Keywords

1 Introduction

Globalization, together with all its instruments and international higher education systems, means that countries are closely intertwined. Even if this close relationship opens up opportunities to universities, it poses some challenges and threats to nearly all aspects of tertiary education systems (Altbach, 2004). Given such complexities, it would be useful to take the interface between macro- and micro-level language policies into consideration. While a certain governing body such as authorities or policymakers that arrange language policies refer to macro-level aspects, parties inside an educational ecosystem like instructors, school members and administrators form micro-level language policy actors (Johnson, 2013). Providing the impetus for global tertiary education systems, EMI stands out as an extensive research area from macro to micro levels (Dearden, 2015). The field of second language acquisition, offering many insights into EMI research, signifies the collaboration between subject teachers and language teachers. However, this collaboration is not always easily constructed since there are several gaps among stakeholders, particularly in terms of micro levels (Macaro, 2019). Therefore, it is essential to conduct research as to how and to what extent EMI learners learn or progress in an EMI context (Coşgun & Hasırcı, 2017). However, several studies conducted in the Turkish context (e.g. Arkın, 2013; Başıbek et al., 2014; Ekoç, 2020; Karakaş, 2014, 2016, 2017; Kılıçkaya, 2006; Kırkgöz, 2014, 2018; Somer, 2001; Ölçü & Eröz-Tuğa, 2013) opted to focus on the attitudes of lecturers and students towards EMI programs at tertiary level in Turkey. Unlike those studies, instead of giving more attention to research of attitudes and perceptions, some researchers, again in the Turkish context (e.g. Macaro & Akıncıoğlu, 2018; Macaro et al., 2016), have conducted large-scale studies including more variables such as gender, year of study, student academic achievement and the type of university. Similarly, investigating the micro aspects of EMI rather than examining only the views of stakeholders might yield more comprehensive and pedagogical implications (Dafouz & Camacho-Miñano, 2016).

Considering the overwhelming number of learners in higher education institutions who are non-native speakers of English, metacognitive reading strategy instruction can play a crucial role in compensating for the drawbacks stemming from the nature of EMI programs. Investigating less-researched areas like metacognitive strategies in EMI contexts can help EMI students learn to learn and become more active readers. In fact, very few studies have touched upon micro issues in EMI classes. Given that limited studies have been carried out on academic L2 reading in the EMI context, it is crucial to draw implications for EMI language teachers, EMI policy makers, course book writers and, in particular, EMI teachers at faculties.

As this short summary of the relevant literature indicates, it is necessary to design studies that focus on areas such as the four skills, teacher-student interaction, course materials and assessment tools in order to address the gaps in EMI classrooms. Given that the internalization of academic programs has naturally necessitated the use of course materials and packages in the English language, L2 academic reading offers varied research areas such as types of academic reading strategies, EMI reading course materials, and metacognitive awareness (Jiang et al., 2019; Li & Munby, 1996; Li & Ruan, 2015; Malmström et al., 2017; Nergis, 2013; Ping, 2007).

This study aims to investigate what metacognitive reading strategies EMI students generally use in an engineering class at a technical university and what the students think about these strategies. This study addressed the following research questions:

  1. 1.

    What metacognitive reading strategies do the participants use?

  2. 2.

    What are the participants’ opinions toward metacognitive reading strategies in an EMI context?

2 Previous Studies

In recent years, the popularity of EMI programs in Turkey and the global context has increased. As for the Turkish context, there are numerous studies that sought answers to different stakeholders’ such as lecturers and students’ attitudes and views on EMI programs (Başıbek et al. 2014; Ekoç 2020; Kılıçkaya, 2006; Kırkgöz, 2009, 2013, 2014; Karakaş, 2014, 2016, 2017; Ölçü & Eröz, 2013; Somer, 2001). The trend of researching attitudes and opinions of EMI stakeholders in a global context shows similarities with the Turkish one (Byun et al., 2011; Doiz et al., 2011; Floris, 2014; Hu & Lei, 2014). Focusing on the commonalities of these studies, we can argue that the majority of stakeholders expressed serious concerns, particularly regarding the acquisition of content knowledge rather than the instruction of language. Although these studies seemed to address the general viewpoint towards EMI programs, they held back from touching upon specific points, such as academic reading, metacognitive strategies and EMI course materials. Even if such studies provide an overall picture of these programs, it is necessary to shed light on other, more important aspects within EMI contexts.

Academic L2 reading has been regarded as one of the main components of any program at higher education institutions as reading still appears to be the most crucial means of gathering information. Considering the demands of EMI programs, academic reading can often be burdensome when learners are trying to acquire subject knowledge. This means that EMI students have to cope with a great number of academic texts and need to be equipped with certain metacognitive strategies. Undoubtedly, the type of strategies that learners use or avoid has attracted researchers for a long time. Two prominent researchers, Rubin (1975) and Stern (1975), aimed to identify the strategies of successful learners long time ago. Their studies encouraged others to also reveal the characteristics of unsuccessful learners (e.g. Hosenfeld, 1976, 1977). For instance, Li and Munby (1996) investigated the preferences of metacognitive strategies in academic L2 reading. Using an in-depth qualitative research design, this study revealed that university students consciously utilized different metacognitive strategies such as translating, using background knowledge and underlining topic sentences in order to make their L2 academic reading journey more comprehensible and meaningful. In another study, investigating academic reading, Nergis (2013) compared the effectiveness of three components: the depth of vocabulary knowledge, metacognitive strategies, and syntactic awareness. Forty-five students from an English language teaching program in an EMI university in Turkey contributed to the research. In this particular study, the researcher found that while the depth of vocabulary knowledge did not have a strong impact on the success of better academic reading comprehension, syntactic awareness and metacognitive strategies proved to be effective and powerful. In addition, Razı (2008) conducted an extensive study investigating the effect of different foreign language backgrounds on metacognitive reading strategies. In this study, the participants (n = 205) favored ‘determining meaning of critical words’, ‘drawing on knowledge’ and ‘re-reading for better comprehension’ as the most frequently-used metacognitive reading strategies.

Given the volume of English texts published for university students, Iwai (2011) emphasizes the necessity of saving EFL and ESL learners from being passive readers with the aid of explicit metacognitive reading strategy instruction. While teaching these strategies explicitly, instructors are advised to vary their techniques by using methods such as modeling, illustrations, coloring and clustering ideas. Thanks to these techniques and approaches, creating independent readers who can easily adapt themselves to metacognitive reading strategies will be a big step forward in any program. In another study conducted by Karbalaei (2010), the researcher explored the implementation of metacognitive strategies in similar contexts (96 Iranians and 93 Indians); the results showed that EFL and ESL students paid a certain level of attention towards strategies. While EFL learners relied on problem-solving strategies such as utilizing reference sources and trying to focus on reading, ESL learners opted to use strategies aimed at better understanding the text, like resolving conflicting information and underlining information. Stressing the importance of creating ‘active readers’, this study recommends the inclusion of metacognitive reading strategies in the curriculum of universities in order to boost the academic success of learners.

In a case study, Nash-Ditzel (2010) also signifies the possibility of college success thanks to metacognitive reading strategies. However, the researcher warns that this success will not be beneficial unless the instructors give feedback and provide ongoing assessment and modeling. Similar to the findings of previous studies, Aghaie and Zhang (2012) explored the relationship between explicit metacognitive reading strategy instruction and the success of self-regulated learners at university level. Since internalization of these metacognitive strategies does not occur either easily or in a short period, it is important that instructors are aware of a repertoire of different metacognitive reading strategies (Lawrence, 2007; Singhal, 2001). In addition to this, systematic and ongoing instruction of metacognitive strategies is a must in order to enhance self-learning (Çubukcu, 2008; Pintrich, 2002). To summarize, the degree of success in adopting these strategies depends on teachers’ consistency and readiness.

Given the complexity of metacognitive strategies, professional development support seems to be useful and necessary for the implementation of a proper educational program. Without providing adequate professional support and lesson tools regarding metacognitive strategies, it would not be fair to expect EMI subject teachers to use and model metacognitive reading strategies in their classrooms. Although the research area of professional development for EMI teachers is in its infancy, there are some studies that promote the establishment of professional support for EMI programs. For instance, Macaro et al. (2016) revealed that an active and effective cooperation channel between preparatory program teachers and EMI subject teachers would yield fruitful results in terms of subject knowledge acquisition as well as novel approaches for collaborative professional development activities. Using a bottom-up approach, Farrell (2020) signified the importance of reflective practice and supported the view that ongoing professional development with experience and reflection can boost the performance of EMI teachers. Similarly, researching the relationship between professional development (PD) and EMI certification, Macaro and Han (2020) revealed that EMI teachers in China found certification and PD activities necessary and useful. However, according to the implications of this study, the challenges resulting from the complex nature of EMI program requirements and the lack of macro policies in Chinese higher education need to be solved in order to establish EMI certification and a PD system in the Chinese context. Macaro et al. (2020) also carried out a study investigating the attitudes of EMI teachers from varying countries (n = 463) towards PD and certification in EMI contexts. The study revealed that most EMI teachers are trying to cope with the program without receiving any PD support and those teachers reported that they are keen on certification and PD activities. Although EMI programs have received more attention than any other academic programs, the availability of PD activities and certification is less than the expected level.

Another crucial point in academic knowledge development is called disciplinary literacy that promotes dynamic and active reading-writing approaches while building content knowledge rather than simply reading and writing activities (Airey, 2011). Given the increasing number of EMI programs in Swedish higher education context, there have been attempts to seek solutions to the problems that students face while acquiring disciplinary knowledge. For instance, Airey and Linder (2006) conducted a qualitative study in order to explore the instructors’ lecturing in English and Swedish and the learning experience of undergraduate physics students in those languages. The results of this study have pedagogical implications for instructors such as allowing students to ask and answer questions before lessons, using visual aids for clarification and assigning them pre-reading tasks and providing lecture notes. In another study, collecting data from the undergraduate biology students from both a major university in Sweden and in Britain, Shaw and McMillion (2008) investigated the differences of reading skills between advanced L2 learners and equivalent native speaker of English university students. This study showed that when advanced L2 users were given adequate time, they were as successful as the British participants in coping with EMI Biology reading materials and course books. More specifically, disciplinary literacy research illustrates the necessity of utilizing novel approaches so that EMI students can interact with subject matter texts and materials effectively.

3 Methodology

In this study, a mixed-method research design was utilized in order to gain a broader perspective on metacognitive strategy use. As to showing the importance of using both qualitative and quantitative data, Dörnyei (2007) states that “mixed methods research has a unique potential to produce evidence for the validity of research outcomes through the convergence and corroboration of the findings” (p. 45). Given the type of mixed-method research design, convergent parallel design was utilized. The quantitative and qualitative data were collected independently and separately. However, the findings retrieved from both data set were discussed and evaluated collaboratively (Creswell, 2011).

3.1 Setting and Participants

This study was conducted at a technical state university in Turkey where EMI is implemented in most of the engineering departments. A total of 41 university students (nmale = 32, nfemale = 9) from the mechanical engineering department contributed to the study. The participants were all young adults (average age 21) and were selected according to convenience sampling. All participants were native speakers of Turkish. As regards their proficiency level in English, the participants had to complete an English preparatory program successfully (at least B2 level) before they started their EMI program. Taking into account research ethics, all the participants were informed about the study and it was clearly explained to them that participation would not affect their grades. They all agreed to take part in the study and signed the consent form.

3.2 Data Collection Instruments and Procedure

The quantitative data for this study were collected using the Metacognitive Reading Strategies Questionnaire (MRSQ) prepared by Taraban et al. (2004). This scale consists of two main sections: analytic strategies 16 statements) and pragmatic strategies (6 statements). The qualitative data were collected via a focus group interview session.

The data collection procedure was divided into two stages. In the first stage, the participants were asked to rate strategy use under five sections based on a Likert-type scale with anchors arranged from never to always (1: never, 2: rarely, 3: sometimes, 4: often, 5: always). In the second stage, a focus group interview session was conducted with six volunteer participants.

3.3 Data Analysis

The data obtained from the MRSQ questionnaire were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS 25) employing descriptive statistics. The mean scores were calculated, and the findings were listed in a descending order on the tables below. To analyze the responses from the focus group interview, thematic content analysis based on common and recurring themes was utilized. NVivo 12 Pro and Amazon AWS Transcribe were used in order to facilitate qualitative data analysis process. In doing so, inductive coding approach was adopted and utilized in order to seek recurring patterns in raw data set. Inter-rater reliability was carried out with the participation of an independent researcher that coded 10% of the data. Following this, Cohen’s κ was used to ensure consistency between the researcher and independent researcher. The interrater reliability for the researchers was found to be κ = .88 with p < .001, which revealed an almost perfect agreement.

4 Findings

  • Research Question 1: What metacognitive reading strategies do the participants use?

Table 1 below shows the most frequently used metacognitive strategies by the participants, according to the MRSQ survey.

Table 1 Overall descriptive statistics of Metacognitive Reading Strategies Questionnaire (MRSQ) items (N = 41)
Full size table

As for the distribution of items in the questionnaire, the first 16 statements are the analytic strategies section and the rest of the 6 statements are pragmatic strategies. As Table 1 illustrates, item S12 (determining meaning of critical words), item S22 (re-reading for better comprehension), item S15 (visualizing descriptions), item S3 (drawing on knowledge) and item S16 (noting how hard or easy a text is to read) were considered to be employed by the participants. This result indicates that the participants opted to use analytic strategies rather than pragmatic ones. While the most-frequently used analytical strategies referred to crucial words, visuals and the level of text difficulty, only one pragmatic strategy was used among the preferred strategies.

  • Research Question 2: What are the participants’ opinions toward metacognitive reading strategies in an EMI context?

The focus group interview was carried out with 6 participants to investigate their views on the use and aspects of metacognitive reading strategies in an EMI context. The participants were represented with letters to ensure the confidentiality of participants. Table 2 provides information on the themes derived from the qualitative data analysis.

Table 2 Major and minor themes retrieved from the thematic content analysis
Full size table

As can be seen in Table 2, a total number of 4 major themes have been revealed: strategy preferences by students, previous experience on strategy training, EMI course books and materials evaluation and finally the use of strategies by subject teachers. It is clear from major theme 1 that pragmatic strategies were relatively salient and useful for the students. As for major theme 2, the students mostly reported the inadequacy of strategy instruction and signified the importance of this instruction or training before university education starts. The next theme gave invaluable insights into the expectation of EMI course books and materials from a student perspective. The last theme referred to the necessity of professional development activities.

Table 3 compares the results obtained from the questionnaire with focus group interview data. While the results from the questionnaire showed that the participants seemed to under-use pragmatic strategies: ‘making notes to remember (S17)’, ‘underlining and highlighting important info (S18)’, ‘using margins for notes (S19)’ and ‘underlining to remember’ (S20)’, the interview results revealed that the participants tend to use strategies such as ‘making notes’, ‘underlining critical information’ and ‘summarizing information’. Another difference between the questionnaire and interview results was that the participants reported strategies (e.g. translating key information, using a dictionary) that may help them comprehend texts in a practical way (see Theme 1). Such differences could be due to participants’ unawareness of the strategies they employ (Noda, 2003). It is clear that pragmatic strategies were more salient according to the findings of the interviews.

Table 3 Comparison of data from questionnaire versus interview findings indicating students’ top priorities
Full size table

In addition to the aforementioned difference between quantitative and qualitative data, the evaluation of EMI course materials, the timing of metacognitive strategy instruction and professional development activities for subject teachers were major points. In order to highlight these features, some of the salient ideas are presented below:

  • Subject knowledge from a Turkish course book is better than an EMI equivalent (see Theme 3).

  • There is excessive jargon and terminology in EMI course books. In fact, they are too detailed (see Theme 3).

  • Some EMI course books have a summary section at the end of each chapter, which makes it easier to understand the concepts and key information (see Theme 3).

  • When EMI course books support the texts with visuals, graphics and pictures, we do not need to spend time looking up unknown words (see Theme 3).

  • The margin notes and underlined sections in EMI course books are useful (see Theme 3).

  • It would be too late to receive metacognitive reading strategy instruction at university level, so it is better to learn at high school or even before that (see Theme 2).

  • Reading strategies instruction given in a preparatory program might not always be relevant to the EMI reading context (see Theme 2).

  • EMI subject teachers need to attend professional development training courses in order to use and model metacognitive strategies properly (see Theme 4).

The participants reported that EMI course books and course materials should be tailored-made as regards their content and design. In addition, they believed that if subject teachers could guide learners while, before and after reading EMI materials, they would minimize the problems that they encounter due to the nature of the EMI program. For instance, one of the participants reported how an EMI subject teacher facilitated the use of the course book:

For example, one of our faculty teachers gives us 10 or 15-page lecture notes that summarize the critical information in the course. This equates to the summary of a 500-page book. Everybody knows the difficulty of thermodynamics course books. Also, he supports these notes with visuals, graphics and margin notes. He is the king for all of us! (Student B)

The participants were asked in what ways they would improve course books as to metacognitive reading strategies if they were the author of EMI course books (see Theme 3):

For example, I would highlight the most important points in the text with red or a similar color. You just want to read and understand the most important parts. This is basic human behavior, you know. (Student C)

What I would do if I were an author? I would add margin notes for important formulas, use different coloring, whatever is more important, etc. These notes would be useful, especially for terms that are not available in Turkish. I also would add guiding letters and with the help of this the student could find it conveniently rather than go and look for important information in 100-200 pages. You are an EMI student and you have 1000 pages of a thermodynamics book in your hand – I am always lost in it, so I would add summarizing chapters and a guide or signs for formulas. (Student D)

I would design a course book with texts that are easy to read and follow. I believe that EMI course book writers add so many pages explaining in too much detail. Learning subject knowledge is extra difficult in English, so EMI course books should eliminate this drawback. (Student A)

In short, as a result of the interviews with participants, the practicality of EMI course materials need to be boosted by providing margin notes, coloring of important sections, and summary and terminology sections, which all seem to be a remedy for the academic reading-based problems in their classes. Additionally, the participants gave EMI course designers and course book writers an inside perspective on EMI course books. Finally, they signified two points regarding metacognitive reading strategy training and instruction: the necessity of strategy training for subject teachers and strategy instruction for learners at an early age (i.e. before university level). Of course, it would be naïve to expect young learners to practice metacognitive strategies at a very early age (see Flavell, 1999; Kuhn, 2000).

5 Discussion

This study aimed to reveal what metacognitive reading strategies EMI students generally use in an engineering class at a technical university and their views on aspects of metacognitive reading strategy use in an EMI context. The findings indicated that the metacognitive strategies that EMI students mostly use address one issue: to understand a text better and better. Similar to the findings of Li and Munby (1996), Nergis (2013) and Razı (2008), the participants relied on a combination of different strategies such as extracting key words from the text, re-reading for better comprehension, and translating or summarizing the critical sections in order to deepen their understanding of knowledge within their discipline. As with Razı’s (2008) study investigating the use of metacognitive reading strategies, the participants tended to use analytic strategies more and pragmatic strategies less. This finding shows similarity with the questionnaire results of this study. However, during the interview, the students reported that they favor pragmatic strategies (see Theme 1). Since there is a scarcity of research on metacognitive reading strategies in EMI contexts, studies from EFL and ESL contexts have been reviewed (Aghaie & Zhang, 2012; Çubukcu, 2008; Karbalaei, 2010; Lawrence, 2007; Nash-Ditzel, 2010; Pintrich, 2002; Singhal, 2001). These studies revealed that it takes time and a systematic approach to internalize metacognitive reading strategies. Similarly, believing that metacognitive reading strategy instruction should be given before the university education starts, the students signified the importance of enough period of time for acquiring the analytic and pragmatic strategies (see Theme 2). In other words, learning how to learn does not happen at once. Despite the contextual difference, the findings of these studies might offer this insight into the use of metacognitive reading strategies in EMI programs.

Having mentioned that there is not very much research on metacognitive reading strategies in EMI contexts, we have reviewed studies from EFL and ESL contexts. However, there are some disciplinary literacy studies that have implications for reading skills in EMI contexts (Airey, 2011; Airey & Linder, 2006; Shaw & McMillion, 2008). According to the findings of the study by Airey and Linder (2006), assigning reading texts before the actual lessons contribute to the quality of comprehending EMI subjects. In another study, Shaw and McMillion (2008) signified that giving adequate time before and while reading EMI texts boosted students’ comprehension performance. Additionally, Airey (2011) mentioned that ‘multimodal approaches’ are necessary for better acquisition of subject knowledge. The findings from the qualitative data of this study (see Themes) show parallelism with the aforementioned studies. In fact, adopting a novel and comprehensive approach rather than classical academic reading approaches will certainly build up EMI students’ comprehension skills in their programs.

Another significant finding retrieved from the qualitative data points to the need of PD and training for EMI teachers. Similar to the findings suggested by Macaro et al. (2020) and Macaro and Han (2020), it can be postulated that an ongoing PD cycle should be set up and include competencies that enable EMI subject teachers to use and model metacognitive reading strategies. In fact, the participants here reported that the EMI subject teachers could and should guide them in using metacognitive reading strategies to their advantage (see Theme 4).

As for the dichotomy between the quantitative and qualitative findings, the participants favored analytic strategies in the questionnaire results while they prioritized more the use of pragmatic strategies (making notes, using margins, underlining key information, etc.) in their interview results. This discrepancy shows that the participants might be utilizing a combination of analytic and pragmatic strategies. Thus, training programs that promote the consciousness-raising activities of these strategies should be taken into consideration. In addition to this, systematic and ongoing metacognitive reading strategy instruction can help learners internalize the strategies.

6 Conclusion

This study investigated the metacognitive reading strategies that the participants generally used and their views toward metacognitive reading strategy use in the program. The results indicate that the participants tended to rely on analytical strategies rather than pragmatic ones. However, the results from interviews showed that the participants mostly use pragmatic strategies in combination with analytical ones. Additionally, the qualitative data suggested that EMI course books and materials should be designed more practically in order to support metacognitive reading strategy use. The qualitative results further indicated that EMI subject teachers need to be supported with training and PD activities for better metacognitive strategy instruction.

The findings of this study provide pedagogical implications for academic reading in EMI contexts. Firstly, EMI students should be equipped with knowledge of both analytic and pragmatic reading strategies in order to gain a deeper understanding of the disciplinary knowledge. Secondly, EMI teachers should be supported with PD activities, by means of which they can promote the use of metacognitive reading strategies. Furthermore, given the importance of course materials, EMI course book writers and EMI subject teachers should collaborate on the content, design and methodology of these materials. Since this study is context-bound, the generalizability of the findings might be limited. As such, further studies could collect data from various EMI stakeholders, institutions and departments in order to investigate the use of metacognitive reading strategies in detail.