Self-regulated learning and Latin translation achievement : effectiveness of different intervention approaches to foster self-regulated learning and Latin translation competency and the examination of cross-lagged relations

摘要

Providing students with self-regulated learning (SRL) skills is essential for establishing competencies that are necessary for managing the requirements of our fast-paced world. Learning must therefore be regarded as far more than what is taught within the traditional classroom, but should be understood as a lifelong process in which the development of skills and strategies is indispensable (Zimmerman, 2001). The conscious adoption of these abilities should start in early childhood and spread across one’s lifespan. Self-regulatory abilities can be applied in all areas of life, whether at preschool, secondary school, or in the workplace, in order to cope with the manifold demands of today’s society. In terms of the academic setting, the present thesis focuses on students of Latin because during their course instruction they face diverse and complex learning situations, especially when confronted with the translation of original Latin texts (Doepner, 2008). For the management and structuring of the translation process, students need to apply self-regulatory strategies, which usefully supplement the application of domain-specific strategies (cf. Perels, Gürtler, & Schmitz, 2005). The present thesis consists of three studies that are all based on an adapted version of the framework of self-regulation by Pintrich (2000). In that version, the different phases of SRL (planning, monitoring, control, reflection) are juxtaposed with the phases of the translation process in Latin (decoding, recoding, restructuring; cf. Glücklich, 2008; Kuhlmann, 2009), in order to model the transferability of SRL strategies to the mastering of the translation process. The aim of Study 1 and 2 was to test whether students’ SRL and translation competency can be promoted by means of different intervention programs. The general findings showed that the interventions were effective in terms of the enhancement of SRL and translation skills. Study 3 tested the underlying structure of the theoretical framework of SRL and translation that arose from this thesis by hypothesizing bidirectional influences among the variables of interest. Thereby, I analyzed the predictive value of SRL on Latin translation achievement and vice versa by means of a cross-lagged panel design. When viewed as a whole, the presented studies highlight the importance of SRL for students’ learning process as well as for the appropriateness of their strategy application. Consequently, this thesis has contributed to both research and practice by successfully implementing different intervention approaches in a largely uninvestigated domain.