Metacognition in Teaching of English Language Teachers in Bhutanese Secondary School

Abstract

Regarded as �thinking about thinking�, metacognition (MC) entails having the knowledge of one�s thought processes and the ability to regulate them. Despite the plethora of studies advocating for the use of metacognitive interventions in everyday language instructions, there remains a distinct gap in understanding language teachers' metacognition, or teacher metacognition (TMC), in general, especially concerning their knowledge about MC and how they integrate MC into their day-to-day language teaching--teaching with metacognition.The consensus considering the existing studies suggests that effective language teachers possess not only a deep understanding of linguistic concepts but also apply metacognitive strategies to facilitate students� learning and linguistic development. Therefore, a thorough analysis of language teachers� thinking processes is warranted to gain deeper insight into the role of MC in teaching and learning L2. With this consensus, the current study aims to examine three aspects of English TMC within the Bhutanese teaching and learning context: Bhutanese English language teachers� metacognitive awareness, the relationship between the facets of TMC, and the metacognitive attributes of teachers� actions during planning, monitoring, evaluating and debugging their lessons.This study employed a mixed-methods approach. Two distinct phases of data collection were executed. In the first phase, the Teacher�s Metacognitive Awareness Scale (T-MAS), a self-report questionnaire, was administered to 42 English language teachers, selected through a convenience sampling, across ten schools (both public and private schools) in Thimphu, Bhutan, aimed at eliciting quantitative insights.Subsequently, the second phase of a single classroom observation paired with two semi- structured interviews was conducted with a purposively selected group of 10 teachers to extract qualitative data. This cohort of 10 teachers was chosen from the initial 42 based on their T-MAS scores. The quantitative data collected through T-MAS was subjected to both descriptive and inferential analysis to check teachers� metacognitive awareness and the relationship between the facets of TMC simultaneously. The qualitative data were categorized into themes.The results revealed a high overall mean score from the descriptive analysis indicating a notably heightened metacognitive awareness among the participating teachers (M=5.10). Likewise, inferential statistical examination underscored statistically significant positive correlations between different facets of TMC. However, it is noteworthy that these correlations vary in strength, ranging from medium to strong. A positive correlation among the facets of TMC illustrates the continuous interplay within the construct of TMC. The qualitative findings, on the other hand, revealed two overarching themes. Firstly, despite the high metacognitive awareness, only one participant possessed a complete understanding of what MC entailed, while the rest of the teachers were either unfamiliar with the term or had a superficial understanding of it. Secondly, the qualitative data showed a blending of metacognitive and non-metacognitive attributes in the thought processes and actions of the teachers. This indicates that TMC is a form of �situated adaptivity,� influenced by a myriad of factors ranging from teachers� repository of knowledge to the external and internal variabilities of a teaching environment, which constantly shape their instructional strategies. These findings underscore that the participants possess implicit MC, which can be made explicit through professional development initiatives aimed at improving the metacognitive knowledge and competencies of Bhutanese English language teachers.

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