Best Practices to Build Elementary students’ Metacognitive awareness in English Reading Comprehension strategies

By Cherry (Deng Xiaoying)

Abstract

Metacognitive awareness is considered as the key factor for proficient strategic reading. This study is an attempt to improve students’ English reading proficiency in English teaching and develop their metacognitive awareness of specific reading strategies deemed necessary metacognitive awareness of reading strategies for proficient reading. It aims at verify whether a long-term integrative metacognitive strategy training can effectively heighten learners’ strategy using awareness and improve their English reading proficiency specifically in reading comprehension. In this thesis, we applied a new pattern of metacognitive strategy training model called CALLA and integrated a long-time training into reading classes. The results indicated that the participants usually used metacognitive reading strategies so they were often aware of these strategies. They mostly used and got aware of problem-solving strategies used in reading. It’s useful and practicable to integrate the training into Elementary English reading class.

Keywords: Metacognitive awareness; Reading Comprehension, Elementary students.

1. Introduction

1.1 Background of the Study

In EFL contexts, reading is the most important channel that language learners

can use to learn English and communicate with an English language society.

Similarly, in the Chinese context, reading becomes the main way through which

students upgrade their English proficiency. However, English reading ability is highly

demanded in the examination, and it is rare to make elementary school students as the

subjects to research on reading comprehension from the perspective of metacognitive

strategies. Therefore, It’s necessary to use types of instruction and leadership activities

to help all children become proficient readers in the elementary school.

The most important goal of reading instruction in elementary school is to help

students acquire the skills and knowledge they need to read grade-level text fluently

and with good comprehension. Reading comprehension is a very complex skill. Its

most essential elements involve: skill in reading text accurately and fluently;

sufficient background knowledge and vocabulary to make sense of the content; skill

in using reading strategies that improve understanding or repair it when it breaks

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down; ability to think and reason about the information and concepts in the text; and

motivation to understand and learn from text. In other words, reading proficiency at

the end of elementary school requires that students be able to identify the words on

the page accurately and fluently; that they have enough knowledge and thinking

ability to understand the words, sentences, and paragraphs; and that they be motivated

and engaged enough to use their knowledge and thinking ability to understand and

learn from the text.

In Chinese educational contexts, students at schools have very limited exposure

to real language use; the teaching methods are mostly grammar-based and the students

have little or no contact with native speakers or native teachers of English. Due to the

importance of reading among the basic foreign language skills, how to improve

students’ English reading proficiency has long been a major concern in English

teaching.

Based on the "English curriculum standards"(the second level goals) requirements,

the goal of teaching English reading, not just students' reading comprehension,

English reading teaching philosophy must be based on the goal of human

development concept, to enable students to develop good reading habits, has the

correct reading skills, with active learning and cooperative spirit, with self-learning

ability, lay the foundation for lifelong learning. Reading is important in Primary

English Teaching . "English curriculum standards" in the students' reading proficiency

requirements made the following object description (the second level goals): can read

simple stories or short passages with pictures, can have an effective reading

strategies in the process of learning , and develop according to the meaning group

reading habits, learn to read a story or essay correctly. [1]

By the year 2011, the statistics based on Grade 5th Semester assessment test results

from online scoring systems in Tianhe District, It shows that

Students lack of relevant background knowledge, small vocabulary, reading

strategies which lead to reading disorder.

Some students did not develop good study habits, such as: moderation

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habits, leading to careless mistakes.

Students did not form some basic reading skills, such as find, zoned

keywords, depending on the context to guess the word meaning.

Some students can't understand the passage context, can't seize the aims of

the passage to judge right and wrong, or make right choice. [2]

1.2 Significance of the Study

Elementary teaching of reading research has just started, there is no effective

teaching strategies in current teaching situation. There is a deviation for the teaching

of reading comprehension, reading is reading comprehension, using traditional

teaching methods commonly used, understand the text by understanding the words,

the most important reading activities to check the students is through reading test and

ignore students' reading habits ,reading strategies cultivation.

In traditional teaching, the students reading ability is generally low, the students

lost consciousness, loss of consciousness reading, passive negative reading, all the

students appeared afraid of difficulties, tired of conflict reading, became the teaching

of reading slaves, instead of reading the master. Teaching of reading results are not

satisfied. English teachers in China have to ask themselves the question: What is the

ideal way of teaching students to read? Based on the goal of human development

concept, To make learners strategic readers, it is necessary to raise their awareness of

reading strategies, something which is referred to as metacognitive awareness of

reading strategies and has been found to have a strong positive relationship with

reading ability and learners’ academic achievement .

Whether metacognitive strategies can improve their English reading ability to

learn, this study has important guiding significance. About learning to read and study,

the majority of metacognitive strategies focused on college students, high school

students. The study that fit metacognitive strategy training students study is very little,

so this issue is of great significance for the Elementary school students. Once they can

master their own metacognitive strategies, and continue to enrich their metacognitive

strategies, it will offer a very profound impact and help on their future learning

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English.

1.3 Objectives of the Study

On the goal of raising teachers’ strategy awareness, and develop students’

knowledge about Metacognitive Strategy ; and skills in using strategies for learning;

To develop student ability to evaluate own strategy use and transfer of strategies to

new task. We probe into an empirical way to investigate into the effects of the training

on learners’ reading proficiency and give some suggestions on English Teaching.

1.4 Purpose of the Study

This study is an attempt to improve students’ English reading proficiency in

English teaching and develop their metacognitive awareness of specific reading

strategies deemed necessary metacognitive awareness of reading strategies for

proficient reading. Then discover whether metacognitive strategies training affects

students’ English reading performance or not, specifically in reading comprehension.

In this thesis, we applied a new pattern of metacognitive strategy training and

integrated a long-time training into reading classes. This is An Empirical Study of

Metacognitive Strategy Training aims at improving Elementary students’ English

reading ability.

2. Literature Review

2.1 Studies of Abroad

Due to the importance of reading among the basic foreign language skills, how

to improve students’ English reading proficiency has long been a major concern in

English teaching. After the introduction of metacognition by Flavell in 1970s,

researchers have begun to focus on the role of metacognition in reading to find out an

effective method in teaching. O’Malley and Chamot(2001) defined metacognitive

strategies as “higher order executive skills that entail planning for, monitoring, or

evaluating the process of a learning activity”. According to them, metacognitive

strategies involved in reading are mainly planning, selective attention, self-monitoring

and self-evaluation.4

Until now, researches abroad have shown that metacognition has a positive

effect on learners’ reading, but they didn’t choose Chinese students as their subjects.

So the results of their researches may not be necessarily true for English reading

courses in China. Barnett (1988) investigated the relationship among reading

comprehension, strategy use and perceived strategy use. Carrell et al. (1989) found

that the combination of cognitive and metacognitive strategy training was effective in

improving learners’ reading. Song (1989) carried out metacognitive strategy training

in FL reading on some Korean EFL college learners. Auerbach and Paxton (1997)’ s

research found that students’ metacognition awareness could be increased after

training.

2.2 Studies at Home

At home, the researchers have mainly focused on the correlation between

metacognition and reading. They seldom integrate metacognitive strategy training into

real classroom teaching and then studies on its effect. Besides, most of the researches

at home are not empirical. The study of Liu(2004) and the study of Yang and

Zhang(2002) indicated a correlation between metacognition and EFL reading. But

they didn’t integrate metacognitive training into reading class. Ji(2002) found it was

feasible to integrate MS training into English teaching. Pan(2006) carried out a 9-

week strategy training but the relatively short period of time may influence the result

more or less.

Therefore, in this thesis, we attempt to integrate long-time metacognitive

strategy training into reading classes and investigate into the effects of the training on

learners’ reading proficiency in an empirical way.

3. Theoretical Framework

3.1 A Framework for Understanding Metacognition

Metacognition has been defined as a construct that refers to thinking about

one’s thinking or the human ability to be conscious of one’s mental processes (Nelson,

1996).According to Flavell (1976) metacognitive knowledge is “one's knowledge

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concerning one’s own cognitive processes and products or anything related to them,

e.g., the learning-relevant properties of information or data” (p. 232). Metacognition

is a form of cognition and a high level thinking process that involves active control

over cognitive processes (Wenden, 1998).

O’Malley and Chamot (1990), for instance, have differentiated the range of

cognitive categories into two main types: metacognitive and cognitive strategies.

Metacognitive strategies oversee, direct and regulate the learning process. These kinds

of strategies involve thinking about learning process, planning, monitoring and

evaluating learning. Oxford (1990) believes that metacognitive strategies ―provide a

way for learners to coordinate their own learning process (p. 136). Others contend that

metacognition refers to the knowledge and control that we have over our cognitive

processes.

As far as it is concerned with reading, it is common to talk about metacognitive

awareness (what we know) and metacognitive regulation or control (knowing when,

where, and how to use strategies, that is, what we can do). As a whole, metacognitive

involves awareness and control of planning, monitoring, repairing, revising,

summarizing, and evaluating. Essentially, we learn strategies that support our

comprehension (our awareness of strategies) and we learn how to carry out these

strategies effectively (our control of strategies) (Baker, 2002, 2008; Pressley, 2002).

Metacognitive awareness means being aware of how you think. In the ELT

classroom, it means being aware of how you learn. Developing metacognitive

awareness is an important part of helping learners become more effective and

importantly, more autonomous. If learners are conscious of how they learn when they

can identify the most effective ways of doing so. Flavell (1979) strongly points out

the positive effects metacognition has on learning that metacognitive awareness

raising can improve the level of students’ performance and by implementing

metacognitive teaching in educational process, desirable educational goals can be

achieved. It is also suggested that language learning strategies are the key factors in

accomplishing autonomy (Wenden,1991; Brown, 1994; Oxford, 1996; Skehan, 1998;

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Yang, 1998) and that metacognitive strategies increase learner autonomy and its

direction toward more individualized instruction (Fewell, 2010).

3.2 Applying of the Metacognitive Strategy Training in English Reading

Teaching

In order to improve the reading proficiency of the class, the author collected two

classes learning level of data, analyzed them to detect metacognitive strategy training

that can learn how to improve learners' reading skills and improve their reading level.

In addition, the study carried out in the experimental class metacognitive strategy

training, it is also measured through the difference before and after contrast to random

sampling to select students to "think aloud" training to monitor students' use of

learning to read metacognitive strategies, and thereby can improve the validity of the

experiment. This training framework of the present study was based on O’Malley and

Chamot’s CALLA model.

(1) Preparation: Develop student awareness of different strategies

(2) Presentation: Develop student knowledge about strategies

(3) Practice: Develop student skills in using strategies for academic learning

(4) Evaluation: Develop student ability to evaluate own strategy use

(5) Expansion: Develop transfer of strategies to new task.

Class1 and Class 2 in Grade5 of Tianhe Gaotangshi Elementary School are

named as the EG and the CG respectively at random. The two groups attended

extensive reading course. They were required to finish the textbook (as mentioned in

2.3) in the semester. Reflected by their final-exam scores of the last term, there is no

obvious difference in their English proficiency.

4. Discussion on Best Practices : The CALLA Lesson Plan Model

CALLA was developed by Anna Uhl Chamot and J. Michael O'Malley, and is

being implemented in approximately 30 school districts in the United States as well as

in several other countries. The goals of CALLA are for students to learn essential

academic content and language and to become independent and self-regulated learners

through their increasing command over a variety of strategies for learning in school.

Students who are taught reading comprehension strategies are more successful

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readers. While some students may eventually learn some of these strategies on their

own, they can be taught quite effectively in the early elementary grades. There are

some Principal Objectives are to assist students in following aspects; and some best

practices reading comprehension strategies when we are assessing Comprehension

Thinking Strategies to consider.

4.1 KWL Chart---- Set a purpose for reading to make it meaningful

At preparation stage of this Lesson Plan Model, using KWL Chart can better help

teacher understand the students’ prior knowledge and the students’ interesting. For

teacher, this chart helps to elicit student’s prior content and language knowledge,

Identify objectives, develop vocabulary , provide motivation. For students, it’s a good

way to value their own prior knowledge and cultural experiences, and relates this

knowledge to academic learning in a new language and culture. It’s also a good way

to increase students’ motivation for academic learning and confidence in their ability

to be successful in school.

KWL Chart: Take SWE book6 unit10 Dialogue as an example:K

(What I know)W

(What I want to know)L

(What I learned)  ElephantBlue whale

 What are the biggest animals in the world / on land?How heavy…?Where do … live?What do …. eat?

 Theliving places The Eating habits

The differentcharacteristics between elephant and whale

4.2 Use schema---- Visualize what is being read.

Make brain movies! Tune into the sensory and emotional images of the text to

enhance the visualization. Use this information to help make inferences and draw

conclusions. Readers can use schema(prior knowledge) purposefully to understand

more thoroughly what they read. Prior knowledge includes information and

experiences that contribute to and enhance what a reader already know.

On the one hand, using schema to consciously connect the text to preexisting

knowledge and experiences and consider how it helps their understanding of the text.

Schema is a cognitive framework or concept that helps organize and interpret

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information. On the other hand, using schema to present new information in varied

ways, such as model processes explicitly, Explain learning strategies, discuss

connections to students’ prior knowledge. Long paragraphs that can be shortened or

divided. And readers create detailed images that contribute to comprehension. They

can use these imagines to draw conclusions, make inferences, fill in missing

information, and recall important details. Therefore, by using schema and sensory and

Emotional Images, they will gradually develop the way to understand, remember and

recall information.

Schema 1: Chinese Spring Festival

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Schema 2: Western Festival----Halloween

Schema 3: Western Festival----Easter

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4.3 Inferring and Asking questions----Cooperative learning structures

Teacher uses hands-on and inquiry-based activities, provides different

cooperative learning structures, uses experience and information from the text to draw

conclusions, makes connections, predictions and form opinions. By using inferring

can help readers to draw conclusions, interpret, form opinions and predict information

from background knowledge and information. The purpose of asking questions about

the text before, during, and after reading is that help learners to comprehend more

completely what they are reading.

4.4 Learning Log---- self-evaluation

Learning Log is a kind of student self-evaluation activity that you have used.

Students learn to reflect on their own learning , evaluate their own learning , assess

their own strategy use and planning how to become more effective and independent

learners.

4.5 Thinking aloud to students---expansion

Think out loud. Good readers monitor their thinking while reading. Students apply

information to own lives, and make connections between language and content.

Students relate information to first language knowledge. It’s a good way to develop

language awareness and critical literacy.

4.5 Synthesizing and retelling.

This strategy helps readers keep track of their impressions while reading and

identifying the underlying meaning of the text. Connect the text to information from

other sources. Extending that information beyond the text to form opinions and read

critically.

As far as we can see, it’s useful and practicable to integrate the training into

elementary English reading class. Even learning just one or two of these

metacognitive strategies has been shown to make a difference in my students’ reading

performance.

5. Conclusions

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5.1 Main Finding and achievements

This metacognitive strategy theory is very beneficial for reading comprehension

teaching. The data shows that after the researcher experimentally taught the theory of

metacognitive strategies, the students began to pay attention to the Metacognitive

awareness in English Reading Comprehension. And more meaningfully, they tried to

take it into consideration more deeply when they read an English article. Obviously,

this encourages them to enhance their reading ability with the help of The CALLA

Lesson Plan Model of metacognitive reading strategies in the future.

(1) Develop Elementary students’ self-awareness, they gradually developed an

understanding of themselves as learners and of their individual attitudes and

motivation towards different aspects of English language.

(2)Develop Elementary students’ language awareness, they are able to identify

English language register and functions, as well as strategies for different language

skills, and the abilities to make grammatical deduction and linguistic transfer.

(3)Develop Elementary students’ Self-assessment, the students are able to monitor

and evaluate their language learning process;

(4) Helping students set a short-term aims. It helps the students to set identify

goals and use self-management techniques to determine which are achievable in a

realistic time frame.

5.2 Pedagogical Teaching Implication

We took this CALLA lesson Plan Model in our class, on the purpose of testify the

efficacy of the Best Practices to Build Elementary students’ Metacognitive awareness

in English Reading Comprehension strategies. There are some Pedagogical

Implications for English Reading Comprehension:

If EFL teachers cherish some metacognitive strategies and metacognitive

awareness in English reading strategies teaching theories, they will help students

understand language deeply and get interested in English.

Metacognition theories are possible to be applied to EFL class.

When the students’ metacognitive awareness is well developed, they will get

interested in English and they will become more proficient at English reading.

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Experiences may be drawn from the experimental teaching procedures and

activities for EFL teachers.

5.3 Limitations and Expectation for further study

Metacognitive awareness is considered as the key factor for proficient strategic

reading, particularly for elementary students. The study aims at verify whether a long-

term integrative metacognitive strategy training can effectively heighten learners’

strategy using awareness and improve their English reading proficiency. After a

semester of metacognitive strategy training in English reading, the researcher noted

that there was improvement on students’ reading proficiency; the training could make

the class perform better in reading proficiency. In conclusion, it’s useful and

practicable to integrate the training into Elementary English reading class. The author

will do a further exploration on how to use and expects to have more teachers focus

on this teaching approach and compile a useful classified reading strategies for

English teachers in Elementary schools according to the categories.

In the traditional classroom, which is teacher-centered, teacher controls every

aspect of the reading process: giving assignments, explaining the reading materials,

grading the results, etc. Students don’t know how to improve their reading ability by

themselves. But as shown in this study, if we integrate metacognitive strategy training

into reading class, things will be different. Teacher adjusts to new roles of a manager,

a director, a counselor or an instructor in class. He shows to the students how to plan,

monitor and evaluate their own reading process, how to improve their reading by their

own efforts. If we integrate metacognitive strategy training into reading class, things

will be different. Of course, in this situation, Elementary English teachers are given a

more difficult task to fulfill because they should broaden their knowledge on teaching

methodologies as well as learning theories. They need life-long learning, together

with their students, to make teaching and learning of reading more effective and

successful. Though there’s still room for improvement in this study, it gives a very

good suggestion for teaching of elementary English reading. Besides, the training

model in this study can also be used for reference.

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