Effects of Self-Regulatory Strategy Development on EFL Learner's Descriptive Writing and Reflective Thinking

Writing is a demanding, complicated, and fundamental skill which is highly noticeable in the process of learning a foreign language. Thus, it is so important to teach English as a foreign language (EFL) learners how to write effectively in English through effective strategies and instructions and prompt their reflective thinking during EFL learning. This study investigated the effectiveness of using self-regulated strategy development (SRSD) instruction in improving Iranian EFL learner's descriptive writing and reflective thinking skills and compared the effectiveness of such instruction with nonstrategic-based (i.e., traditional) instruction. To these ends, 30 Iranian advanced EFL learners were selected to participate in the two (experimental and control) groups. To collect data, two descriptive essays and a reflective thinking questionnaire were used as the pretest and posttest. The analysis of covariance on the descriptive essay and reflective thinking scores in the control and experimental groups showed that both SRSD and non-SRSD instructions had a positive impact on the EFL participant's descriptive writing skill but, the participants in the SRSD group achieved better outcomes in their descriptive writing; the SRSD instruction was effective in improving the completeness, length, and overall quality of the EFL learner's descriptive writing performance. Also, SRSD instruction improved the learner's reflective thinking more than the non-SRSD instruction by making them metacognitively aware of their cognitive processes and monitoring, analyzing, and evaluating their descriptive writing performance. The findings draw attention to the importance of using SRSD as a possible way for moving EFL learners away from traditional instructions to process-oriented strategies in writing courses.