Metacognitive knowledge development of low proficiency Hong Kong English as a Foreign Language university students in a process-oriented writing course: An action research study

This action research, from an ecological perspective, explores the metacognitive knowledge development of two low-proficiency Hong Kong English as a Foreign Language university students in a process-oriented writing course. Data were collected through focus group interviews, student writings, and teacher written feedback. The study has identified variations in the two students' engagement with different aspects of the process writing course as well as in their metacognitive knowledge development (e.g., motivation to write and metacognitive strategy knowledge related to planning and monitoring). The concept of affordances is used to explain these variations. The findings suggest pedagogical implications for further promoting weak student writers' metacognitive knowledge development.