Metacognitive Knowledge of Tertiary-Level EFL Reading: Case Studies in an Acquisition-Poor Context

This paper describes how a group of Chinese tertiary-level EFL readers utilized metacognitive knowledge in their academic reading process by contrasting the possible metacognitive differences between two less successful and two successful Chinese EFL readers. Data were collected through think-alouds, interviews and observations. It was found that although vocabulary posed difficulties for both successful and less successful readers, the deployment of strategic knowledge of tackling the unknown words made a difference between successful and less successful readers. The participants' person knowledge about motivation such as reader interest, goal of reading and reader role could exert influences on their reading. Implications of the findings for tertiary EFL reading pedagogy in China are discussed.