ABSTRACT
The metacognitive knowledge system of low-proficiency students is reported with reference to person, task, and strategic knowledge. The person knowledge of these students shows that the majority of them perceive English writing as useful because it plays a determining role in examinations, improves students’ general English ability, and empowers students to communicate with foreigners using an international language. In respect of task knowledge, these students focus predominately on the language-related requirements, although the majority of their responses are fraught with ill-defined expressions such as “grammar” and “Chinglish”. A quick review of the strategies mentioned by the students reveals that they focus mostly on the declarative facet of strategic knowledge but not the procedural and conditional because they do not describe the specific steps they took when enacting the strategies and fail to discuss the suitability of the strategies in different scenarios.
