CHAPTER 1

1.1 INTRODUCTION

In Malaysia, reading is one of the most important skills in the educational setting, especially

since the incorporation of a tested literature component in the English Language Syllabus of its

secondary schools (Ganakumaran, 2003). Teachers and the students have to make a lot of

reading and practice to improve the understanding of this new literary syllabus.

Educational researchers have found that there is a strong correlation between reading

and academic success. In other words, a student who is a good reader is more likely to do well in

school and pass exams than a student who is a weak reader. Good readers can understand the

individual sentences and the organizational structure of a piece of writing. They can comprehend

ideas, follow arguments, and detect implications. They know most of the words in the text

already, but they can also determine the meaning of many of the unfamiliar words from the

context. In summary, good readers can extract from the writing what is important for the

particular task they are employed in.

However it is vital for a learner to understand and remember texts by inferring, elaborating

ideas, and to remove details that are not important in order to encourage meaningful

understanding (Garner,1988). For a learner to execute this task he/she needs to employ the

cognitive processes that require him/her to comprehend the message from a writer who is

currently distant from them. A learner also needs to critically analyze and think about the text to

construct the knowledge (Davis, 1995). Many researchers support that reading is a source of

critical thinking engagement with the text because of the potential that it has to facilitate, affect

and reconstruct knowledge to produce meaning and understanding, (see Rubin, 1991; Fielding &

Pearson, 1994).

1.2 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

There are four skills required for a student in order to master a language which are

listening, speaking, reading and writing. However, reading is one of the most important elements

in acquiring a language and for a learner to be a proficient language user, including a proficient

English user because it could enhance other skills.

Most western countries really emphasize on reading s among their citizens hence,

they conduct a lot of studies in this area. Similarly in Malaysia there are various studies that can

be found on reading habits among its citizen. The government carries out many initiatives and

campaigns that promote reading habits in its citizens and to make sure that they made aware of

the advantages of the reading habits.

Communication and Culture of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Rais Yatim, recently said that

‘Reading has become an enveloping habit for Malaysians with most reading an average of eight

to twelve books per year.’ This statement was made followed by the National Literacy Survey

201. In 1982, 1982, The National Literacy Survey carried out by The National Library reported

that Malaysians only read an average of one to two pages a year. Fortunately, the reading habits

among Malaysians improved to two books per year when the same survey was carried out in

1996. Later in 2005 when this survey is carried out it is reported that there is no significant

change in the result which means that Malaysians still read an average two books a year. Thus

this recent improvement that was shown from 2005 to 2010 really has presented that Malaysian

reading habits has improved enormousl.

Though Malaysian has improved significantly in inculcating reading habits among its

citizen, most of their learners are still having difficulties with assessing and understanding their

reading text. This is not just happening in Malaysian context as a lot of ESL students are still

having difficulties with English reading comprehension. With English regard as the second

language in Malaysia, this leads them in facing difficulties to seek the employment or better

occupation (Ahmadi and Hairul, 2012). Most of them are able to read the text but unable to

recognize the messages from authors. Ahmadi and Hairul (2012), believe that schools should

focus on reading comprehension as it is one of the vital aspects in ESL/EFL learning process.

They also reveal that one of the main concerns of learning of ESL/EFL students after completing

the elementary English courses in schools is reading comprehension. Regardless of the

importance of reading, the teaching of reading of reading strategies of this field is still highly

being neglected by educators in English language teaching especially in the field of awareness of

metacognitive reading strategies.

Flavell (1985) define metacognition as the ability of learners to regulate

comprehension by monitoring what they have understand and use strategic actions that are

appropriate for reading. Flavell also believes that the fundamental aspect of flavell’s

conceptualize of metacognition is the metacognitive knowledge. This aspect involves a person’s

knowledge, task and strategy. With metacognitive strategies, learners are able to control their

own cognition. In other words, learners make use of functions such as centering, arranging,

planning and evaluating to coordinate learning (Oxford, 1990).

Furthermore, research shows that reading comprehension is a complex process and

students usually have difficulties in constructing meaning from writing text (Grabe & Stoller,

2002). Many studies have found that a person who just started to learn English is having problem

with comprehending the text as well as to construct the meaning. Researchers have focused on

these problems for long time ago, and they have concluded that one of the ways to foster an

effective reading comprehension for readers is by metacognitive reading strategies, (Salataki &

Akyel, 2002). However, though English is regard as an importance language in our society and

reading is one of the most effective ways for leaners to grasp the language, in our education

setting, most teachers do not teach reading strategies to the students, (Norizul and Abdul Rashid,

2011).

1.3 Statement of Research Problem

In Malaysian classrooms, it is not to the English teachers’ concern to teach reading strategies.

Classroom practice does not always prepare learners to utilize skills and strategies to predict,

infer, analyze, agree, criticize, and evaluate by interacting with the reading comprehension

passage given (Norizul & Abdul Rashid, 2001). To support this statement, Durkin (1981)

observes that teachers rarely provide explicit instruction to children on how to use

comprehension strategies while reading. Most teachers use question-and-answer sessions to gain

answers, which obviously do not enhance any meaningful and critical engagement between the

text and the learners, the learners and the teacher and, the text and the teacher. This study may

augment the awareness of the teachers about the relationship of the relationship that exists

between the text, the students and the teacher. Hence teachers will pay more attention to

metacognitive reading strategies to support learners’ comprehension of reading texts.

Singhal (2001) stated the rareness of empirical investigations into reading strategies used by

successful and unsuccessful second language learners. This revealed that there were only few

studies that conducted examine learners’ metacognitive awareness of reading strategies, strategy

use, and reading proficiency. What are in abundance, however, are studies on teaching second

language learners to use a variety of language strategies in order to read better (Singhal, 2001).

In the context of Malaysian English language teaching, many studies also revolve around

the use of learning strategies and its contribution to the success of language learning (see Teoh,

2004; Mohamed Amin, 2000; Metacognitive Reading Strategies Of Good Malaysian Chinese

Learners Azian & Salbiah, 1995; Mahmud, 1995; Mohamed Amin, 1994).There are also a

considerable number of Malaysian works relating to learners’ metacognitive awareness of

reading strategies, strategy use, and reading proficiency (see Fauziah, 2003; Norsiah, 2003;

Philips, 1992). But these studies do not examine the relationship of the reading strategies and the

students’ language proficiency. identifying and understanding of good learners’ metacognitive

reading strategies is worthwhile, as the findings can identify potential approaches for dealing

with problems related to the teaching of reading and reading comprehension.

1.4 Purpose of Study

Language learners need to develop four skills: speaking, listening, reading and

writing. The skill of reading is not only important in itself, but it contributes to the other three

skills. Given the importance of reading not only in the development of language proficiency but

also in the development of a comprehensive and comprehending view of the world and of life in

this world, it is essential to seek more information regarding this area.

Therefore, this study aims to investigate the students’ metacognitive awareness of reading

strategies, the relationship of students’ metacognitive reading strategies and their reading habits

as well as the awareness of metacognitive reading strategies their language proficiency.

1.5 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

1. To find out whether the students have the awareness of metacognitive reading strategies.

2. To study the connection between students’ reading habits and metacognitive awareness

of reading strategies.

3. To investigate the relationship between the students’ awareness of metacognitive reading

strategies and language proficiencies.

1.6 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. Do students have the awareness of metacognitive reading strategies?

2. Does the students’ reading habit affect students’ awareness of metacognitive of reading

strategies?

3. How does awareness of metacognitive reading strategies impact students’ language

proficiency?

1.7 THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This study aims to provide information needed to enhance teaching pedagogy and to

improve learning conditions in Malaysian schools. This is done in order to improve the teaching

of ESL reading in Malaysia. Therefore research is needed to understand the learners' reading

problems and to evaluate their progress as they progress through ESL programs in the

educational system.

Intervention studies on the effects of strategy instruction also indicate positive results,

showing that strategy instruction can improve the comprehension performance of poor readers

(Kelly,Moore & Tuck, 1994; Nolan, 1991). By exploring into reading strategies, it is hopes

teachers will realize the great advantages of reading strategies and will further apply in their

lessons.

1.8 THE LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

There are two limitation of this study. The first limitation of this study is the data that will

be gathered by the researcher cannot be generalized to the whole population of the secondary

school students in Malaysia. The study will only be conducted in one school hence, this study

will only show the result that the can be obtained from that particular school.

The second limitation of the study is the students may not be interested in answering the

questionnaires and will take them for granted. Answering the questionnaires may be a tedious

thing to do for them; hence the data that will be gathered may have the questions that were

answered ineffectively.

Lastly the researcher is facing with time constrain while gathering the data. The researcher

only has limited time to hand out the questionnaires to form 1 until form 5 students in order not

to interrupt the teaching and learning activities in school. The questionnaires have to be

distributes in the estimated time to prevent any disturbance to the school’s teaching and learning.

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 INTRODUCTION

There are various studies across the globe concerning reading habits among

secondary school students. Hence this literature review consist of past research about the

definition of reading , the advantages of reading, the motivation behind reading, the preferences

of reading and the attitudes of teenagers/students toward reading.

2.2 The Definition of Reading

The definition of reading has undergone many changes throughout the years and still

researchers always come out with new ones from time to time. Previously, reading was being

defined as simply extracting visual information from any codes or system (Fayaz A.L 2011).

However, the definition of reading has evolved to be more complex and this involves in

understanding of a whole text composed of written signs. Smith & Robinson (1980) define

reading as ‘an active attempt on the part of reader to understand a writer’s message’. According

to Toit (2001) ‘Reading is as a process of thinking, recalling and relating concepts under the

functioning of written words’. On the other hand Devarajan (1989) believes reading as the art of

interpreting printed and written words and Irvin (1998) describes the reading as ‘The interaction

of what is in the head with what is on the page within a particular context that causes students to

comprehend what they read’ thus students can interpret the text that they read base on individual

perspectives and rational.

2.3 The Statistics of Reading Habits

Over the years reading statistics in Malaysia has improved tremendously. NST (2010)

stated that Malaysians’ reading habits have elevated from two books annually in 1995 to 12

books in 2010. Furthermore, International literacy statistic revealed that the average Malaysians

read about eight to 12 books yearly. This major improvement in reading proves that all the

government efforts to inculcate good reading habit among its citizens are working smoothly.

Such efforts that were made include campaigns and advertisements that can be seen in the media.

Though compare to powerful nations such as United Kingdom and United States, this country

reading habit statistic is still poor, it is still a big achievement as most developing countries still

face problems in inculcating reading habits among their citizens.

However in the most recent statistic about reading habits among students in Malaysia

in 2002 by Daily Express showed that Malaysian students only read two books annually. These

students only read in order to pass their examination. Hence this indicated that they do not read

for pleasure and the fun of reading. One of the main reasons for such result is due to Malaysian

examination oriented education system that pushes the students to excel in the exam by reading

the textbooks.

In Malaysia, there is scarce information regarding the statistics of reading habits on the

secondary students’ context. Most researchers tend to focus on the general Malaysians’ context

rather than concentrating on the students.

Though Malaysia is still struggling in nurturing the reading habits in its citizens and

students, these statistics have proved that we are improving and on the right track to create a

nation that adore reading as most Malaysians are now able to see the advantages of reading.

2.4 The Advantages of Reading

There are many studies that disclose the advantages of reading. One of the revelations

that the researchers have found is the students who have excellent reading habits score better in

their examinations. Base on the study that was conducted by U.S Department of Education,

voluntary readers are better readers and writers than non-readers. Students that read for pleasure

score the highest in their writing than students who don’t read. Similarly, the students and

teenagers who read for the same reason on their daily basis score higher in their reading tests

than infrequent readers.

In another international comparative study of reading literacy among children in 35

countries revealed that more often the child read for fun, the higher his/her average literacy score

(Ogle et. Al.2003) . This is because when they enjoy their reading they are actually immersing

themselves into fun learning. Fun learning will make them remember and understand better.

Royce (1995) noted that children improve their reading skills when they enjoy reading, that is,

when they read for pleasure. When the students read for fun they can strengthen their reading

skills and language fluency.

Many researchers also have proved that by voluntarily reading, students can improve

their reading comprehension, writing style, vocabulary, grammar and spelling. Cunningham and

Stanovich (1998) reported that reading volume, both inside and outside of the school, has a

significance impact on the development of reading speed and fluency, vocabulary, general

knowledge, overall verbal ability, and academic achievement. Readings works in not just

developing a skill in a student but it gives a significant impact on a student’s language

development as a whole. Moreover, by reading students also gain a lot of general knowledge that

can enrich their education.

By reading the students also can enhance their imaginations that help developing their

creativity. Reading fires the imagination of a person. It adds new sight to eyes and new wisdom

to mind, (Fayaz A.L, 2011). Imaginations are powerful tool for students to go beyond their limits

and they can use them to create new innovations or to create fictions and stories. Furthermore

using their imaginations when they read, students can go to places that they have never been

before. Books can be used in the classroom to open up new worlds to children (Roxane Tracy,

2001). For example if the students read about a country side in England and how the writers

describe the street, the people and the culture the students would feel like they are actually there

and living the life of the persona in the book.

Moreover, with reading the students also are able to widen their intellectual growth. Sir

Richard Steele has logically quoted, “reading is to the mind what exercise is to body. Reading is

some sort of method for us to exercise our brain and to make it faster. When a person read, it

obviously can improve his/her cognitive skill and improve his/her memory skill.

Multi-billionaires Bill Gates believes that reading is a powerful instrument for a person to

add on to their knowledge. As quoted by him, ‘ it is unlikely that people will become

knowledgeable without being excellent readers…. I try to make sure I get in an hour or more of

reading each weeknight and a few hours each weekend. I read at least one newspaper every day

and several magazines each week. I make it a point to read at least a newspaper weekly from

cover to cover because it broadens my interest. If I read what intrigues me, such as the science

section and a subset of the business section, then I finish the magazine the same person I was

before I started. So read it all.’

In addition, reading can mold and enrich the students’ cultural and life. United States

Department of Education (2007), had come up with a statistic that show readers are more than

three times as likely as non-readers to visit museums, attend plays or concerts, and create

artworks of their own. They are also more likely to play sports, attend sporting events, or do

outdoor activities. It also reveals that 18 to 34- year- old persons who reading rates are the lowest

for any adult group under 65, shows decline in cultural and civic participation.

2.5 Reading Strategies

Reading strategies were widely being studied and discussed in the middle of the 1970s

and researchers paid much attention to understand middle of the 1970s and paid much attention

to understand what proficient, skilled readers typically do while reading what proficient, skilled

readers typically do while reading (Sun Ling, 2011).Garner (1985) says that this kind of research

has been useful to instruct non-proficient first as well as second language learners to increase

their awareness of using reading strategies and then improve their reading comprehension

proficiency

Carrel, Gajdusek and Wise (1998) defined reading strategies as based on the writing of

several reading researchers as ‘actions that readers select and control to achieve desired gal or

objectives’. Garner (1987) on the other hand believes that reading strategies are deliberate,

planned activities used by active readers, to remedy apparent cognitive failure’. Barnett (1988)

refers reading strategies to the mental operations involved when readers purposefully approach a

text and make sense of what they read

. According to Baker and Brown (1984), reading strategies contain cognitive and

metacognitive strategies in reading. .Cognitive strategies are conscious ways in dealing with

learning, such as resourcing, deduction, grouping, note-taking, translation and elaboration.

Metacognitive strategies are used to monitor or regulate cognitive strategies, which include

checking the outcome of any attempt to solve a problem, planning one’s next move, monitoring

the effectiveness of any attempted action, revising, and evaluating one’s strategies for learning.

There are differences strategies of reading that have been identified by some of the notable

reading researchers. According to Caverly and Orlando, there are three groups of strategies

involved namely the cognitive, metacognitive and affective strategies. Cognitive strategies are

described as the “mental steps or operations that are used to process linguistic and sociolinguistic

contents” (Wenden, 1991: 19). Strategies on the other hand, involve the things that a reader does

to regulate their use of the strategies and to evaluate his reading (Richards, Platt and Platt, 1985).

Finally affective strategies are the procedures that a reader uses to make his reading environment

conducive (Teoh, 1996).

2.6 Metacognition

Generally metacognition can be referred as thinking about thinking (Wiiliam Pierce,2003).

Taylor (1999) describe metacognition as “an appreciation of what one already knows, together

with a correct apprehension of the learning task and what knowledge and skills it requires,

combined with the agility to make correct inferences about how to apply one’s strategic

knowledge to a particular situation, and to do so efficiently and reliably.”

The more students are aware of their thinking processes as they learn, the more they

can control such matters as goals, dispositions, and attention. Self-awareness promotes self-

regulation. If students are aware of how committed (or uncommitted) they are to reaching goals,

of how strong (or weak) is their disposition to persist, and of how focused (or wandering) is their

attention to a thinking or writing task, they can regulate their commitment, disposition, and

attention (Marzano et al., 1988).

Metacognition helps learners focus and engage, allowing them to activate their prior

knowledge to process text more interactively by employing appropriate strategies indicating they

understand the "when, how, what, and why" of strategic reading (Nist & Simpson, 2000, p. 647).

Learners increase their potential for successful, independently managed learning outcomes by

developing their metacognitive awareness across learning contexts (Kiewra, 2002). Research

supports the effectiveness of research-based strategy instruction as a tool for increasing

metacognitive awareness (Applegate, Quinn, & Applegate, 1994; Caverly, Nicholson, &

Radcliffe, 2004; El-Hindi, 1996; Shenkman & Cukras, 1986; Thiede & Dunlosky, 1994).

Moreover, Piaget in his Theory Cognitive Development believes that metacognitive is vital for

many areas such as, oral skills, reading, writing, attention, memory, and social interactions,(Iwai,

2011).

Despite the various theoretical perspectives, from these earliest times, a common

understanding of metacognition is that it is comprised of two major components: knowledge

about cognition and regulation of cognition. An individual’s knowledge about cognition is

referred to as metacognitive knowledge. Flavell (1979) argued that metacognitive knowledge

consists of knowledge of self, knowledge of aspects of the task, and knowledge of strategy use.

Self-regulation refers to the actions used to achieve an individual’s goals in learning and the

acquisition of expertise in a domain. It comprises both metacognitive monitoring and control.

Metacognitive monitoring refers to the assessment or evaluation of the ongoing or current state

of a particular cognitive activity, while metacognitive control refers to the regulation of ongoing

cognitive activity (Dunlosky & Metcalfe, 2009). The self-regulation component of metacognition

involves cognitive activities such as planning, checking, evaluating and testing and revising

strategies. Pressley, Forrest-Pressley, Elliott-Faust and Miller (1985) have argued metacognitive

knowledge is “potentially conscious and controllable” (p. 4).

2.7 Flavell’s Model of Cognitive Monitoring

Flavell (1979) also created a model that becomes the key on the filed study of studies of

metacognition by the researchers today. There are three groups in this model which are: (1)

metacognitive knowledge, (2) metacognitive experiences, (3) goal/task and finally strategies. He

suggested that by using these three groups, we screen our cognitive process. The first group in

Flavell’s Model of Cognitive Monitoring is the metacognitive knowledge which involves one’s

awareness or belief about aspects that affect cognitive enterprises. This knowledge is an acquired

knowledge about a cognitive process of a person and the different cognitive task, goals actions

and experiences. There are three variables in this group which are person, task and strategy. The

first variable emphasizes about the awareness of a person on how he/she learns and processes

his/her cognitive activities. Furthermore the ability of a person to assess their strengths and

weaknesses in reading also is considered as part of person variable. The second variable in

metacognitive knowledge is the task variables that consist of the nature of the task and what the

tasks’ demands. For example if a person knows the level of difficulty of a particular task, he/she

will try his best to fulfill the goal in order to execute the task. Another example is when a student

could estimate the time she needs to finish a text than others. The third variable in the

metacognitive knowledge is the strategy. This involves the strategy that a learner set to achieve

the goal. A learner may identify that by taking notes is the most effective way to summarize a

passage. These three variables are interdependent when a learner is involved in metacognitive

activities.

The metacognitive experiences, which is the second group in Flavell’s Model of Cognitive

Monitoring, is the inner responses that we have concerning metacognitive processing. Flavel

defines this as ‘“any conscious cognitive or affective experiences that accompany and pertain to

any intellectual enterprise”. For example, while talking to someone we might feel unsure about

what the other person is saying. This category also includes a person’s awareness of failure,

success, uncertainty, or satisfaction about things.

Lastly the third group of Flavell’s Model of Cognitive which is the goal which can be

defined as the objective of a cognitive task. Goals and tasks include comprehension, committing

facts to memory, or producing something, such as a written document or an answer to a math

problem, or of simply improving one's knowledge about something. Achievement of a goal

draws heavily on both metacognitive knowledge and metacognitive experience for its successful

completion (Flavell, 1979).

2.8 Cogntive and Metacognitive Reading Strategies

Metacognitive reading strategies awareness helps learners to control and monitor cognitive

strategies. The fundamental aspect of this awareness is ‘thinking about thinking’ and could also

be defined as planned, intentional, aim, directed to complete a cognitive task (Salataki and

Akyel, 2002). The differences of cognitive and metacognitive can be seen in the focus of the

strategies, the metacognitive strategies focus on several subject areas while cognitive only focus

on one particular subject area, (Ahmadi, Hairul 2013). A reader who is meta-cognitively aware

will apply strategies to identify their next move when there is facing difficulty while executing

their reading task. Metacognitive reading strategies show what learners’ thinking and can help

them to acquire extra learning and can enhance performance. These strategies can especially help

those who are having trouble with texts that they read.

Metacognitive reading strategies awareness is not just emphasis on how learners

organize their communication with the text but also how learners use the strategies and it is

linked to the effective reading comprehension, (Mokhtari and Reichard,2002). The focus of

metacognitive awareness of reading strategies is in one of the most important factor of reading

strategies for reading, which is in the subject of reading comprehension process. There

researchers stated that metacognitive knowledge is different from metacognitive awareness of

reading strategies. Metacognitive knowledge is defined as how learners regulate their cognition.

Researchers such as Veeman,Kok and Blote, (2005), believe that the knowledge of cognitive and

metacognitive skill is the interaction of an individual characteristic, context and their available

strategies with their own declarative knowledge. While other researchers stated metacognitive

knowledge and metacognitive awareness of reading strategies, (Juliebo,Malicky and Norman,

1998).

Cognitive strategies on the other hand is a form of direct interaction, to assist in

understanding, perform directly on the receive information, and influence it to improve learning.

These are the following components of cognitive strategies : identifying, re-organizing,

predicting from the context, using a dictionary, jotting down, imagery, triggering background

information, summarizing, using linguistic clues, using text markers, skipping the difficult parts

and repeating word phrases. Thus, it can be also concluded that these strategies are higher order

performance methods that refers to planning, monitoring, evaluating, and the success of learning

activities.

2.9 Different Types Metacognitive Reading Strategie

According to Brown(1987) and Baker, (1991), metacognitive knowledge and metacognitive

process are different from one another. Metacognitive knowledge is defined as what learners

know about cognition and the latter is how learners apply that knowledge to control cognition. In

his research Brown(1987) suggested that what learners know about his/her own cognition is the

definition of knowledge cognition. Usually it consists of three different types of metacognitive

reading strategies awareness: 1) Declarative knowledge, 2) Procedural knowledge, 3)Conditional

knowledge.

3.1 Declarative Knowledge

The definition of declarative is the knowing about things. This knowledge includes the

individual’s information as a learner, and the elements that can impact a person’s performance.

For example, For instance, research investigating meta-memory or knowledge about memorial

processes shows that students have knowledge about the cognitive processes associated with

memory. Moreover, Furthermore, good learners indicate to have more knowledge about their

own memory and are more likely than poor learners to use what they do know (Desoete &

Roeyers, 2003).

3.2 Procedural Knowledge

The knowledge about how to do things is the procedural knowledge. It is also being referred as

the action of executing procedural skills. Individuals will use skills more automatically, are able

to organize the strategies effectively, and use different kinds of strategies to solve problems, if

they have a high degree of procedural knowledge. A number of studies show that teachers that

help younger students can increase thati procuderal knowledge and increasr their on-line problem

solving performance, (Veenman, 2005).

3.3 Conditional Knowledge

Desoete & Roeyers, (2003) believe that to know when and why to use different cognitive action

is considered as Conditional knowledge. It may be thought of as declarative knowledge about the

relative utility of cognitive procedures. For example in an investigation a college student is able

to differentiate several information process demands of ten different types of riding situation. In

order to regulate their learning, a learner learners need to select several strategies and the most

appropriate for each situation as their effort to regulate their learning. Hence researchers agree

that skilled learners possess declarative, procedural, and conditional knowledge about cognition.

This knowledge usually improves performance. Most of the theories also agree that

metacognitive knowledge appears early in the childhood and it will continue to develop at least

throughout adolescence (Flavell, 1987).Similarly, Baker (1989) stated that good readers

indicated to have more information about their own cognition than poor students and are better

able to explain that knowledge.

On the other review Iwai (2011) summarized from other researchers on metacognitive

reading strategies that can be classified as three groups of planning (pre-reading), monitoring

(during reading), and evaluating (post-reading) strategies, and each group has a variety of

strategies that requires the readers’ metacognitive process.

According to Israel, (2007);Pressly and Afflebach, (1995), planning, monitoring and

evaluating strategies are three clusters of metacognition and are the strategies specific to reading.

In order to activate a learner’s background knowledge, a learner need to use a planning strategies

before reading. ‘Planning strategies are used before reading; activating learners’ background

knowledge to get prepared for reading is an example of planning strategies’, (Almasi, 2003;

Israel, 2007). This includes a learner to preview the title, the picture, or the subheading and by

doing this a learner will be able to have the overview of the text. Moreover, learners can also see

the general information in the text and its structure and also the reading materials to analyze

whether that the text has a certain structure such as cause and effect, question and answer,

compare and contrast and etc. In addition setting the purpose for reading can also be categorized

as a planning strategy (Paris et al., 1991; Pressley, 2002).

The strategy that takes place during reading is the monitoring strategies which comprises

of comprehension of vocabulary, self-questioning (reflecting on whether they understood what

they have read so far), summarizing, and inferring the main idea of each paragraph (Israel, 2007;

Pressley, 2002). Moreover leaners could also recognize and focus on the key words such but,

however, on the other hand, in addition, also and in conclusion. Hudson,(2007) stated that within

this strategy, the readers’ task is they need to determine while reading the text which part that

they should focus on and which part they need to ignore.

Finally, the evaluating strategy, a strategy that needs to be employed by learners after

reading. For instance, a leaner may contemplate how to apply what they have read in other

situations after they have read a certain texts. “They may identify with the author, a narrative, or

main character, and may have a better perspective of the situation in the book than they did at

first’,(Iwai,2012).

2.11 Studies on The awareness of Metacognitive Reading Strategies

Better readers use more metacognitive strategies (Paris & Myers, 1981). Metacognitive

strategies require readers to monitor their comprehension and manage the reading task. One's

ability to apply reading strategies effectively suggests heightened metacognitive awareness and

self-monitoring (Geitingger and Seibert, 2002

Baker and Brown (1984) have investigated several different aspects of the relationship

between metacognitive ability and effective reading. Two dimensions of metacognitive ability

have been recognized:

1) Knowledge of cognition or metacognitive awareness,

2) Regulation of cognition which as stated includes the reader's knowledge about his or her own

cognitive resources, and the compatibility between the reader and the reading situation.

With metacognitive strategies, learners are able to regulate their own cognition. In other

words, learners make use of functions such as centering, arranging, planning and evaluating to

coordinate learning (Oxford, 1990). These are, as indicated by Singhal (2001), strategies that

improve comprehension, which “indicate how learners conceive of a task, how they make sense

of what they read, and what they do when they don’t Metacognitive Reading Strategies Of Good

Malaysian Chinese Learners (Abdul Rashid, M., Chew, J. & Kabilan, M.K.,2006).

The differences of skilled and unskilled readers can also be determined by the use of

metacognitive knowledge about reading sand comprehension. For example, in a study conducted

by Myers and Paris (1978) found that when 6th Grade good and poor readers were compared, the

poor readers had less knowledge about different monitoring and comprehension strategies. Paris

and Jacob (1984) also found that knowledge about the purpose of reading and knowledge about

the information provided by different features of the text were related to students’

comprehension abilities. Specifically, in comparison to good comprehenders, they found that

poor comprehenders were less able to identify a meaning-related purpose for reading and were

less able explain the information embedded in text features.

In another study that investigated the reading comprehension among skilled and unskilled

readers by Burns and Griffin (1998), skilled readers are good comprehenders. The difference can

be seen with the unskilled learners in terms of ‘ their use of general world knowledge, to

comprehend the text literally as well as to draw valid inferences from texts, in their

comprehension of words, and in their use of comprehension monitoring and repair strategies’(P

62). On the other hand unskilled readers have limited knowledge of metacognitive of reading

(Paris and Winograd, 1990). These readers only do a small number of self-monitor their own

memory, comprehension as well as other cognitive tasks, (Flavell and Markmen, 1979).

According to Paris and Winograd,(1990), metacognition can enhance academic learning

and motivation of the students. These researchers believe if students are aware of their own

thinking as they read and solve problems, they can improve their own learning. The teachers

could help to employ this awareness to the students by informing to the students about the

effective problem-solving strategies and discussing cognitive and motivational characteristics of

thinking.

Paris and Winograd (1990) claimed that such “consciousness-raising” gives double

benefits to the students:

1) It transfers responsibility for monitoring and learning from the teachers to the students

themselves.

2) It promotes the positive self-perception, affect and motivation among students.

This shows that metacognition gives personal insight into a person’s personal thinking and

promote independent learning.

Rmesh (2009) explained that recognizing and monitoring cognitive processes may be one of the

most important skills that lecturers, teachers and instructors can assist EFL/ESL students’

enhancement. Metacognitive reading strategy awareness skills should be considered and taught

as a valuable use of instructional time by second/foreign language instructors. When students

reflect upon their learning strategies, they become better prepared to make conscious decisions

about what they can do to promote their learning. Therefore, metacognitive reading strategy

skills are emphasized in second/foreign language learning classrooms. Similarly, Wang et al,

(2009) argued that metacognitive reading strategies have various benefits on students' reading

comprehension and fostering their learning activities. Investigation on university EFL students

about metacognitive beliefs and strategies for learning in China indicated that metacognitive

reading strategies’ beliefs, which show learners who are confident about their ability to learn a

foreign language, and also metacognitive strategies are positively associated with learners’

learning achievement results. As a result in this section, students who have confidence in their

learning process and can utilize metacognitive reading strategies such as, planning, monitoring

and evaluating are more successful than those students that do not use this strategy in their

learning and reading program (Wang, et al, 2009).

As mentioned in the previous sections, there is a positive relationship between metacognitive

reading strategies awareness and reading comprehension. Accordingly, Flavell (1976) stated that

the theoretical framework that supports this study is metacognitive reading strategy awareness

theory (Flavell, 1976), it believes that self-monitoring and regulation is the main important factor

in reading comprehension. These strategies not only promote reading comprehension but also

motivate readers to read more and understand better the written message/messages.

Metacognitive reading strategy awareness in reading comprehension processes relates to the

knowledge that we recognize ourselves as readers, the reading assignment that we encounter, and

the reading strategies that we utilize so as to solve the tasks (Baker & Brown, 1984; Singhal,

2001). In general, metacognitive reading strategy awareness in reading is defined as the reader-

performed actions such as planning, monitoring, or evaluating the success of a particular learning

task (O’Malley & Chamot, 1994).

Metacognitive reading strategy awareness includes the awareness of whether or not

comprehension is happening, and the conscious willing of one or more strategies to monitor the

reading comprehension. Koda (2005) elaborated that several investigations (Cohen, 2003; Tang

& Moore, 1992) indicated that metacognitive reading strategy awareness has a strong correlation

with reading comprehension. In fact, proficient readers utilize various metacognitive reading

strategies while reading. In contrast, less proficient or poor readers do not use these strategies

while reading so, they cannot improve in their reading comprehension. For instance, Devine

(1983) and Shinghal (2001) investigated on second language students’ conceptualizations of

their second language reading processes through interviews. The results explored that proficient

readers emphasize on reading as a meaning-making process rather than a decoding process.

Meanwhile, the less proficient readers indicated to do the opposite.

Additionally, Barnett (1988) conducted a study of second language reading with French

language students, and the result showed that the proficient readers indicated more awareness of

their use of metacognitive reading strategies in reading comprehension than less proficient

readers. Furthermore, (Chern, 1993) also explored that there is a positive relationship between

readers’ metacognitive reading strategy awareness and their reading comprehension process in

EFL/ESL learners. Sheorey and Mokhtari (2001) explained that the correlation between learners’

reading comprehension ability and metacognitive reading strategy is vital and important for

reading procedure. And also in a study in U.S. college student groups, skilled readers indicated a

higher level of awareness and strategy use than poor-ability readers. However, recent research

comparing the effectiveness of cognitive and metacognitive reading strategy training reveals that

explicit teaching of cognitive strategies yields small, short-term developments in reading

performance, whereas training on metacognitive strategy results in more stable, long-term

comprehension gains (Cohen, 2003; Koda, 2005; Tang & Moore, 1992; Zhicheng, 1992).

O’Malley, Russo, Chamot, and Stewner-Manzanares (1998) conducted a study in the US

in order to identify different kinds of strategies used in the ESL classrooms, and to examine the

relationship between the task and the proficiency level of the ESL students. The participants of

this study were 70 high-school ESL students at the beginning and intermediate levels (ages 14 to

17). The students were from Vietnam, Puerto Rico, and Central and South America, consisting of

approximately half boys and half girls. They were interviewed regarding their English learning

experiences, particularly in reading. Spanish speaking ESL students were allowed to use their

native language, if necessary. Their teachers were also interviewed regarding their students’

learning strategies to gain a better understanding of the students’ learning experiences. From the

interviews, three categories were recognized: metacognitive, cognitive, and social affective

categories. The metacognition category included planning (e.g., advance organizers), monitoring

(including self-monitoring), and evaluating (including self-evaluation). The results of the

interviews showed that subjects in the beginning stage employed metacognitive strategies 27.4%

of the time, while participants in the intermediate stage used them 34.9% of the time.

Furthermore, the findings indicated that the metacognitive strategy, planning, was most applied

(82.3%) among both groups of ESL students, compared to other metacognitive strategies of

monitoring and evaluating (9.4% and 8.3 %, respectively).

In another study (Upton, 1997), 11 beginning and intermediate Japanese ESL college

students (ages 20 to 36) in the US were chosen based on their academic statuses (i.e., students at

the ESL institute and students enrolled in college classes) and the levels of English proficiency

evidenced by the results of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). The ESL

students had lower TOEFL scores than those enrolled in college. The participants were asked to

154 try to think aloud in Japanese when they were processing in Japanese or to think aloud in

English when they were processing in English. After the think-alouds, the subjects were

interviewed regarding the results of their tape-recorded think-aloud tasks, and asked to explain

how they were processing and why they were thinking in either English or Japanese while

reading the passage.These interviews were conducted in Japanese. In this study, Upton looked at

the role of the first and second languages in reading comprehension, and how students with

diverse levels of English proficiency used the languages differently. The analysis of the think-

aloud protocols indicated that there was a difference in using metacognitive strategies between

more and less proficient students: Global strategies (such as prediction, identifying a text

structure, integration, questioning about the text, interpretation, relating, commenting, and

monitoring) are used more often among advanced participants than among less advanced ones.

Not only did students in the more advanced group show more frequency of using these global

metacognitive strategies, but they also depended more often on English (their second language)

rather than Japanese (their first language) while processing these strategies. Learners in the lower

level of the group depended on more local strategies, (such as paraphrasing, questioning of

clause, questioning of word meaning, and word solving) rather than the global strategies.

Upton’s study suggested that ESL students with high levels of English proficiency used more

metacognitive strategies

CHAPTER 3

3.2. DESIGN

This study is designed using the quantitative research design in order to attain and

analyze the data regarding the awareness of metacognitive reading strategies of the students, the

impact of reading habits toward the students’ metacognitive awareness of reading strategies and

the relationship between the students’ metacognitive awareness of reading strategies and their

language proficiencies.

This design was selected because the data that is needed should be generalized for the

respondents. With quantitative research design, the result will be based on the larger scale that

can represent the population which is the students of S.M.K. Dato’ Ibrahim Yaacob. The

researcher also wants to obtain the data in a form of percentages and numbers. According to

Babbie, Earl R.,(, 2010), ‘Quantitative research deals in numbers, logic and the objective,

focusing on logic, numbers, and unchanging static data and detailed, convergent reasoning rather

than divergent reasoning’. With the quantitative research design the data that is gathered will be

more structured and well organized since it deals with numbers and percentage.

3.3. SAMPLE

The researcher uses the cluster sampling in order to execute this study. The samples for

this study comprise the total number of 75 students from S.M.K Dato’ Ibrahim Yaacob. From

this amount, 15 students from each form will be selected randomly to answer the questionnaires.

This is to ensure that the result that the researcher will attain can be generalized to all form of the

students. The samples are in the age of 13-17 years old and have the characteristic that the

researcher needs in order to gain the data. For example, the samples are the secondary school

students in Malaysia and have been exposed with English as one of their subjects since

kindergarten.

3.4. INSTRUMENT

The questionnaire is selected as instrument for collecting the data for this study. The

questionnaire is a combination of some questions that were taken from Canadian Leisure

Reading Study (2001) and a complete set of Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies by

Mokhtari and Reicchard (2002). These questionnaires were combined to meet the findings of the

study. Below are the examples of the items in the questionnaire.

3.4.1 The table of items.

Section 1 Demographic data

Please circle the answer.

1.3) The result of your March English Test.

Section 2 The attitude of reading among Students.

Please tick ( √) for the answer that you prefer.

2.3) Describe how much do you like to read?

a) I don’t like to read at all. ( )

b) I like to read a little. ( )

c) I like to read sometime. ( )

d) I like to read very much. ( )

2.4) How often you read for fun, even if only a few sentences at each

time?

a) Every day ( )

b) Almost every day ( )

c)At least once a week ( )

d) At least once a month ( )

e) Only few times a year ( )

d) Almost never ( )

e) Never ( )

Section 3 Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies Inventory, (Kauder

Mokhtari and Carla Reichard, (2002).

After reading each statement, circle the number (1, 2, 3, 4, or 5) that

applies to you using the scaleprovided. Please note that there are no right

or wrong answers to the statements in this inventory.

GLOB 1. I have a purpose in mind when I read.

(1 2 3 4 5)

SUP 2. I take notes while reading to help me understand what I read.

( 1 2 3 4 5)

PROB 8. I read slowly but carefully to be sure I understand what I’m

reading. (1 2 3 4 5 ).

3.5 METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION

The questionnaire is a mixed between a Canadian Leisure Reading Study (2001) and a

complete set of Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies by Mokhtari Reichard (2002).

The questionnaire consists of three sections, section 1 section 2 and section 3. Section 1 covers

the demographic data of the students as well as their March English test result which determine

the proficiency of the students.

The second section of the questionnaire also of single choice items that allows the

respondents to pick one choice only from a number of choices listed in the items (Chua,2010).

The questions of this section are taken from Canadian Leisure Reading study, (2012). The

questions are valid and reliable since it is taken from the Canadian national study that is used to

determine the leisure reading among Canadians.

The third part of the questionnaire that is taken by Mokhtari and Reichard consists of the

likert scale that students have to circle using the number 1 until 5. The validity and the realibility

of MARSI have been tested and approved by its creators Kouder Mokhtari and Reichard.

According to Kouder and Mohktari, (2002), MARSI was created based on ‘ a review of recent

research literature on metacognition and reading comprehension by some of the notable

researchers in the field of reading strategies such as Alexander and Jetton (2002), Baker and

Brown (1984 ), Garner (1987), Paris and Winograd (1990), Pressly and Afflerbach,(1995). The

questionnaires will be given to the school administrator that will help the researcher to distribute

the questionnaires to the students. Moreover, MARSI also follow the measurement criteria for

developing valid, reliable and sensitive measures, (Mokhtari and Reichard, 2002).

The questionnaires will be distributed at S.M.K Dato’ Ibrahim Yaacob. The researcher

first has to get the letter of acknowledgment from the faculty in order to inform them about the

research that will be done in the school. Then, she will meet the principal to approve th research

that will be done in the school. After she has gained the access to the school she will distribute

the questionnaires to the students by herself.

3.6 METHODS AND DATA ANALYSIS

The SPSS will be used in order to analyze all the data. After the data are gained the

researcher will key in all the data in the SPPS in order to plot the table and the pie chart. The

SPSS will automatically present the data that the researcher needs such as the percentage and the

frequency.

In order to find the relationship between the reading habits of the students and the

metacognitive awareness of reading strategies as well as the relationship of the metacognitive

awareness of reading strategies and the students’ English language proficiency the researcher

uses Regression. According to Parmjit Singh, Ghani and Teoh,(2009), Regression is a statistical

technique to explain the relationship between variables in mathematical model. It establishes the

relationship of a dependent variable, such as students achievement score, and one or more

independent variables such as attitude of the students.