Investigation of Middle School Students’ Self-Regulation Skills and Vocabulary Learning Strategies in Foreign Language*

The purpose of the current study is to investigate middle school students’ self-regulation skills and vocabulary learning strategies in foreign language. The sampling of the current study consists of 990 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grade middle school students attending state middle schools in the Mentese district of the city of Mugla, Turkey in school year 2018-2019. As the data collection tools, the Perceived Self-Regulation Scale and the Vocabulary Learning Strategies in Foreign Language Scale were used. In the analysis of the collected data, frequencies, percentages, independent-samples t-test and one-way variance analysis (ANOVA), PostHoc Tests (Tukey and Dunnett’s C) and correlation analysis were used. The findings of the present study have revealed that the middle school students’ self-regulation skills and vocabulary learning strategies in foreign language are over the medium value. The middle school students’ self-regulation skills and vocabulary learning strategies in foreign language were found to vary significantly depending on gender, grade level, father-mother attitude and level of interest in English course. A medium, positive and significant correlation was found between the middle school students’ total scores of self-regulation strategies and vocabulary learning strategies in foreign language.


Introduction
In today's world, teaching students "how to learn" and teaching them ways of having access to information rather than transmitting the existing information to students, have gained great importance. Thus, in the content of curricula, there are common core skills to be imparted to students. These skills are generally related to students' thinking, taking responsibility, mastering and developing strategies contributing to their learning, being responsible for their own learning and regulating their own learning. In other words, many of these objectives aim at making students individuals having self-regulation skills. Ghazal (2007) states that one of the biggest problems encountered by students while learning a foreign language is learning vocabulary. To overcome this difficulty, the existence of students who have self-confidence and can carry out their own learning process on their own is of great importance. Therefore, today, training of students who have gained their own self-regulation skills and who are responsible for their own learning process is necessary. Students with selfregulation skills can be assumed to be responsible for their own learning and are capable of determining the strategies to be used for learning vocabulary in English.

Self-regulation
Self-regulation is explained through concepts such as self-regulation, will power, postponing desires, controlling and regulating emotions, self-flexibility, the state of attention and sustainability and self-regulation to meet expectations (Vohs & Baumeister, 2011). Kauffman (2004) defines self-regulation as "the effort of the student to control and manage complex learning activities" (p.140). Self-regulation is defined as one's self-developed feelings, thoughts and behaviours to achieve the goal. Self-regulation is neither a mental nor an academic skill. On the contrary, it is a process directed by the person in transforming one's mental skills into academic ones (Zimmerman, 2001).
The essence of self-regulation is seen as a metacognitive knowledge, which can be regarded as a successful indicator of intelligence (Hrbackova & Safrankova, 2016). Self-regulation is one of the best elements determining academic achievement and a skill used in learning. It includes the self-initiated works and self-promoted skills of students. The things students do in this process, abilities, skills, self-development, regulation of behaviours, setting goals, seeing advantages, disadvantages are all regulations made in their cognition on the basis of their needs. These students are creative students producing new projects (Zimmerman, 2002). Pintrich (2000) states that students with self-regulation skills are more motivated for academic achievement and that they learn better than other students and more successful in the ways they use to achieve their goals.
Self-regulated learning has a key position in education. Its impact on learning and its main role in achieving lifelong success at school and beyond cannot be overlooked (Boekaerts & Cascallar, 2006). Zimmerman (2002) explains selfregulated learning as ''an activity that students do for themselves in a proactive way which refers to self-generated thoughts, feelings and behaviours that are oriented to attaining goals' ' (p. 65). According to Pintrich (1999), selfregulated learning is an active and systematic progression in which learners try to manage, regulate and control their cognition, motivation and behaviour by setting goals for their own learning.
Self-regulated learning and skill can be defined as the process by which learners' personal activity, cognition, emotions and systematic behaviours are sustained to achieve personal goals. In setting personal goals, learners create "a feedback loop" in which they can observe their own effectiveness and adapt their functions. During the self-regulation period, self-regulated individuals should be proactive to set and achieve their goals. In addition, supportive motivational beliefs are very important (Zimmerman & Schunk, 2011).
According to Gaskill and Woolfolk Hoy (2002), self-regulated learners are individuals who are motivated to take responsibility for their success and failure, are ready for the task, and have high self-efficacy. Cobb (2003), in turn, believes that self-regulated learners are individuals who have the cognitive, motivational and behavioural ability to participate in the learning process. Self-regulated individuals can metacognitively plan, organise, observe, supervise and evaluate learning processes in such a way as to achieve their own goals. In terms of motivation, such individuals think themselves to be sufficient, autonomous and effective in learning. They behaviourally have the ability to choose and create a suitable environment for learning. According to Akdogan, Velipasaoglu and Musal (2016), self-regulated students are highly motivated, actively manage their learning processes themselves, are successful in time management, and determine their learning strategies depending on their goals. They can change and shape the strategies they use in the process, while analysing the causes of their failure; instead of linking them to personal reasons, they reflect on the choice of the goal and the strategies they choose and review them in order to increase their success.

Vocabulary Learning Strategies
The language learning strategy is defined as "a set of processes, steps, plans and routines used by the learner to acquire, store, remember, and facilitate the use of information" (Wenden & Rubin, 1987, p. 19). Language learning strategies are processes that are consciously chosen by the learner and may result in steps taken to improve the learning and use of the target language through the storage, retention, retrieval and use of information about a second or foreign language (Cohen, 1999).
Vocabulary learning strategies are a part of language learning strategies; accordingly, a part of general learning strategies (Nation, 2001). These strategies are considered as a sub-category of general learning strategies (Oxford, 1990). Vocabulary learning strategy is defined as the process, through which information is acquired, stored, retrieved and used (Rubin, 1987). Vocabulary learning strategies refer to actions that help learners to remember and understand vocabulary elements (Cameron, 2001). They are the steps and actions as well as mechanisms used by students to learn vocabulary. These strategies help us to guess the meaning of an unknown word, to retain new words in the memory for a long time, to retrieve when needed and use them in written and spoken expressions (Catalan, 2003). According to Merriam-Webster's collegiate dictionary definition, "vocabulary knowledge is the bulk or sum of the words used by a field-specific knowledge, a job, a person, a group or a language" (Vocabulary knowledge, 1998(Vocabulary knowledge, , p.1322. Sener (2015) opines that, when we do not have sufficient vocabulary, we cannot understand other individuals and we cannot get across our own opinions, thoughts and ideas. This indicates how critical vocabulary is for language learners.
Having sufficient vocabulary knowledge in foreign language learning has an important place in effective and successful language use. Vocabulary learning strategies that enable effective learning of words will also enable learners to take control of their own learning and thus take more responsibility for their studies (Nation, 2001). According to Kocaman and Kizilkaya Cumaoglu (2014), the use of strategy in the acquisition of vocabulary affects success and language proficiency. In language teaching, identifying students' vocabulary learning strategies, encouraging them to use strategies and teaching them how to use them will be effective in improving language success. Individuals with self-regulation skills are those who can take responsibility for their own learning, find the most appropriate strategy, apply it, and make self-evaluate at the end of the process. They also have the ability to investigate the cause of their own success and failure and to draw new paths accordingly. In this context, students with good selfregulation skills can use better vocabulary learning strategies.
Various studies have been conducted on the self-regulation skills of middle school students in Turkey. In their study, Uredi and Erden (2009) aimed at investigating the mother and father's attitudes as the predictors of self-regulation strategies and motivational beliefs. It was concluded that the mother and father's attitudes are a significant predictor of all the sub-dimensions of motivational beliefs except for the classroom anxiety sub-dimension and self-regulation strategies. A study conducted by Demircan (2014), which aimed at investigating the self-regulation strategies and motivations beliefs of the 5 th grade students in relation to in-class activities and level of academic achievement in Science and Technology courses. The students having a high correlation between their activity and academic achievement levels were found to have better use of self-regulation strategies and higher self-efficacy perception and task-value perception compared to other students. In a study carried out by Aldan Karademir, Deveci and Cayli (2018), which aimed at investigating the middle school students' self-regulation and academic self-efficacy. The result of the study revealed that the middle school students' self-regulation skills are above the medium level and that there is a positive and significant correlation between the middle school students' self-regulation skills and academic selfefficacy. The students having fathers and mothers with democratic attitudes were found to have both better selfregulation skills and higher academic self-efficacy; the female students' both self-regulation skills and academic selfefficacy levels were found to be better and with increasing grade level, the middle school students' use of selfregulation strategies and academic self-efficacy were found to be decreasing. Akkaya (2012) explored the correlation between the self-regulation strategies and motivational beliefs of the 7 th grade students and their attitudes towards mathematics. The students' self-regulation skills were found to be above the medium level. In their study, Kanat and Kozikoglu (2018) investigated the 8 th grade students' self-regulation strategies, motivational beliefs and attitudes towards English course. It was found that the students' use of self-regulation strategies is at the medium level and that the female students use self-regulation strategies more than the male students. The female students were also found to have more positive attitudes towards English course. Aldan Karademir and Gorgun (2019) conducted a study to investigate the middle school students' self-regulation skills and problem-solving oriented reflective thinking skills depending on different variables and to reveal the correlation between them. A positive, high and significant correlation was found between reflective thinking skills and self-regulation skills.
Various studies have been conducted with middle school students on vocabulary learning strategies in a foreign language in Turkey. A study conducted by Uzulmez (2015), it was aimed at investigating the middle school 8 th grade students' attitudes towards English course and vocabulary learning strategies in relation to different variables. It was found that the students' level of strategy use is medium, that students' use of vocabulary learning strategies and attitudes towards the course do not vary significantly depending on gender and that their attitudes towards the course do not vary significantly depending on the mother and father's education level. Izci and Ozgan Sucu (2013) investigated which learning strategies and how frequent they are used by the 8 th grade students while learning English. The results of the study show that the 8 th grade students use strategies at a medium level and that the strategies used by them vary by gender, in favour the female students. Moreover, the strategy use of the more successful students was found to be higher. In a study conducted by Serabatir (2008) it was aimed at investigating the vocabulary learning strategies used by the 6 th and 7 th grade level students. It was found that, in general, the students use vocabulary learning strategies and that the strategy use differs significantly by gender, in favour of the female students. The students' use of vocabulary learning strategies was found to be varying significantly depending on their attitudes towards English course and academic achievement. In relation to the mother and father's education level, only significant difference was found in favour the students who have university graduate mothers. In their study, Cevik, Orakci, Aktan, Toraman and Aycicek (2018) aimed at determining the middle school students' level of using vocabulary learning strategies in a foreign language, the correlation between the students' academic achievement and their use of vocabulary learning strategies in a foreign language and whether their use of vocabulary learning strategies in a foreign language varies significantly depending on some variables. It was found that there is no significant correlation between the achievement in English course and the use of vocabulary learning strategies and that the use of vocabulary learning strategies in a foreign language does not vary significantly depending on the mother and father's education level. The use of vocabulary learning strategies was found to be varying significantly depending on their state of reading grade books suitable for their level. Moreover, only the use of cognitive strategies was found to be varying significantly depending on gender while no significant difference was found for the other sub-dimensions.
However, there is no research examining both self-regulation skills and vocabulary learning strategies of middle school students depending on different variables and examining the level of correlation between them. Therefore, the current study attempts to make some contributions to the literature. In this regard, answers to the following research questions were sought: 1) What is the level of the middle school students' self-regulation skills?
2) Do the middle school students' self-regulation skills vary depending on gender, grade level, mother-father attitude and the level of interest in English course?
3) What is the level of the middle school students' vocabulary learning strategies? 4) Do the middle school students' vocabulary learning strategies in foreign language vary significantly depending on gender, grade level, mother-father attitude and the level of interest in English course? 5) Is there a significant correlation between the middle school students' self-regulation skills and vocabulary learning strategies in foreign language?

Research Model
In the current study employing the quantitative research methods, a model complying with the single survey, relational survey and causal comparative designs were used.

Universe and Sampling
The universe of the current study is comprised of 8467 middle school students; 5003 fifth graders, 1075 sixth graders, 1376 seventh graders and 1013 eighth graders, attending state middle schools in the Mentese district of the city of Mugla in school year 2018-2019. From a total of 8467 students, at least 964 should be included in the sampling with 95% probability and + 3% "negligible error" margin (Yazicioglu & Erdogan, 2007). Thus, we decided to include 990 students in the sampling of the current study. In this sampling, the students from four different grade levels were included according to the proportional cluster sampling method.
Middle school education covers students aged at 10-13 years old. Frequency and percentage distribution of the middle school students across the variables is given in Table 1. As can be seen in Table 1, 50.3% of the participating students are females while 49.7% of them are males; 60.2% of them are 5 th graders, 16.3% are 7 th graders, 12.4% are 6 th graders, and 11.1% are 8 th graders. When the attitudes of the fathers of the participating students are examined, it is seen that 86.7% of the students have fathers exhibiting democratic attitudes and 13.2% have fathers exhibiting democratic attitudes. When the attitudes of the mother of the participating students are examined, it is seen that 84.9% of them mothers exhibiting democratic attitudes while 15.1% have mothers exhibiting authoritarian attitudes. When the students' level of interest in the English course is examined, it is seen that 50.0% of them have a medium level of interest, 40.0% have a high level of interest and 9.6% have a low level of interest.

Data Collection Tools
Personal Information Form: This personal information form developed by the researcher has items to elicit information about the participating students' gender, grade level, mother-father attitude and level of interest in English.

International Journal of Educational Methodology  29
The Perceived Self-regulation Scale: This scale was developed by Arslan and Gelisli (2015) for middle school students. The Perceived Self-regulation Scale is a five-point Likert type scale ranging from "never" to always". The 16-item scale consists of 2 sub-dimensions, which are being open and searching. The highest score to be taken from this scale is 80 while the lowest score is 16. Sample items from the scale are given below.  (2014) for middle school students. The scale consists of 32 items and 6 sub-dimensions, which are memory strategies, cognitive strategies, compensation strategies, metacognitive strategies, affective strategies and social strategies. The Vocabulary Learning Strategies in Foreign Language scale is a five-point Likert-type scale ranging from "never" to "always". The highest score to be taken from the scale is 160 while the lowest score is 32. Sample items from the scale are given below. The Cronbach alpha reliability coefficient of the scale was .89. This coefficient was as follows for the sub-dimensions: .74 for memory strategies, .67 for cognitive strategies, .71 for compensation strategies, .72 for metacognitive strategies, .64 for affective strategies and .62 for social strategies. In the current study, the Cronbach alpha reliability coefficient of the scale was .92 and it was as follows for the sub-dimensions: .81 for memory strategies, .71 for cognitive strategies, .70 for compensation strategies, .64 for metacognitive strategies, .67 for affective strategies and .75 for social strategies.

Data Analyses
The collected data were analysed with SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) Version 22. Firstly, the normality of distribution was checked to determine the statistical tests to be run. The Kurtosis values for both of the scale and their sub-dimensions were found to be varying between +2 and -1 while their Skewness values were found to be varying between +1 and -1. According to Huck (2008), these values showed that the data collected in the current study were within the borders of normal distribution (as cited in Secer, 2015). Thus, in the analysis of the collected data, frequencies, percentages, independent samples t-test and one-way variance analysis (ANOVA), Post-Hoc Tests (Tukey and Dunnett's C) and correlation analysis were used. In the independent samples t-test, first the homogeneity of the variances was tested with Levene test. When the variances were not homogenous, the values in the column "Equal variances not assumed" were taken into consideration. In cases where group variances were found to be equal in oneway variance analysis, Dunnett's C test was run.

Findings / Results
In this section, the findings of the current study are presented within the framework of the sub-problems. The findings related to first sub-problem of the current study "What is the level of the middle school students' self-regulation skills?" are presented in Table 4. As can be seen in Table 4, the Self-regulation Scale is a five-point scale ranging from "never" to "always". Thus, the highest score to be taken from the 16-item scale is 80 while the lowest score is 16. The medium score to be taken from the scale was determined to be 48 points. In this study, the mean score taken from the whole scale by the participating students was found to be 60.55. Thus, the level of their self-regulation skills is over the medium value ( ̅ =60,55; SD:11,50).
The results of the independent samples t-test conducted to find an answer to the sub-problem "Do the middle school students' self-regulation skills vary significantly depending on gender?'' are presented in Table 5. The results of the one-way variance analysis conducted to find an answer to the sub-problem "Do the middle school students' self-regulation skills vary significantly depending on grade level?'' are presented in Table 6. In order to find the source of the significant difference in the sub-dimension of "being open", Dunnett's C test was conducted and the results of this test revealed that there is a significant difference between the 7 th graders ( ̅ and the 8 th graders ̅ in favour of the 8 th graders. Thus, the self-regulation skills of the 8 th graders were found to be better than those of the 7 th graders. The results of the independent samples t-test conducted to find an answer to the sub-problem "Do the middle school students' self-regulation skills vary significantly depending on mother attitude?'' are presented in Table 7. The results of the independent samples t-test conducted to find an answer to the sub-problem "Do the middle school students' self-regulation skills vary significantly depending on father attitude?'' are presented in Table 8. The results of the one-way variance analysis conducted to find an answer to the sub-problem "Do the middle school students' self-regulation skills vary significantly depending on their interest in English course?'' are presented in Table  9. As can be seen in In order to determine the source of the difference, Dunneet's C test was conducted and the results of this test revealed that there are significant differences between all the interest levels in the sub-dimension of "being open". In this regard, when the self-regulation mean scores of the groups were examined, the highest mean score was found for the students with high level of interest ( ̅ 33.62), followed by the students with medium level of interest ̅̅̅ 29.37) and the students with low level of interest ( ̅ 25.04). According to the results of Tukey test, there are significant differences between all the levels of interest in the sub-dimension of "searching". In this regard, when the self-regulation mean scores of the groups were examined, the highest mean score was found for the students with high level of interest ( ̅ ), followed by the students with medium level of interest ( ̅ ) and the students with low level of interest ( ̅ ). According to the results of Dunnett's C test, significant differences were found between the all the levels of interest in the whole scale. In this regard, when the self-regulation mean scores of the groups were examined, the highest mean score was found for the students with high level of interest ( ̅ ), followed by the students with the medium level of interest ( ̅ ) and the students with low level of interest ( ̅ ). As a result, it was concluded that the students with high level of interest in English course have higher levels of self-regulation skills.
The results of the analysis conducted to find an answer to the third sub-problem of the study "What is the level of the middle school students' vocabulary learning strategies? are presented in Table 8. The Vocabulary Learning Strategies in Foreign Language Scale is a five-point Likert scale ranging from "never" to "always". Thus, the highest score to be taken from the scale is 160 while the lowest score is 32. The medium score was determined to be 96 for this scale. The mean score taken from the scale by the participating students was found to be 108.50. This value shows that the students' level of vocabulary learning strategies in foreign language ( ̅ =108.50; SD:23.30) is over the medium level.
The results of the t-test analysis conducted to find an answer to the fourth sub-problem of the study "Do the middle school students' vocabulary learning strategies in foreign language vary significantly depending on gender?'' are presented in Table 11. International Journal of Educational Methodology  33 As can be seen in The results of the one-way variance analysis conducted to find an answer to the sub-problem "Do the middle school students' vocabulary learning strategies in foreign language vary significantly depending on grade level?'' are presented in Table 12. According to the results of Turkey test conducted to determine the source of the difference, there are significant differences in the sub-dimension of "memory strategies" between the 5 th graders ̅̅̅ and 7 th graders ̅ in favour of the 5 th graders; between the 5 th graders ̅̅̅ and 8 th graders ̅ in favour of the 5 th graders, between the 6 th graders ̅̅̅ and 7 th graders ̅ in favour of the 6 th graders, between the 6 th graders ̅̅̅ and 8 th graders ̅̅̅̅ in favour of the 8 th graders. According to the results of Tukey test, there is a significant difference in the sub-dimension of "cognitive strategies" between the 6 th graders ̅ and the 8 th graders ̅ in favour of the 6 th graders. According to the results of Dunnett's C test, there are significant differences in the sub-dimension of "meta-cognitive strategies" between the 5 th graders ̅̅̅ and the 7 th graders ̅̅̅ in favour of the 5 th graders and between the 6 th graders ̅ and 7 th graders ̅̅̅ in favour of the 6 th graders. According to the results of Tukey test, there are significant differences in the sub-dimension of "affective strategies" between the 5 th graders ̅̅̅ and the 7 th graders ̅̅̅ in favour of the 5 th graders; between the 7 th graders ̅ and the 8 th graders ̅ in favour of the 8 th graders and between the 6 th graders ̅̅̅ and the 7 th graders ̅̅̅ in favour of the 6 th graders. According to the results of Dunnett's C test, there are significant differences in the whole scale between the 5 th graders ̅̅̅ and the 7 th graders ̅ in favour of the 5 th graders and between the 6 th graders ̅̅̅ and the 7 th graders ̅ in favour of the 6 th graders. Thus, it can be said that the vocabulary learning strategies of the 5 th and 6 th graders are better than the vocabulary learning strategies of the 7 th graders.
The results of the t-test analysis conducted to find an answer to the sub-problem "Do the middle school students' vocabulary learning strategies in foreign language vary significantly depending on mother attitude?'' are presented in Table 13. As can be seen in Table 13, the middle school students' vocabulary learning strategies in foreign language vary significantly depending on mother attitude in the sub-dimensions of "memory strategies" [t (988) in favour of the students whose mother exhibit democratic attitudes.
The results of the t-test analysis conducted to find an answer to the sub-problem "Do the middle school students' vocabulary learning strategies in foreign language vary significantly depending on father attitude?'' are presented in Table 14. The results of the one-way variance analysis conducted to find an answer to the sub-problem "Do the middle school students' vocabulary learning strategies in foreign language vary significantly depending on their interest in English course?'' are presented in Table 15. According to the results of Tukey test conducted to determine the source of the difference, there are significant differences between all the levels of interest in the subdimension "memory strategies". In this regard, when the vocabulary learning strategies mean scores of the groups were examined, it was found that the highest mean score was taken by the students with high level of interest ̅ 26.66), followed by the students with middle level of interest ̅̅̅ 22.78) and the students with low level of interest ̅ . According to the results of Tukey test, there are significant differences between all levels of interest in the sub-dimension of "cognitive strategies". In this regard, when the vocabulary learning strategies mean scores of the groups were examined, it was found that the highest mean score was taken by the students with high level of interest ̅ 17.25), followed by the students with medium level of interest ̅̅̅ ) and the students with low level of interest ̅ . According to the results of Tukey test, there are significant differences between all the levels of interest in the sub-dimension of "compensation strategies". In this regard, when the vocabulary learning strategies in foreign language mean scores were examined, it was found that the highest mean score was taken by the students with high level of interest ̅ ), followed by the students with medium level of interest ̅̅̅ ) and the students with low level of interest ̅ . According to the results of Dunnett's C test, there are significant differences between all levels of interest in the sub-dimension of "meta-cognitive". In this regard, when the vocabulary learning strategies mean scores of the groups were examined, it was found that the highest mean score was taken by the students with high level of interest ̅ ), followed by the students with medium level of interest ̅̅̅ ) and the students with low level of interest ̅ . According to the results of Tukey test, there are significant differences between all levels of interests in the sub-dimension of "affective strategies". In this regard, when the vocabulary learning strategies mean scores of the groups were examined, it was found that the highest mean score was taken by the students with high level of interest ̅ ), followed by the students with medium level of interest ̅̅̅ ) and the students with low level of interest ̅ . According to the results of Dunnett's C test, there are significant differences between all levels of interest in the sub-dimension of "social strategies". In this regard, when the vocabulary learning strategies mean scores of the groups were examined, it was found that the highest mean score was taken by the students with high level of interest ̅ ), followed by the students with medium level of interest ̅̅̅ ) and the students with low level of interest ̅ . According to the results of Tukey test, there are significant differences between all levels of interest in the whole scale. In this regard, when the vocabulary learning strategies mean scores of the groups were compared, it was found that the highest mean score was taken by the students with high level of interest ( ̅ ), followed by the students with medium level of interest ( ̅ ) and the students with low level of interest ( ̅ ). Thus, it was concluded that the students with higher level of interest in English course have better vocabulary learning strategies.
The results of the correlation analysis conducted to find an answer to the fifth sub-problem of the study "Is there a significant correlation between the middle school students' self-regulation skills and vocabulary learning strategies in foreign language?" are presented in Table 16. As can be seen in Table 16, there is a medium, positive and significant correlation between the middle school students' self-regulation strategies and vocabulary learning strategies in foreign language (r=0.69; p<0.05).

Discussion and Conclusion
The middle school students' level of self-regulation skills was found to be over the medium value. Parallel to the finding of the current study, Aldan Karademir et al. (2018) stated that the middle school students' level of self-regulation strategies is over the medium value. Harrison and Prain (2009) revealed that the middle school 8 th graders' level of selfregulation strategies in English course is over the medium value. Akkaya (2012); Kanat and Kozikoglu (2018); Mutweleli (2014) reported that the middle school students' level of self-regulation strategies is over the medium value. It can be said that the students consider themselves as adequate in terms of their vocabulary learning strategies and that they contribute to their academic achievement.
The middle school students' self-regulation skills were found to be varying significantly depending on gender in the sub-dimensions of "being open" and "searching" and in the whole scale in favour of the female students. In the literature, there are studies reporting similar findings. Akkaya (2012); Erdogan and Sengul (2014), for instance, revealed that the middle school students' self-regulation skills vary significantly in favour of the female students. Uredi and Uredi (2005) found that the middle school male students use more self-regulation strategies, which does not concur with the finding of the current study. Given that self-regulation skills are acquired from early ages onwards, these skills may vary due to many factors such as different ways of raising male and female students adopted in the society, the place of residence, culture, physiological and biological developmental differences and earlier maturation of females than males.
The middle school students' self-regulation strategies were found to be varying depending on grade level in the subdimension of "being open". In this regard, it was found that there is a significant difference between the 7 th and 8 th graders in the sub-dimension of "being open" in favour of the 8 th graders; thus, it can be argued that the 8 th graders' self-regulation skills are better than those of the 7 th graders. Aldan Karademir et al. (2018) reported that middle school students' self-regulation strategies are better in lower grade levels. This finding contradicts with the related finding of the current study. Zimmerman and Martinez Pons (1990) reported findings parallel to the findings of the current study. They found that the 11 th graders use self-regulation strategies better than the 8 th graders and the 8 th graders better than the 5 th graders. In this connection, it can be said that with increasing age, students become more autonomous, free and independent and have more developed self-regulation skills and they conduct their learning in a more planned, conscious manner. In the sub-dimension of "searching" and in the whole scale, no grade level-based significant differences were found.
The middle school students' self-regulation skills were found to be varying significantly depending on mother and father attitude in the sub-dimensions of "being open" and "searching" and in the whole scale in favour of the students whose mothers and fathers have democratic attitudes. Uredi (2005) found that the children of families with democratic attitudes have better self-regulated learning strategies than the children of families with authoritarian, negligent and indulgent attitudes. These findings are parallel to the findings of the current study. Thus, it can be said that the children raised in democratic families are more successful and socially and psychologically healthier.
The middle school students' self-regulation skills were found to be varying significantly depending on the level of interest in English course in the sub-dimensions of "being open" and "searching" and in the whole scale. When the selfregulation mean scores of the groups were examined, it was found that the highest mean score was taken by the students with high level of interest, followed by the students with medium level of interest and the students with low level of interest. Wolters and Pintrich (1998) stated that the students' use of task value, self-efficacy, cognitive and selfregulation strategies while being engaged in learning activities was a positive predictor of their achievement in Mathematics, English and Social studies. Kucuksuleymanoglu (1997) stated that some personality traits affect students' attitudes towards English course. In this connection, it is said that learners with self-regulation skill are more active in their learning processes and self-regulation skill, which has a positive effect on students' academic achievement, increases the interest in and desire for English course.
It was determined that middle school students' use of vocabulary learning strategies in foreign language was above the medium value. Izci and Ozgan Sucu (2013) stated that the middle school 8 th grade students used medium level of language learning strategies while learning English and Uzulmez (2015), on the other hand, stated that the 8 th grade students' use of vocabulary learning strategies is at the medium level. The findings of these studies support the findings of the present study. Cevik et al. (2018) found the arithmetic mean of the middle school students' vocabulary learning strategies scores (94.07) under the medium value. This finding contradicts with the related finding of the current study. As a result, it can be concluded that the middle school students' vocabulary learning strategies' being over the medium value can facilitate their learning English.
The middle school students' vocabulary learning strategies were found to be varying significantly depending on gender in the sub-dimensions of "memory strategies", "cognitive strategies", ''meta-cognitive strategies'', ''affective strategies'' and in the whole scale in favour of the female students. In a study conducted by Cevik et al. (2018) on middle school students, it was found that the female students' rate of using cognitive strategies is higher than that of the male students. Serabatir (2008) concluded that the middle school 6 th and 7 th grade students' state of using vocabulary learning strategies in English classes varied significantly depending gender in favour of the female students. Izci and Ozgan Sucu (2013); in their study on the 8 th grade students, found that all the language learning strategies varied significantly depending on gender in favour of the female students. The findings of this study support the findings of the current study. Yaacob et al. (2019) contrary to the findings of the current study, reported that the male students' level of using vocabulary learning strategies is higher than that of the female students.
According to Baron-Cohen, Knickmeyer and Belmonte (2005), the reason for the differentiation of the level of using vocabulary learning strategies depending on gender may be based on male and female cognition. Cognitive profiles of males and females are different from each other. Hall (2011) argued that the reason for female students' being more successful than male students in language learning and use is that their social communication skills and strategy development is more effective than male students. In this connection, the significant difference found in favour of the female students might be because of the female students' using mental processes better than the male students and more developed learning skills of the female students. Such a gender-based significant difference was not found in the sub-dimensions of ''social strategies'' and "compensation strategies''.
The middle school students' vocabulary learning strategies were found to vary depending on grade level in the subdimensions of "memory strategies", "cognitive strategies", ''meta-cognitive strategies'', ''affective strategies'' and in the whole scale. In the "memory strategies" sub-dimension, significant differences were found between the 5 th graders and 7 th graders in favour of the 5 th graders; between the 5 th graders and the 8 th graders in favour of the 5 th graders; between the 6 th graders and the 7 th graders in favour of the 6 th graders and between the 6 th graders and 8 th graders in favour of the 6 th graders. In the "cognitive strategies" sub-dimension, a significant difference was found between the 6 th graders and 8 th graders in favour of the 6 th graders. In the "meta-cognitive strategies" sub-dimension, there are significant differences between the 5 th graders and the 7 th graders in favour of the 5 th graders and between the 6 th graders and 7 th graders in favour of the 6 th graders. In the "affective strategies" sub-dimension, there are significant differences between the 5 th and 7 th graders in favour of the 5 th graders; between the 7 th graders and 8 th graders in favour of the 8 th graders and between the 6 th and 7 th graders in favour of the 6 th graders. In the whole scale, there are significant differences between the 5 th graders and 7 th graders in favour of the 5 th graders and between the 6 th and 7 th graders in favour of the 6 th graders. Thus, it can be argued that the 5 th and 6 th grade students' level of using vocabulary learning strategies in foreign language is higher than that of the 7 th graders. In a study conducted by Yaacob et al. (2019) on the middle school students, it was found that with students' increasing grade level, their level of using vocabulary-learning strategies also increases. Thus, this finding reported in the literature does not concur with the finding of the current study.
In general, with increasing grade level, it middle school students' level of using vocabulary learning strategies decreases. In other words, students at lower grades use more vocabulary learning strategies. Due to students' learning phases and status, motivation level, student and teacher expectations and desires, personality traits and language learning goals, differentiation may have occurred between grade levels. With increasing grade level, students' future plans are more clarified and they become more certain about the major they want to specialise in. All these can affect their strategy use and desire and effort for learning a foreign language. No grade level-based significant difference was found in the sub-dimensions of "compensation strategies" and "social strategies".
Middle school students' vocabulary learning strategies in foreign language were found to vary significantly depending on mother-father attitude in the sub-dimensions of "memory strategies", "cognitive strategies", "meta-cognitive strategies", "affective strategies", "compensation strategies" and "social strategies" and in the whole scale in favour of the students whose mothers and fathers exhibit democratic attitudes. According to Erdogdu (2006), students who are able to establish a comfortable dialogue with their parents and are raised in a democratic family environment, can communicate, discuss and exchange ideas on all issues, are more comfortable, active, and can share their opinions and respect different opinions and thoughts in classes.
The family is the first and most important learning environment. From an early age, children acquire a lot of knowledge and skills, attitudes, values, problem solving skills and ways of self-evaluation by taking their parents as models. In addition, the basis of working habits, the desire to learn and the acquisition of the first knowledge is formed in the family environment. While the children at school age participate in the learning environment with these characteristics, the effects of the growing environment, family attitudes and behaviours are revealed. In this context, the place and importance of communication, interaction and sharing are very important in learning the changing and developing language. The success of the strategies used in vocabulary learning can be observed by the richness of the acquired vocabulary acquired, their active use and the ability to communicate.
Middle school students' vocabulary learning strategies in foreign language were found to vary significantly depending on the level of interest in English course in the sub-dimensions of "memory strategies", "cognitive strategies", ''metacognitive strategies'', ''affective strategies'', "compensation strategies" and "social strategies" and in the whole scale. When the vocabulary learning strategies mean scores of the groups were examined, it was found that the highest mean score was achieved by the students with high level of interest, followed by the students with medium level of interest and the students with low level of interest. Thus, students with higher level of interest in English course used more vocabulary learning strategies. Somuncuoglu and Yildirim (2000) reported that the students' interest in the course positively affect their attitudes and use of cognitive and meta-cognitive strategies. In this regard, it can be thought that the reason why the interest in English course positively affects the use of vocabulary learning strategies may be that the students having positive opinions about the course try to do what is required by the course willingly and enthusiastically. Moreover, those students have greater motivation and attempt to discover, evaluate, develop and use the learning strategies suitable for better learning.
In the current study, a medium, positive and significant correlation was found between the middle school students' selfregulation skills and vocabulary learning strategies mean scores (r=0.69). Thus, it can be argued that with improving self-regulation skills of students, their level of using vocabulary learning strategies also increases.
As a conclusion, the middle school students' self-regulation skills were found to be over the medium value. It was also found that the middle school students' self-regulation skills were found to be varying significantly depending on gender in the sub-dimensions of "being open", "searching'' and in the whole scale in favour of the female students. No significant difference was found between the students' self-regulation skills depending on grade level in the subdimension of "being open". In the sub-dimension of "being open", a significant difference was found between the 7 th graders and the 8 th graders in favour of the 8 th graders. The middle school students' self-regulation skills were found to be varying significantly depending on mother and father attitude in the sub-dimensions of "being open" and "searching" and in the whole scale in favour of the students whose mothers and fathers exhibit democratic attitudes. The middle school students' self-regulation skills were found to be varying depending on the level of interest in English course in the sub-dimensions of "being open" and "searching" and in the whole scale. The highest mean score was taken by the students with high level of interest, followed by the students with medium level of interest and the students with low level of interest.
Middle school students' level of using vocabulary learning strategies is over the medium value. Middle school students' vocabulary learning strategies in foreign language were found to be varying significantly depending on gender in the sub-dimensions of "memory strategies", "cognitive strategies", ''meta-cognitive strategies'', ''affective strategies'' and in the whole scale. Middle school students' vocabulary learning strategies in foreign language were found to be varying significantly depending on grade level in the sub-dimensions of "memory strategies", "cognitive strategies", ''metacognitive strategies'', ''affective strategies'' and in the whole scale. In general, it was found that with increasing grade level, the middle school students' level of using vocabulary learning strategies decreases. Middle school students' vocabulary learning strategies were found to be varying significantly depending on mother and father attitude in the sub-dimensions of "memory strategies", "cognitive strategies", ''meta-cognitive strategies'', ''affective strategies'', "social strategies", "compensation strategies" and in the whole scale in favour of the students whose mothers and fathers exhibit democratic attitudes. Middle school students' vocabulary learning strategies were found to be varying significantly depending on the level of interest in English course in the sub-dimensions of "memory strategies", "cognitive strategies", ''meta-cognitive strategies'', ''affective strategies'', "social strategies", "compensation strategies" and in the whole scale. In this regard, the highest mean score was taken by the students with high level of interest followed by the students with medium level of interest and the students with low level of students. A positive, medium and significant correlation was found between the middle school students' self-regulation skills and vocabulary learning strategies in foreign language mean scores.

Suggestions
In self-regulated learning processes, girls use more strategies in all areas. Studies on the reasons for lower selfregulation skills of male students can be done. Developing students' self-regulation skills is facilitated in appropriate learning environments. For this reason, studies on teachers' perceptions, attitudes and practices related to selfregulated learning can be done. Authoritarian parents can be given seminars about what they can do and how they can support their children in order to improve their children's self-regulation skills.
When the literature is reviewed, it is seen that there are few studies about the use of vocabulary learning strategies for middle school students; thus, new studies on this subject can be conducted. Studies on the reasons for male students' lower level of success in vocabulary and language learning in terms of various variables can be done.
English teachers can be given in-service seminars on the use and teaching of effective vocabulary teaching strategies. In these seminars, interactive communication can be established with teachers from countries where foreign languages are taught effectively so that information exchange can be accomplished.
For pre-service teachers of English, elective courses related to vocabulary learning strategies can be included in teacher education programs of education faculties. Meetings can be organised with parents to inform them about how to train their children in English classes and how they can help their children learn vocabulary.