The use of metacognitive strategies helps students to think about their own thinking before, during, and after they learn something. It is believed that metacognitive strategies spark one’s thought, resulting in deep learning and better learning performance. The present study seeks to provide a review of the literature on metacognitive strategy instruction in English as a foreign language (EFL) classrooms. This review first summarizes the findings of a number of studies on the topic. Based on the summaries, the review then posits some general conclusions and suggests directions for future research.  The review concludes that there is a dearth of intervention-based research conducted in the primary English classroom that implements metacognitive strategies, focusing not only on one particular language skill or element but on integrated skills.