Metacognitive Awareness in Reading English Language Text: A Perspective from the EFL Undergraduate Students in Thailand

Recent research on reading achievement in English asserts that metacognitive awareness is important driving forces for learning. This study sought to examine the metacognitive strategies and perceive use of reading strategies of one hundred thirty-four student-teachers majoring in English language in one public university in Thailand while reading Academic Texts for Teachers (ATT). The methods used to collect the data were modified questionnaire and focus group discussions. In the questionnaire data, finding shows that students had different metacognitive strategies in reading English language text; particularly most of the respondents demonstrated the frequent used of Global Reading Strategies (GRS) against Problem Solve Strategies (PSS). Some issues and challenges that they noted included unfamiliarity of words in the text, lack of phonemic awareness, lack of linguistic awareness, and anxiety towards classmates and teachers. The interpretation of these findings, their implications for English teaching and learning, and future lines of research are discussed. [This paper was published in: The 2nd International Conference on Applied Liberal Arts (ICAA2019): Liberal Arts for Interdisciplinary Practice and Research (p. 87-95). Bangkok, Thailand: Faculty of Liberal Arts, King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang.]