Luisa Fernanda Quintero comments Metacognitive Awareness

It is important that, in any class, students understand why they are using the language for, especially when learning a foreign language, since most of them are usually comparing it to their mother tongue. I think this is the purpose of creating a metacognitive awareness, because students are always looking for an explanation about the similarities and especially the differences between their mother tongue and the new language they are learning. From my point of view, although children are always asking for reasons to everything they know, we can develop a metacognitive awareness in a very indirect way, since they do not seem to be interested in understanding the use of the language, and they try to use it without wondering what it is for. On the other hand, when we are talking about teenagers and adults, they need to have a concrete explanation, so, they can use language easily. Although, it is sometimes said that students can learn from deducing from different situations the use of the language, they need an explanation in order to clarify or solve the doubts they have about it. Therefore, we, as teachers, need to be well prepared to give our students good bases, in order for them to become aware of the use of the language in any situation, thus the student become aware of his achievements and the things that need to be improved.

Luisa Fernanda Quintero Correa