From Strategy Awareness to Engagement: Self-Regulated Learning Strategies-Based Writing Instruction in L2 Essay Development

The contribution of self-regulated learning (SRL) strategies to second language (L2) education has recently garnered significant attention in various contexts. However, the way these strategies interact with task engagement in the domain of specific language skills such as L2 writing has been overlooked. To fill this gap, this study employed an experimental–comparison group, pretest–posttest design, conducted within a mixed-methods sequential explanatory design, to investigate whether and how SRL strategies-based writing instruction of English argumentative essays affected L2 learners’ task engagement in the short and long term. The intervention and control intervention consisted of a 14-session instructional program on writing English argumentative essays. The intervention was enhanced with an SRL strategies-based instruction based on the self-regulated strategy development (SRSD) model. Quantitative findings suggest that SRL strategies-based writing instruction positively affected learners' task engagement. Based on the qualitative analyses, it appears that teaching writing using SRL strategies led to learners’ awareness of strategy use, familiarity with strategies, variety, and an increase in the use of strategies. Altogether, these findings may suggest that the SRL strategies-based writing instruction significantly improved learners’ task engagement by enhancing their awareness and use of SRL strategies in writing English essays.