ABSTRACT
This chapter briefly overviews previous studies on metacognition and its interventions and then proposes a new perspective for future research that pays particular attention to the socio-affective dimension. The importance of metacognition has been reported by many previous studies on language learning, and its interventions have been implemented around the world. Their effectiveness, however, has been confirmed only to a limited extent, particularly in the Japanese EFL (English as a foreign language) context. A review of the previous empirical studies identified two possible factors that might impede Japanese learners’ deployment of metacognition in their learning. One such concern is the social dimension, which pertains to the influence of teachers, peers, and their interactions in the classroom. The other seems to be related to learners’ affective variables such as motivation, anxiety, and self-efficacy beliefs. This chapter discusses the influence of these factors on metacognition in the framework of self-regulation, arguing for the importance of others and affect in metacognitive decision-making.
