| Metacognition provides insights into the internal information processing of an individual. Studies around metacognition and reading have demonstrated that metacognitive thinking during reading reveals an individual's knowledge of the reading process. In examining adult literacy students, metacognitive descriptions can provide insight into limitations and errors in the learner's understanding of the steps to reading comprehension. Using a phenomenological approach, the researcher interviewed thirty native English speaking low-literacy adult learners to uncover the metacognitive processes of their thinking during reading. This revealed gaps indicative of the learners' limited performance: specifically, there is a lack of focus that the intent of reading is to garner meaning from the text. The researcher also examined the metacognitive understanding of the same learners during tasks in which they perceive themselves to have a specific strength or expertise to determine if any of the problem-solving strategies present in these tasks could be leveraged in assisting the reading process. While there were parallel processes, there is limited direct applicability for use in the developmental process of learning to read. |
