An Investigation Into The Petroleum Engineering Majors' Metacognition In English Language Learning

As the research of language learning and teaching enters a new century, metacognition which is considered as an important factor in helping students become more autonomous in their learning has become one of the prominent themes. Metacognition can be briefly defined as the knowledge and regulation of one's cognitive processes. There is a rather extensive literature demonstrating the important role of metacognition in language learning process. Learning English with metacognitive approach is more effective than that without metacognitive approach. In other words, the development of metacognition implies better learning. However, the situation of the science and technology students' metacognition in English language learning is pessimistic.Based on the literature review and the pressing need, an investigation is carried out with the purpose to examine the metacognitive knowledge and strategies employed by petroleum engineering majors in their English learning. Four research questions are addressed in the study:Question 1: What is the level of petroleum engineering majors' metacognition in English learning?Question 2: Are there significant differences relating to the metacognitive variables between high-score students and low-score students?Question 3: What are the relationships between metacognitive variables and their CET-4 scores?Question 4: Which specific metacognitive variable is the most powerful predictor of CET-4 scores?The present study combines quantitative and qualitative methods with two instruments questionnaire and interview being adopted based on the research issues. A total of 586 third-year students from petroleum engineering department in Southwest Petroleum University are investigated through the Metacognitive Awareness of English Learning Inventories (MAELI). Eight subjects take part in the interview for further investigation. CET-4 scores are used to distinguish the subjects from high-score group and low-score group. The Statistics Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS 11.5) is used to run all the statistical analysis in present study which involves frequency, independent sample T-test, the Pearson correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis.The study produces significant findings in relation to the research questions:1, The results obtained have shown that the students' metacognitive knowledge and metacognitive strategy use in English learning are at a moderate level with mean scores being 3.2. Half of the students are able to make general judgments and correct comprehension and performance errors, but most of the students need to be helped to focus their monitoring and evaluation skills on their own English learning performances. Once goals have been formulated and pathways decided in language learning, it is necessary to encourage students to evaluate and monitor their own learning process.2. Significant differences lie in their metacognitive variables between high-score students (good language learners) and low-score students (poor language learners). Students with high English CET-4 scores have a better command over learning strategies than those with low English CET-4 scores.3. The correlation analysis reveals that the correlation between metacognition and English test scores are positively and significantly related to each other (r=.581) . Students' declarative knowledge, planning, information management and debugging strategies are closely related to the CET-4 scores among the metacognitive variables. The further analysis of multiple regressions indicates that declarative knowledge is the most powerful predictor of English learning performances. Therefore, if teachers and researchers attempt to strengthen the students' metacognitive awareness to improve the students' English, they should take the promotion of the declarative knowledge as the first and crucial step.The key findings provide a new orientation for understanding the learning process of the science and technology students. Although we are not able to conclude the findings to all the Chinese students, the research is especially generalizable among the similar science and technology institute. Teachers should aim to provide students with experiences that provoke deeper metacognitive reflection and with opportunities to discuss the process of learning that arise from them.