Timeline
January 2018 – December 2018
Focus
The habits of highly self-regulated learners in order to better understand the impact these habits have on one's learning.
Questions
1) What self-regulated learning principles and practices do the selected intensive English program students use to manage their English language learning?
2) Did the students self-report changes in their self-regulated learning principles and practices over the course of their first semester? If so, what changes did they make and why?
Methodology
The project involved a longitudinal approach to students’ first semester studying English in an intensive language program. All incoming students were given the Self-Regulated Learning Inventory (SRLI) to determine which students self-reported high levels of self-regulated learning. Three participants were selected, and they completed four semi-structured interviews throughout the semester (beginning, middle, and end). The interviews were then qualitatively analyzed with the use of a multi-dimensional approach to establish trustworthiness of the findings.
Results
All three participants relied on their self-regulated learning strengths and acquired new strategies throughout the semester in very unique ways. All three participants improved their English enough to reach their goal of being accepted into a US school of higher learning: two students after only one semester in the program and one student after two semesters.
Importance
The most significant result of the research was how each student uniquely utilized self-regulated learning. We found that the students did not need to have perfect self-regulation in all dimensions to find success in their learning endeavors. However, these students used self-regulated learning skills from all six dimensions in some way. Their resilience to overcoming setbacks was incredibly inspiring.
Additionally, this research demonstrated the need to understand the psychological underpinnings of SRL in the unique area of language acquisition. All 3 participants drew on positive psychology principles to “reengage” in the learning process and to keep moving towards their language goals.