A Preliminary Design of a Metacognitive Awareness Inventory for Japanese Learners of English

Abstract

This study aims to develop a preliminary version of a theory-based questionnaire measuring metacognitive abilities of Japanese learners of English. 435 Japanese undergraduate students responded to 52 question items which were originally from Schraw and Dennison’s (1994) Metacognitive Awareness Inventory. The analytic procedures included the followings to ensure better construct validity: (a) an exploratory factor analysis extracted 10 factors with 35 items, (b) some of the items and factors were sorted out based on a conceptual theory and pedagogical perspectives of metacognition, and (c) each internal consistency of the last remaining categories was investigated calculating Cronbach’s alpha. A six-category new scale, as a result, has been developed with 28 question items. In addition to the analytic procedures above, due to the six categories related to significant aspects of English learning, this scale is believed to be valid as a measure for metacognitive abilities of Japanese learners of English. The last part of the paper describes some pedagogical implications for effective use of the scale.