Effects of using an English language counseling program on self-directed learning of upper secondary school students

Abstract

The present study aimed to investigate the effects of an English language counseling program on self selfdirected learning. The present study employed both quantitative and qualitative research methods. The participants were 6 upper secondary school students in the English Program at Samsenwittayalai School who studied in the second semester of the academic year 2009. The treatment used in this study was the English language counseling program developed and conducted by the researcher. The counseling program consisted of 5 phases as follows: understanding the learner, raising learnergs awareness, designing a self-study plan, counseling, and evaluating learning. The research instruments consisted of a questionnaire, interviews, and a learnergs journals. The products got from developing the counseling program were counseling manual and English language learning resources. The quantitative data obtained from the questionnaire were analyzed by the total scores and the qualitative data obtained from the interview and the learnergs journals were analyzed by using coding analysis method. The results showed that the English language counseling program affected the change of self-directed learning of the participants. The data obtained from the questionnaire, the interview, and the learnergs journals revealed that: (1) the participants had more self-concept as an effective learner; they gained more confidence in self-learning, ability to organize time for learning, self-discipline, and self-view as a curious individual. (2) the participants had more initiative and independence in learning. (3) the participants had more informed acceptance of responsibility, love of learning, positive orientation to the future, and ability to use basic study and problemsolving skills. However, the counseling program did not affect the participantsg openness to learning and creativity. Before participating in the counseling program, the participants had ability to accept criticisms, greater interest in learning than others, and ability to think of numerous ways to solve a learning problem.