1. INTRODUCTION Reading cannot be viewed as something that just happens. It is a “constructive process” that uses the students’ cognitive and metacognitive strategies to build the understanding of the text (Dole et al. 1991, in Allen 2003. p. 319). Metacogni- tion researchers come from the paradigm that knowledge about cognition is “closely related to and predictive of cognitive performance. Metacognition is often simply defined as think- ing about thinking and as Flavell (1976, p. 232) mentions it refers to “one’s knowledge concern- ing one’s own cognitive processes and products or anything related to them”. Cognitive and metacognitive strategies are relevant to L2 reading performance. Metacog- nitive strategies are sequential processes that one uses to control cognitive activities, and to ensure that a cognitive goal (e.g., understanding a text) has been met. According to Sheorey and © Kamla-Raj 2009 J Soc Sci, 18(2): 119-126 (2009) The Impact of Lingualuity on the Cognitive and Metacognitive Reading Strategies Awareness and Reading Comprehension Ability Mojtaba Maghsudi* and Seyed Hassan Talebi** *Department of English and **Department of Linguistics, Mysore University, Mysore 570 006, Karnataka, India E-mail: *<maghsudim@yahoo.com> **<(htalebi1@yahoo.com> KEYWORDS Cognitive. Metacognitive. Reading Strategies. Linguality. Proficiency ABSTRACT One major issue in discussions about cognitive versus metacognitive strategies involves separating what is cognitive from what is metacognitive. Cognitive strategies are used to help an individual achieve a particular goal (e.g., understanding a text) while metacognitive strategies are used to ensure that the goal has been reached (e.g., monitoring one’s understanding of that text). The major aim of this study having an ex-post facto design was to find out whether linguality has any impact on the awareness and use of metacognitive, cognitive and total cognitive/ metacognitive strategies in respective of students proficiency levels. Through out this study the researchers found that Mono and bilingual students differed significantly in their cognitive, metacognitive as well as total cognitive/ metacognitive strategy scores, meaning that bilinguals had significantly higher scores than monolingual students. Further, students with high proficiency had significantly higher scores than students with low proficiency in their cognitive, metacognitive and also total cognitive/metacognitive strategies. However, the interaction effect between linguality and proficiency is found to be non-significant in the aforementioned strategies, indicating that the pattern of cognitive strategy scores are similar for students with low and high proficiency irrespective of the lingual background they have. Mokhtari (2001, p. 433) “the reader’s metacog- nitive knowledge about reading includes an awareness of a variety of reading strategies and that the cognitive enterprise of reading is influenced by this metacognitive awareness of reading strategies”. When encountering compre- hension problems, accomplished readers take immediate steps by monitoring their reading process carefully. They are aware of their own cognitive and linguistic resources, and are capable of directing their attention to the appropriate clues in anticipating, organizing and retaining text information. Such readers are strategic readers and their reading behavior is referred to as “strategic reading” (Koda, 2005, p. 204). Strategic readers are aware of the nature of the problem, its possible solutions, and available resources to determine what works best. Koda (2005, p. 218) posits that the acquisition of strategic reading depends on the development of cognitive and metacognitive capabilities. A rich body of empirical studies has investi- gated the relationships between learners’ L2 proficiency and strategy use with the majority indicating that conscious, “tailored” use of strategies is related to language achievement and proficiency, and successful learners employ a Addressfor correspondence: Mojtaba Maghsudi No. 213, 9 th Cross, 2 nd Main Road, 1 st Stage Vijayanagar, Mysore, Karnataka, India Mobile: 9986790490 E-mail: <maghsudim@yahoo.com>