Metacognition, cognition and L2 reading : a study of Chinese university EFL readers' metacognitive knowledge and strategy deployment

• Main Author: Zhang, Lawrence Jun
• Other Authors: Hvitfeldt, Christina
• Format: Theses and Dissertations
• Language: English
• Published: 2008
• Subjects: DRNTU::Humanities::Language
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/14047
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

This thesis reports on an exploratory study of the metacognitive knowledge systems of mainland Chinese university EFL readers and their links to perceived and actual reading strategy use in relation to EFL proficiency and reading comprehension across academic major and gender. The study, which involved 312 subjects, adopted a triangulated approach which used on-line think-aloud protocols, questionnaires, and retrospective interviews. The results suggest that previous studies have not addressed Chinese EFL readers adequately and, furthermore, challenge the claims of some Western writers that Chinese EFL readers do not have necessary conceptual strategies and do not know how to use processing strategies.