scholarly journals Investigating the Relationship between Learning Styles and ESP Reading Strategies in Academic Setting

Author(s):  
Parviz Ajideh ◽  
Mohammad Zohrabi ◽  
Kazem Pouralvar

The present study investigated the relationship between Art and Science students’ learning styles and their ESP reading strategies in academic settings. Learning styles are defined as general orientations learners take toward their learning experiences. This notion has recently obtained attention in the area of language learning. Strategies are also defined as specific behaviours or techniques learners employ towards leaning in order to achieve their learning goals. The strategies chosen are often linked to the individual's learning style. The purpose of this study was to identify Art and Science students’ major learning style preferences and their strategies they employ to tackle their reading materials in ESP courses at Tabriz Islamic Art University. To this end, 313 Art and Science students at Tabriz Islamic Art University answered two self-report questionnaires (PLSPQ and SORS) to identify their major and minor learning styles as well as their reading strategies in ESP reading. In order to find any relationship between the students’ preferred learning style (s) and their reading strategies in ESP, Pearson Product Moment Coefficient r was used to analyze the participants’ answers to the questionnaires. The results showed that Art students favored Kinesthetic, Auditory, Visual and Tactile learning styles as their major learning styles while Science students showed preference to only Kinesthetic Learning style as their major learning style and other learning styles as their minor ones. It was also found that the most dominant reading strategies both Art and Science students apply in reading their ESP texts was cognitive strategies. Correlational analyses of their major learning styles and their reading strategies are discussed.

2014 ◽  
Vol 971-973 ◽  
pp. 2677-2680
Author(s):  
Di Jiao

Factors affecting students’ English learning performances are always debated among language researchers. This research is carried out in art colleges to figure out the students’ preferences in learning styles and learning strategies as well as the relationship between them. Questionnaires have been applied and data have been dealt with by SPSS. This research has shown that students in the art college tend to be visual and individual learners, and thus they prefer to adopt metacognitive, memory and affective strategies.


Open Praxis ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nabia Luqman Siddiquei ◽  
Dr Ruhi Khalid

The rapid growth of e-learning has greatly influenced the educational system across the globe. Personality traits and learning styles are both likely to play considerable roles in influencing academic achievement of e-learners. Based on this foundation, a study was designed that attempts to establish the missing links between personality traits, learning styles, and academic performance of students enrolled in various e-learning courses. University students (N=144) completed the Big Five Inventory (BFI), Index of Learning Style (ILS) and reported their grade point average (GPA). One of the Big Five traits i.e. extraversion was positively related with all four learning styles whereas neuroticism was negatively related with all four learning styles. It has also been revealed that GPA was positively correlated with three personality traits and was negatively correlated with neuroticism. Similarly GPA was positively correlated with three learning styles. Finally, there were no significant differences in learning styles and personality traits of e-learners in terms of gender. Implications of these results are expected to help academics, managers, and policy makers for implementation of future e-learning strategies in Pakistan.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 348-384
Author(s):  
Luísa Margarida Cagica Carvalho ◽  
João Manuel do Freixo Pereira ◽  
Rui Manuel Teixeira Santos Dias ◽  
Adriana Backx Noronha

This research aims to identify the learning styles of Portuguese higher education students in business administration, and in return to enable the identification of effective ways to foster the teaching-learning process. The research is divided into two parts: a theoretical approach and the analysis and discussion of the results obtained in light of the learning style of these students as characterized by the Felder-Silvernman model. The data were collected from 3 Portuguese Higher Education Institutions and seek to contribute to the improvement of the learning process in business management courses and to provide for adequate planning of learning strategies aimed at educational success. The statistical analysis of the data was performed with SPSS version 25.0 for Windows and included both descriptive and inferential statistics. The results of the study are consistent with the findings in the literature in similar contexts, suggesting that learning styles vary according to the individual. Regarding gender, a variable that has been studied relatively little to date, there is also evidence in the study that female students seem to use cognitive strategies significantly more than their male counterparts.


The main aim of this study was to see if a significant relationship existed among Iranian EFL learners’ Learning Styles, Writing Strategies and Writing Anxiety. To this effect, 183 EFL learners studying English in three language institutes from the upper intermediate and advanced proficiency levels were selected based on convenient nonrandom sampling procedure. They completed the Kolb Learning Style (KLS), the Inventory of Learning Strategies for writing (ILS) and the Foreign Language Writing Anxiety Scale (FLWAS) self-report questionnaires. However, after the initial screening, 21 cases were discarded as their answers were incomplete, leaving 162 participants in the final sample. The relationship among EFL learners learning styles, writing strategies and writing anxiety were analyzed using the Spearman rank order coefficient of correlation. Since, the results indicated statistically significant relationships among them, multiple regression analyses were run to see if significant predictors of EFL learners’ writing anxiety could be identified. Interestingly, the analyses showed that pragmatist learning style made the strongest statistically significant unique contribution to predict writing anxiety while activist learning style failed to make such a significant contribution. To clarify, the negative relationship suggests that the more pragmatic the preferred learning style is, the lower the writing anxiety. Furthermore, only memory writing strategy made a statistically significant unique contribution to predicting writing anxiety while the other five writing strategies did not. To explain further, their positive relationship implies that learners who apply memory strategies more, face higher levels of writing anxiety. Thus, this study identified learners’ pragmatist learning style and memory writing strategy as significant predictors of writing anxiety in the EFL context. As a result, not only does this study provide statistical evidence of the relationship among these variables but it also stresses the importance of EFL learners’ language learning styles and writing strategies to their writing anxiety.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (01) ◽  
pp. 13-20
Author(s):  
Dian Saputra

This study aims to find out the relationship between learning style and students’ knowledge aspect on Computer System Subject at SMK IT Rahmatan Karimah of  Central Bengkulu, the type of research is quantitative and the subject of research is grade X in SMK IT Rahmatan Karimah of  Central Bengkulu. Data collection techniques using observation, Questionnaire and documentation. Data analysis techniques used were Descriptive Analysis, and inferential Statistical Analysis. The results of visual learning style post-test were 11 people with a mean of 76.36, an auditory learning style of 8 people at a mean of 62.14, a kinesthetic learning style of 3 people at a mean of 50.33, apart from that (r x y = 2.35) and the magnitude of r is reflected in the table (r table = 0.4132). Then rxy > r table ie = 2.35> 0.4132. In other words, Ho is rejected and Ha is accepted. It has a significant relationship between the learning styles of students and students’ knowledge aspect on Computer System Subject of grade X TKJ in SMK IT Rahmatan Karimah of  Central Bengkulu


2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 53
Author(s):  
Ozgul Balci

The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between the language learning strategies of freshman students and their learning styles. This study is a descriptive research and employs a relational screening model. Participants of the study were 328 freshman students majoring in different fields at Necmettin Erbakan University Ahmet Keleşoğlu Faculty of Education in Turkey. Data were collected via Turkish version of “Strategy Inventory of Language Learning (SILL)”, originally developed by Oxford (1990) and adapted into Turkish by Cesur and Fer (2007) and “Big 16 Learning Modality Inventory” by Şimşek (2002). Data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics and the Pearson’s correlation coefficient. The research results revealed that learning styles have a significant effect on language learning strategy use. The results and implications of the study are discussed and suggestions for future research are offered.


Author(s):  
Ervin Kovacevic

This study examines the hypothesis that language learning strategies (LLS) partly account for the level of L2 proficiency (i.e. the level of L2 lexical complexity produced in the written output of English language learners). To test the hypothesis, 152 English-proficient freshman students of Bosnian L1 linguistic background were surveyed utilizing the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) designed by Rebecca Oxford (1990). Their lexical output was collected through short essays that were written during formal exams held in English for Academic Purposes undergraduate courses at the International University of Sarajevo. The written samples were converted to an electronic format and analyzed with the Web-based Lexical Complexity Analyzer (Lu, 2012; Ai & Lu, 2010). Relationships between six SILL subscales and twenty-five lexical complexity (LC) measures were assessed through applying the principles of correlational design. The results confirmed the hypothesis. Statistically significant correlations were found between memory strategies and three LC measures, cognitive strategies and twenty LC measures, compensation strategies and nine LC measures, and affective strategies and three LC measures. It is concluded that the relationship between LLS and LC levels is mostly conditioned by LLS types.


2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 69
Author(s):  
Sulaiman Alnujaidi

This study investigated the relationship between EFL students’ Perceptual Learning Styles (PLS) and their Language Learning Strategies (LLS). A group of (155) college-level EFL students in Saudi Arabia was surveyed. Reid’s learning styles model was employed to identify the participants’ PLS. Oxford’s language learning strategies model was used to identify the participants’ LLS. The study’s results showed that the most preferred learning styles among students were kinesthetic, auditory, and group PLS respectively. It was also found that the most frequently used language learning strategies among students were metacognitive, social, and cognitive LLS respectively. The study revealed a statistically significant relationship between participants’ perceptual learning styles and their language learning strategies.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Robab Farhang ◽  
Ulduz Zamani Ahari ◽  
Samira Ghasemi ◽  
Aziz Kamran

Background and Objectives. The career decision-making self-efficacy (CDSE) in medical, pharmacy, and dental students is more important than other disciplines due to professional sensitivity, direct involvement in decision-making for the treatment process, and the significant clinical involvement. It is also expected that learning styles can have a significant impact on the academic success, and the CDSE also affects the quality of clinical care. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the relationship between the learning styles and the career decision-making self-efficacy among medicine and dentistry students. Materials and Methods. This cross-sectional study was conducted on 235 medical interns and fifth- and sixth-year dental students of Ardabil University of Medical Sciences, Iran. The data were collected using Kolb Learning Style Inventory and Betz and Luzzo career decision-making self-efficacy questionnaire. Statistical tests such as Kolmogorov–Smirnov, Spearman correlation coefficient, Chi-square, one-way ANOVA were used to analyze the data. Results. The mean age of participants was 25.9 ± 1.30; a majority of them were dental students (134 persons, 59.3%), and 92 were medical students (40.7%). The predominant learning styles in dental and medical students were assimilating (40.3%) and converging (47.8%), respectively. There was no significant relationship between students’ learning styles and career decision-making self-efficacy and none of its subscales ( P > 0.05 ). The Chi-square test results showed that a significant difference was observed between the field of study and learning styles of the participants ( P = 0.024 ). Conclusion. This study showed that there was no significant relationship between learning style and career decision-making self-efficacy of the participants.


2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 490-506 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darwish Abdulrahman Yousef

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the use of Honey and Mumford’s (1986) learning styles questionnaire (LSQ) in the context of United Arab Emirates (UAE) higher education. In particular, it aims at exploring the learning style preferences of United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) students using LSQ. It also investigates whether there are statistically significant differences in students’ learning style preferences because of their demographic and academic characteristics. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from a sample of 1,463 undergraduate students at the UAEU. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to present the main characteristics of respondents, to explore the learning style preferences of UAEU students and to find out whether there are significant differences in students’ learning style preferences because of their demographic and academic characteristics. Findings Results indicated that UAEU students have strong preferences for the four learning styles. Results showed that about 68 per cent of UAEU students have strong or very strong preferences for the activist leaning style, whereas about 84 per cent have strong or very strong preferences for the reflector learning style, 78 per cent have strong or very strong preferences for the theorist learning style; about 60 per cent have strong or very strong preferences for the pragmatist learning style. Furthermore, there were statistically significant differences in certain learning styles because of students’ demographic and academic characteristics. Research limitations/implications There are a number of limitations associated with this study. First, data were collected from a single university in the UAE. Second, the results are based on a self-report survey and this in turn might affect the reliability of the results. Another limitation is that this study is of snapshot type. Hence, it might not capture the dynamic nature of learning style. On the other hand, it has a number of implications for students, educators and administrators. Originality/value The present study is the first attempt to explore learning styles preference of undergraduate students using LSQ, not only in the content of UAE higher education but also in the Arab world.


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