
individual responses become aggregated into automatic sequences ofcomplex actions”(p296)and when strategies are automatized, they are called skills. In short,a word “strategy”itself connotes learnersʼconsciousness on “how.”
There is more research to see if learners find values on activities/tasks they do in theclassroom. One good example available is study done by Figura and Jarvis (2007) about how
47日本大学歯学部紀要 38，45‑52，2010

learners feel about using a computer for self‑access study.In this study,they find that learners
use not only English,the target language,but also other languages to communicate with others.
Using other languages is not necessarily bad,because learning may take place more efficiently
and it may give more explicit knowledge about what they learn, but it should require more
research on the effect of using target language and non‑target language.Using their own first
language for metacognitive approach has some value in it, too, because the main purpose forthis is to be conscious of setting up goals, selecting learning strategies, getting feedback andevaluation on achievement,and modifying or proposing new goals.There are,of course,limits
to metacognitive strategies,but it is worth while for learners to have a subjective opinion about
their own learning.It helps prevent the chances of mistakes that they may make in the target
language by using their own language.
３. Recognition of appropriate learning strategies
The reason why learners should know strategies is not only to be aware of their importance,
but also to recognize what strategies are suitable to gain certain skills and knowledge.
Nakayama (2005)expresses regrettably that individuals have some misunderstanding in certain
learning tasks.One of his examples is trying to take notes very neatly and carefully when one
is supposed to be learning oral skills and they are encouraged to do more verbal practice. In
fact, the author has encountered a number of students who complain that they have studied
English grammar so hard and did translation so much and yet they were not able to communicate in English verbally.
For example,appropriate reading strategies are required to have better reading comprehension.Needless to say,successful readers have better reading skills than unsuccessful ones.Good
successful readers are attentive to text structure,respond in an extensive mode,monitor theircomprehension,relate themselves to content more affectively and personally,while unsuccessful readers do not integrate reading skills,reply much more on personal experiences and havea reflective mode more often than not (Carrell et al, 1998). Those who “orchestrate”various
reading skills and apply them strategically read/comprehend better.
One can write down strategies and study plans to help to see what one knows and plans.For
instance, a “
can‑do list”can be useful to raise metacognitive awareness (Kitzman, 2009),
especially in order to perceive what learning strategies or even language skills people thinkthey can perform.This explicitly informs people of what they are capable and not.For a start,
having questions with yes/no answers, likert scale questions, or items with ranking would beeasy for both learners to respond to and teachers to see actual conditions regarding learnerawareness of their own ability. However, open‑questions may elicit something teachers neverimagined. Still, doing this within guideline constructs is important to seize results systematically.
Apart from or extended from the can‑do list, one finds the learning portfolio as another48

M etacognitive strategies in English learning

example, which is quite helpful to raise metacognitive awareness. Teachers can design alearning portfolio for their students,but allowing them to participate in designing process can
induce a sense of involvement of being active and having a freedom of choice. Carrell et al(1998. p105) give three components of reading strategies, procedural knowledge, declarativeknowledge, and conditional knowledge and say the last component is often missed the most.
Conditional knowledge contains when and where learning occurs and how to evaluate.Besides
learning strategies, themselves, the time and place of learning and evaluation procedures help
learners relate themselves to knowledge to be gained and that should be declared as a part oflearning. Like this, a portfolio helps to see what the missing aspects of learning are.
Chiquito (1995) conducted a study to see if advance organizers (oral and written) andcaptioning (subtitles, etc.) are useful to facilitate L2 learning. Single or a combination ofdifferent types of advance organizers,each or both,may facilitate learning a foreign language
but,as she also writes,the results of her pilot test is only indicative not conclusive.In fact,thestudy results do not clearly show these are beneficial. Again, when learner‑centeredness isoriented, teaching should not be static, as each individual has different tendencies, so study
results would not be able to determine what is best and can not be over‑generalized.However,warming up with checking background knowledge directs learner attention to what they are tolearn more clearly.
Advance organizer is, basically, that learners think about theme and goals which remindthem of what they already know, and then carry out actual learning. This can link learning
memory, or short term memory, with long term memory. Because advance organizer lets thelearner focus on main ideas, and then look into more details, it gives a preview to inherent
schema (Chiquito, 1995). She expects advance organizer “to aide perception, interpretation(enabling skills),as well as the integration of the interpreted information into their previously
formed schemas (enacting skill)”(p213). Although this type of warming‑up task does notnecessarily require creating a learning portfolio, it certainly helps clarify what and how
learning takes place.
Additionally,learners should receive feedback from peer students and/or teachers and havetheir portfolios revised occasionally based on feedback and their own contemplation (Christmas, 2009). It is important that not only learners make portfolios, but also that teachers give
feedback to offer guidance to correct any gaps between goals and strategies, make sure thatlearners find meaning in learning,and ensure that modification,if necessary,is smooth.A study
done by Nakayama (2005)tries to see the difference in learner attitudes between performancegoals oriented learning and that which is learning goal centered. It shows that the more
performance goals go through traditional learning, the more negative the correlation withassumption strategies. On the other hand, individuals inclined to learning goals showed apositive relation with assumption strategies, which monitors learning process and speeds. He
confirms the importance of helping them to payattention to how English should be learned.The49

日本大学歯学部紀要 38，45‑52，2010

purpose of making a portfolio is to cause learners to pay more attention to the learning processrather than the outcome of it, so feedback should be given regularly during the period oflearning, but not at the end.
４. Metacognition does not always guarantee effectivenessM etacognitive strategies do not provide perfect learning styles.This can be seen with a study
byIto and Yamato (2005),who write that,as English language use is limited in Japan,it is betterfor language teachers in Japan to spend more time on teaching forms than on creating an ESL
environment (Ito and Yamato, 2005). Because people are in a situation where they tend toreceive English more than produce it in Japan,theysuggest that teachers should teach language
forms when they comprehend English. For that, 1) learners are caused to pay attention totarget language rules, 2) carry out communication activities, and 3) receive explicit explanations about this process. They discuss that those who experienced metacognitive strategies
recognize its effectiveness and the test results of learners with metacognitive strategies were
better than those who did not learn with those strategies after the experiment.However,theirfollow‑up research did not elicit a difference.Even though it is arguable that the test may notmeasure oneʼs language ability entirely, this shows a case where metacognitive strategies are
longitudinally not effective.
M cKeown and Gentilucci(2007)studied the reading strategies of L2 learners.Theywrite thatreading is to create meaning from text and reading in L2 means to expose individuals to“unfamiliar idiom and cultural references”(p136), and also that those who are not good atreading drift away from text and go into their own world and that they look into details toomuch.Therefore,in the L2,when they learn reading comprehension,they first need to identify
the most effective reading strategies.
Good reading strategies are to 1) think‑aloud,2) visualize,3) predict,4) relate new topics toprior knowledge,5) have a purpose for reading,6) accept ambiguities,7) monitor comprehension, and 8) use fix‑up strategies (M cKeown & Gentilucci, 2007). Think aloud strategy is to
speak aloud about the text and opinions about it and its aim is monitoring reading comprehension. Fix‑up strategy is replacing unknown words and using pictures and graphs/charts toincrease comprehension. They compared pre and posttest scores of three groups of English
learners who read expository work and the results show think aloud strategies did not help
comprehension in general. This strategy even hindered reading comprehension with earlyadvanced students. They conclude that “reading instruction for English learners should focus
primarily on vocabulary development, reading fluency, and sentence structure”(McKeown &Gentilucci, 2007. p145). Therefore, picking an inappropriate strategy may bring learners tragedy.

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M etacognitive strategies in English learning

５. Concluding remarks
This paperʼs aim is to overview metacognitive strategies for learning English,and to enhanceawareness of them as a possible way to raise learning motivation and autonomy among
learners. Questions remain to find better, if not the best, way of teaching. Although there aresome study results showing metacognitive strategies being ineffective or even sometimes
hindering, it is not necessarily meaningless to apply those strategies to all learners in every
learning environment. Further studies are required to generalize on its effectiveness. As
mentioned above, each learner is different and there are different learning methods to match
individual needs and wants.As teaching adjusted to individual needs is not proven wrong,it is
not justifiable to ignore learner differences and retain teacher‑centeredness. Ito and Yamoto(2005) report that, generally, learners experienced learning with metacognitive strategies
favored by them and it is important to conduct this approach longitudinally as well as for eachlesson or the short term. Some learners may not be sure about how to learn a language. By
showing learning strategies clearly,having learners acknowledge their achievements regularly,
and revising the aims of learning and strategies depending on these aims, learner anxiety candecrease. It is advisable to let learners decide their approaches independently,and not impose
instructorʼ
s ideas,for learners to find the process meaningful.Helping learners to find why andhow they learn language correctly hopefully can help them increase autonomous learning.
Ormon et al (1991) assert that the contribution of metacognitive knowledge is clearly tocompetent decision making and to decisional self‑esteem.When learners become competent inmaking decision making and raising self‑esteem, they are hopefully much closer to being
competent as language learners as well.
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