The research aimed to clarify the role of
self-directed learning in the learning process of English learners at the
University of Social Science and Humanities Vietnam National University Ho Chi
Minh City. There were 539 students participating in this research. Within this
research, the self-directed learning scale by Bhrati et al (2020) was
administrated and the English grades were evaluated by participants. The
results revealed that most of the students were at a good level in learning
English according to their self-record. Self-directed learning explained 43.9%
of changes in English learning grades, which means the higher students practice
self-directed learning in learning English, the more chances their English
learning grades could be changed. Especially, planning and deploying learning
activities, a factor of self-directed learning, contribute mainly to changes in
the English grades of students. As the results, the research suggests that
lecturers and school managers should introduce and equip students with good
planning and deploying learning activities skills to improve English grades and
English learning outcomes in general. Moreover, the study also indicated that
family social economic status could be a factor contributing to improving
students’ self-directed learning and English learning grades. It could imply
that social policymakers could reference for further consideration social
impacts resulting in improving community education outcomes.