Metacognitive strategies
What are metacognitive strategies and how can I use them? Metacognition is the process of thinking about how you think. Adults often do this
automatically. Before taking on something new, we may ask ourselves: • What do I already know about this? • What will help me understand it better? • How is it structured?
As we engage with a text or action, we may ask ourselves: • Did I understand that? • Why do I think that? • How does this connect with what I already know? • How could I apply this in my life?
Then we evaluate what we have learnt or done by asking questions like: • Did I understand that well? • Which strategies helped and which strategies did not help? • What should I do the next time I take on a task like this?
Learners, however, are often unaware of how they think and engage with learning material. You help learners to learn independently by explicitly guiding them to plan, monitor, and evaluate their reading and learning strategies. This is particularly effective for those learning in English as a second language and for learners who are struggling. It can dramatically improve their performance. You teach metacognitive skills by asking learners to explain what they are thinking and
which strategies they are using to understand material. This is best done in small groups. You can also use ‘think aloud’ strategies when engaging with texts and images. ‘Think aloud’ activities are often effective when reading texts to learners, and during small-group and pair reading exercises.
When reading text
• Read the text title and the table of contents. • Look at the images and predict what the text may be about. • Skim-read the text looking for headings, words in bold, and summaries. As you skim
read, stop to ask yourself whether you understood the content. If the text has a long or complex sentence, describe how you divided it up to understand it.
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