Metacognitive Skills Essay

Metacognitve skills are essential to the acquisition of a second language. In this lesson, we will explain how metacognition is used to enhance learning in the classroom.

!!!Metacognition

You walk into a room. The writing is foreign to you and you don 't understand most of what is being said. Your heart starts to beat faster. Luckily, just before panic sets in and you bolt from the room, __metacognition__ comes to the rescue!

Metacognition is a type of reasoning. It helps us evaluate our thinking and use of strategies when we need help understanding. These skills are useful when confronted with a foreign language. The phrase 'It 's all Greek to me ' came about for a reason - foreign languages can be hard to learn! That is why the development

What do they need to do when they don 't understand? How do they choose what strategies to use? What works and what does not work? Metacognitive skills allow learners to __plan__, __control__, and __evaluate__ the process.

!!!Plan

A plan tells you what you need to accomplish to make a complicated situation more manageable. Planning for the learning process is an important metacognitive skill. When a student understands why they are learning certain information, they are more engaged. This makes the learning process easier because students are thinking about what they are trying to accomplish. Knowing what needs to be accomplished can also help students determine how they will achieve their goals.

A teacher can help students plan for success by stating clear learning objectives. In other words, they should inform the students what they should learn from a lesson before it is taught. The goal should be specific and easy to understand. Goals make it easier for students to gauge how well they are accomplishing a

This metacoginive skill involves the use of learning strategies. Students will learn better if they are able to select the correct learning strategies for particular tasks, monitor the use of these strategies, and use more than one learning strategy at a time. Strategies allow the learner make decisions about how they will successfully complete the task they are presented with.

The teacher should teach students a variety of learning strategies and when to use them. It is important to explain how to choose which strategy has the best chance for success based on the situation. Help students create a checklist of strategies to ensure they are using all of the tools they have available, and remind them to use it. Encourage students to try a second or third learning strategy if the first one doesn 't work. Providing initial support will allow students to quickly begin using these strategies appropriately without