Abstract

• The primary purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of metacognitive awareness on English reading comprehension ability of high school students. The explanatory sequential mixed methods design was used in this study. As the quantitative study, data were gathered from a total of 1241 Grade 10 students across Myanmar. The Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI) developed by Schraw and Dennison (1994) and the English Reading Comprehension Ability Test (ERCAT) developed with the IRT calibration by the researcher were used as the research instruments. The results and findings of quantitative study pointed out the significant contribution of metacognitive awareness on the prediction of English reading comprehension ability. As the follow-up qualitative study, an appropriate metacognitive intervention program for the improvement of English reading comprehension ability was developed and conducted with a heterogeneous group of 30 high school students. The results pointed out that if the students became more metacognitively aware their reading process, they could plan, monitor and control their reading tasks better and consequently, their English reading comprehension ability have become improved after the intervention. This study highlighted the functioning of metacognitive awareness in improving cognitive processes including reading comprehension and thus, it can hopefully help educators and students in Myanmar by providing the innovative and effective ways of teaching and learning English as a foreign language to some extent.