Metacognition’s Moderation Effect between Engagement with Large Language Model and Reflection of Its Usage in EFL Writing among Chinese University Students

Metacognition’s Moderation Effect between Engagement with Large Language Model and Reflection of Its Usage in EFL Writing among Chinese University Students | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Metacognition’s Moderation Effect between Engagement with Large Language Model and Reflection of Its Usage in EFL Writing among Chinese University Students Jun Song This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5861238/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract As a contributor to success in EFL (English as a foreign language) learning, the function of metacognition in digital intelligence era needs exploration. The study aimed to explore whether metacognition was functional when manipulating Large Language Models (LLM) to EFL writing. The present study adopted the moderation modeling approach to examine the interactive effect of metacognition implied between Chinese university students’ engagement with LLM and their reflection of LLM usage in EFL writing. 212 Students who graduated from Chinese tertiary institutions and studied at Chinese tertiary institutions currently are recruited as participants. They were required to complete a modified questionnaire containing 20 5-point Likert items to investigate whether their engagement with LLM could positively affect their reflection of LLM usage in EFL writing, and whether or not an effect is significant in predicting reflection of LLM usage when looking at the interaction effect between engagement with LLM and metacognition. The potential influence between engagement with LLM and reflection of LLM usage in EFL writing was statistically significant via simple linear regression. Moderation analysis retrieved from Sato’s (2023) research examined metacognition as an interaction term between engagement with LLM and reflection of LLM usage, however, the role of metacogntion was also not effective. Findings suggest that LLM is effective for EFL writing class, while what kind of factor on reflection of LLM usage will be influenced by metacognition still needs further exploration. EFL writing Metacognition Moderation Analysis Engagement EFL learners Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Informed consent was obtained from all participants prior to their involvement in the study. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5861238","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":404188360,"identity":"463ced4f-88e0-4db9-bb81-4251fe744a22","order_by":0,"name":"Jun Song","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAxUlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACxgYgIQFmMh8AkfxsJGhhS2AAapJsI8FCHgOwlgZC6phn5B5gsGCokzPnX/NN+mMbgwQfQYfNyEsAOuywseWMt9skDgK1EPbLjBwDoJYDiRtunAVrqSNWSx1Qy5lnJNnCnLjhfA8bkVp63hgckDA4bGxwg83Y4sw5CcJaDNtzDB9LVNTJGZw//PBGRZmNhHwDIS1ABYclDIAsiQQQX4KQHQwM8iDHfQCx+A8QVj0KRsEoGAUjEwAAR4A5YJ8YsfgAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"University of Turku","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jun","middleName":"","lastName":"Song","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-01-19 20:35:27","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":{"humanSubjects":true,"vertebrateSubjects":false,"conflictsOfInterestStatement":false,"humanSubjectEthicalGuidelines":true,"humanSubjectConsent":true,"humanSubjectClinicalTrial":false,"humanSubjectCaseReport":false,"vertebrateSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false},"doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5861238/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5861238/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":74613833,"identity":"22c146a8-5686-4d1d-8c1e-d9fa9711b655","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-01-24 03:55:40","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":447639,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5861238/v1_covered_a3219ac1-63c8-47bc-a887-bfa493f678b7.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"\u003cp\u003eThe authors declare no competing interests.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eInformed consent was obtained from all participants prior to their involvement in the study.\u003c/p\u003e","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMetacognition’s Moderation Effect between Engagement with Large Language Model and Reflection of Its Usage in EFL Writing among Chinese University Students\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"University of Turku","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":true,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"EFL writing, Metacognition, Moderation Analysis, Engagement, EFL learners","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5861238/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5861238/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eAs a contributor to success in EFL (English as a foreign language) learning, the function of metacognition in digital intelligence era needs exploration. 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