Metacognitive Reading Strategies Awareness and Usage in Reading Practices of Law Students

Abstract

This study explores the relationship between reading practices and awareness and metacognitive reading strategies by undergraduate law students. In terms of lexical and syntactic features, legal English is distinct from other types of English for Specific Purposes. Lengthy and convoluted sentences of legal language embedded extensively with archaic phrases and foreign terms make it incomprehensible for law students, the novice readers. Promoting the awareness and conscious usage of metacognitive strategies in understanding legal language will facilitate law students' academic and professional success. A reading achievement test was conducted. The Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies Inventory (Revised) developed by   Mokhtari, K., Dimitrov, D. M., & Reichard, C. A., (2018) was administered to a sample of 2nd-year law students. The data obtained using the above instruments indicate a significant correlation between the metacognitive reading strategies awareness and reading proficiency of the law students. It is suggested that explicit teaching of these strategies will positively impact the reading habits of the law students for whom effective reading is imperative in their profession.