THE CONTRIBUTION OF MOTIVATION AND PROFICIENCY TO META-COGNITIVE STRATEGY USE IN L2 READING COMPREHENSION

The present study was designed to investigate the relationship between meta-cognitive strategy use and motivation in an Iranian English learners as a foreign language context. To this end, a total of 70 college students studying English as a foreign language at the English language department of Islamic Azad University, in Malekan,Iran, aged 19-25, included 30 males and 40 females, took part in the study. Data were collected through using three instruments: Preliminary English Test (PET), reading comprehension pre-test and post-test, and Motivational Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ). The obtained data were submitted to paired-sample t-test analysis and the results confirmed that there is statistically significant difference between the performances of the participants in high vs. less proficient group in terms of using meta-cognitive strategies in their reading classes. The high proficient group outperformed low proficient learners. As well, the findings of the study demonstrated that there is significant relationship between the use of meta-cognitive strategies and motivation of the learners.