Exploring Students’ Metacognitive Strategies in Digital Reading Through a Flipped Classroom: A Qualitative Research

Sukmawati Sukmawati; La Sunra; Syarifuddin Dollah; Maemuna Muhayyang

doi:10.35445/alishlah.v18i2.9780

Exploring Students’ Metacognitive Strategies in Digital Reading Through a Flipped Classroom: A Qualitative Research

Sukmawati Sukmawati, La Sunra, Syarifuddin Dollah, Maemuna Muhayyang

Abstract

Digital reading requires EFL students to move beyond literal comprehension toward strategic, reflective, and critical engagement with online texts. In a flipped classroom, students read digital materials before class and use classroom time for discussion, clarification, and higher-order thinking. This study explores how EFL students develop metacognitive strategies in digital reading through a flipped classroom approach.This study employed an exploratory qualitative design involving seven undergraduate EFL students enrolled in an intensive reading course at Universitas Megarezky. The research was conducted over three meetings using a flipped classroom sequence consisting of pre-class digital reading, in-class reflection and discussion, and post-class evaluation. Data were collected through students’ written reflections and semi-structured interviews. The reflection prompts focused on three dimensions of metacognitive strategies: planning, monitoring, and evaluation. The data were analysed using thematic analysis to identify patterns in students’ metacognitive awareness, strategy regulation, and critical reading development.The findings revealed three major themes. First, students demonstrated surface-level metacognitive awareness in the pre-class stage, mainly focusing on vocabulary, literal meaning, and word-by-word translation. Second, students developed adaptive strategy regulation through reflection and classroom discussion, as they began modifying ineffective strategies and identifying main ideas, authorial purpose, and textual relationships. Third, students showed critical epistemic monitoring by evaluating arguments, evidence, source credibility, and distinctions between fact and opinion.The flipped classroom supported the gradual development of students’ metacognitive strategies in digital reading. Structured reflection, peer discussion, and guided evaluation helped students move from basic comprehension toward more strategic and critical engagement with digital academic texts.

Keywords

critical thinking; digital reading; EFL students; flipped classroom; metacognitive strategies

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.35445/alishlah.v18i2.9780