PROPOSAL DEFENCE

PROGRAM: PHD. (ENGLISH LANGUAGE STUDIES)

CENTRE FOR LITERACY & SOCIOCULTURAL TRANSFORMATION
FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES & HUMANITIES

WAN AIZAT BIN WAN HASHMI (P90522)

SUPERVISORS:1) DR. KEMBOJA BT. ISMAIL

2) ASSOC. PROF. DR. ROSNIAH BT. MUSTAFFA

EFFECTS OF SELF-REGULATED LEARNING (SRL) STRATEGIES

ON THE COMPETENCIES OF MALAYSIAN UNIVERSITY
POSTGRADUATE EFL STUDENTS IN ACADEMIC WRITING
 PRESENTATION OUTLINE
Introduction

Problem Statement

Research Objectives & Questions

Significance of the Study

Conceptual & Theoretical Framework

Research Design, Context & Sample

Data Collection Procedure, Research Ethics & Summary

 Introduction
• The role of SRL strategies in academic writing
is applicable in three phases: 1. Pre-action
phase; 2. Action phase; 3. Revision phase
(Karlen & Compagnoni 2017)
• Researches in SRL are still limited with regard
to its effects in academic writing
competencies and further elaboration is
needed (Karlen & Compagnoni 2017)
• The impetus for this study is derived from the
researcher’s knowledge of SRL and personal
experience of writing for academic purpose in a
Malaysian higher education institution
• The interest in language learning psychology has
led the researcher into this kind of study
• It has been found out that researchers like Martin
(2007), Thoutenhoofd & Pirrie (2015) and Vassalo
(2012) are in doubt about the effects of SRL
strategies in academic writing competencies
 PROBLEM STATEMENT
The issue of students lacking
in academic writing
competencies

Lack of Self-
Small quantity of
studies using Efficacy for
academic writing
qualitative case
study on SRL
• The issue of students lacking in academic
writing competencies has been mostly
debated in previous studies (Abadikhah,
Aliyan & Talebi 2018; Devi 2013; Mukminin &
Ali 2015; Pereira 2013; Pineteh 2014).
• Very few studies in Malaysia have been done
on EFL postgraduate students’ competencies
in academic writing as the effects of SRL
strategies
• The lack of academic writing competency in
English language has been a serious issue in
Malaysia for many years and managed to puzzled
the former Education Minister and incumbent
Malaysian Minister of Home Affairs with no
concrete ideas for solution (Pereira 2013)
• The lack of competency in English language has
been recognised to be the main factor for all
problems faced by EFL learners in academic
writing (Ghabool, Mariadass & Kashef 2012;
Musa, Lie & Hazita 2012)
• To date, there is no study has been conducted
in Malaysia about the effects of SRL strategies
on English language competency among EFL
students of academic writing
• It is believed that the lack of self-efficacy for
academic writing come from the effect of not
having correct SRL strategies in academic
writing (Panadero 2017)
• It was recorded that majority of first year EFL
students in UKM expressed lack of self-efficacy
for academic writing (David, Thang & Hazita
2015).
• It has been acknowledged that only a small
number of studies have been done through
qualitative case study approach in analysing SRL.
• Most related studies were conducted in
quantitative design
• There is a gap for qualitative work on SRL
strategies among A Malaysian university
postgraduate EFL students.
 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
 To examine how academic writing competencies
of Malaysian university EFL postgraduate
students are being affected by SRL strategies;
 To investigate how academic writing self-efficacy
of Malaysian university EFL postgraduate
students are being affected by SRL strategies;
To identify the challenges that a group of EFL
students face in achieving academic writing
competencies through SRL strategies.
 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
 How academic writing competencies of
Malaysian university EFL postgraduate
students are being affected by SRL strategies?
 How academic writing self-efficacy of
Malaysian university EFL postgraduate
students are being affected by SRL strategies?
 What are the challenges that a group of EFL
students face in achieving academic writing
competencies through SRL strategies?
 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

 Educational emphasis on one aspect of

learning strategies and one group of tertiary
students

The concepts and strategies of improving the

competencies in academic writing through SRL
strategies
 CONTINUATION…
 An important opportunity for its readers to
advance their understanding on the cognitive
difficulties and challenges faced by EFL tertiary
students in academic writing
 Help teachers in designing lesson plan & syllabus
that can elevate students’ competencies in
academic writing
Offers some important insights to stakeholders in
examining how academic writing competencies
can be influenced by SRL strategies and its in-
depth description from a group of students
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
SELF-REGULATED LEARNING
STRATEGIES

Personal Regulation Behavioral self- Environmental SRL

Strategies regulation strategies

Effects of Self-Regulated Learning

Strategies on the Competencies of
Malaysian University EFL Students in
Ethical Responsibility Academic Writing
Competency
Grammar
Language
Vocabulary Competency
Competency
Competency

Paragraphing
Competency
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

The Use of SRL Strategies

Bandura (1986, 1997)

Self-Efficacy (Social
Cognitive Theory)
Bandura (1986)

Academic Writing Proficiency

Flower & Hayes (1981),
Witte & Faigley (1981)
Strategies in Self-Regulated Learning
No. Strategies
(SRL)
Definition Examples
1. Self-evaluation Declarations that indicate the “… I checked my
students’ assessments about work to make sure
the quality or progress of their it was good”.
work
2. Organisation and Declarations that indicate the “… I always make a
transformation students’ initiatives to scheme before
reorganize, improving the elaborating the
learning materials. chemical
experience reports”.
3. Goal setting and Declarations indicating the “… I start studying
planning setting of educational two weeks before
objectives: planning, phase in the test and I feel at
time and conclusion of ease”.
activities related to these
objectives.
4. Information seeking Declarations indicating the “… before starting a
students’ efforts to obtain extra task, I go to the
information from non-social school library to
sources when facing a school collect as much
task. information as
possible on the
theme”.
5. Record keeping Declaration indicating the efforts “… during class I
to register events or results take as many notes
as possible about
what the teacher is
presenting”.
6. Environmental Declarations indicating efforts to “… in order not to
structuring select or change the physical or get distracted, I
psychological environment to isolate myself in the
promote learning. room” or “… to
focus on what I am
doing, I turn off the
sound”.
7. Giving self- Declarations indicating the “… if I go well on the
consequences imagination or putting in practice of test, I buy some
rewards or punishments for success chocolates”.
or failure in schools.
8. Rehearsing and Declarations indicating the students’ “… when preparing
memorising initiatives and efforts to memorize for a physics test, I
the material. write down the
formula plenty of
times until I know it
by heart”.
9.-11 Seeking social Declarations indicating the students’ “… if I feel
assistance initiatives and efforts to seek help difficulties to study, I
from peers (9); teachers (10); and ask my father for
adults (11). help, who’s a
physician”.
12-14 Reviewing Declarations indicating the student’s “… before the test I
efforts-initiatives to reread the notes always review the
(12); test (13); and textbooks (14), to summaries of the
prepare for a class or written subject I took” or
exercises. “To prepare for a
test, I solve the
outlines of the tests
I have already done”.
 RESEARCH CONTEXT

• The study will be conducted at one of the public universities in Malaysia

• The university will be one the top universities in Malaysia and one of the
top 1% of universities that come from Asia according to the latest Times
Higher Education ranking (Anon. 2019; The Times Higher Education 2019)

• The educational environment of the institution is highly influenced by

Malay Language which is the national language in Malaysia

• The Faculty of Education will be selected as the preferred site for the
proposed study because it has one academic writing course being taught
in English language for its postgraduate students
• The proposed study will take its data from one
academic writing classroom in one Malaysian
public university
• The choosing of the setting is with the aim to
study the effect of SRL strategies in public
university that commonly take Malay Language as
its medium of instruction
• Qualitative case study will be focusing on a small
number of EFL postgraduate students who are
taking academic writing class in one semester
 RESEARCH SAMPLE
• Purposive sampling strategy also known as qualitative
sampling (Creswell 2014) will be used in this study
• There are a number of reasons as to why purposive
sampling strategy is chosen for this proposed study:
i. availability and ease of data collection
ii. to make sure that the research is answerable to the
research questions
iii. The third and last reason is because of the small
quantity of respondents for this proposed qualitative
research
- Certain criteria is identified for choosing the
right sample for this proposed case study and
it as the following:
a) EFL student who are taking academic writing
course
b) Willingness to participate in the study
DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURES
• Three instruments for data collection strategy
will be employed. These can be designated as
the following:
a) Observations.
b) Formal interviews with EFL postgraduate
students of Malaysian university.
c) Document Analysis.
a) Observations
- According to Gay & Airasian (2003), a non-participatory observation
is exceptionally useful because it is less intrusive and less likely for
the researcher to become emotionally involved with the
participants
- In the context of this study, the classroom observation will be
conducted over a period of one semester.
- Only one class will be involved, Academic Writing class for EFL
students in Faculty of Education.
- The class is selected based on the criteria that the medium of
instruction is in English and that the course is requisite or
compulsory to be taken by EFL postgraduate students.
- For all observation sessions, a continuous hand written journal will
be kept by the researcher
- The journal will record not only observable activities in the
classrooms, but also comments as well as any analytical insights
that are related with SRL strategies.
- The researcher will observe the up and down in academic writing
class while not leaving out the core research objectives and the
research questions in which the researcher is seeking answers for it
- The observation data will be coded and
tabulated and later kept for further works

b) Interviews
- The major portion of data collection will be
collected through face-to-face semi-structured
interviews. The instrument is the major source
of qualitative data needed to understand the
case study under focus in this proposed study.
- The interviews can also be identified as focus
interviews as there will be long and frequent
interviews, guided as well as open ended
questions with semi-structured questions as its
format. All of the interviews will be conducted in
English and recorded using an audio-tape.
- Before each interview, the researcher will provide
the interviewee with an outline of what will be
going to be discussed in order to make sure the
researcher get what is needed for the research
c) Document Analysis
- With regard to this case study, the researcher
chooses to conduct document analysis because
the proposed case study focuses only on one
group of students and needs a supporting data
that can be used to provide a thick description
of data.
- Documents such as course outlines, textbooks
and reading materials provided in the course,
lecturers’ teaching slides, students’ notes and
works as well as the oral presentation slides
will be taken as important documents to be
reviewed and analysed.
 RESEARCH ETHICS
In order to make sure this research is following the
correct ethics and do not violate any laws, the researcher
will implement some of the Code of Practice outlined by
Mohd. Sofi Ali (2008). Below is the code of practice that
the researcher will apply before collecting the data:
1. Relevant persons will be consulted and asked to grant
approval for the study to be carried out.

2. For the purpose of recording, the researcher will seek

permission from the relevant parties. If the parties
decline, the researcher will seek to note taking.
3. Explicit authorization will be obtained before the researcher
examines files, correspondence, policies or other documentation.
Copies of the documents will be taken with permission from the
parties concerned

4. Actor is allowed to challenge the researcher’s accounts on the

ground of fairness, relevance and accuracy. Transcribed copies of
interviews will be sent to them to examine and make amendments to
the interviews, meetings and written exchanges (only once). Due to
time factor, those described will be allowed to return the amended
transcripts within two weeks. If they do not respond within the
specified time, the researcher will then consider that they have agreed
with the content or interview.
5. Researcher has the right to his study. The
researcher will accept responsibility to maintain
confidentiality on all information given by those
described. The identity of those described will
remain anonymous.
 SUMMARY
• Chapter 1: Introduction
- Firstly, the chapter establishes the significant of studying SRL
strategies and academic writing competencies by providing an implicit
view on how SRL strategies can be regarded as the best predictor for
academic attainment.
- The concept of self-efficacy is being shown to be interdependent
with SRL strategies and it is being described as a prerequisite for
academic writing competencies.
- The argument can be debated and need to be further studied in order
to fulfill the intellectual orgasm of various researchers in this field.
- Three research objectives and research questions have been
formulated to seek out the underlying truth about the effect of SRL
strategies on academic writing competencies.
• Chapter 2: Review of Literature

- The chapter starts with discussion on the theoretical framework of the proposed study.

- It has been decided in it that Social Cognitive Theory will be the main theory of the research while
the SRL strategies will be guided under Zimmerman & Pons (1986) identification with SRL
strategies.

- The diagram for theoretical framework is shown at the end of chapter and it is a pictorial description
of the early part of this chapter. Among the topics covered in this chapter are SRL strategies,
metacognition in SRL strategies, self-efficacy and academic writing.

- By reviewing the literature, the gaps can be known and further study can be conducted. Nonetheless,
the process of reviewing literature will not stop until the final conclusion for this study has been
reached.
• Chapter 3: Research Methodology
By observing the chapter, it can be summarized that qualitative case
study is the preferred research design for this prospective study.
Furthermore, the scope of this study is only directed towards one
group of students, one course and one university. Only three
instruments will be used and it can be divided into observations,
interviews and document analysis. The uniqueness of this chapter is in
its research ethics, in which it is a strategic procedure on how to get
the qualitative data. Moreover, it is also has been described by the
researcher that there are seven steps in analyzing the qualitative data
and it can be delineated as the following: 1) Data management; 2)
Data storage; 3) Data reduction; 4) Data categorization and preliminary
analysis; 5) Further data analysis; 6) Identifying and classifying the
themes, issues and phenomena in the data; 7) Data re-construction,
re-analysis after in-depth triangulation techniques are applied, and re-
interpretation.