In the past few years, the number of students placing into developmental or remedial college courses has grown considerably. Research is needed to explore the learning dynamics of underprepared students and to offer insights for practice. However research in the developmental field so far has lacked a scholarly, rigorous approach, and research in the field of basic writing has generally not focused on cognitive or psychological dynamics. This study aimed to explore developmental writers' use of metacognition as a key component of self-regulated learning. Students' metacognitive awareness of task, strategies, and performance was elicited through a journal task over the course of a semester and analyzed through grounded theory methodology. Developmental writers' metacognitive awareness of the task and their performance, in terms of the rhetorical problem, of the writing strategies they use and the development of a personal writing process, seemed to play a key role in their ability to regulate their writing. Over the course of the semester, accuracy of student's metacognitive perceptions seemed to improve and in turn influence their self-efficacy perceptions. The results confirm the importance of metacognition as a component of self-regulated learning, and suggest the need for further research on how it impacts students' learning and academic performance The study also suggests the key role played by metacognitive awareness of the rhetorical problem and of a personal writing process in composition, and recommends further research on pedagogical practices that foster it, such as journaling, especially among underprepared students. Finally, the connection between metacognitive awareness and self-efficacy in writing should also be explored further, especially in light of potential effects on academic performance. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]