The Effects of Self-Regulated Strategies on English Low Achievers at a Private Technological University 私立科技大學英語低成就學習者自我調節策略應用之成效

General technological university students encountered English learning dilemma mostly due to their learning motivation. The purposes of this study were as follows: (1) To examine the relationship between low-achieving college students' learning motivation and SRL strategies. (2) To investigate what language learning strategies low-achieving students adopted can improve their learning. (3) To explore whether the low-achieving SRL students can use metacognitive strategies to improve their learning. This study employed quantitative and qualitative approaches, including scales, interviews, and observations to generate insightful interactions with the participants. Three different departments and different grades of English course students were asked to give their consent to participate in research, among which thirty-four students volunteered to do so. Questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect data. The first copy of the questionnaire consists of 50 Strategy Inventory items derived from R. Oxford (1989). The second copy of the questionnaire consists of 10 self-efficacy items translated from the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES, sometimes GSE) from Schwarzer and Jerusalem (1995). The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was administered to examine the relationship between Self-efficacy and Language Learning Strategy because of the small sample size. The analysis showed that the two variables were positively correlated. Twenty-eight participants finished four interviews each, and turned in their notes. The researcher transcribed the interviews verbatim, wrote observation notes, and collected descriptive data for later qualitative research. The main findings of this study were as follows: (A) Participants chose their own learning materials and decided on their own time schedule to study. They found themselves were more motivated to do so. (B) Participants claimed that their self-efficacy improved because of knowing the language learning strategies and the importance of self-regulation. (C) Using metacognitive strategies, participants set and adjusted their goals, creating a favorable English learning environment, and followed their own pace of learning. Gradually, they reported feeling confident in achieving the tasks. Through the whole research process, participants did not actually make much progress; however, most learned to use strategies and had better self-efficacy eventually and understood they could achieve more than they thought. All the subjects reported positive experiences.

一般科技大學學生遇到英語學習困境的主要原因是學習動機。本研究目的如下：（1）暸解低成就學生學習動機與自我調節學習策略之間的關係。（2）調查低成就學生採用哪些語言學習策略可以提高他們的學習。（3）探討低成就學生是否可以使用後設認知策略來提高他們的學習。本研究採用混合研究方法，包括量表、訪談和觀察，與參與者進行互動。徵求不同系、不同年級英語課程學生同意參加研究，其中有34名學生自願參加。進行問卷調查和半結構化訪談以收集數據。第一份問卷採用Oxford發展的50題SILL語言學習策略問卷。第二份問卷是Schwarzer和Jerusalem的10題總體自我效能量表（GSES）。由於樣本數小，採用Wilcoxon符號檢定用來檢視自我效能和學習策略二個變項之間的關係，結果顯示二者成正相關。最終28名參與者完成自選任務，四次採訪，及繳交筆記。研究者撰寫訪談逐字稿及觀察手札，完成描述性數據收集，以質性研究做資料分析。研究結果顯示：（A）參與者選擇自己的學習材料，並決定自己的學習時間安排。他們發現自己更有動力這樣做。（B）參與者瞭解語言學習策略和自我調節的重要性，提高了自我效能感。（C）使用後設認知策略，參與者設定和調整目標，創造好的英語學習環境，遵循自己的學習節奏。逐漸地，他們對完成任務充滿信心。在整個研究過程中，雖然學習者進步不大，大多數人學會使用策略並擁有更好的自我效能感，及暸解自己有能力可以完成更多，因此都表示是正向的經驗。