Metacognitive monitoring deficits are unlikely to be the primary source of academic performance differences between native and non-native speaking students¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2021 · checked against its sources 2026-10-20 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Across two studies and two task types, monitoring resolution did not differ between native and non-native speakers, leading the authors to conclude monitoring deficits are not the primary source of performance differences. → Buehler 2021

Evidence¶

Buehler 2021¶

Buehler, F. J., van Loon, M. H., Bayard, N. S., Steiner, M., & Roebers, C. M. (2021). Comparing metacognitive monitoring between native and non-native speaking primary school students. Metacognition and Learning, 16, 749–768. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11409-021-09261-z

q2 · i? · associational · r2

The authors' overall interpretation across both studies: monitoring resolution was equal across groups "independent of whether the task was language related or not," so monitoring deficits are unlikely to explain the achievement gap, though monitoring may remain a valuable resource for control strategies.

"Most importantly, we did not find differences in metacognitive monitoring between native and non-native speaking children, independent of whether the task was language related or not. This suggests that metacognitive monitoring may not be the primary source of school performance differences between native and non-native speakers."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Adult learners generally find pronunciation more difficult than children and are unlikely to achieve native-like pronunciation, though experience and self-monitoring offset this somewhat — related
• Language competencies correlate with text comprehension performance in both groups, but with monitoring resolution only in non-native speakers — related
• Native and non-native speaking fourth graders do not differ in recognition or metacognitive monitoring resolution in a paired-associates task (Study 1) — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Study 2 replicates the absence of group differences in recognition and monitoring resolution in the paired-associates task — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Native and non-native speaking fourth graders do not differ in monitoring resolution of their open-ended text comprehension answers (Study 2) — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Native speaking fourth graders answered more open-ended text comprehension questions correctly than non-native speakers (Study 2) — related
• Mere exposure to the target language does not automatically lead to native-like communicative competence in adult learners — related
• A 2010 narrative review reports that even very advanced L2 learners read more slowly than native speakers and miss subtle anaphoric interpretation distinctions — related