EUROPE -REVUE LITTERAIRE MENSUELLE ISSN: 0014-2751 www.rrbitz.com ..... EUROPE 2016 Task-Oriented Metacognitive Strategy Use and Writing Performance (Conjoining Task, Strategy and Skill in an EFL Setting) Gholam-Reza Abbasian a , Roghieh Moradi b a Imam Ali & IA (South Tehran Branch) universities, Corresponding author, b MA in TEFL, Islamic Azad University Science and Research Branch, Tehran, Iran, Abstract The main goal of education is 'learning to learn', being fully functional in the light of metacognition and its strategies playing a crucial role in language learning particularly in writing performance. So, the effect of two task types on learner's use of MCSs as well as their writing performance was addressed here. In doing so, 60 advanced EFL learners grouped into three 20 students worked out Comparing tasks, Ordering and Sorting tasks, while the 'control group' received conventional writing instruction. MSU and writing performance were assessed before and after the treatment. The analysis of MSU data revealed that 'Ordering and Sorting' tasks group outperformed the 'Comparing' task group. With respect to writing performance; however, both treatment groups outperformed the control group, though there was no significant difference between the experimental groups. So, though tasks were not distinctively significant in their effects, they proved more effective than non-task instruction in developing writing ability. Moreover, certain tasks showed to be significantly effective in affecting MSU, conservatively implying that learner's strategy use might be function of task type. Keywords: Task-type, Metacognitive Strategies, Writing Performance Introduction According to Ellis (2003) ‘Task’ is a pivot around which learning materials unfold. But each and every task has its potential pedagogical purposes aiming to obviate learner's specific needs. Willis and Willis (2007) offer a task typology of performing tasks as below: A. Ordering and Sorting: 1. Sequencing items, actions, or events in a logical or chronological order. 2. Ranking items according to personal values or specified criterion. 3. Categorizing items in given groups or grouping them under given headings. 4. Classifying items in different ways where the categories themselves are not given. B. Comparing: 1. Matching to identify specific points and relate them to each other.