The Role of Metacognition and Critical Thinking for Engineering Students in EFL Learning

Abstract

As students of technical universities are increasingly integrating into a unified educational space, they are faced with the need to assimilate and process foreign-language information in solving cognitive and professional items. This study aims at identification of the relationship between metacognitive skills, critical thinking and the success of mastering the foreign language. For this, a pilot study with students of Kazan National Research Technological University (Russia) and students of the University of Isfahan (Iran) in the total amount of n = 376, was conducted. To assess metacognition, the Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI) by G.Schraw and R.S.Dennison in the adaptation of A.V.Karpov and I.M.Skityaeva was used. To evaluate critical thinking, a questionnaire was developed based on Holistic Critical Thinking Scoring Rubric (HCTSR) indicators by Peter A.Facione and Noreen C. Facione. As a criterion for the success of training, we used students’ grades in English (L2) over the previous semester. In addition to this criterion, the students gave a self-assessment of their level of English proficiency. The obtained results reveal that the success of learning English has statistically significant relationships with the level of critical thinking and the level of some indicators of the metacognitive awareness. Consequently, the development of critical thinking, as well as the reflection of one’s own cognitive abilities, will contribute to improving English academic performance. The pilot study showed also that the success of mastering a foreign language is impossible without considering the context of the situation in which the student is. Environmental conditions, in particular the relevant activities where knowledge of a foreign language is necessary, can encourage a student to master a foreign language and develop critical thinking and metacognitive skills.