The aim of this paper is to give an overview of the most important approaches to the concepts of metacognition, metaknowledge and metacompetence. A growing body of research on these concepts highlights the significance and benefits of acquiring metacognitive knowledge and competence, especially in education and learning. Though scholarly opinion is still divided as to their exact functions and definitions, it is generally acknowledged that these multifaceted concepts are closely connected with higher order skills that result in a form of executive control involving self-monitoring, self-assessment and self-regulation. These skills are now extremely important in view of the fact that, according to some reports, education has failed to prepare students for the challenges of the 21st century. The author also presents his approach to the construct of (meta)knowledge and (meta)competence, focussing on the role of language as the main contributing factor in the process of knowledge acquisition. Finally, the author discusses various aspects of competence demands within the community of scholars.
JavaScript is turned off in your web browser. Turn it on to take full advantage of this site, then refresh the page.