Background: Reading is a functional academic literacy ability needed by students in higher education. In the South African context, inadequate reading ability is one of the reasons for high undergraduate attrition rates. It seems that role players within this sector are of the opinion that students have reading 'problems' that need to be 'fixed',…

This article represents a literature review and interpretation pertaining to the role that metacognition is seen to play in student performance. It begins by providing evidence from research reported in the literature which indicates that not all students are able to accurately assess their capabilities, and suggests that this lack is linked to…