Research Proposal Progress 2

1. THE INFLUENCE OF METACOGNITIVE STRATEGIES AND AUDIENCE
AWARENESS ON UiTM PASIR GUDANG UNDERGRADUATES' WRITING
PROCESS
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.0 Introduction
Writing, in general, is important due to its value of communicating with others (Khaki
& Hessamy, 2013). Compared to speaking, writing helps people to communicate better as it
can convey the intended message without changing the original structure. Writing is a
complex process that writers undergo and often when the finished text is completed, the
writers themselves are not able to trace how they completed the task or how they made the
mistakes that they did. Past researches have suggested cognitive and metacognitive strategies
to be taught to writers in order to improve their writing. Past studies have looked at strategies
writers use while they write through the use of think aloud protocols and structured
interviews.

2. 1.1 Background of the Research
Writing is an activity that involves a whole process. According to Galbraith and Trent
(2009), writing is not simply a matter of translating preconceived ideas into text. It also
involves creating content and ensuring the message in the content reaches the audience the
way it was initially intended by the writer. Writing involves a wide range of processes and it
demands cognitive processing from the writer to the audience (reader). The famous study of
writing by Flower and Hayes (1981) revealed the Cognitive theory of writing and it involves
four important aspects. They are; (a) writing consists of a set of distinct process, (b) the
writing processes are hierarchical, (c) writing is goal-oriented, and (d) writers’ create goals
and sub-goals-and these goals develop sense of purpose, revising goals or establishing new
goals based on what is learned through writing.
Past studies have looked to the metacognitive strategies that writers go thorugh when
they write. Wenden (1998) ##Check Yayan (2010) summarized metacognitive strategies as:
(a) part of a learner’s store of acquired knowledge, (b) relatively stable and statable, (c) early
developing, (d) a system of related ideas, (e) an abstract representation of a learner’s
experience. In addition to that, Flavell (1985), reported that metacognitive knowledge
involves three distinct and highly interactive knowledge variables , (a) person knowledge, (b)
task knowledge and (c) strategic knowledge. Person knowledge may include cognitive and
affective variables such as age, language aptitude , motivation, and specific acquired
knowledge. Task knowledge involves three aspects – (a)learners’ knowledge about the task
purpose and how it will meet their learning needs and goals, (b) knowledge about the nature
of the particular task identified through the classification process, and (c) skills needed to
complete the task.

3. Next, studies have also been conducted to prove the importance of audience
awareness in the writing process. Flower (2000) suggested that writer analyzes the audience
of their text. She suggested that writers gauge the distance between them and the audiences
such as age and background. These differences fall into three areas; (a) the readers’
knowledge about the topic, (b) his or her attitude toward it, and (c) the writer’s and the
audiences’ personal and professional needs. Furthermore, Cheng (2010) said that writers who
are able to think of their audience before, during and after their writing process are reported
to be more efficient writers.
Therefore, this research focuses on how the writing process that writers undergo when
they write, the metacognitive strategies that they use and their audience awareness when they
write.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
In the writing process, writers may face problems every now and then. This problem
is labelled as -rhetorical problem (Flower and Hayes, 1981). While the writer is writing,
he/she may face “rhetorical problem”. This is a complex process and includes (a)the
rhetorical situation, (b)the audience and (c)the writer’s goal. In summary, Flower and Hayes
looked at the writing process being chained (inter related) by three major aspects-the written
task (rhetorical situation), the reader (audience) and the thinking process of the writer
(writer’s goal). These three aspects are not easy to teach by writing teachers and more so-not
at all easy strategies to master by the writers at whatever level.
Writers are reported to undergo many strategies when they write. One of these
strategies is metacognitive strategies. These strategies involve the planning before the writing

4. process, monitoring throughout the writing task and then reviewing the written text
completed. Traditional classrooms skipped these main stages and somehow assumed writers
would “pick up the skill” as they practice more essays. Contrary to popular past beliefs, these
metacognitive starategies is a taught skill by the writing teachers and the ability (or disability)
of the writers to use these strategies is what separates the good and weak writers.
Past studies have proven the influence of audience awareness in the writing process.
Cheng(2010) conducted a research to look into the audience strategies by EFL college writers
and found that audience awareness is a strategy used by proficient writers.
1.3 Research Objectives
The three research objectives are:
i. To determine ESL writers' writing behaviour during the writing process.
ii. To determine the meta-cognitive strategies used by ESL writers' during the
writing process.
iii. To determine ESL writers' audience awareness during the writing process.
1.4 Research Questions
The three research questions are:
i. How does writing behaviour influence ESL writers during the writing process?
ii. How does meta-cognitive strategies used influence ESL writers during the writing
process?
iii. How does audience awareness influence ESL writers during the writing process?

5. 1.5 Operational Definitions
1.5.1 Writing Process
Flower and Hayes (1981)-####the act of writing involves 3 major elements- (a) Task
environment, (b) writers’s long term memory, (c) composing processor. Within the
composing processor are three operational processes to generate the written text and
they are ((i) planning, (ii) translating, and (iii) reviewing.
1.5.2 Types of Writers
skilled vs less skilled, good vs weak writers (Flower and Hayes, Bereiter and
Scardamanlia)
1.5.3 Metacognitive Strategies
According to O’Malley and Chammot (1990) tabled Metacognitive Strategies
###(check
https://dea.lib.unideb.hu/dea/bitstream/handle/2437/79665/de_1447.pdf?sequence=1&
isAllowed=y for referencing)
Metacognitive Strategies (O’ Malley and Chamot, 1990)
(a) Planning (Advance Organization)
(b) Directed Attention
(c) Selective Attaention
(d) Functional Planning

6. (d) Self-Management
(e) Monitoring
(f) Problem Identification
(g) Self-evaluation
1.5.4 Audience Awareness
According to Cheng (2010) audience awareness involves 4 basic moves and they are:
(a) Naming moves, refers to writers’ recognition of an audience existence by direct
and indirect reference
(b) Context moves, refer to strategies that writers use to establish context and provide
background information to the reader
(c) Strategy moves, refer to implementing tactics that recognize readers’ traits by
appealing to readers’ interest
(d) Response moves, refers to writers’ awareness of readers’ questions, objections,
such as stating readers’ concerns or giving reasons for these concerns
(e) Negative moves, involve writers’ references to the audience that would impair the
writer-reader relationship by giving reasons that were not adequately explained
1.6 Limitation of the Study
This study is done within certain limitations:
(a) the writers are ESL learners doing Diploma in Engineering and Diploma in Business

7. (b) the writers undergo ESL classes twice a week with the lecturers
(c) although the categories of weak and good writers can be clearly defined by research, these
writers entered the university with (i) past SPM English scores that shows their English
proficiency and (ii) have had writing problems even in their first language (Bahasa Melayu).
1.7 Significance of the Study
The results of the study is useful for teachers teaching writing. It can help in the
designing of strategies to be taught in writing class.