Advanced EFL Students’ Practices in Formal and Informal Language Learning Settings: An Exploratory Study of Learner Agency

Abstract

This paper addresses the issue of agency that could be traced in the performance of advanced Polish learners of EFL, students of English philology. The study presented in the paper set to investigate the students’ self-reports on learning goals, behaviours and strategies typical of their language-based practices. The students were instructed to describe and reflect on all the learning activities they were involved in in both formal and informal settings by writing their reflective learning journals throughout a week’s time. The examination of the data has provided a picture of the students’ engagement in an interplay of academic and self-directed practices, which helped them meet different goals and ultimately contributed to the improvement of their language proficiency. The students demonstrated an awareness of language learning processes and an ability to reflect on aspects of their agency, referring, among others, to their intentions and motivations in pursuing their objectives.