Learning Styles of Saudi ESP Students

Explorations in learning styles have proved the significance of the ways students approach, assimilate, and process information. Students’ perceptions and their organization influence the quality of language learning and guide them towards autonomy, too. This study attempts to identify the preferred perceptual learning styles of 86 Saudi English for Specific Purposes (ESP) female students in the Preparatory Year Deanship, Prince Sattam bin Abdul Aziz University, Saudi Arabia. To accomplish this aim, a Perceptual Learning Style Preference Questionnaire (PLSPQ) developed by Joy Reid (1987) was used. The results showed that the participants’ major learning styles were Kinesthetic, Group, Auditory, Visual, and Tactile, whereas their minor style was Individual. The analysis of the data also revealed that the most preferred learning style was the Kinesthetic learning style (18.64%, M=4.42), and the least preferred one was the Individual learning style (14.30%, M=3.39). The second to fifth place belonged to Group (17.19%, M=4.07), Auditory (16.81%, M=3.98), Visual (16.55%, M=3.92) and Tactile (16.52%, M=3.91) learning styles. The findings have implications for teachers, syllabus designers, and researchers to take into consideration students’ preferred learning styles for language learning while teaching, changes in the learning environment, and material adaptation.

Sustaining Learning during COVID-19 Seismic Shift: The Need to Develop Flexible Pedagogy

This study examines the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on educational system; investigates how meaningful learning is promoted and continued despite the unprecedented global challenges; and investigates if the channels through which learning is promoted cater for students' learning styles. Two hundred and one secondary school students selected from Ekiti State, Nigeria, participated in the descriptive research study. A validated questionnaire was used to gather data from the respondents. The study found out that the learning channels mostly employed during the pandemic were television stations, school on-air via radio programme, virtual learning, and private teaching. The findings revealed that respondents had no preference for specific perceptual learning styles but embraced different learning channels employed. They modified their learning styles and developed flexibility in learning. A recommendation was provided that new viable policies that promote diverse learning opportunities and alternative learning strategies capable of mitigating the present and future academic obstructions should be made and diligently implemented. This paper concludes that during future emergencies, diverse learning platforms, channels, and digital media employed for learning should cater to students' learning styles: visual, auditory, tactile, kinesthetic, group, and individual. It is noteworthy that learners would learn better if they are exposed to varieties of teaching/learning media.

Multimodal and Perceptual Learning Styles: Their Effect on Students’ Motivation in a Digital Environment

<div><p>The advent of various interactive multimedia networks in the English for Specific Purposes (ESP) classroom (Grabe &amp; Grabe, 2007) has led to the emergence of new learning methodologies (Ming-Hung et al., 2017). Accordingly, new ways of learning are present in a multimodal environment, and have caused an effect on students’ degree of motivation, as well as on their learning styles (e.g., ‘multimodal’ and ‘perceptual’ learning styles).</p></div><div><p>The present study aims to analyse the degree of motivation of ESP learners with a ‘Multimodal’ learning style in contrast to those with ‘Multiple’ learning styles. In particular, this study addresses three research questions: (1) Has ‘Digital’ learning created a recent ‘perceptual’ learning style (i.e., ‘Multimodal’ learning style)? (2) To what extent does ‘digital’ learning increase ESP students’ motivation in comparison to ‘traditional’ learning? (3) Does the ‘Multimodal’ learning style heighten the degree of motivation in contrast to ‘Multiple’ learning style?</p><p>The study used a sample of 62 first-year ESP students taking the subject ‘Professional English for Communicators’ at a Spanish university. Data for this study were collected using ‘Wix’, as the main research tool, and two questionnaires which focused on students’ ‘Multimodal’ learning style and motivation: (a) ‘Multimodal Learning Styles Questionnaire’, designed to help students identify their preferences towards their learning process, and (b) ‘Motivation Questionnaire’, in order to get information regarding students’ perceptions for the enhancement of engagement.</p><p>Results suggest that the implementation of ‘Wix’ in the classroom increases students’ engagement in their learning process and fosters a new perceptual learning style (i.e., ‘multimodal’ learning style). These findings may help to identify to what extent digital resources affect students’ engagement and perceptual learning styles’ preferences. The results obtained from this research may be used to derive conclusions on how to approach the ‘Multimodal’ learning style in further student performances with digital tools that promote the training of digital literacies (Girón-García, 2013).</p></div>

A critical examination of perceptual learning styles in English language teaching

This article critically reviews the concept of learning styles, particularly the notion of perceptual, that is, visual, auditory and kinaesthetic (VAK), styles. We look at problems with the definition and terminology used to describe VAK learning styles, arguing that they have yet to be shown to be consistent and measurable attributes. We review the history of VAK, present literature on the topic in language teaching and other educational fields and scrutinize the scientific, psychological and educational concerns with the use of VAK learning styles in the classroom, asserting that much of the popularity assigned to the notion of VAK learning styles is based on the false assumption that teaching to a learner’s sensory learning preference will enhance achievement. We conclude with some brief suggestions for alternative pedagogical interventions in language teaching which do have strong empirical backing as well as a call to the language teaching profession to look to other fields, such as neuroscience and cognitive science to guard against classroom practices that have no scientific basis.

The Perceptual Learning Styles Characteristics of EFL Learners

The recent study aimed to assess the EFL learners perceptual learning styles which can be defined into three components: such as visual, auditory, and kinesthetic style one. Students had to know their kinds of learning preferences so that it made them aware of their competencies as well. This research was conducted through a descriptive quantitative approach. This means that the data were collected not only in the form of numbers, and it described narratively. The collected data were taken through Perceptual Learning Styles questionnaires, documentation, and observation. The results of this study were that among twenty-four participants of EFL learners, there were kinesthetic learning styles more dominant among visual and auditory ones. The students of the ELT program at UIN Walisongo Semarang tended to study by various kind of learning. Teachers should be aware of their students’ condition. By knowing the students’ awareness of their perceptual learning styles, it would provide learners more easily to learn, and they would be successful learners (Annury, 2016). [2]Keywords: perceptual learning styles, EFL Learner

Relating Perceptual Learning Styles of Engineering Students with Scanning Information in Text Scores

There are numerous factors, which reasonably affect teachers&rsquo; instructions. One of these factors is being aware of the learners&rsquo; learning styles. Shea&rsquo;s work (1983) contributed that there is a strong correlation between learning styles and reading comprehensions. The present study investigated the correlation between Perceptual learning styles and scanning information in text scores. To achieve this, researcher randomly selected 382 undergraduates (male and female) engineering students of the Public sector Engineering University. Learning style survey questionnaire by Andrew D. Cohen, Rebecca L. Oxford, and Julie C. Chi (2001) was employed to examine the Perceptual learning style patterns and learning styles with respect to gender. In addition to this, reading test was conducted based on scanning skill. Pearson product-moment correlation test was applied to examine the correlation between the variables. It was found that a correlation exists between learning styles of engineering students and scanning information in the text. In addition to this, gender does play role in learning style preferences. This result would create awareness among all instructors or teachers the importance of learners&rsquo; unique learning style preferences that consequently affect teaching methodologies in all educational settings.