This study investigated the transformation of Metalinguistic Knowledge (MK) and its relationship with second language (L2) proficiency in a department that requires students to study abroad for about a year. It was a longitudinal study with a total of 74 female university students divided into three groups based on the year of entry. The TOEIC IP and TOEFL iBT were employed as L2 proficiency tests and the accumulated grade point average (GPA) was used as a measure of academic achievement. The grammaticality judgment test (GJT) was used to elicit MK. The results showed that MK develops after significant exposure to the target language. Students corrected more errors using grammatical rules after study abroad than they did before going overseas. In particular, they were able to correct and state more explicit rules. These results suggest that MK is not static itself. The relationships between MK and the GPA and between MK and L2 literacy tend to become stronger after exposure to the target language, which implies that MK, L2 literacy and the GPA might be related to cognitive aspects of language.論
