The Effects of a Self-regulated Learning (SRL) Writing Intervention on Chinese University Students' Writing Performance and SRL Writing Strategy Use

Chinese university students' unsatisfactory English writing performance has attracted wide research attention. With self-regulated learning (SRL) believed to represent a model of optimal learning and evidence of a positive association between SRL strategy use and academic performance found in various disciplines, SRL writing intervention could be a potent way to improve Chinese university students' English writing performance. But SRL strategy research in L2 writing remains relatively underexplored. To fill the lacuna of the research, the present study explored the effects of a self-regulated learning (SRL) writing intervention program on Chinese university English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) learners' writing performance and self-regulated writing strategy use.A pre-post control group quasi-experimental design was employed with 97 third-year English-major students from an independent college in China participating in the study on a voluntary basis. The two intact classes were retained and assigned to two different conditions, resulting in 58 students in the control group and 39 in the experimental group. The experimental group received a 12-week SRL writing intervention that was designed on a framework conceptualized according to Zimmerman (2000) and Pintrich (2004). The instruction of the seven target SRL writing strategy types, i.e., planning, monitoring and evaluation, text-generating, social assistance or collaboration, acting on feedback, motivational self-talk, and self-consequence, followed Zimmerman's (2001) four-level development model. The control group received a regular business-as-usual writing course concurrently. In terms of data collection, a mixed-method approach was adopted. The quantitative instruments included the questionnaire for self-regulated writing strategies (QSRWS), intended to measure the frequency of participants' use of SRL writing strategies, and writing tests, intended to assess participants' writing performance. Both instruments were implemented before and after the intervention to detect any changes as a result of the intervention. Qualitative instruments of student interviews, class observations and researcher-teacher conferences were applied complementarily to the quantitative data to better profile students' strategy orchestration, ensure treatment fidelity, and provide feedback on the intervention. ANCOVA was performed as the principal statistical analysis to examine the differences in post-test strategy use and writing performance between the two groups after controlling for pre-test differences. The results revealed a significant effect of the intervention on the experimental group's writing performance, and such an effect remained one month after the intervention. Additionally, it was also indicated that the experimental group witnessed improvements in their use of the target strategy types while no significant differences were observed in the post-test use of most of the non-target strategy types between the two groups. Analyses of the interview data also found the experimental group used the target strategies with more maturity and sophistication after the intervention and offered tentative evidence to the differential intervention effects on participants of varied writing performance levels.The study contributed new knowledge to the field by building a more context-specific model to further guide SRL research in the field of L2 writing, and by giving prominence to motivational/affective regulation, the overlooked area of regulation in SRL research. Pedagogical implications of implementing the SRL writing intervention in Chinese university writing classes were further discussed.Key words: self-regulated learning (SRL) writing intervention; SRL writing strategy; writing performance; Chinese university students中國大學生不盡如人意的英語寫作表現引起了廣泛的研究關注。自主學習（SRL）被認為象徵著一種最優學習模式，多項學科研究證據表明自主學習策略使用與學術表現存在正向關聯，因此自主學習寫作干預可能成為提高中國大學生英語寫作表現的有力方式。然而，在二語寫作領域中自主學習策略研究甚少。為填補研究空隙，本研究探索了自主學習寫作干預對中國大學生英語寫作成績和自主學習寫作策略使用的影響。本研究採用了準實驗研究方法，採取了前測-後測-對照組設計。來自中國東南部某獨立學院的97名英語專業大三學生自願參加了實驗。兩個自然班被分別指定為控制組（58人）和實驗組（39人）。實驗組接受了為期12週的自主學習寫作干預。干預設計基於Zimmerman (2000) 和 Pintrich (2004) 的自主學習框架。干預中的7種目標策略為計畫、監控和評估、文本生成、社會協作、應對反饋、自我激勵和自我總結。策略的教授遵從Zimmerman (2001) 的四階段發展模型。與此同時，控制組進行常規授課。數據收集採用混合研究方法。量化研究工具包括寫作策略問卷及寫作測試，質性研究工具包括學生訪談、課堂觀察和研究者-教師會議。質性數據旨在補充量化結果，更好地描述策略編排使用，確保實驗處理忠實度，並提供干預項目反饋。協方差分析（ANCOVA）作為主要的數據分析手段，在控制前測差異後，檢視兩組在後測階段的寫作表現和策略使用差異。結果顯示干預實驗對實驗組的寫作表現有顯著影響，此影響在干預結束後一個月仍然維持。同時，實驗組在目標策略使用上亦獲得進步。訪談分析發現實驗後實驗組在目標策略使用上更為成熟和嫻熟，訪談並為干預對於不同寫作水平者的區別影響提供了探索性證據。本研究通過建立更具情境化的模型以進一步指導二語寫作領域的自主學習策略研究，並強調了動機/情感調節在自主學習中的地位，試圖改變其在研究中長期被忽視的狀態，從而為此研究領域貢獻了新知識。同時進一步探討了自主學習寫作干預在中國大學寫作課堂中的教學啟示。關鍵詞：自主學習寫作干預；自主學習寫作策略；寫作表現；中國大學生SHEN, Bin.Ph.D. Chinese University of Hong Kong 2021.Includes bibliographical references (leaves )Abstracts in English and Chinese.Title from PDF title page (viewed on ...