This article reports on an investigation into the relationship of test-takers’ use of cognitive and metacognitive strategies to the EFL (English as a foreign language) reading test performance. The study employed both quantitative and qualitative data analyses. The 384 students enrolled in a fundamental English course at a Thai university took an 85-item, multiple-choice reading comprehension achievement test, followed by a cognitive-metacognitive questionnaire on how they thought while completing the test. Eight of these students (4 highly successful and 4 unsuccessful)were selected for retrospective interviews. The results suggested that (1) the use of cognitive and metacognitive strategies had a positive relationship to the reading test performance; and (2) highly successful test-takers reported significantly higher metacognitive strategy use than the moderately successful ones who in turn reported higher use of these strategies than the unsuccessful test-takers. Discussion of the findings and implications for further research are articulated.

This article reports on a large-scale study that aims to validate the theory of strategic competence proposed by Bachman and Palmer (1996) through the use of structural equation modeling (SEM). The present study examines the relationship of test-takers' long-term strategic knowledge (i.e., trait strategies) and actual strategy use (i.e., state strategies) to second language (L2) reading test performance over time. The data were gathered on two occasions (during the mid-term and final examination periods). Five hundred and sixty-one Thai university test-takers answered a trait strategy use questionnaire prior to the mid-term and final reading achievement tests and, immediately after completing each test, they answered a state strategy use questionnaire. It was found that (1) trait metacognitive strategy use (MSU) directly and strongly affects trait cognitive strategy use (CSU); (2) trait CSU does not greatly affect state CSU; (3) trait MSU directly affects state MSU in a specific context, which in turn directly affects state CSU; and (4) state CSU directly affects a specific language test performance to a varying degree.

This study examines gender differences in cognitive and metacognitive strategy use in the context of an English as a foreign language reading comprehension test. Three hundred eighty‐four Thai university students took a multiple‐choice reading comprehension test, then completed a questionnaire on their strategy use. Gender differences were analyzed using multivariate analysis of variance. Males and females did not differ in their reading comprehension performance and their use of cognitive strategies. Unexpectedly, males reported significantly higher use of metacognitive strategies than females. Within the same achievement groups (highly successful, moderately successful, and unsuccessful), however, there were no gender differences in either reading performance or use of cognitive and metacognitive strategies. The article discusses the implications for future gender‐based research.

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This article reports on an empirical study that examines general academic difficulties, and academic reading and writing difficulties among Asian ESL (English as a Second Language) international postgraduate students who are completing a Master’s Degree in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) at an Australian university. The data were collected through the use of a Likert-scale questionnaire from 51 students and a follow-up, semi-structured interview technique with 11 participants who took part in the questionnaire survey. It was found that: (1) students reported different types of academic difficulties including reading and writing such as synthesizing information and academic writing; (2) there were strong associations among general academic difficulties, academic reading and writing difficulties; and (3) factors such as academic English proficiency, self-regulation, motivation, self-efficacy, former learning experience and academic adjustment had an impact on their academic difficulties. This article will articulate the implications for second language teacher education research and future research.