Metacognitive Regulation of Reading Strategies and Reading Comprehension among EFL University Students: A PLS-SEM Mediation Model

Abstrak

A Foreign language reading comprehension (FLRC) in English as a foreign language (EFL) entails complex, coordinated strategy use entails the use of complex, coordinated strategy use. Although previous studies have established associations between the use of reading strategies and reading comprehension, little research has examined their hierarchical and mediating relationships little has been done to determine the hierarchical and mediating relationships between the two. This research explores how metacognitive strategies regulate cognitive, compensatory, and memory strategies and the mediating role of cognitive strategies between metacognition and comprehension in a population of 186 EFL undergraduates of Halu Oleo University. A reading test, a validated questionnaire, and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) were used to demonstrate that the metacognitive strategies have strong impacts on other strategies but not on comprehension. Rather, cognitive strategies are a direct predictor of comprehension and the mediator of the impact of metacognition. These findings indicate the regulatory value of metacognitive strategies and contextualize reading strategies as a dependent system, which adds to a better understanding of strategic reading processes in EFL higher education.

Kata kunci

• EFL university students
• Mediation
• PLS-SEM
• Reading Comprehension
• cognitive strategies
• metacognitive regulation