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Top1. Introduction
In the traditional learning process, most of the learning decisions such as what, how and how much learners learn are made by teachers. However, proactive learners learn better when they are responsible for their own learning (Sheerin, 1997) and the best learners should be reflective learners who always look back at their own learning progress, evaluate their own weaknesses and strengths, and then work out their own improvement (remedial) plans. Language learning indeed is “a life-long endeavor” (Thomson, 1996, p.78) and thus self-directed learning, which refers to “taking charge of one’s own learning” (Holec, 1981, p.3), plays a significant role in effective language learning.
According to Nunan’s model (1997), most learners do not know what is best at the beginning of the learning process and they should be made aware of the need and importance of self-directed language learning. This is where diagnostic tests come into play. Diagnosis tests have long been used in connection with the major purposes (or types) of testing in the field of language testing (Henning, 1987). “Proficiency testing is concerned primarily with assessing acquisition/learning from the past and predicting performance for the future” (Lee, 2015, p.302) and diagnostic language assessment is defined “to be the processes of identifying test-takers’ (or learners’) weaknesses, as well as their strengths, in a targeted domain of linguistic and communicative competence and providing specific diagnostic feedback and (guidance for) remedial learning” (p.303). Once the learners realize their own strengths and weaknesses through the diagnostic tests, they can devise their learning path and benefit from self-directed language learning.
Literature in self-directed learning has largely focused on the learning-how-to-learn concepts, the exploration of the motivation drive, and the use of digital devices (e.g. mobile phones, virtual learning platforms, etc.) (Piper, Smith, Jeria & Intrieri, 2018), and few studies examine the relationship between diagnostic language assessment and self-directed language learning. And some Hong Kong Chinese learners have been characterized as passive, dependent, and lacking in initiative (Pierson, 1996). Therefore, the purposes of this study are to examine the language strengths and weaknesses of Hong Kong self-directed learners, their learning needs and their self-directed learning experiences with the use of diagnostic test, and to investigate whether the tests can help lead the learners to direct their own learning effectively. The tools used in this study are the test results and the learners’ self-directed learning reports. Their learning reports reflect their own evaluation of self-directed learning needs, learning processes and learning experiences. These not only help more students learn to become reflective language learners but also provide valuable information for educators and teachers when they review their curriculum and teaching plans. Suggestions for the development of effective self-directed language learning are discussed in this paper as well.