Supporting Students’ Self-Regulation and Language Learning Strategies in the Blended Course of Professional English
Date
2016-08-05
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Abstract
Muutused tänapäeva maailmas ja globaliseeruval tööturul eeldavad inimestelt lisaks uutele erialastele teadmistele ja oskustele ka tõhusamaid õpioskusi. Vastavalt Eesti elukestva õppe strateegias 2020 (2014) dokumenteeritud nüüdisaegsele õpikäsitusele, on üks olulisemaid eesmärke õppija sotsiaalse ja individuaalse arengu toetamine ning õpioskusi arendava õpikäsituse rakendamine. Toetamaks eduka elukestva õppija arengut on vaja toetada õppija enesejuhtimise oskust ning selle eeldusena enesereguleeritavaid õpistrateegiaid.
Käesoleva doktoritöö uuringud keskendusid keeleõppele kõrghariduse kontekstis. Hoolimata Eesti noorema põlvkonna suhteliselt heast inglise keele oskusest (Kriisa, 2014), on eestlastel sageli raskusi inglise keeles suhtlemisel. Edukas ja sorav keelekasutus eeldab kõrgema taseme keeleõppestrateegiate teadlikku rakendamist. Kuid hea keeleoskuse omandamine ja sobivate õpistrateegiate kasutamine eeldavad muuhulgas õppija võimekust oma õpitegevust reguleerida.
Selle uuringu raames uuriti õppijate strateegiakasutuse toetamise võimalusi erialase inglise keele kontekstis. Uuringu üldisemaks eesmärgiks on avardada arusaamist õppija eneseregulatsiooni ja keeleõppestrateegiate toetamise tõhususest.
Ilmnes, et Eesti inglise keele õppijate strateegiakasutust selgitavad kõige paremini järgmised 6 faktorit: aktiivne keelekasutus, metakognitiivsed strateegiad, sotsiaalsed strateegiad, kompensatsioonistrateegiad, mälustrateegiad ja seostamisstrateegiad. Uuring andis vastuse ka keeleõppestrateegiate seotuse kohta õpitulemustega. Selgus, et kognitiivsed õpistrateegiad mõjutavad õpioskusi otseselt, samas kui metakognitiivsete strateegiate mõju on kaudne ja see toimub kognitiivsete strateegiate kaudu. Selline metakognitiivsete strateegiate kaudne ja suhteliselt nõrk seotus õpitulemustega väärib kindlasti edasi uurimist lähtudes mitmest aspektist. Esiteks tuleks uurida, mille poolest erinevad õpiprotsessis kasutatavad õpistrateegiad ja testi olukorras rakendatavad testi kirjutamise strateegiad. Teiseks peaks rohkem uurima riigieksami ülesehitust ja ülesande tüüpe. Samuti oleks huvitav vaadelda, kuidas toimub koolides riigieksamiks ettevalmistus.
Uuringu teises osas kasutati disainipõhist lähenemist ja keskenduti tõhusaima sekkumise loomisele toetamaks keeleõppijate keeleõppestrateegiate, eneseregulatsiooni ja ainealaste teadmiste arengut. Töö tulemused andsid tunnistust sellest, et ainuüksi kombineeritud õpikeskkond ning oskuslikult loodud õpiülesanded ei too kaasa soovitud muutust. Suurem toetus ülesannete juurde lisatud märguannete näol, mis suunas õppijaid mõtlema ülesandes rakendatavate kognitiivsete ja metakognitiivsete strateegiate üle, parandas nii nende keeleõppestrateegiate kasutust, eneseregulatsiooni kui ka õpitulemusi. Olulisim järeldus on see, õppija eneseregulatsioon ei arene iseenesest, seda tuleb toetada ja õpetada.
Käesoleva doktoritöö panus teadusesse on keeleõppestrateegiate struktuuri korrastamine, eestikeelse keeleõppestrateegiate mõõdiku, Est-SILL koostamine ja valideerimine, ning erialase keeleõppe kontekstis hästitöötava õpimudeli loomine toetamaks õppijate keeleõppestrateegiate ja eneseregulatsiooni arengut. Töö praktiline väärtus seisneb panuses kõrgkoolipedagoogikasse ja õpetajakoolitusse, kus peaks enam tähelepanu pöörama ka täiskasvanud õppijate eneseregulatsiooni toetamisele, ning keeleõpetajate ettevalmistamisel nende teadlikkusele kognitiivsete ja metakognitiivsete õpistrateegiate olulisusest ning nende toetamise võimalikkusest.
Major changes in today’s world and the global labour market assume that working-age people are able to gain new professional knowledge and skills, but also the skills of using more efficient learning strategies. According to the contemporary approach to learning documented in Estonian Lifelong Learning Strategy 2020 (2014), one of the most essential aims is supporting learner’s social and individual development and the application of the approach developing learning skills. To become a successful life-long learner, a primary presumption of developing self-directedness is acquiring self-regulated learning strategies. The scope of the study is language learning in tertiary level. Even though learning English as a foreign language is popular with Estonian students, and the results of English state exams have been relatively high through the years (Kriisa, 2014), Estonians often face difficulties when communicating in English. Successful use of language assumes conscious implementation of advanced language learning strategies (LLS). But acquisition of good language skills and implementation of suitable learning strategies presume, among other things, learner’s capability to regulate his learning activities. Within the current study, the possibilities of supporting language learners’ strategy use was investigated in the context of Professional English. The general aim of the research was to expand the understanding of the efficiency of supporting learners’ self-regulation and LLS. It appeared that the Estonian EFL learners’ language strategy use can be best described by the factors of active language use, metacognition, social strategies, compensation strategies, memory strategies and connecting strategies. The study also gave an answer about the relations of LLS and learning outcomes which refer to the direct effects of cognitive strategies on all language competencies. The effects of metacognitive strategies are indirect influencing the learning outcomes through cognitive ones. These results encourage for further investigations considering the strategies that are used in the learning process and in the test-taking process. Also, the structure and task types of the state exam should be investigated, and the process of exam preparation should be observed. In the second part of the study, design-based research was used, and the most efficient intervention was seeked and tested to support learners’ use of LLS, self-regulation and content knowledge. The results indicated that blended learning environment and specially designed learning assignments alone do not assure the expected improvement. More efficient support with the use of prompts that guided learners to consider the cognitive and metacognitive strategies, improved their language learning strategy use, self-regulation and learning outcomes. The most important conclusion is that self-regulation does not evolve on its own, it has to be supported and instructed. The current dissertation contributes to educational science with specification of the structure of LLS, compiling and validating the LLS measurement Est-SILL, and designing a learning model to support the development of learners’ LLS and self-regulation in the context of Professional English. The practical implication of the study is its contribution to university pedagogy and teacher education where more attention should be paid to supporting grown-up learners’ self-regulation. In the preparation of language teachers, their awareness of the importance of cognitive and metacognitive learning strategies, and the ways of supporting them should be raised.
Major changes in today’s world and the global labour market assume that working-age people are able to gain new professional knowledge and skills, but also the skills of using more efficient learning strategies. According to the contemporary approach to learning documented in Estonian Lifelong Learning Strategy 2020 (2014), one of the most essential aims is supporting learner’s social and individual development and the application of the approach developing learning skills. To become a successful life-long learner, a primary presumption of developing self-directedness is acquiring self-regulated learning strategies. The scope of the study is language learning in tertiary level. Even though learning English as a foreign language is popular with Estonian students, and the results of English state exams have been relatively high through the years (Kriisa, 2014), Estonians often face difficulties when communicating in English. Successful use of language assumes conscious implementation of advanced language learning strategies (LLS). But acquisition of good language skills and implementation of suitable learning strategies presume, among other things, learner’s capability to regulate his learning activities. Within the current study, the possibilities of supporting language learners’ strategy use was investigated in the context of Professional English. The general aim of the research was to expand the understanding of the efficiency of supporting learners’ self-regulation and LLS. It appeared that the Estonian EFL learners’ language strategy use can be best described by the factors of active language use, metacognition, social strategies, compensation strategies, memory strategies and connecting strategies. The study also gave an answer about the relations of LLS and learning outcomes which refer to the direct effects of cognitive strategies on all language competencies. The effects of metacognitive strategies are indirect influencing the learning outcomes through cognitive ones. These results encourage for further investigations considering the strategies that are used in the learning process and in the test-taking process. Also, the structure and task types of the state exam should be investigated, and the process of exam preparation should be observed. In the second part of the study, design-based research was used, and the most efficient intervention was seeked and tested to support learners’ use of LLS, self-regulation and content knowledge. The results indicated that blended learning environment and specially designed learning assignments alone do not assure the expected improvement. More efficient support with the use of prompts that guided learners to consider the cognitive and metacognitive strategies, improved their language learning strategy use, self-regulation and learning outcomes. The most important conclusion is that self-regulation does not evolve on its own, it has to be supported and instructed. The current dissertation contributes to educational science with specification of the structure of LLS, compiling and validating the LLS measurement Est-SILL, and designing a learning model to support the development of learners’ LLS and self-regulation in the context of Professional English. The practical implication of the study is its contribution to university pedagogy and teacher education where more attention should be paid to supporting grown-up learners’ self-regulation. In the preparation of language teachers, their awareness of the importance of cognitive and metacognitive learning strategies, and the ways of supporting them should be raised.
Description
Väitekirja elektrooniline versioon ei sisalda publikatsioone.
Keywords
üliõpilased, enesejuhtimine, võõrkeeleõpetus, strateegiad, oskuskeel, inglise keel, kombineeritud õpe, students, self-management, foreign language teaching, strategies, language for special purposes, English Language, blended learning