Self-regulated Learning Strategies of Learners of English in a Turkish State University to Improve their Language Proficiency - Article

Oct 15, 2026

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Language learners are expected to regulate their own learning process, yet evidence is needed on how self-regulation develops across time. This study investigated self-regulation in a group of A1-level learners enrolled in a one-year English prep program at a Turkish state university. Ten participants selected via SILL were interviewed at two time points. Highly self-regulated learners combined self-study time with ongoing evaluations of linguistic competence. Findings support monitoring language development and planning learning accordingly.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages6

Reading Time15 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Research questions

Literature Review

Self-regulated learning processes and factors

Links between self-regulation and success

Advances in Language and Literary Studies ISSN: 2203-4714 [www.alls.aiac.org.au](www.alls.aiac.org.au) | Self-regulated Learning Strategies of Learners of English in a Turkish State University to Improve their Language Proficiency
Burak Tomak1, Gölge Seferoğlu2
1Marmara University Istanbul, Turkey 2California State University San Bernardino, US
Corresponding Author: Burak Tomak, [E-mail: buraktomak@hotmail.com](E-mail: buraktomak@hotmail.com) | | | --- | --- | | ARTICLE INFO | ABSTRACT
In today’s world, it is recognized that learners should be in charge of their own learning. Therefore, language learners are expected to regulate their language learning process. This study aimed at investigating the self-regulation process a group of language learners at A1 level went through during a one-year English prep program they attended at a state university in Turkey. The students were to get English medium instruction (EMI) in their departments if they passed the English proficiency exam at the end of the year. Ten participants were selected based on the results of Strategy Inventory for language learning (SILL) (Oxford, & Burry-Stock, 1995), which was applied on 169 English language students who started their language learning with A1 level. On the basis of the questionnaire results, three students were selected from the higher average learners, three students were selected from below average learners and four students were chosen from average learners. These ten participants were interviewed twice: at the end of the first term and the second term. It was found that learners who were highly self-regulated had both self-study time and evaluated their development in terms of linguistic competence. Based on the findings, it can be suggested that learners must monitor their language development and plan their own learnings accordingly. | | Article history
Received: February 14, 2021
Accepted: April 07, 2021
Published: June 30, 2021
Volume: 12 Issue: 3
Advance access: June 2021 | | | Conflicts of interest: None
Funding: None | | | Key words:
Self-regulation,
Learner Strategies,
English Medium Instruction,
English Proficiency,
A1 Level Learner,
Turkish learners of English | | INTRODUCTION Introduce the Problem The importance of self-regulation in language learning came out more than two decades ago with the idea that students should take over the responsibility of their own learning (Zimmerman, 2008) . However, although there are several studies conducted on self-regulated learning, Karabenick and Zusho (2015) focus on the need for further research on self-regulated learning for future studies to employ multiple methods (i.e. self-report and trace methodologies) to better understand the dynamic nature of SRL because they think self-regulation is a highly contextual issue as students’ cognition, behavior, and affect will change over time and across the learning environments and/or tasks that are given to them. Therefore, they state that the studies will contribute more to the field if they can show how self-regulated learning change over time as well as contextual variations that affect the results. In this sense, this study aimed at showing how self-regulation of the students changed over time in one specific setting as the data for the current study were collected over one year. In order to achieve the goals of this study, the researchers used both a questionnaire and interviews held twice at the end of both the first and the second term. The following research questions guided this study: - What self-regulation strategies do students starting from A1 level use to improve their language skills? - Do they change their self-regulation strategies they employ as their level of language proficiency improve? LITERATURE REVIEW As every learner is different from each other in terms of their abilities and how they learn best, they need to organize their own learning and use ‘

FAQs

What is the main purpose of the study?

The study aims to investigate how self-regulation develops over one year for A1-level English learners during an English prep program.

How were the participants selected for interviews?

Ten participants were selected based on SILL results from an initial group of 169 A1-level English learners, with selections taken from higher, below-average, and average learners.

What did the study find about highly self-regulated learners?

Highly self-regulated learners showed both self-study time and evaluated their progress in terms of linguistic competence.

Oct 15, 2026

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