Chinese university students’ self-regulated strategic learning in English medium instruction from a sociocultural perspective

Abstract

Recently, there has been growing interest in research on learning strategies employed by students to regulate their learning in English medium instruction (EMI) settings. This study examines the self-regulated strategic learning by Chinese university students in an EMI programme over an extended period of time. Data were collected from 262 students through a questionnaire on learning strategies to gauge the way they learn as well as the role of their English proficiency and year of study in their self-regulated learning. Interviews and learning journals were also utilised with nine students to offer in-depth insights into their self-regulation through the lens of sociocultural theory. The findings revealed that students actively adopted metacognitive and cognitive strategies to internalise external mediating resources (e.g., course materials, technology tools) and assistance from peer discussions and teacher instruction. However, participants' less use of social and affective strategies indicated their insufficient socially mediated self-regulation, highlighting the need for scaffolded training to cultivate students' self-regulatory skills. The findings further demonstrated the role of students’ English proficiency and year of study in their self-regulated learning, which has implications for fostering an interactive learning community to facilitate optimal student learning in EMI.