Promoting EFL Learners’ Self-regulated Learning using a Self-recorded Video-Speaking Task in an Online ESP Course

Abstract

This study examined self-recorded video-speaking tasks of 48 Korean university students in an online English for Special Purposes (ESP) course to determine the task’s contribution to learners’ self-regulation while learning English as a foreign language (EFL). Students selected and researched topics in science and engineering, self-recording three-to-five-minute speaking videos and sharing them via a learning management system (LMS) with unsynchronized question-and-answer (Q&A) peer interaction. Then, they submitted self-reflections on their course experiences. I analyzed speaking videos and self-reflections to examine self-regulation. The results showed positive speaking proficiency but less sufficient pronunciation and grammar than other components (fluency, vocabulary, and content), suggesting that EFL learners in ESP courses require more effort in learning technical terms in their natural spoken language. Also, they intertwined components of Zimmerman and Moylan’s (2009) three-phase self-regulated model into their tasks. They linked subsequent goal-setting to motivation and self-efficiency. The self-recording process provided opportunities to rehearse pronunciation, fluency, and organization; an imagery process helped cognitive memory for fluency and vocabulary. Technology was a good helping tool to support self-taught learning. However, instructors should guide speaking with a camera on or not simply reading from pre-written manuscripts for better self-regulated learning.