AWARE BUT UNGUIDED: METACOGNITIVE STRATEGIES AND THE AWARENESS-APPLICATION GAP IN EFL LITERARY READING

Abstrak

Literary texts demand inference, interpretation, and cultural knowledge, yet little is known about how EFL undergraduates regulate their reading. This study examined the metacognitive strategies (planning, monitoring, and evaluating) that Indonesian EFL undergraduates use when reading English literary texts, their perceptions of these strategies, and the barriers that limit their use. Guided by Flavell’s metacognitive theory, Rosenblatt’s transactional theory, and Zimmerman’s self-regulated learning model, the study employed a case study with a sequential explanatory mixed-methods orientation. Twenty students in an English literature course, selected through purposive sampling, completed a five-point Likert questionnaire with open-ended prompts, and six of them were interviewed. The researchers analyzed questionnaire data using descriptive statistics and open-ended and interview data using Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis. Students reported frequent planning, monitoring, and evaluating; rereading to repair comprehension was most common (85% agreement), and predicting was least common (55%). They viewed the strategies as empowering and as supporting symbolic and critical interpretation. However, cognitive overload from dense language and the absence of explicit instruction made application inconsistent, and some students relied on online summaries. The study's novelty lies in identifying an awareness–application gap in literary reading, showing that strategy awareness alone is insufficient. The findings imply that EFL literature courses need scaffolded, literature-specific strategy instruction, especially for planning and prediction.

Kata kunci

• EFL
• Literary Reading
• Metacognitive Strategies
• Self-Regulated Learning
• Strategy Instruction