Predictive Effects of Writing Strategies for Self‐Regulated Learning on Secondary School Learners’ EFL Writing Proficiency

Abstract

Curriculum reform in China has aimed to teach students to self-regulate their learning (Ministry of Education, 2012). Teachers and researchers have acknowledged that being able to regulate one’s learning process is essential for achieving personal learning objectives (e.g., Ben-Eliyahu & Bernacki, 2015) and that self-regulated writing strategies are a reliable predictor of learners’ writing proficiency in English as a foreign language (EFL; L. S. Teng & Zhang, 2016). However, studies in exploring the predictive effects of self-regulated writing strategies on EFL writing proficiency are limited, particularly the extent to which self-regulated writing strategies contribute to secondary school students’ writing. This study is based on self-regulated learning (SRL) theory, which delineates the ways in which learners can actively and efficiently manage the learning process by employing various strategies (Zimmerman & Risemberg, 1997). As recognized in previous studies (e.g., Zimmerman & Schunk, 2011), learners who are more selfregulated often exhibit a greater sense of self-efficacy, are more cognizant of their strengths and weaknesses, and are more likely to seek opportunities to acquire new knowledge and skills. Self-regulated learners can be characterized by their ability to initiate metacognitive, cognitive, affective, motivational, and behavioral processes to realize their learning goals (Kizilcec, P erez-Sanagust ın, & Maldonado, 2017). The self-regulated learning process has also been conceptualized as a constellation of actions (e.g., monitoring, directing, regulating) carried out in pursuit of learning goals (Ziegler, Stoeger, & Grassinger, 2011) or a sequenced set of specific processes by a learner who controls internal and external misdirection (Ben-Eliyahu & Bernacki, 2015). In EFL teaching, SRL strategies and self-efficacy beliefs have been shown to predict EFL learners’ English proficiency (e.g., Wang & Bai, 2017). With the exception of a very limited number of studies