Metalinguistic Awareness in EFL Classrooms

Abstract

This research synthesis analyzes the benefits and drawbacks of developing metalinguistic awareness concerning reading skills, speaking skills, and vocabulary acquisition in teaching English as a foreign language (EFL). This exploratory research examined 20 empirical studies conducted in EFL environments and published within the last 15 years. The results revealed the complex impact of the development of metalinguistic awareness on the acquisition of EFL language skills, with the nature of this impact being subject to various factors such as the teaching method employed and the age of the students. It was evidenced that explicit instruction and metalinguistic explanation techniques were the most efficacious methods for instructing students on the various aspects of metalinguistic awareness and its effective utilization for language learning/teaching processes. Along the same line, the development of metalinguistic awareness prompted learners to apply lexical decoding to enhance their reading skills, to utilize phonological knowledge to encourage oral production in English, and to associate lexical units to expand their vocabulary.