Assessing self-regulated learning: The case of vocabulary learning through information and communication technologies

ABSTRACT

Focusing on Self-Regulated Learning, this study aims to contribute a gap in current research by developing a learning environment and domain-specific measure (i.e. vocabulary learning in Information and Communication based environments) that could be used for research and pedagogical purposes in language learning. The development and validation of the instrument underwent an extended test design process. The first phase was the development of an item pool which made use of relevant literature and focus group interviews with EFL learners (n = 15). The second phase was the field-testing of the measure through its administration to 77 EFL learners. The last phase involved an evaluation of the psychometric properties of the revised instrument given to a total of 250 EFL learners. The findings from Confirmatory Factor Analysis with acceptable values of goodness of fit indices (NFI = .89; CFI = .93; TLI = .92, RMSEA = 0.06 and SRMR = 0.04) supported a 23-item, five-factor scale. The Cronbach alpha internal consistency coefficient of the overall scale was calculated to be .85, leading to the conclusion that the scale proposed here is a valid and reliable measure for systematic inquiry into EFL learners’ self-regulated vocabulary learning through technology.

KEYWORDS:

• English as a foreign language (EFL) learners
• self-regulated learning (SRL)
• vocabulary
• information and communication technologies (ICT)

Acknowledgement

The authors are grateful to the participants involved in this study and for the assistance provided by Naciye Sağlam in translating the instrument. Thanks are also due to two anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments on the earlier drafts of this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Aysel Şahin Kızıl

Aysel Şahin Kızıl is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Foreign Languages Education at Fırat University, Turkey. She holds an MA degree on Applied Linguistics and her PhD is on English Language Teaching. Her research interests cover computer assisted language learning, second language acquisition and corpus linguistics in language education.

Zehra Savran

Zehra Savran is a lecturer in the School of Foreign Languages at Fırat University, Turkey. Her current areas of research are teaching English as a Foreign Language, computer assisted language learning and the use of language corpora in language education.