Metacognitive trends in writing of UBU English Majors

This research was undertaken to track and observe the metacognitive trends for writing of English and communication majors in the Faculty of Liberal Arts at Ubon Ratchathani University as they progress through the 4 year English program. Using the positive correlation between improved metacognition and writing ability, it was also possible to track increases in writing ability and identify when changes took place.
This study found that as the students progressed through the English program, their metacognitive ability improved in all areas. These improvements were not always statically significant between years and the rate at which different areas changed varied, but these was universal improvement in all areas over the course of the study. Task knowledge was the area that the students showed the greatest aptitude for and this indicates a good knowledge of the goals of writing. Strategy knowledge was the area where the students performed the worst, indicating a lack of knowledge of the strategies that can be used to overcome difficulties when writing. It was also found that over the course of the study the students shifted away from a focus on ‘grammar’ in the first year and focused more on ‘content’ by the fourth year indicating that they are maturing as writers.