





































Putri Anggraeni, et al / Journal of English Language Teaching 6 (1) (2017) 

10 

 

 
ELT FORUM 11(1) (2022) 

 

Journal of English Language Teaching 

 
http://journal.unnes.ac.id/sju/index.php/elt 

 
 

EFL students’ self-regulated online learning in the expository and analytical 

writing course 

 

Firnanda Salsabila1 
 
1State University of Surabaya, Indonesia  

 

Article Info 
________________  
Article History: 

Received on 9 July 

2021  
Approved on 3 March 

2022 

Published on 30 March 

2022 

________________  
Keywords:  

Expository and 

analytical writing 

course; forethought 

phase; performance 

phase; self-reflection 

phase; self-regulated 

online learning  
____________________ 

  
 
 

 

 

Abstract 
________________________________________________________________ 

The online learning environment provides a flexible learning environment where the 

students can learn anytime and anywhere despite the distance. Since the teaching 
and learning process shifts into online learning, the students should be able to 

manage their learning process by themselves. Implementing self-regulated online 
learning could help the students to be responsible for their learning process to 

achieve good academic performance. Several previous studies already discussed the 

implementation of self-regulated online learning across four language skills; 
listening, speaking, reading, and writing. However, in writing courses, the previous 

studies did not mention the specific writing text applied in self-regulated online 
learning. This study aimed to identify the frequency of the undergraduates’ use of 

forethought phase, performance phase, and self-reflection phase in self-regulated 
online learning toward expository and analytical writing course. The instrument 

used in this study was the OSEL Questionnaire which consisted of three phases: 

forethought phase, performance phase, and self-reflection phase. The subject 
enrolled in this study were 46 students from the freshmen class of the English 

Education program at one state university in Indonesia. In general, the result 
showed that three phases in self-regulated online learning toward expository and 

analytical writing course have medium means which were above 3.00. Only task 
strategies that had the lowest mean from all the sub-points were presented. Further 

discussion will explain previous studies and theories that support the finding of this 

research.    
 
  

Correspondence Address: p-ISSN 2252-6706 | e-ISSN 2721-4532 
T4 Building FBS Unesa  

Lidah Wetan, Surabaya, 60213  

E-mail: firnandabella@gmail.com  

http://issn.pdii.lipi.go.id/issn.cgi?daftar&1333515478&1&&
http://issn.pdii.lipi.go.id/issn.cgi?daftar&1576658845&1&&


Firnanda Salsabila | ELT Forum 11(2) (2022) 

11 

 

INTRODUCTION 

The COVID-19 pandemic became a global health crisis that has massive impacts on global human 

lives. It also affected the world of education. The teaching–learning process shifts from a face-to-face 

approach into a distance learning approach or called online learning. According to (Ally, 2008), 

online learning is defined as the use of internet to access the learning material and to interact with 

teachers and peers. (Picciano & Seaman, 2007) add that online learning also covers both the 

instruction and the assessment toward learning material given. To support online learning, 

Information and Computer Technology (ICT) developed into various forms  including a chat room, 

video teleconference, and learning management system (Charoenwet & Christensen, 2016) The 

online learning environment provides both benefits and challenges. The online learning environment 

provides benefits both for the students and the teachers as stated by (Ally, 2008). For the students, 

they can have a flexible learning environment where they can learn anytime and anywhere despite 

the distance. For teachers, the teaching process could be done anywhere and online learning 

material could be updated anytime. Besides providing benefits for both the students and the teachers, 

online learning also provides challenges for the students and the teachers. According to (Lie, 2020), 

the problems faced by the students and the teachers are the lack of access to the internet and low-

tech gadget. (Bali & Liu, 2018) state  that besides technical problems, online learning also 

contributed to a lack of social presence toward the students and the teachers and a lack of students’ 

engagement toward the learning material. 

Despite the benefits and challenges faced by the students during online learning, another 

point that should be focused on is the teaching and learning process in online learning. In a face-to-

face learning environment, teachers play the main role in directing the students during the learning 

process. Since the teaching and learning process shifts into online learning, the students should be 

able to manage their learning process on their own. Students’ management of their learning process 

is defined as self-regulated learning. (Zimmerman, Barry J.; Moylan, 2009) determine self-regulated 

learning as one’s responsibility toward his or her learning process to achieve good academic 

performance. In self-regulated learning, there are three cyclical phases; forethought phase, 

performance phase and self-reflection phase. Each phase has two sub-categories that explain the 

detailed points of self-regulated learning. In the forethought phase, there are two sub-categories; task 

analysis and self-motivational beliefs. In the performance phase, there are two sub-categories; self-

control and self-observation. In the self-reflection phase, there are also two sub-categories; self-

judgments and self-reaction. Since this study focuses on online learning, the term would be self-

regulated online learning. 

Several previous studies discuss self-regulated online learning. The first study was conducted 

by (Lear, Li, & Prentice, 2016). This study aimed to explore the self-regulated online learning 

applied by 20 undergraduate students in Australia through a Web-based platform called Study Skills 

Success that offers ten courses which are academic reading, academic listening, independent 

learning, academic writing, grammar, critical thinking, describing visuals, research, vocabulary, and 

academic speaking. The results show the four most used self-regulated online learning that are self-

motivation, positive thinking, information seeking, and obtaining feedback. The second study was 

conducted by (Jimoyiannis, Schiza, & Tsiotakis, 2018). The purpose of this study is to investigate 

self-regulated online learning applied by the students through online academic writing courses using 

blogs. The participants of this study are 20 students from the Department of Social and Educational 

Policy at University of Peloponnese, Greece. Each student is required to make content about a 

scientific article on their blog. The finding presents that there are two self-regulated online learning 

mostly used by the students which are monitoring and strategy use with each frequency are 48.6% 

and 39.8%. 

From those previous studies, several research gaps can be explored more. The first gap is the 

variation of courses. Both studies discussed writing course and the rest are another skill course 

which ranges from reading, listening, and speaking. The writing courses discussed above do not 

mention the specific writing text. The second gap is the participants. Both of the studies present the 

same number of participants and only one study mentions the major at which the students learned. 

The third gap is the variation of platforms used in online learning. The first study applied a web-

based platform while the second study used a blog in conducting online learning. Based on the 

research gaps, there is a problem arises on how much do the undergraduates use self-regulated 

online learning in expository and analytical writing course toward online learning environment. The 

objective of this study is to know the frequency of the undergraduates’ use of forethought phase, 



Firnanda Salsabila | ELT Forum 11(2) (2022) 

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performance phase, and self-reflection phase in self-regulated online learning toward expository and 

analytical writing course. 

 

Self-regulated online learning 

According to (Zimmerman, Barry J.; Moylan, 2009), self-regulated learning is defined as one’s 

responsibility toward his or her learning process to achieve good academic outcome. In self-

regulated learning, there are three major phases which are forethought phase, performance phase, 

and self-reflection phase. Each phase has two sub-categories to explain the detail of learning 

strategies. The forethought phase consists of task analysis and self-motivation beliefs. The 

performance phase consists of self-control and self-observation. The self-reflection phase consists of 

self-judgment and self-reaction. 

The forethought phase is stated as the step where the learners prepare their learning goals and 

motivation before the learning process begins. This phase has two sub-categories which are task 

analysis and self-motivation beliefs. Task analysis is divided into two sub-points which are goal-

setting and strategic planning. Goal-setting refers to the specific outcome that learners want to 

achieve in a short time, for instance making an essay in three days. Strategic planning is defined as 

the learners’ choice of learning strategies that are beneficial for them to attain good academic 

performance. Self-motivation beliefs have four sub-points which are self-efficacy, outcome 

expectations, task interest, and goal orientation. According to (Zimmerman, Bandura, & Martinez-

Pons, 1992) self-efficacy is defined as one’s beliefs of his or her capabilities to learn and perform well 

in academic performance. Outcome expectations refer to the final prediction of one’s academic 

performance, whether the learners will perform the assigned academic project well or not. Task 

interest refers to one’s action of liking or disliking the assigned academic task. Goal orientation 

refers to the purpose of learning.  

The performance phase is stated as the step where the learners monitor their learning process. 

This phase has two sub-categories which are self-control and self-observation. Self-control consists of 

eight sub-points which are task strategies, self-instruction, imagery, time management, 

environmental structuring, help-seeking, interest incentives, and self-consequences. Task strategies 

refer to the specific learning strategies applied by the learners to accomplish a particular task. Self-

instruction refers to the explicit or implicit instruction as the learners accomplish the task. Imagery 

refers to the mental pictures to assist the learning process, which transforms the contextual 

information into visual diagrams. Time management is defined as the time allocation needed to 

accomplish a task. Environmental structuring refers to the learners’ learning space which needs to be 

free of any distraction that later help learners to do a task better. Help-seeking refers to the social 

assistance from both the instructor and the peers to help the learners to accomplish a task. Interest 

incentives refer to the high quality of a task that makes the learning process more interesting. Self-

consequences refer to the reward or punishment received by the learners toward the assigned task. 

Self-observation has two sub-points that are metacognitive monitoring and self-recording. 

Metacognitive monitoring refers to the learners’ tracking of the learning process and outcomes 

produced. Self-recording refers to formal records made by the learners to trace their learning process. 

The self-reflection phase has two sub-categories which are self-judgment and self-reaction. 

Self-judgment has two sub-points which are self-evaluation and causal attribution. Self-evaluation 

refers to the comparison of students’ outcome toward a standard given. Causal attribution refers to 

the contribution of the learners’ abilities, efforts, and the use of strategies. Self-reaction has two sub-

points which are self-satisfaction and adaptive or defensive action. Self-satisfaction refers to the 

learners’ feelings toward the assigned task and the learning strategies applied. Adaptive or defensive 

action refers to the learners’ decision in the learning process, whether to adapt the learning strategies 

already applied then modify it to adjust their need or to defend the learning strategies in which the 

learners no longer to put big effort and strategy use in accomplishing a task. 

 

 

 

 



Firnanda Salsabila | ELT Forum 11(2) (2022) 

13 

 

METHODS 

This study applied the quantitative method which gathers the data mostly in the form of numbers 

(Ary, Donald., Jacobs, Lucy Cheser., Sorensen, 2010)(). Since the objective of this study was to 

investigate the frequency of self-regulated online learning applied by EFL undergraduate students, 

this study used a survey as the research design. According to (Ary, Donald., Jacobs, Lucy Cheser., 

Sorensen, 2010), survey research is defined as a list of questions or statements made by the researcher 

to collect responses from the participants about their beliefs, opinions, characteristics, and attitudes 

toward a certain issue. This study used convenience sampling as the researcher intended to do survey 

research toward the available classes at the university. 

The subject enrolled in this study were 46 students from the total population of the English 

Education program from the freshmen class batch 2020 which were 90 students. This study uses the 

freshmen class (batch 2020) because they experience online learning due to COVID_19 pandemic, 

which the previous batch did not. Based on this condition, it can be said that this study can be 

generalized only for batch 2020 of English Education study program. The students who filled out the 

questionnaire were divided into four classes; class A with 13 students, class B with 14 students, class 

C with 13 students, and class D with 6 students. This study was conducted at one state university in 

Indonesia. The subject already took the Expository and Analytical Writing Course as one of 

compulsory courses in the English Department. 

This study applied the Online Self-Regulated English Learning (OSEL) questionnaire adapted 

from (Martinez-Lopez, Yot, Tuovila, & Perera-Rodríguez, 2017) and (Zheng, Liang, Li, & Tsai, 

2018). This instrument measured the frequency of students’ use of self-regulated online learning 

toward online courses. This instrument covered six categories of self-regulated online learning which 

were goal-setting, environment structuring, task strategies, time management, help-seeking, and self-

evaluation. This instrument has 20 items which divided into six categories; goal setting has four 

items, environmental structuring has three items, task strategies have four items, time management 

has three items, help-seeking has three items, and self-evaluation has three items. All of the 

questionnaire items use positive statements. Some adaptations were made in the questionnaire by 

doing word changing and removing several items of each category that do not fit the need of this 

study. The researcher does the construct validity by checking the questionnaire to an expert as stated 

by (Ary, Donald., Jacobs, Lucy Cheser., Sorensen, 2010). The reliability of this questionnaire range 

from 0 (no consistency) until 1.0 (perfectly consistent) as stated by (Ary, Donald., Jacobs, Lucy 

Cheser., Sorensen, 2010). This questionnaire also do field testing both initial piloting and final 

piloting to several students. This instrument used the scoring Likert scale from 1-5 which the 

responses range from never until always which is based on (Ary, Donald., Jacobs, Lucy Cheser., 

Sorensen, 2010) 

This study collects the data by spreading the OSEL questionnaire to 2020 class of the English 

Education program students who already took Expository and Analytical Writing Course as one of 

compulsory courses in the English Department. The researcher will give the Google form link to the 

representatives of the 2020 class then they could share it with their classmates to fill the 

questionnaire. This study uses data triangulation to collect the data. Data triangulation defined as 

applying more than one particular approach to perceive richer data or to confirm the result of a 

research (Wilson, 2014). According to (Flick, 2009), data triangulation has three main points which 

are using different times to collect the data, using different places to collect the data, and involving 

different  people to collect the data. The procedure begins by asking the lecturer’s permission to 

collect the data from his/her class then they check the researcher’s questionnaire to examine if the 

questionnaire fulfilled the qualification. The next procedure is the researcher contacts the 

representatives of batch 2020 students from four different classes to spread the questionnaire via 

WhatsApp. The last procedure is the researcher do the checking process via Google Form to observe 

the total number of students who filled out the questionnaire. 

This study analyzed the data by using mean as the stable measure of central tendency that 

show the average of students’ use of self-regulated online learning and standard deviation to show 

homogenous or heterogeneous the scores in the distribution of students’ use of self-regulated online 

learning. The next process was to convert the numbers into percentages to see the proportion of 

students’ use of self-regulated online learning toward three phases; forethought phase, performance 

phase, and self-reflection phase as stated by (Ary, Donald., Jacobs, Lucy Cheser., Sorensen, 2010) 

According to the study conducted by (Reja, Manfreda, Hlebec, & Vehovar, 2003) about frequency 

distributions of open-ended questionnaire and close-ended questionnaire, there are three percentage 



Firnanda Salsabila | ELT Forum 11(2) (2022) 

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categories; the first category is the percentage below 10% considered as low percentage, the second 

category is the percentage from 10% until 20% considered as medium percentage, and the third 

category is the percentage above 20% considered as high percentage.  

 

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 

The result of this research is presented by the table and bar charts.  Table 1 showed the mean and the 

standard deviation from the OSEL Questionnaire filled out by 46 students from freshmen class at 

one state university in Indonesia. The first sub-point is goal-setting which is related to the 

forethought phase. The forethought phase is defined as the students’ preparation and planning 

process to do self-regulated online learning from the beginning until the end of the course. The 

second sub-points are the part of performance phase which are environmental structuring, task 

strategies, time management, and help-seeking. The performance phase refers to the students’ effort 

to do self-regulated online learning. The efforts range from choosing a convenient place, applying 

strategies to accomplish course assignments, managing study time, and seeking help from others. 

The third sub-point is self-reflection which is stated as the self-reflection phase. In the self-reflection 

phase, the students evaluate their whole learning process from the beginning until the end of the 

course. 

 

Table 1. The mean and standard deviation of OSEL questionnaire 

 

No. Items Mean SD 

 Goal-setting   

1. Short term goal 3.74 .871 
2. Long term goal 3.38 .945 

3. Standard setting 4.02 .707 

4. Time setting 3.60 .925 
 Environmental structuring   

5. Working location set 3.85 1.161 
6. Convenient time 4.00 .956 

7. Efficiency 4.02 .897 
 Task strategies   

8. Note taking 3.51 1.019 

9. Highlighting 1.77 .428 
10. Summarizing 2.68 .958 

11. Making a mind-map 2.68 1.181 
 Time management   

12. Keep regular schedule 2.89 1.127 
13. Allocating extra study time 3.15 1.042 

14. Keep track daily 3.11 .890 

 Help-seeking   
15. Sharing problems with friends 3.79 1.082 

16. Doing peer-feedback 3.77 .960 
17. Consult with lecturers 3.19 1.035 

 Self-evaluation   
18. Making study journal 3.02 .921 

19. Checking progress 3.47 1.060 

20. Monitoring 3.47 1.080 

 

 

The undergraduates’ use of forethought phase in self-regulated online learning toward expository 

and analytical writing course  

Forethought phase 

From the bar chart presented in Figure 1. The proportion of forethought phase, the result of the 

forethought phase is relatively high. All four items in the questionnaire have means above 3.00. 

Consecutively, the first item has a mean of 3.74 which stated the short-term goal in online learning. 

The second item has a mean of 3.38 which stated the long-term goal in online learning. The third 

item has a mean of 4.02 which stated the standard setting related to writing rubric in online course. 

The fourth item has a mean of 3.60 which stated the time setting related to study time in doing online 



Firnanda Salsabila | ELT Forum 11(2) (2022) 

15 

 

course assignments. The proportion in the forethought phase is quite the same from all four sub-

points. In the short-term goal, 23 students (48.9%) stated that they often use it. In the long-term goal, 

19 students (40.4%) stated that they often use it. In the standard setting, 24 students (51.1%) stated 

that they often apply it. In the time setting, 18 students (38.3%) stated that they often apply it. From 

the result presented, it can be concluded that most of the students often use the forethought phase in 

self-regulated online learning. 

 

 

Figure 1. The proportion of forethought phase 

 

Based on the finding, goal-setting becomes the key point to achieve a good result in learning 

courses that students attended. This statement is proved by (Zimmerman, Barry J.; Moylan, 2009) 

theory about the importance of goal-setting in the learning process. (Zimmerman, Barry J.; Moylan, 

2009) state that the students who have strong goal-setting will have strong self-reflection toward their 

learning process so they can achieve a good result in the learning course. According to the finding of 

this research, both the mean of forethought phase and self-reflection phase is relatively high which 

the means are above 3.00. It could be stated that self-regulated online learning theory from 

Zimmerman and Moylan (2009) supported the finding. 

The finding and the theory of self-regulated online learning are supported by previous studies 

conducted by (Lear et al., 2016) and (Zheng et al., 2018). The first study was conducted by (Lear et 

al., 2016) discuss self-regulated online learning implemented in ten courses including academic 

writing in one university in Australia. The result shows that most of the students apply goal-setting in 

the academic writing course. Specifically, the students applied short-term goal-setting where they set 

a weekly goal to accomplish the assignment in online course. The second study was conducted by 

(Zheng et al., 2018) discuss the relationship between English language learners’ motivation and self-

regulated online learning. The finding shows that most of the students often applied goal-setting. This 

statement is proved by the means of the questionnaire which is above 3.00. 

 

The undergraduates’ use of performance phase in self-regulated online learning toward expository 

and analytical writing course  

Performance phase 

According to the bar chart presented in Figure 2. The proportion of performance phase, the 

result of the performance phase in self-regulated online learning is relatively high. Only one sub-point 

that has a mean below 3.00 which is task strategies. The detail of each sub-point will be discussed 

below. 

 

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Short term goal Long term goal Standard setting Time setting

Forethought Phase

3 = Sometimes 4 = Often 5 = Always



Firnanda Salsabila | ELT Forum 11(2) (2022) 

16 

 

 

Figure 2. The proportion of performance phase 

 

Environmental structuring 

In environmental structuring, all of the items have means above 3.00. Consecutively, the first item 

has a mean of 3.85 which stated the working location set referred to as choosing a place with few 

distractions to do online course assignment. The second item has a mean of 4.00 which stated the 

convenient time referred to as the perfect time chosen to do an online course assignment. The third 

item has a mean of 4.02 which stated the efficiency referred to as the place chosen to do online 

course assignment effectively. Based on the bar chart above, only the third item which is efficiency 

presented because it has a high mean from the other two items. There are 19 students (40.4%) who 

stated that they often apply it. From the result presented, it can be concluded that most of the 

students always pay attention to environmental structuring to do online course assignment perfectly. 

According to the finding, environmental structuring can affect the students’ learning process as 

stated by (Zimmerman, Barry J.; Moylan, 2009) (Zimmerman, Barry J.; Moylan, 2009) affirm that 

environmental structuring is a part of self-control to increase the effectiveness of the learning process 

which is related to the learners’ study place. By choosing a good place to accomplish learning 

assignments, the students will get better achievement in their learning process. This theory supported 

the finding of this study. 

The finding and the theory are supported by a previous study conducted by (Zheng et al., 

2018). The result shows that most of the students applied environmental structuring which was 

proved by the means of the questionnaire that are above 3.00. (Zheng et al., 2018) also state that by 

implementing environmental structuring, the students can have satiation control so that the students 

can achieve a good result in their learning process. 

 

Task strategies 

In task strategies, all of the items have means below 3.00 except for the first item that has a mean of 

3.51 which stated about taking detailed notes during online learning. This sub-point has the lowest 

mean than the other three sub-points; environmental structuring, time management, and help-

seeking. Consecutively, the second item has a mean of 1.77 which stated about highlighting main 

points from online course. The third item has a mean of 2.68 which stated about making a summary 

of the online course. The fourth item has a mean of 2.68 which stated about making a mind-map to 

organize essay structure in the online course. Based on the bar chart above, only the first item which 

is note-taking presented because it has a high mean rather than the other three items. There are 14 

students (29.8%) who stated that they sometimes use it, also there are 15 students (31.9%) who stated 

that they often use it. Both the frequency scale only has one dispute in terms of the number of the 

subject. From the result presented, it can be concluded that most of the students are seldom 

implement task strategies in the online course, except for note-taking. 

Based on the finding of this research, task strategies become the key point in self-regulated 

online learning to accomplish a specific task to achieve a good result in the learning process 

(Zimmerman, Barry J.; Moylan, 2009). According to (Oxford, 1990), task strategies in self-regulated 

learning had various forms such as taking notes, summarizing, and highlighting. In this research, 

0

10

20

30

40

50

Environmental
structuring

Task strategies Time management Help seeking

Performance Phase

3 = Sometimes 4 = Often 5 = Always



Firnanda Salsabila | ELT Forum 11(2) (2022) 

17 

 

only note-taking that has medium mean. For highlighting, summarizing, and making a mind-map 

have means below 3.00. This result contradicts with Zimmerman and Moylan’s theory about task 

strategies. Further research should be done to analyze the factors causing the small use of task 

strategies in self-regulated online learning. 

The finding and the theory are supported by a previous study conducted by (Zheng et al., 

2018). The result shows that most of the student implement note taking in online learning rather than 

other strategies. The mean of taking detailed notes in the questionnaire is 3.18. Taking detailed note 

in online learning is even more important than taking note in the regular classroom environment. 

 

Time management 

In time management, two out of three items have means above 3.00 except for the first item. 

Consecutively, the first item has a mean of 2.89 which stated the learning schedule applied during 

online learning. The second item has a mean of 3.15 which stated the extra studying time in learning 

online courses. The third item has a mean of 3.11 which stated about keeping track daily is referred 

to as distributing learning time every other day. According to the bar chart above, only the second 

item which is allocating extra study time presented because it has a high mean rather than the other 

two items. There are 17 students (36.2%) who stated that they often use it. From the result presented, 

it can be said that most of the students’ time management in the online course is at the mediocre 

level. 

According to the finding, time management can provide benefit for the students in their 

learning process as stated by (Zimmerman, Barry J.; Moylan, 2009) (Zimmerman, Barry J.; Moylan, 

2009) affirm that time management can profit both young and adult learners in achieving a good 

result in the learning process by implementing particular actions such as accomplishing learning 

assignments on schedule, setting a specific time to study the learning material, and monitoring the 

learning progress. From the finding of this research, it indicates that the students often apply time 

management in their learning process. 

Two previous studies supported the finding and the theory. The first study was conducted by 

(Lear et al., 2016) The result of this study stated that most of the students have good time 

management in attending academic writing online courses. The second study was conducted by 

(Zheng et al., 2018) The result shows that most of the students have a mediocre level of time 

management. It proved by the means of the questionnaire which are above 3.00. 

 

Help-seeking 

In help-seeking, all of the items have means above 3.00. Consecutively, the first item has a mean of 

3.79 which stated about sharing problem with friends in the online course. The second item has a 

mean of 3.77 which stated the peer-feedback implemented by the students in the online course. The 

third item has a mean of 3.19 which stated about getting help from the lecturers in the online course. 

According to the bar chart above, only the first item presented which is sharing problems with friends 

because it has a high mean rather than the other two items. There are 16 students (34%) who stated 

that they often use it. From the result presented, it can be concluded that most of the students often 

do help-seeking in their online learning. 

The finding of this research proved the theory of self-regulated online learning stated by 

(Zimmerman, Barry J.; Moylan, 2009) In the theory, it stated that help-seeking is part of performance 

phase where the students do information seeking and get assistance from both friends and teachers in 

their learning process. (Zimmerman, Barry J.; Moylan, 2009) state that help-seeking can improve 

students’ academic skills in the online course. (Zimmerman, Barry J.; Moylan, 2009) also state that 

the poor achievers are reluctant to do help-seeking. According to the finding of this research, most of 

the students applied help-seeking both information seeking and getting assistance from friends and 

lecturers. The finding of this research indicates that the students are highly motivated to achieve their 

learning goals. 

Both the finding and the theory are supported by two previous studies. The first study was 

conducted by (Lear et al., 2016) about self-regulated online learning implemented in ten courses 

including academic writing in one university in Australia. The finding shows that most of the 

students applied information seeking and obtaining feedback. Those two points support the finding of 

this study. The second study was conducted by (Jimoyiannis et al., 2018) discuss self-regulated online 

learning applied by master degree students through online academic writing with bloggers. The result 

shows that most of the students applied help-seeking at which the total number of blog’s comments 



Firnanda Salsabila | ELT Forum 11(2) (2022) 

18 

 

are 131 comments for seeking additional information and 16 comments for seeking, offering, or 

providing help. 

 

The undergraduates’ use of self-reflection phase in self-regulated online learning toward 

expository and analytical writing course  

Self-reflection phase 

From the bar chart presented in Figure 3. The proportion of self-reflection phase, the result of the 

self-reflection phase is relatively high. All of the items have a mean above 3.00. Consecutively, the 

first item that has a mean of 3.02 which stated about making a study journal referred to as 

summarizing online course material. The second item has a mean of 3.47 which stated about 

checking progress referred to as consulting online learning with friends. The third item has a mean of 

3.47 which stated about monitoring referred to reviewing material and finding out the differences of 

learning material that had been learned. The proportion in the self-reflection phase is quite dynamic. 

In making a study journal, 20 students (42.6%) stated that they sometimes apply it. On the contrary, 

10 students (21.3%) stated that they often apply it. From the bar chart above, it can be concluded that 

more students choose sometimes in the first item. In checking progress, 18 students (38.3%) stated 

that they sometimes apply it. On the contrary, 15 students (31.9%) stated that they often apply it. In 

monitoring, 19 students (40.4%) stated that they often apply it. According to the result, it can be 

concluded that most of the students do monitoring process by reviewing material and finding out the 

differences of learning material that had been learned in the online course.  

 

 

 
Figure 3. The proportion of self-reflection phase 

 

The finding of this research proved the theory of self-regulated online learning by 

(Zimmerman, Barry J.; Moylan, 2009)  (Zimmerman, Barry J.; Moylan, 2009) state that the result of 

self-evaluation is affected by goal-setting in the forethought phase. The students who have strong 

goal-setting will have strong self-reflection. It can be seen from the findings of this research that both 

the forethought phase and self-reflection phase have means above 3.5. The findings indicate that the 

forethought phase and self-reflection phase correlate. 

The finding of this research and the theory are supported by two previous studies. The first 

study conducted by (Lear et al., 2016) state that most of the students do self-evaluation during the 

academic writing online course. The second study was conducted by (Jimoyiannis et al., 2018) state 

that most of the students do self-reflection by evaluating their writing performance on blogger with 

peer interaction to achieve a better learning outcome. According to the three items in self-reflection 

phase, most of the students do monitoring process rather than checking progress and making journal. 

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Making study journal Checking progress Monitoring

Self-Reflection Phase

3 = Sometimes 4 = Often 5 = Always



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This result contradicts with previous study conducted by that state most of the students do checking 

progress by evaluating their writing performance with peers. Further study should be done to analyze 

the factors causing the difference use of self-reflection phase in self-regulated online learning. 

 

CONCLUSION 

This study presents the frequency of self-regulated online learning applied by the students in the 

expository and analytical writing course which is divided into three phases: forethought phase, 

performance phase, and self-reflection phase. The data was gathered mainly from the OSEL 

questionnaire to measure students’ use of self-regulated online learning. The result of this study 

shows that most of the students are often applied self-regulated online learning in the expository and 

analytical writing course. Three phases in self-regulated online learning have medium means which 

are above 3.00. Only task strategies that has the lowest mean which is below 3.00. The limitation of 

this study is it could not explore more about students’ perception and actual behaviors in 

implementing self-regulated online learning. To overcome research limitations, qualitative studies 

should be implemented to get in-depth analysis by employing interviews and providing audio, text, 

or visual files in the process of self-regulated online learning applied by the students in the expository 

and analytical writing course. Further studies can unveil self-regulated online learning in different 

language skills and identify the relationship between the forethought phase and self-reflection phase 

in self-regulated online learning to the extent of the research field in those areas. 

 

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