Abstract
Writing is a critical ability for efficient communication practiced extensively starting in primary school, yet individuals do not demonstrate appropriate writing competence in higher education. The closure of the offline classes has also impacted the learners' writing abilities. This quasi-experimental study aims to improve students' writing skills in the online classroom by boosting metacognitive practices. During online writing practice, learners were given instructions to use and gather information using metacognitive strategies. This study's respondents were 80 EFL students from PSAU's intermediate level. The data was acquired using a metacognitive survey and a writing task test. The Cambridge University rubrics were used to score the writing test. The metacognitive strategies employed by the teacher-researcher in writing paragraphs assigned during the writing instruction aided students' consciousness in developing their writing process. The results showed an increase in the participant's writing skills inconsistency and cohesion. It suggests that metacognitive strategies are essential in strengthening learners' critical thinking capacity and encouraging them to organise, develop, and plan writing into a meaningful narrative.