Metacognitive awareness and learning and performance goals as key predictors of writing performance

Effective writing involves more than just grammatical correctness and vocabulary choice. A deeper understanding of one’s thinking processes while writing, coupled with clear writing goals, is crucial for producing high-quality text. Thus, this study explores the correlation between students' metacognitive awareness, their orientation towards learning and performance goals, and their performance in English Academic Writing (EAW). Specifically, it investigates participants’ current metacognitive awareness and goal orientation in relation to their English Academic Writing. By examining participants’ understanding of their writing processes and goal they set, this research seeks to establish baseline for exploring potential connection between metacognition, goal orientation, and writing outcomes. The research employed a qualitative design using a survey involving 252 non-English major students across three universities in Indonesia. Participants completed two inventories; the Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI) and the Goal Inventory (GI), along with summative assessments of their writing performance. Their English Academic Writing proficiency was evaluated through standardized assessment. As a result, multiple linear regression analysis indicated a significant positive impact of metacognitive awareness on EAW performance, explaining 73.5% of the variance with a regression coefficient of 1.171 (p < .001). However, learning and performance goals did not significantly affect EAW performance, as evidenced by a regression coefficient of 0.026 (p = .343). These results underscore the pivotal role of metacognitive awareness in enhancing EAW performance among non-English majors, suggesting that further research is needed to explore the influence of goal orientation, and to explore its potential moderating effects on the relationship between metacognitve awareness and EAW performance. Understanding the complex interplay of these factors is essential for developing effective pedagogical interventions to enchance EAW abilities among non-English major students.