A Comparative Study of Metacognitive Strategies in One-way vs. Two-way Speaking Tasks among Iranian EFL Learners

This study was an attempt to investigate the effect of metacognitive strategies (MS) on speakingability of the learners and also what MS are specifically employed by learners when it comes todifferent task types. To this end, running a quasi-experimental study, 60 students at advancedlevel (female) from Shenia Language Institute in Sanandaj were randomly selected and given anOxford Placement Test (OPT) as a test of homogeneity. Then they assigned to experimental(n=30) and control (n=30) groups. The MS questionnaire was also administered to see what MSthey employed in speaking tasks. The control group was traditionally taught to practice speakingtasks in a conventional way. The experimental group, however, practiced one-way and two-wayspeaking tasks after receiving MS instruction. After administering the posttest, an ANCOVAcomparison of the mean ratings of the two groups on the posttest test revealed a significantdifference between the speaking ability and MS use of the two groups. The results indicated thatthe experimental group outperformed the control group leading to the conclusion that instructionin MS use prior to oral tasks had a significantly higher impact on EFL leaners’ speaking ability.Statistically, the results obtained from descriptive statistics and the chi-square revealed that thedifference between MS employed by participants in one-way speaking tasks versus two-wayspeaking tasks were significant.