“授人以鱼，不如授之以渔” is a famous Chinese saying that means we can feed a person for a day by giving him/her a fish, but we can feed that person for a lifetime if we teach him/her how to fish. The implication of this Chinese saying in the field of teaching English as second/foreign language is that we'd better teach students how to gain knowledge and help them cultivate self‐regulation via equipping them with learning strategies rather than solely passing the knowledge to the students in order for them to improve their English language proficiency.

Proficiency in English is of critical importance in many countries, including college admissions, study abroad programs, and finding and keep a job (Wang & Bai, 2017). English language learners in China struggle because there are not enough efficient strategies available to help them learn a foreign language (Guo, Xu, & Liu, 2018; Wang, Hu, Zhang, Chang, & Xu, 2012). Research has shown that English language learners who rely upon more strategies perform better on English language proficiency tests (Green & Oxford, 1995; Lan & Oxford, 2003). Therefore, teachers of English must introduce their students to multiple language‐learning strategies in order to facilitate the learning process and improve learning outcomes. Research has also shown that self‐regulation plays an important role in the learning process and that the use of self‐regulated learning strategies (SRLS) predicts positive academic achievements (e.g., Guo et al., 2018). In addition, previous studies were largely based on survey data with a lack of connection between survey data and performance measures (e.g., Hurd & Xiao, 2010; Oxford, 2017; Oxford & Burry‐Stock, 1995). The purpose of this study, therefore, fills this gap by (a) generating profiles of English language learners based on their use of SRLS; and (b) examining differences in performance on English language proficiency tests between the learners profiled. Identifying various types of English language learners based on their use of SRLS is significant in assisting classroom teachers to provide instructional relevant pedagogy to meet the individual needs of the learners.