Exploring EFL Learners’ Metacognitive Engagement in Language Assessment Practices: A Lens of Linguistic Awareness Development

Abstract

Metacognitive engagement has increasingly been recognized as an important dimension in language assessment because it enables learners to regulate their thinking, strategies, and language performance. This study aims to explore EFL learners’ metacognitive engagement in language assessment practices and examine how these processes contribute to linguistic awareness development. A qualitative research design was employed involving three EFL teachers and twenty-three learners from Junior Islamic Schools of Nahdlatul Wathan in East Lombok, Indonesia. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and classroom observations and analyzed through four stages: organizing data, familiarizing the data, coding, and interpreting emerging themes. The findings indicate that learners’ metacognitive engagement occurs through planning, monitoring, and evaluating processes. Learners plan by interpreting assessment demands, selecting linguistic resources, and preparing strategies; monitor by checking language use and identifying errors; and evaluate by reflecting on feedback and improving future performance. Furthermore, metacognitive engagement strengthens linguistic awareness by helping learners recognize the relationship between linguistic forms, meanings, and communicative contexts. The study highlights that assessment can function not only as a mechanism for measuring achievement but also as an environment for developing learner autonomy and strategic language use. The findings provide implications for designing reflective and formative EFL assessment practices that integrate metacognitive regulation with linguistic awareness development.