Enhancing academic writing literacy in a multilingual environment: Methodological approaches to reducing linguistic interference and cognitive load

Abstract

Academic writing constitutes a core competency in higher education. However, students simultaneously acquiring Kazakh, Russian, and English face substantial difficulties due to linguistic interference and elevated cognitive load. This study aimed to empirically measure the impact of these factors on academic text quality and to propose the META-ZHAZU pedagogical technology designed to reduce them. The study involved 120 university students from a regional university in southern Kazakhstan. A quasi-experimental PreTest–PostTest controlled design with a mixed-methods approach was employed. The control group (n=60) followed a conventional academic writing programme, while the experimental group (n=60) received the META-ZHAZU technology intervention over 12 weeks. The technology comprises five components: metacognitive activation, explicit modelling, translanguaging spaces, staged academic writing, peer review and collective reflection. Data were collected using an academic writing rubric, linguistic interference and cognitive load questionnaires (NASA-TLX), the Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI), teacher reflective journals, and focus group interviews. Results identified syntactic interference as the most prevalent error type (4.8 errors per 100 words; 38.7% of all errors). The META-ZHAZU technology reduced syntactic interference by 56.3% (from 4.8 to 2.1) and total interference by 55.6% (from 12.4 to 5.5). Overall academic writing quality in the experimental group improved by 34.6% (from 5.08 to 7.32; Cohen's d=1.54), compared with only 12.1% in the control group. Cognitive load measured by the NASA-TLX scale decreased by 28.9% (d=1.21), while metacognitive awareness increased by 37.2%. A strong negative correlation was found between cognitive load and writing quality (ρ=-0.71). The findings substantiate the pedagogical effectiveness of integrating cognitive load theory and translanguaging within a single instructional technology. META-ZHAZU is offered as a ready-to-use 12-week module for integration into academic writing courses.