The role of metacognitive instruction in SLA A response to Kendon Kurzer’s “metacognition in the common core state standards” (Vol. 2, No. 2, July 2015)

Abstract

Through a comprehensive analysis of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and related research (e.g.,
Anderson, 2002; Porter, McMaken, Hwang, & Yang, 2011), Kurzer (2015) shares insightful information with
readers that metacognition can have a facilitative role in the CCSS-focused classroom. By definition,
metacognition is “one’s knowledge concerning one’s own cognitive processes and products . . .
Metacognition refers, among other things, to active monitoring and consequent regulation and orchestration of these processes” (Flavell, 1976, p. 232). Accordingly, increased metacognition may help students become more aware of themselves as “agents” (Kurzer, 2015, p. 35), which can “ameliorate underlying problems such as alienation, fear of failure, and perceived lack of personal relevance” (McCombs, 2000, p. 379).