Metacognitive reading skills in academic support: A transactionist perspective of the relationship between reading and learning

Abstract

This article argues that metacognitive reading skills are basic to learning across the curriculum and suggests that designers and presenters of academic support programmes would be wise to eschew the teaching of grammar and critical discourse which are common components of academic support programmes, and instead to concentrate on producing programmes which are designed specifically to develop the metacognitive reading skills of under-achieving and under-prepared students. Effective reading skills are transferable to many other domains, are a prerequisite for effective writing skills, underpin second-language learning and are fundamental for any academic study.
It is argued that reading skills be taught and developed from a transactionist perspective of reading which, although it shares certain characteristics with constructionist/constructivist perspectives, nevertheless has significant differences.


(Journal for Language Teching: 2002 36(1-2): 62-81)