Awareness and knowledge of the L2: issues and insights imparted by a pilot study with EFL learners

This paper describes a pilot study conducted in 2016-2017 in which an existing measure of metalinguistic awareness was adapted andd piloted, with a group of 113 English as a foreign. language (EFL) learners enrolled in their second year of undergraduate studies at an Italian university. It homes in on the considerations heeded in the initial adaptation of the English version of the Meta linguistic Awareness Test-2 (Pinto, Titone Trusso 1999) due to the testing condition and in order to satisfy the needs of the sample, and on. the responses to items that proved, to be most challenging. The preliminary analysis of the 113 responses to selected linguistic and metalinguistic questions, which is complemented by the analysis of qualitative data from follow-up interviews with student dyads, sheds light on aspects of participants' language knowledge and the mechanisms by which participants manipulate language and construct acceptability. Thus, the aim of this paper is not only to share the understandings imparted by the pilot study and its rich resultant data but also to uncover the issues that transpired. The findings provide fruitful insights into the language awareness, language knowledge, and language learning experiences of the EFL learners in this study which can in turn inform future research directions and instructional interventions.