The relationship between Turkish adult students' ambiguity tolerance levels and metacognitive awareness of l2 reading strategies at different English proficiency levels

Ambiguity Tolerance (AT) is regarded as one of the learner variables that can influence one's language learning performance as well as language learning strategy use. Along with this, some individual differences like gender and English proficiency level can play a vital role in affecting learners' AT level and level of language learning strategy use. This study is designed as a descriptive study and specifically aimed to investigate the relationship between Turkish adult students' AT level and Metacognitive awareness of L2 reading strategies (MARS) at different proficiency levels. The study was conducted with 195 Turkish adult learners registered in preparatory classes at Melikşah University's School of Foreign Languages. The participants were selected among A1, A2 and B1 level students using convenience sampling method. Data was collected through the Second Language Ambiguity Tolerance Survey (SLATS), the Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies Inventory (MARSI), and semi-structured interviews for both AT level and MARS. The findings of this study indicate that as English proficiency level increases, the level of AT increases. Even though, the AT level scores were all below the mid-point of the continuum score of the survey – meaning that all participants' AT levels are considered low - there seems to be an increase in the AT level as English proficiency increases. Secondly, the findings of this research suggest that gender has a significant effect on AT level. Based on the results of the questionnaires and interviews, male students tend to have a higher AT level compared to their female counterparts. Thirdly, a significant relationship is found between students' level of MARS and English proficiency level. Within the context of this study, even though high proficiency level students are expected to have high awareness and reading strategy use, the level of MARS tended to increase as the language proficiency level decreases. Regarding the gender effect on MARS, no significant difference is found between MARS and gender. Lastly, within the scope of this study, no significant correlation was found between students' AT level and MARS. The findings of this study also have important implications for both students and teachers. Key Words: Ambiguity tolerance, metacognitive awareness, reading strategies