The integration of e-portfolios in language teacher education has gained attention as a tool for fostering reflective practice, collaborative learning, metacognition, and academic achievement. Metacognition, which involves higher-order thinking about one’s own cognitive processes is essential for both, learning and teaching processes. Peer feedback plays a crucial role in developing pre-service teachers’ metacognitive awareness, enabling them to monitor, evaluate, and regulate their own learning and teaching processes. However, while research has examined peer feedback in face-to-face settings, less is known about how English as a Foreign Language (EFL) pre-service teachers engage in metacognitive processes when giving and receiving feedback through e-portfolio, particularly across different proficiency levels in speaking activities. Metacognitive strategies arise when pre-service teachers give and receive peer feedback, enabling them to critically analyse their own and others' performance, which enhances learning and professional growth. However, the extent to which proficiency levels influence these metacognitive processes remains underexplored.

This study aims to explore EFL pre-service teachers’ metacognitive processes when giving and receiving peer-feedback across different proficiency levels in speaking activities within the context of e-portfolios. The study is a longitudinal mixed type of research including qualitative and quantitative data analysis procedures. It takes place in a university in Chile. The participants of the present research are 57 EFL pre-service teachers in three different proficiency levels: 17 in Language 1, 24 in Language 3, and 17 in Language 4. The tools to collect data are comments from reflections on e-portfolios, comments from two open-ended questionnaires, one focused on giving peer-feedback and another on receiving peer-feedback, and data from 2 surveys, one focused on giving peer-feedback and one on receiving peer-feedback. This mixed type of research considers quantitative analysis (descriptive, based on frequency), and qualitative analysis using the content analysis approach. This research seeks to uncover how different proficiency groups in an EFL pre-service teachers’ context engage in applying and monitoring their feedback practices. The results answer the following research question to reach the aim of the study: What metacognitive processes do EFL pre-service teachers engage in when giving and receiving peer feedback, and how can these be categorized qualitatively? and What are EFL pre-service teachers’ beliefs and preferences regarding giving and receiving peer feedback? Findings will contribute to a deeper understanding of metacognitive development in digital peer learning contexts and provide insights for teacher educators seeking to optimize e-portfolio-based feedback practices. Finally, the conclusion gives evidence for the implications for teacher training and suggestions for future research.

Keywords: Metacognition, peer-feedback, e-portfolio, EFL pre-service teachers.