Self-control, the ability to resist momentarily rewarding temptations (e.g., TV, smartphones) in the service of more enduringly valued goals, is one of the crucial character strengths for academic achievement in positive education. This is also the case with foreign language learning partly because it is more rewarding in the long run than in the short run, and partly because there are numerous temptations in foreign language settings. Although several self-control studies have used student GPAs as a criteria of academic outcomes, there is little research that uses English test results as an outcome criteria. Thus, my research is intended to fill this gap. In this research, a specifically designed second-language learning questionnaire, which is based on the “process model of self-control” (Duckworth et al., 2016), was administered to 810 university students learning English in Japan. Some preliminary findings are as follows. T-test analyses indicate that students who were more frequent users of self-control strategies (e.g., cognitive strategies) at the beginning of a semester-long English course, had longer study time and higher English abilities at the end of the course than those who were less frequent users of such strategies. Based on these findings, educational implications toward strategic self-control are discussed.