Abstrak This paper reports a biographic enquiry of two tertiary English learners from Kuantan Singingi Riau and seeks to capture the developmental processes of the learners' language learning approaches. By sharing their past language learning experiences, the two learners verbalized their struggles in language learning and revealed the deep impact that their learning settings had on their perceptions of self and language learning. Their adopted learning approaches, as revealed in their

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... ical accounts, seem to be extremely exam-oriented and are dependent on the learners' self-will and effort as well as teachers' support and attention. Both learners' accounts suggest that their language learning approaches are influenced by the contextual discourses about learning English, stressful social processes and a sense of threatened self-identity as English major graduates in a highly competitive educational context. Key words: language learning approaches, biographic study and tertiary English learners I. Introduction In this paper, two English learners" (Rinda and Dinda, pseudonyms) learning experiences illustrated how particular learning contexts and social processes pushed them to adopt highly school-based learning approaches and be dependent on teachers in an extremely competitive learning process. The learners were selected out of a larger and undergoing learners" biographical enquiry for reporting because they were an unusual pair of learners. Both learners went to SMK (secondary vocational schools) and were granted opportunities to study at an English Study Program by the local government in Pekanbaru. They were, apparently close friends, always appeared together in and outside of classrooms, but both complained about isolation in learning yet neither of them was willing to form an alliance with each other. Moreover, Rinda was a high-profile learner with glittering academic record, but Dinda was an under-achieving one with little academic achievement. In the following sections, the study and the participants were firstly illustrated before moving on to present two learning biographies based on the learners" own narratives. Then, the important themes and issues were highlighted from the biographies for analysis. Finally, the report was closed with some reflections on how the two learners" stories are able to inform teachers and researchers interested in the same field.