The Use of Resource Management Strategies in Successful and Unsuccessful Language Learners, the Case of Iran

Self-regulated learning (SRL) strives to identify the types of strategies successful learners use to achieve their academic goals. The present study compares successful and unsuccessful English language learners regarding their use of self-regulatory resource management strategies (RMS) (Pintrich, 1991) to improve their reading comprehension. Four learners at different achievement levels participated in the study where their study habits were compared. The participants were two men and two women in their early twenties studying an undergraduate course in English. The instrument used in this study was a self-regulation handout used to collect data from learners about their use of resource management strategies. The participants received and completed the handout weekly for two months. After reading the handouts the researchers sent feedback to the learners so they could modify their study habits. The results showed differences between successful and unsuccessful language learners in their use of RMS; including study time and place management, effort regulation, help seeking and peer learning. Self-reports showed that good language learners regulate their effort to persist when faced with the demanding task of language learning and to do this they rely on goal setting and self-consequating strategies while at the same time, managing distractions and obstacles. Furthermore, good language learners continuously evaluate their own performance and the whole learning plan to ensure the effectiveness of their strategies and to optimize their learning process

کلیدواژه ها:

self-regulated learning ، resource management strategies ، successful and unsuccessful language learners ، language learning