English Learners' Self-Regulated Learning Strategies: A Comparison of Their Experiences in Face-to-Face and Online Education

Introduction

Self-regulation has gained worldwide popularity recently since learners need to be active participants in their learning due to the changing nature of learning needs and environments in the new century. With self-regulation, learners regulate their cognition, motivation, and behaviors (Demir, 2019) and navigate their learning experiences (Zumbrunn et al., 2011). In self-regulated learning (SRL), students use resources to accomplish academic tasks and overcome challenges in the learning process (Randi & Corno, 2000). SRL emphasizes student-related resources rather than those related to other stakeholders, such as teachers or schools. It is so vital for students that, in case of insufficient resources, they start to have negative thoughts about their achievement, and these negative thoughts, caused by the absence of resources, undermine their motivation while positive ones encourage them to step up in their accomplishments (Boekaerts, 2007).

SRL is also a significant capability for language learners. SRL allows us to understand the individual differences of foreign language learners (Su et al., 2018). Accordingly, an immense amount of literature has accumulated on the use and effects of SRL on language learning performance and promotion of different language skills (Abbasian & Hartoonian, 2014; Adiguzel & Orhan, 2017; Demir, 2019; Kırmızı, 2015; Mahmoodi et al., 2014; Vujnovic, 2017). With the recent technological advancements, SRL has become more important for language learners because technology offers opportunities for language learners to engage in language activities independently (Şahin Kizil & Savran, 2016). However, in language learning, learners sometimes get caught in fear of failure because there are different areas students need to master by themselves, such as managing time or setting a goal. They apply self-regulated learning strategies in these cases and overcome these problems (Zarrin et al., 2020).

SRL works as a toolkit for solving problems language learners confront during their journey of learning a foreign language. As of 2020, an additional new set of problems after the outbreak of COVID-19 has emerged for everyone, including language learners, which inevitably affected the education system. Governments and people worldwide started looking for solutions to destroy the effects of this trouble (OECD, 2020). At some point, schools were all closed to prevent the spread of the virus. Online learning as an alternative became somehow mandatory (UNESCO, 2020). Amid these extraordinary shifts, online learning activities may benefit undergraduate students, such as flexibility. Despite these advantages, teachers and college students may confront certain obstacles because online learning activities encourage students to participate in the learning process more autonomously and actively (Mahmud & German, 2021). In the same vein, language learners need to take responsibility for their learning processes, given the need for a guide in certain language learning skills, such as writing or speaking. Language learning has unique challenges in online environments because it requires interaction in the learning process, and providing authentic oral and meaningful interaction opportunities is difficult (Andrade & Bunker, 2009). Even though there are a plethora of studies on how the pandemic affected students’ self-regulated learning strategies, its effects and how it has changed students’ use of self-regulated strategies in language learning are not much researched (Kulusaklı, 2022). Particularly studies are needed to compare language learners’ SRL practices in face-to-face and online learning environments, how their SRL in face-to-face education contribute to their online SRL, and their experiences amid the Covid-19 pandemic. To this end, the current study explores how self-regulation differs in face-to-face and online education for learners of English as a foreign language in the context of tertiary-level English preparatory school students in Turkey who have both face-to-face and online language courses concomitantly. The results might provide hints for designing blended language learning environments in the post-pandemic period.