The relationship between self-regulated learning strategies and academic achievement in a Turkish EFL setting

Abstract

Self-regulation has gained worldwide popularity in the field of language teaching research with the help of recent interest in the active role of learners in the classroom. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between self-regulated learning strategies of the students in an ELT program and their Grade Point Average (GPA) scores. 240 participants from a major public university in Turkey filled out a questionnaire of 41 items and interviews were conducted with twenty randomly selected successful (10) and unsuccessful participants (10). The questionnaire had four dimensions: (a) motivation and action to learning, (b) planning and goal setting, (c) strategies for learning and assessment, and (d) lack of self-directedness. The results of the study revealed that there were significant positive correlations between three dimensions of self-regulated learning strategies (that is, motivation and action to learning, planning and goal setting, strategies for learning and assessment) and Grade Point Average scores of the participants. Qualitative analysis revealed that the top two reasons of success, as perceived by successful participants, were high interest in the field and being sensitive about the grades. On the other hand, unsuccessful students stated that they did not like their fields and they had poor interest levels. This study adds to the literature that demonstrates the relationship between self-regulated learning strategies and academic achievement by providing data from university level students in Turkey.   Key words: Achievement, English as a Foreign Language (EFL), Self-Regulation, self-regulated learning (SRL) strategies.