论文信息 - The Impact of Self-directed Learning Strategies on Reading Comprehension

The Impact of Self-directed Learning Strategies on Reading Comprehension

For several decades, self-directed learning (SDL) has been a major focus of adult education (Merriam and Caffarella 1999) since the publication of Malcolm Knowles' book in 1975. However, this study aims to investigate the impact of self-directed learning on learners' reading comprehension proficiency and the measurements that teachers can do to encourage self-direction among adult learners. This is done by introducing self-direction strategies of reading comprehension, to the learners to be able to monitor their own learning. To this end, they applied more of the metacognitive strategies that are believed to be at the heart of self-directed activity (Grow, 2010). 92 upper-intermediate and advanced female Iranian EFL learners, studying English in IELTS & TOEFL Center of Arian in Gorgan, Iran, randomly selected and divided into two groups: experimental and control that the same syllabus and assessment procedures followed. The instrument includes an IELTS reading test. Finally, the data gathered by the experiment of the study was analyzed through SPSS software, using Independent Samples t-test. The results reveal that there is a significant difference between mean score of TDL (Teacher-Directed Learning) and SDL, and after treatment students perform better that proves superiority of self-directed over teacher-directed readers.

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