Reflections on metalinguistic and emotional awareness in the composing processes of basic first-year ESL students at the University of Puerto Rico: A longitudinal action research study

This study explores metalinguistic and emotional reflections and their meaning for basic first year ESL students taking INGL.3003–3004 under the Writing Process Approach (WPA) culture at the Faculty of General Studies, University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus. The researcher-professor carried out a qualitative longitudinal action research with five students (out of the 24) who experienced the phenomena under the WPA culture and participated in the exploratory study of 2002–2003. The exploratory study served as basis for this longitudinal action research phenomenologically oriented study.;Students belong to the Special Academic Services Program (PSAE), a federally funded program that offers support services to first generation university students. The five participants were asked to write a discovery narrative and participate in a reflexive group conversation in order to describe their metalinguistic and emotional processes five months after their first year experience with basic English. Responses were triangulated using a narrative-descriptive approach. The reflexive group discussion was held to obtain more in-depth information on the students' metalinguistic and emotional awareness.;Metalinguistic understanding of their strengths and weaknesses as writers gave them confidence and control of their second language (L2) learning process. Knowledge of their accomplishments in L2 was transferred to their L1. Students also developed cognitive and self-regulated strategies through metalinguistic consciousness under the WPA culture. The importance of the metalinguistic awareness from the student's point of view includes emotional, academic and personal aspects.;Emotional awareness interacted reciprocally with metalinguistic awareness. As students recognized the value of writing as a cognitive function under the WPA culture, their emotions changed from fear and anxiety to confidence and security over a period of fifteen months. The importance of the emotional awareness from the students' points of view includes transformations at the individual and social levels.;Methodologically, the reflexive group discussion served as a context for additional reflections and transformations on the students' metalinguistic and emotional processes. This awareness was fundamental to the group of basic ESL students as it helped them take control of their L2 writing and empowered their learning process. Discovery narratives and the reflexive group conversation revealed insight both for students and professor into the metalinguistic, emotional and cognitive consciousness under the WPA culture as depicted in my theoretical working model. This knowledge in turn influenced our learning environment and personal lives as ESL apprentices.