An Investigation into the Relationship Between Metacognitive Knowledge and Writing Achievement of Turkish EFL Learners

Abstract

Writing poses a substantial yet demanding challenge for individuals learning English as a foreign language (EFL). In contemporary frameworks, this skill is characterized as a complex, recursive, strategic, and multifaceted process that engages both cognitive and metacognitive faculties. Consequently, recent decades have witnessed a burgeoning body of research spotlighting the pivotal role of metacognition in EFL writing. This study, employing an explanatory sequential mixed methods approach, set out to delve into the depth of metacognitive awareness among Turkish EFL students concerning English writing. The study encompassed a cohort of 120 Turkish EFL students at the B2 level. To gauge the participants' metacognitive understanding concerning the variables of person, task, and strategy, a questionnaire was administered. Additionally, interviews were conducted with 35 participants to augment and elucidate the quantitative findings. Analyzing the data disclosed that participants exhibited an average level of knowledge with respect to person and strategy dimensions, but they demonstrated a robust understanding of the task dimension. Further scrutiny through correlation analysis, which explored the link between students' writing achievement and their metacognitive awareness, revealed a weak positive relationship between students' writing proficiency and their comprehension of both person-related and strategy-related aspects. In contrast, there was no statistically significant correlation between task-related knowledge and writing achievement. Content analysis of the findings shed light on noteworthy disparities among high-achieving, average-achieving, and low-achieving EFL writers concerning their grasp of metacognitive knowledge. In alignment with their writing performance, high-achieving writers outperformed their counterparts in all the metacognitive subcategories.