Metacognitive reading straetgies of middle school Spanish-as-a-foreign-language learners

An interest in foreign language reading has propelled the need for understanding how students make meaning of text in a second language (Patrikis, 2003). Metacognitive reading use strategy is a venue through which second language comprehension can be planned, monitored, and evaluated. In the review of literature, it is suggested that methods for collecting data on metacognitive reading strategies encompass participants’ own words or structured response. The literature also suggests that findings of strategy use are related to categories of strategy use, L1 reading comprehension strategies can transfer to L2 reading comprehension, and L1 and L2 strategy training use is linked to achievement. This study used a variety of data sources: an open-ended self-report, the MARSI questionnaire, a self-report of comprehension monitoring, and interviews. Data from these measures were examined for commonalities and recurring themes to create a picture of the metacognitive reading strategies used by foreign language students in L1 and L2.