“Knowing About Knowing – Use of Metacognitive Strategies in LanguageClassrooms”

Abstract

In Tamilnadu, there are more than 550 engineering colleges. The government provides MBC / SC / ST quotas, first graduate scholarships, beedi employees scholarships, etc. which act as excellent avenues for the rural students to study engineering. Along with the students from urban or advantaged positions in the society, rural students with disadvantaged backgrounds also get opportunities to learn engineering and technology. Recently, the government cancels the entrance exam and reduces the cut-off marks to increase the in-take in engineering colleges. This causes crisis in the language classrooms as the teachers have to teach mixedability students in engineering colleges. Some students are proficient in English while many are below the beginner level. Hours allotted for language education is very less. Students are least bothered about learning the language. They concentrate only upon getting pass marks in the exams. This study is conducted to find out whether metacognitive strategies can be taught in language classrooms to make engineering students know about knowing and help them become effective language learners.