A Study On High School English Teacher Beliefs And Behaviors In Fostering Learners' Self-regulated Learning

Self-regulated learning(hereafter SRL)has a great impact on students' academic achievement and learning efficiency.Therefore,the promotion of SRL should be attached great importance to in school education.So far,researchers have conducted a high number of intervention studies aiming at fostering SRL.However,there has been little research to investigate teacher beliefs and behaviors in fostering learners' SRL in regular classrooms.In view of the important role that teachers play in supporting their students' SRL,more should be known about what teachers think and do in their teaching practices in fostering learners' SRL.In order to foster SRL,teachers can provide students with SRL strategies,as well as with constructivist learning environments that allow them to self-regulate their learning(Dignath and Werf,2012).Therefore,this study investigates high school English teacher beliefs and teacher behaviors in fostering learners' SRL from these two aspects.The assessment of teacher beliefs and teacher behaviors on the promotion of SRL include both the instruction of SRL strategies and the design of a SRL–conducive learning environment.The research instruments include questionnaire and classroom observation.The classroom observation instrument was designed mainly based on Boekaerts'(1999)self-regulation model and De Corte et al.'s CLIA-model(2004).Both quantitative and qualitative research method were used in this study.Fifty four English teachers from seven different senior high schools in Jiangxi Province participated in the research.All the teachers completed the questionnaire about teacher beliefs voluntarily and fifty copies were valid questionnaire.Among them,four were chosen to be the subject of the classroom observation.Two lessons per teacher,a total of eight lessons were audio-taped and noted.Besides,the analysis of the questionnaire data was done with the help of SPSS 17.0.As for the observed classes,they were coded via using the observation instrument.The research was guided by the following three questions:1)What beliefs do high school English teachers hold about fostering learners' SRL?2)In teaching practices,what are the behaviors of high school English teachers in fostering learners' SRL?3)What is the relationship between teacher beliefs and behaviors in fostering learners' SRL?Drawn from the research,some major findings can be summarized as follows:First,high school English teachers hold positive beliefs in fostering learners' SRL.Second,as for teacher behaviors,there are two dimensions.On the aspect of constructivist learning environments,English teachers do not often arrange constructivist learning environments to foster learners' SRL in regular lessons.On the aspect of the instruction of SRL,the observed teachers frequently instruct SRL strategies though in an implicit way in their classes.Third,there are divergences between teacher beliefs and teacher behaviors in fostering learners' SRL.Based on the findings,some implications can be drawn for the promotion of SRL,English teachers' education and their professional development.Firstly,both direct promotion(the instruction of SRL)and indirect promotion(constructivist learning environments)of learners' SRL should be provided for students.Secondly,knowledge and skills about how to foster learners' SRL during regular lessons should be an important part of teacher education and training.Thirdly,teachers are encouraged to exchange their teaching beliefs and behaviors with their colleagues.Through communication and interaction,teachers can not only discover their inconsistency in their teaching beliefs and behaviors,but they can also find out effective ways to foster learners' SRL.