Research on reading used to focus on exploring skills such as scanning and skimming for efficient comprehension of written texts. But the recent one or two decades have seen a dramatic shift of focus in research on psychology and cognitive linguistics. Psychologists and linguists are increasingly showing more interest in the study of the process of reading than in the study of the outcome of reading. And metacognition, as a central component of psychology, is now serving as the primary theoretical base for the study of the learners self-regulation in the reading process. Based on an investigation of university English majors status quo of metacognition and cognitive linguistics, this research is intended to identify the differences from a metacognitive perspective between the more efficient and the less efficient EFL readers of the same grade, and those between the EFL readers of different grades. For this purpose, 40 sophomores and 40 seniors of the English Language and Literature Program of the School of Foreign Studies of Guangzhou University were selected for the investigation. In conducting the investigation, reading tests were given to find out the students reading competence and questionnaires were designed to check the students knowledge of metacognition. The data collected were then analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. Analysis of the investigation shows that 1)there are considerable differences in metacognition between the more efficient and the less efficient readers of the same grade; and the higher grade the subjects are in , the more differences are identified between the more efficient and the less efficient readers in the use of specific metacognitive strategies and cognitive strategies in the reading process. 2) significant differences in metacognition exist between readers of the lower grade and readers of the higher grade. Analytically the differences in students reading competence can, to a certain extent, be attributed to EFL teachers unawareness of the importance of metacognition in the reading process and to the lack of training in metacognition especially metacognitive strategies in the reading course. But from a theoretical and pedagogical point of view, this should be taken into account in EFL research and reading teaching. With an investigation-based understanding and a theoretical analysis of EFL readers differences in reading in relation to metacognition, this study has come to the conclusion that measures should be taken to increase EFL reading teachers and learners awareness of the significance of metaconinition in reading. Based on the findings of the investigation, suggestions intended for improvement of the current EFL reading teaching and learning are proposed. And it is hoped that the findings will shed lights on further research in this area.