Relationships among Out-of-Class Learning, Self-Regulation, Self-Efficacy, and L2 Comprehension Skills

This study investigated specific subcomponents of self-regulated learning (SRL) that play a significant role in predicting out-of-class learning (OCL) and the relative contributions of SRL, self-efficacy (SE) and L2 comprehension skills (L2CS) to individual differences in OCL. In order to examine a mutual relationship between OCL and L2CS, OCL, SRL, and SE were regressed on L2CS measured three months later. One-hundred nine college freshmen completed the questionnaires on the tested variables and participated in the two L2 comprehension tests. The multiple regression analyses showed that the model of three subcomponents of SRL had 28% of explanatory power for OCL; the first stage of SRL, forethought, was shown to be the only significant predictor of OCL. The model of SRL, L2CS, and SE was found to account for 41.4% of variances in OCL, with SE as the only significant predictor. Similarly, the model of SRL, OCL, and SE was found to have 46.6% of explanatory power of the second measure of L2CS with SE as the only significant predictor. Prominent roles of forethought in SRL and SE in OCL and L2CS were discussed along with pedagogical implications. (187 words)