Structural Equation Modelling of Interrelated Dimensions of Self-Regulated Learning among Saudi EFL University Students
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33152/jmphss-10.3.12Keywords:
Cognitive strategies; EFL; persistence; self-evaluation; self-regulated learning; social strategies; structural equation modelling.Abstract
Although self-regulated learning has received considerable attention in second language research, much of this work has examined individual strategies or broad strategy categories, leaving the structural relationships among specific forms of regulation less clearly understood in EFL settings. This study examined how eight self-regulated learning strategy dimensions are related among Saudi undergraduate EFL learners. A quantitative cross-sectional correlational design was employed. Following the adaptation of the questionnaire of English self-regulated learning strategies, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted with two independent samples of 240 learners, resulting in a 41-item measurement structure comprising eight dimensions. Structural equation modelling was then conducted with a main sample of 789 undergraduate EFL learners. The findings revealed systematic relationships across reflective, cognitive, motivational, and socially oriented forms of regulation. Self-evaluation was positively associated with organising and transforming, while persistence was strongly related to rehearsing and memorising and seeking opportunities. Seeking social assistance was closely associated with the use of the native language, and organising and transforming was positively related to interpretive guessing. The analysis also identified indirect relationships linking self-evaluation to persistence through rehearsing and memorising, and organising and transforming to seeking opportunities through seeking social assistance. Persistence occupied a particularly prominent position in the model and showed a substantially stronger relationship with interpretive guessing than seeking opportunities. These findings advance a relational account of self-regulated language learning in which strategy dimensions are functionally distinct but systematically connected. More specifically, the results position persistence as an important motivational component associated with cognitive strategy use, opportunity seeking, and inferential processing. The study extends current understanding of how self-regulation is organised among Saudi EFL learners and provides a basis for instructional approaches that connect reflective appraisal, strategic action, sustained engagement, and purposeful use of social resources rather than addressing individual strategies in isolation.
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