Development and Validation of a Measure of Self-Regulated Capacity in Learning the Grammar of English as a Foreign Language

Abstract

Grammatical competence constitutes an important component of communicative ability, the acquisition of which takes sustained effort, resilience, and planning, otherwise known as the capacity for self-regulated learning. It follows that assessing the self-regulatory capacity in grammar learning (SRCgram) is of prime importance. This paper reports on the development and validation of a scale for measuring SRCgram. Focus group interviews were conducted with 26 participants and a pool of 52 items was created and piloted. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were then conducted to examine the psychometric properties of the instrument. Preliminary fit indices, internal structure fit of the model, and overall model fit provided evidence for the validity of the scale. In addition, the SRCgram scale appeared to be unidimensional and of satisfactory reliability. Thus, SRCgram scale can be proposed as a diagnostic and self-assessment tool to be used by EFL teachers and learners to diagnose, assess, and foster self-regulation in grammar learning.