Metacognitive strategy use in foreign language learning fluctuates from both ends towards the middle: Longitudinal evidence for the Island Ridge Curve

This study examined the different patterns of metacognitive strategy use, their variations across time, and the relation of this variation to English as a foreign language (L2) development. This study involved 2126 7th graders from 16 schools in Hong Kong. Metacognitive strategy questionnaire data and English test scores were collected three times at one-year intervals. Data were analyzed using latent profile analysis (LPA) and latent transition analysis (LTA). The results showed: (a) there were three strategy use groups across each wave: low, medium, and high frequency groups; (b) the medium group remained the most stable, and the other two groups transited to the middle; (c) the medium group obtained significantly higher mean English scores than the low group, but the mean score of the high group was non-significantly higher than the medium group. The evidence confirmed the emerging theory of the Island Ridge Curve and suggested that students can automatically adapt their metacognitive strategies to optimize their L2 learning.