Poster #24 - Translation and validation of two tools assessing metacognition in French preschoolers: F-CHILD 3-5 and F-McKI7

• In Event: Poster Session 09

Abstract

The conceptualization and assessment of metacognition is a growing topic in developmental psychology. Indeed, metacognition is a complex and multifaceted concept which refers to knowledge, monitoring and control of one's cognitive processes to reach a goal. Two main components can be distinguished. The metacognitive skills correspond to the mechanisms that facilitate monitoring, control and regulation of cognition that can be used in diverse contexts and situations. They guide awareness itself. In the school context, they refer to the student's ability to plan their learning methods, control their implementation, and adjust them if necessary after evaluating their effects. The second component is metacognitive knowledge which corresponds to the specific knowledge about cognition that individuals consciously construct about their mental acts, as they experience them as conditions of use of various cognitive strategies. Metacognitive knowledge constitute the self-awareness allowed by this knowledge base. Schooling plays an important role in the acquisition of this knowledge.

Since the first works in the 80’s, various studies have shown that the development of metacognition is early and progressive, but there is still a tendency to underestimate it in the youngest. Young children are often thought of as being unable to access a form of abstract thought that allows them to reflect on their own cognition. However, few studies have focused on the development of these different facets of metacognition in early childhood. This may be due to the scarcity of measurement tools that accurately assess metacognition. In addition, the few existing tools are often written in English, which limits studies and understanding of the functioning of the components of metacognition.

The current study addresses this limitation by translating and validating into French two specific and complementary tools for measuring metacognition in pre-schoolers. The first one is the Checklist of Independent Learning Development (CHILD) 3-5 by Whitebread and colleagues (2009), which is a teacher observational assessment of metacognitive skills. The second is the Metacognitive Knowledge Interview (McKI) by Marulis and colleagues (2016), which is an experimenter interview targeting specific metacognitive knowledge. The combination of the French versions of these two tools allows for a comprehensive examination of French-speaking preschoolers’ metacognition as well as a precise and distinct assessment of key facets of metacognition.

Thanks to different kinds of analyses (factorial structure, internal reliability and external validity), results show that the French versions of the two tools present satisfactory psychometric properties, which are more pronounced for the F-CHILD 3-5 than for the F-McKI7. Results also include metacognitive levels aligned with those of the original measurement tools implemented with English-speaking preschoolers in the United States and the United Kingdom. They thus provide unique and culturally relevant information that strengthens current understanding of metacognitive skills and knowledge in early development.
These newly developed tools, adapted to French, should facilitate cultural comparisons and thus promote a more comprehensive and international understanding of metacognitive processes in early childhood. The influence of culture and language on metacognitive processes is also rare or non-existent in the existing literature and merit further study.

Group Authors

Marion Leclercq, Univ. Lille, ULR 4072 – PSITEC – Psychologie : Interactions, Temps, Emotions, Cognition, F-59000 Lille, France.
Youssef Tazouti, Research Unit 2LPN- EA 7489, University of Lorraine (France)
Loren Marulis, Martha Bennett '73, Connecticut College (US)
Jérôme Clerc, Research Unit LPNC UMR CNRS 5105, University of Grenoble (France)

Authors

• Marion LECLERCQ, University of Lille
  Presenting Author

• Jerome Clerc