Studying the Implementation of a Self-Regulative Approach on English Reading Comprehension and Academic Self-Concept of Physically-Disabled Learners

One crucial skill that empowers learners with knowledge and understanding is reading comprehension. In addition to adequate reading comprehension skills, students' attitudes and beliefs toward the target language have an influential role in their learning achievements. Learners' beliefs about themselves are related to the judgments students hold about their abilities to organize and perform the courses of action required to conquer academic tasks. In this respect, academic self–concept is believed to be vital in developing learners' academic abilities. A significant number of the learning population consist of people with disabilities. Physical disability is the absence and reduction of motor function to varying degrees in the field of movement and various activities that occur due to deformity of limbs and paralysis or to deformation and destruction of structures and motor functions. One of the things that may help students with disabilities to reach higher reading comprehension and academic self–concept can be self–regulation. Self–regulation is a cyclical and dynamic process in which learners take control of their feelings, thoughts, and behaviors to reach their learning goals. This study aimed to investigate the effects of implementing a self–regulative approach to English reading comprehension and academic self–capacity of physically–disabled learners to increase the educational quality of this community.

This research was a quasi–experimental study with a pretest–posttest design and a control group. The statistical population comprised all subjects (both genders) referring to the Welfare Center of Rafsanjan City, Iran. The research sample consisted of 30 volunteers with a physical disability, selected by a convenient sampling method and randomly divided into two groups, control and experimental (n=15/group). Research tools included the academic self–concept (Marsh, 1990) and the reading comprehension tests of FCE (Cambridge English First) (Paul Carne, 1996). To conduct research and encourage cooperation from the subjects, we obtained consent forms from the subjects' parents. Next, while maintaining the academic self–concept as a pretest for each member, a reading comprehension test was taken as another pretest. Then, the experimental group received twelve 75–min weekly sessions of self–regulatory instructions; however, the control group received no self–regulatory intervention. After the training sessions, a posttest was performed on the experimental and control groups to obtain the differences in the dependent variables in both groups. The collected data were analyzed using the paired t test and independent t test in SPSS software version 23. The significance level of the tests was considered 0.05.

The results of the paired t test indicated the effectiveness of the self–regulative approach on the reading comprehension (p=0.001) and academic self–concept (p=0.002) of learners with physical disabilities. Also, the results of the independent t test showed that the effect of the self–regulatory approach on learners' reading comprehension (p=0.003) and academic self–concept (p=0.001) was significant.

The self–regulatory model demonstrated its capabilities in empowering physically disabled learners with a higher degree of reading comprehension and academic self–concept. It could be a suitable substitution for traditional methods to give physically–disabled learners more chances to increase their abilities. Developing the potential of people with disabilities helps them and the whole society.