Abstract
This study reports a literature review of reading comprehension research and discusses researchers’ interpretations of the term ‘Metalinguistic Awareness’ (M-AW). In an attempt to propose a rigorous definition of M-AW for future research, M-AW was examined in terms of ‘level’ of awareness and agreement of ‘scope’ (target of awareness). Based on previous research, the present study proposes two predictions: (1) The current definition of M-AW does not refer to the level or degree of awareness; thus, interpretations have varied among researchers; and (2) Expanding aspects of M-AW and/or the scope (target of awareness) results in differences in interpretation. The research questions of this study were as follows: (a) What level of awareness do the researchers intend?; (b) What scopes do the researchers intend?; and (c) What is a rigorous definition of M-AW in the study of reading comprehension? This study concludes with the following suggestions: The rigorous definition of M-AW is the ability to reflect on and manipulate the structural features of language, which requires an ‘Understanding’ level of awareness. Furthermore, aspects of M-AW should be restricted to morphological awareness, syntactic awareness, and orthographic awareness.
https://ror.org/03jqhsn85 
