Investigating the Influence of Metacognitive Strategies on all Strategies in Academic Writing

This study investigates the influence of metacognitive strategies on other writing strategies (effort regulation, cognitive, social, and affective strategies) in academic writing among undergraduates. Rooted in Social Cognitive Theory (SCT), the study aims to explore learners’ perceptions of their strategic use during the writing process. A quantitative survey design was adopted, with 105 undergraduate students responding to a 28-item instrument adapted from Raoofi et al. (2017). The survey was administered online using a 5-point Likert scale and achieved high reliability (α = .935). Findings revealed that learners moderately used all strategies, with the highest mean scores observed for affective and cognitive strategies. Correlation analysis showed a strong positive relationship between metacognitive strategies and cognitive (r = .692, p < .01), effort regulation (r = .635, p < .01), and affective strategies (r = .587, p < .01), while a moderate correlation was found with social strategies (r = .342, p < .01). These results suggest that metacognitive awareness significantly supports the use of various strategies in academic writing. The findings offer pedagogical implications for fostering strategic thinking and learner autonomy in writing instruction.