Metacognitive skills involve taking an active role in reading, recognizing reading behaviors, changing reading behaviors, relating to prior knowledge, and being aware of text structures.

• A. Metacognitive skills
• B. Metacognition
• C. Question generation
• D. Summarization

Answer: (A)

Metacognition in reading is about actively guiding your understanding by planning, monitoring, and adjusting how you read. The description describes a reader who takes charge of the process—actively engaging with the text, noticing what reading strategies are working, changing strategies when needed, connecting the content to prior knowledge, and using clues from text structure to make sense of the material. That collection of abilities embodies metacognitive skills: the practical actions a reader uses to regulate comprehension.

Think of it this way: metacognitive skills are the tools you deploy while reading to manage meaning, whereas metacognition is the overall awareness and understanding of your own thinking. The other options are specific strategies—generating questions or summarizing—that are part of metacognitive practice but don’t alone capture the full range described here.