EFL Learners’ Written Lexical Retrieval Ability as Predicted by Cognitive and Metacognitive Strategies of Self-regulation

This study examined whether metacognitive and cognitive strategies of self-regulation capability in English as a foreign language (EFL) learners can predict their written lexical retrieval ability in English. The participants were 93 intermediate Iranian EFL learners. Pintrich’s self-regulated learning (SRL) model was adopted as a basis in this research. There are cognitive, metacognitive, affective, motivational, social, and environmental factors at play in this model. The data were collected through Written Productive Translation Task (WPTT) and Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ); however, only its learning (metacognitive and cognitive) strategy use scale was analyzed. The results of multiple regression analyses showed that both metacognitive and cognitive strategies of self-regulation could significantly predict the participants’ ability to retrieve English written words, but the role of metacognitive strategies was larger. This can guide EFL teachers on how to promote lexical learning, retention and retrieval ability of their students through explicitly teaching them cognitive and particularly metacognitive strategies.