An Investigation into ESL Learners’ Nature of Self-Regulated Learning in Out-of-Class Context: A Comparative Study

Abstract

The aim of the study was to investigate whether there were differences in the nature of use of technology for selfregulated language learning between learners from high and low proficiency levels. It employed the mixedmethods approach to understand the phenomenon. The quantitative findings indicate that there were no significant differences in the nature of use of technology between these learners. However, the qualitative findings reveal variance in the use of the Internet environments between the two groups of learners. The more proficient learners seemed to be able to regulate their learning experiences better than the low proficient group especially in terms of regulating emotions and social resources. Despite the variance in use, findings indicate that both groups' engagement with technology mainly involves incidental learning. Thus, it is recommended that teachers should foster dialogue and reflection on the out-of-class engagement with technologies so that learners can further benefit from it.