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56
Volume: 14 July-December 2022
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVANCEMENT IN SOCIAL SCIENCE AND HUMANITIES
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVANCEMENT IN
SOCIAL SCIENCE & HUMANITIES
An International Open-Access Peer Reviewed Refereed Journal
Associating Learning Styles with Academic
Achievement in English
Impact Factor: 4.890 E-ISSN: 2455 –5150 P-ISSN: 2455 -7722
Wafaa Husain Jabur Al-Temeemey
College of Education, Misan University, Iraq
Paper Received:
20th June, 2022
Paper Accepted:
05th August, 2022
Paper Received After Correction:
30th August, 2022
Paper Published:
13th September, 2022
How to cite the article: Wafaa Husain Jabur Al-Temeemey, Associating Learning
Styles with Academic Achievement in English, IJASSH, July-December 2022 Vol 14;
56-70
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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVANCEMENT IN SOCIAL SCIENCE AND HUMANITIES
ABSTRACT
Iraqi English language learners exhibit variation in their academic performance in
courses covering linguistic and literary subjecs, leaving professors to wonder whether this is
due to the content or the learners’ preferences for styles that correspond with that content. Put
a strong emphasis on students' preferred learning styles is one of the efficient ways to respond
to this question. Learning style preference is a relatively new idea in Iraq, and few studies
about students' learning styles and academic achievement in the English language have been
conducted. This study looks into students' learning styles and tries to determine whether
there is a correlation between learning preferences and academic achievement in both
linguistic and literary subjects over the courses of four years of college. To put it another
way, the researcher seeks to ascertain whether or not participants' learning styles preferences
have any bearing on how well they perform in linguistic and literary subjects. Reid's
Perceptual Learning Style Preference Questionnaire was the tool used to collect data from 65
EFL learners. Means, standard deviations, Pearson correlation, and correlation coefficient
were used to analyze the three preferred learning styles. It is hoped that the study's findings
will draw the professors’ attention to the concept of learning style in order to help their
college students who might perform poorly in their English courses.
Key words: Learning styles, Academic achievement, English
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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVANCEMENT IN SOCIAL SCIENCE AND HUMANITIES
INTRODUCTION
Individuals do not learn in exactly
the same manner. Each person has a
preferred method of learning that they
favor. In an attempt to determine the most
thorough explanation of the performance
variance, recent research in the field of
second and foreign language acquisition
has progressively studied a wide range of
factors that account for individual
variability in foreign language
achievement. Learning style is one of
them. Numerous scholars have
characterized, categorized, and identified
learning style in various ways.Taking
learning styles seriously is crucial to the
teaching-learning process. Some students,
as it is hypothesized, will benefit more
from a particular learning context that
develops in foreign language classrooms
than others. In other words, similar to
personality traits such as ambiguity,
tolerance and risk-taking, which appear to
be characteristic of effective foreign
language learners, some students' learning
styles will either help or hinder them (Ely,
1986; Oxford and Ehrman, 1993; Ehrman,
1996). Ehrman (1996) explains that when
there are mismatches between learner
styles and curriculum or teaching style,
difficulties for learners arise. For this
reason, teachers must be aware of the
different learning styles. Awareness of
these styles will have an impact on
pedagogy; since the methods by which
teachers choose to teach would help
teachers gain a better understanding of the
needs of their students, as well as, a
recognition of the importance of
differentiating subjects not only by level of
difficulty but also by learning style.
Knowing about the style variables
associated with foreign language
achievement may enable educators to
identify students who are most likely to
struggle with certain aspects of a foreign
language. (Reid, 1987; Felder and
Henriques1995; Ehrman and Oxford 1995;
Ehrman, 1996). Because many students
appear to struggle with adapting their
cognitive set to foreign language study,
learning style might be a predictor of
foreign language acquisition. In other
words, a student's learning style may
influence their ability to learn a foreign
language.
LEARNING STYLE AND ACADEMIC
ACHIEVEMENT
The concept of learning style is
really broad. There are numerous
explanations for learning styles. According
to Kaminska (2014), some researchers
(e.g., Gringkorenko and Sternberg
1995:205) prefer to view styles as
interactions of personality and intelligence.
Styles are not abilities, but instead the way
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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVANCEMENT IN SOCIAL SCIENCE AND HUMANITIES
these abilities (and the knowledge gained
through them) are applied on a daily basis
interactions with their surrounding
environment. In other words, styles reflect
not how much intelligence everyone has,
but how she/he uses it. However, the
researcher in the current study agrees with
Li et al (2008) in that a learning style is
introduced and defined as an individual's
preferential learning style concentrate on
various information sources and methods
for interpreting and comprehending these
information. The performance of a student
may be related to their learning styles.
These different learning styles, contends
Thu Ha (2019:69), share certain
characteristics. First, every learner has his
own preferred method of learning.
Second, in contrast to what students learn,
learning styles focus on how students
prefer to learn. Each person's learning
preferences are neutral in terms of value,
and it is abundantly clear that no
preference is better than another. Different
styles can work together to complement
one another rather than against one
another. Third, it is advantageous for
students to look into and recognize their
own preferred learning styles.
Academic achievement is a
measure of how well a student, teacher, or
institution has accomplished its
educational goals. These goals may vary
from one person or institution to another,
assessed through exams or ongoing
assessments (Narad & Abdullah, 2016:
12). Exams and other forms of continuous
assessment are frequently used to evaluate
academic achievement, but there is no
consensus on the best methods or the most
crucial types of knowledge, such as facts,
to test (Unity and Igbudu, 2015:102).
Students’ achievement has many facets
and can be used to address various
learning domains. It is frequently assessed
in a variety of ways and for very different
purposes (Hattie and Anderman, 2013: 5).
The core of the education system revolves
around students' academic achievement.
Any educational institution's success or
failure is determined by the academic
progress of its students. However, it is
viewed as the degree of knowledge
attained and assigned by the teacher in the
form of grades.
LEARNING STYLES DEFINITIONS
Many researchers are concerned
with the definition of learning styles.
Brown defined learning styles in 2000 as
the way people perceive and interpret
information in learning situations. Larkin
and Bundy (2005:1) claim that learning
style is a biologically and cognitively
imposed group of personal characteristics
that renders the same methods of teaching
and learning successful for some and
unsuccessful for others," Ellis (2005:4)
declares that learning style refers to the
distinctive ways in which individuals
reconfigure to problem-solving. A person's
natural, ingrained, and preferred method of
taking in, processing, and remembering
new information and skills in particularly
deliberate educational learning is referred
to as learning style, (Pritchard, 2009:41)
(Wong and Nunan, 2011: 145).
Tsingos et al. (2015:493) and Mangal and
Mangal (2019:482) confirms that learning
styles represent a preference that a student
makes to learn content in context, whether
consciously or unconsciously. Contrary to
what many educators believe, learning
styles are not related to a student's capacity
for learning and, consequently, are not
related to how well they learn; rather, they
are the preferred method that students use
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to understand and process information
given their aptitudes. To implement or
improve teaching strategies and modules,
learning styles are used in education as a
tool. The students' level of content or
contextual understanding may not be
indicated by their preferred learning style.
There is no such thing as a "good" or "bad"
learning style; instead, different learning
styles may work better in different learning
contexts for different people.
TYPES OF LEARNING STYLES
Learning styles, also recognized as various
approaches or modes of learning, are
generally classified in a variety of ways.
According to Mangal and Mangal (2019:
490), the following are the primary
learning styles.
Auditory Style
The first type of learning modality
is auditory style. Learners of this style
remember information better when they
hear it and explain it. The temporal lobes
on the sides of the brain process and store
auditory information (Tileston, 2011:32)
moreover, learners who prefer the auditory
learning style utilizing listening. They own
a good auditory memory and advantage
from activities such as lectures, discussion,
and interviews, hearing stories, and
listening to audio tapes. They enjoy
repetition, and summarization, and when
trying to recall memories, they typically
move their eyes evenly and tilt their heads.
(Pritchard, 2009:45). According to Mangal
& Mangal (2019: 490), auditory learners
who prefer hearing things explained rather
than reading about them are good listeners
and talkative. Auditory learners listen for a
variety of things while learning a new
skill, including the tone of voice, pitch
within the voice, and even the speed with
which the person teaches the new skill or
information. All of this interpreted
information is then applied to learning.
Many auditory learners may not feel ease
or may struggle with reading and writing
tasks. These learners typically benefit from
recordings of the information being taught,
as well as information played back from
these recordings.
Visual Style
According to Tileston (2011:26),
the visual learning style is the second type
of learning modality. The occipital lobe,
located in the back of the brain, processes
and stores visual information. Visual style
learners are found to be eye-minded, i.e.,
preferring to use their sense of vision in
the acquisition or learning a piece of
knowledge or skill related to one or more
subject areas or tasks (Mangal and
Mangal, 2019: 491). Visual style learners
are those who require a physical
representation of their mental model. They
are learners who have difficulties
comprehending oral directions, have
difficulty remembering names, enjoy
reading or drawing pictures, and pay
attention to the speaker's face. In addition,
tend to favour non - linguistic organizers
(Tileston, 2011: 32). Instructors could use
computers, images, films, graphs, videos,
diagrams, charts, drawings, transparencies,
books and magazines, (resources that
require reading), as well as written
assignments and evaluations because these
learners remember what they see and recall
details and events by focusing on them
(Dunn, 1988).
Kinesthetic Style
The third type of learning modality
is kinesthetic. The motor cortex, which is
at the top of the brain, stores kinesthetic
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information until it is permanently learned,
at which point it is stored in the
cerebellum, which is below the occipital
lobe (Tileston, 2011:32). Kinaesthetic
style learners adhere to the principle of
learning by doing or experiencing, i.e.,
they prefer to learn or acquire a piece of
knowledge or skill related to one or more
subject areas or tasks by using their sense
of touch or movement (Mangal & Mangal,
2019:491). Pritchard (2009:44) asserts that
learners who learn in a kinesthetic way are
good at remembering events and
connecting them to emotions or physical
experiences. They take advantage of
opportunities for active learning, object
manipulation, field trips, and other
experiential learning. They frequently
struggle to sit still and require frequent
breaks from classroom activities. Because
they learn primarily through experience,
these learners engage in the particular
learning by using their bodies to
experience, perform, and participate in it.
The instructors could offer opportunities
for actual, hands-on involvement in setting
and achieving goals (Reid, 1987 and
Dunn, 1988).
STUDIES THAT CONNECT
LEARNING STYLES TO STUDENT
ACHIEVEMENT
In an effort to shed light on factors
that influence academic success, research
has progressed beyond studying more
conventional traits like intelligence and
motivation, according to Cassidy (2004).
This is evidenced by interest in the
influence of learning styles on academic
achievement. Entwistle (as cited in
Drysdale et al., 2001: 272) declares that
academic success and failure in higher
education are influenced by the fit between
the delivery of the material and the way
that students digest it . Again Nelson et al.
(as cited in Drysdale et al. 2001)
discovered a link between improved levels
of academic achievement and learning
style. Students' academic performance was
improved by being made aware of their
preferred learning style and by helping
them build study techniques that work
with it. Similar findings were made by
O'Brien (1991), whose subjects included
students majoring in business, education,
and the arts and sciences. O'Brien
discovered that learning style variations
were related to academic success.
According to Dunn et al. (1995), who
based their conclusion on the findings of a
meta-analysis of 42 experimental studies,
students learn more effectively when their
learning styles are matched to the
instructional methods used. In a similar
context, Griggs and Dunn (1996) assert
that students who study using a strategy
that is congruent with their preferred
learning style accomplish more
academically and have a better attitude
toward learning. In their research of 4,546
first-year students' academic achievement,
Drysdale et al. (2001). Although they
found significant differences between
learning styles and academic performance
in 11 of the 19 courses, they found no
discernible differences between learning
styles and academic performance among
students in the liberal arts and social
sciences.
According to Castro and Peck's
(2005) study of the learning challenges and
learning styles faced by college-level
foreign language students, a student's
preferred learning style may help or hinder
progress in the foreign language
classroom. However, they discovered no
discernible link between learning style and
grades when they examined the
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distribution of grades in accordance with
Kolb's categories of learning styles.
Similar results were found in Tight's
(2007) research of English college students
studying Spanish, which revealed that
students' vocabulary test results were
unaffected by their preferred perceptual
learning approach. On the contrary, the
researchers Vizeshfar and Torabizadeh
(2018) conducted a study to assess the
impact of education based on prevalent
learning styles on the academic
performance of nursing students. They
determine that learning-style-based
instruction, especially for college students,
can not only improve the academic
performance of students and the job
satisfaction of teachers but can also help
prepare professional nurses. Kurniawan
and Hartono recently confirmed in (2020)
that their study, which sought to ascertain
the impact of learning styles on academic
achievement of prospective mathematics
education teacher students, had found a
strong relationship between learning
styles and academic achievement.
METHODOLOGY
Participants
Sixty five second year students,
majoring in English at the University of
Misan, College of Education, for the
academic year 2015/2016, participated in
the present study. It's important to mention
here that the researcher has assessed the
participant for four years ( from 2015 to
2018) in order to measure the change or
difference in their grades alongside the
four years of study.
Research Tool
In order to achieve the aim of the
current study, the researcher adopted the
Perceptual Learning Style Preference
Questionnaire (PLSPQ), developed by Joy
Reid (1984) which is theoretically based
on a perceptual modality approach and is
designed to assess a student's preference
for one of the fundamental perceptual
learning modalities. It is employed to
determine the learning preferences of EFL
students. It is a self-reporting questionnaire
that was created using existing learning
style instruments with some modifications
suggested by non-native speaker
informants and US linguistics consultants.
It provides a broad, comprehensive
conceptualization of learning styles as it
has a high level of reliability and validity
in general, and it has been used as the
"norm" on non-native speakers. Five
statements on each of the six learning
preferences—visual, auditory, kinesthetic,
tactile, group learning, and individual
learning—are included in the
questionnaire. Perceptual learning style
categories are made up of the first four,
and social learning style categories are
made up of the final two. However, the
researcher modified the questionnaire
focusing only on the styles that are
common in learning the language and that
serve the research aim, namely visual,
auditory, and kinesthetic (Appendix 1).
On a five point scale, from strongly
agree to strongly disagree, the participants
gave their answers. The students were
asked to choose the statement that best
applied to their study of English while
selecting whether they strongly agreed,
agreed, were undecided, disagreed, or
disagreed and marked it. The participants
were also instructed to respond to each
statement without giving them too much
thought and without changing their
answers once they had been marked.
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Data Collection and Analysis
In this study, data was collected
through a questionnaire, which aimed to
reveal whether there is a significant
relationship between learners' styles and
their academic achievement in both
linguistic and literary subjects in the four
years of college. The student's level of
language achievement was determined by
collecting the scores of the final exams in
both linguistic and literary subjects for
four years. The researcher took permission
from Misan University administration to
use a copy of the students’ final scores in
final exams for the four years .It is worth
mention, that in this study the researcher
focuses only on the linguistic and literary
subjects in the curriculum of English
departments in Education colleges
(Appendix 2). The obtained data were
statistically treated by using a number of
descriptive measurements (specifically
mean and standared devation) in addition
to using Pearson correlation. According to
Tavakoli(2012:459) the most widely used
measure of correlation or association is
Pearson correlation. It is parametric
statistics, which indicate the strength and
direction of the relationship between two
continuous variables. The Pearson
correlation determines the degree to which
a linear relationship exists between the
variables. To investigate whether
differences in course grades could be
attributed to different learning styles, an
analysis of variance, or ANOVA, was
used. In other words, the ANOVA enables
us to describe differences or lack of
differences between the variables (the
preferred learning style and student
grades) as being statistically significant or
not
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Table(1) illustrates the composite
means and standard deviations for the parti
cipants' preferred learning styles .In both
the linguistic and literary subjects, students
indicated that they preferred the visual
style (M = 3.86) the most, followed by the
auditory style (M = 3.78) and the
kinesthetic style (M = 3.73)
Pearson correlation was used to examine
the relationship between the three styles
with the linguistic and literary subjects in
the four years of college study as presented
in table (2).
Table (2) Pearson Correlation
coefficient of learning styles with the
achievement of four years linguistic and
literary subjects
Year
Subjects
Style
Pearson
correlation
First
Linguistic
Visual
-0.065
Auditory
0.086
Kinesthetic
0.292
Literary
visual
0.065
Auditory
-0.005
Kinesthetic
0.106
Second
Linguistic
Visual
0.020
Auditory
0.124
Kinesthetic
0.170
Literary
Visual
0.208
Auditory
0.016
Kinesthetic
0.015
Tables (1) Descriptive measurements for the
linguistic and literary subjects
Mean
Std.
Deviation
N
Learning
Styles
60.15
5.279
65
visual
3.86
0.522
65
auditory
3.78
0.516
65
kinesthetic
3.73
0.614
65
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Third
Linguistic
Visual
0.227
Auditory
-0.002
Kinesthetic
0.044
Literary
Visual
-0.228
Auditory
0.214
Kinesthetic
0.267
Fourth
Linguistic
Visual
-0.028
Auditory
-0.015
Kinesthetic
-0.040
Literary
Visual
0.053
Auditory
0.061
Kinesthetic
0.021
Table (2) reveals an inverse
relationship between the visual style and
the linguistic subjects (-0.065) a positive
relationship between each of the auditory
style (0.086) and the kinesthetic one
(0.292) with the linguistic subjects of the
first year of college. On the other hand, the
table shows a positive relation between
both of the visual (0.065) and the
kinesthetic style (0.106) but an inverse
relationship of the auditory style (-0.005)
with the literary subjects of the first year.
Concerning the relationship between the
three styles and the second year linguistic
and literary subjects table (2) shows a
positive relationship between all of the
learning styles and the second year
linguistic and literary materials.
Particularly in the linguistic subjects,
students expressed a strong preference for
the kinesthetic learning style (0.170) and
the visual style in the literary subjects
(0.208) followed by the auditory style
(0.124) (0.016).
Pearson correlation coefficient for the third
year in table (2) demonstrates an inverse
relationship between the auditory style and
the linguistic subjects (-0.002) and a
similar one between the visual style and
the literary subjects (-0.228). Strong
positive relations between the visual and
kinesthetic style with the linguistic
subjects (0.227) (0.044) and the kinesthetic
and auditory style with the literary subjects
(0.267) (0.214). Concerning the fourth
year relationships the above table express
that there is an inverse relationship
between the three style and the linguistic
subjects. While the table shows positive
relationship between all the styles with the
literary subjects.
In order to further investigate the
relationship between learning style and
academic achievement in the linguistic and
literary subjects, correlation coefficient
was also used in this study as shown in the
table (3)
Table (3) Correlation coefficient of learning styles with the achievement of four years
linguistic and literary subjects
Year
Subjects
Style
Correlation Coefficients
t
sig
First
Linguistic
Visual
-0.798
-0.640
0.525
Auditory
-0.796
-0.539
0.592
Kinesthetic
2.918
2.380
0.020
Literary
visual
1.310
0.535
0.595
Auditory
-1.835
-0.634
0.529
Kinesthetic
2.431
1.010
0.317
Second
Linguistic
Visual
-0.005
-0.003
0.998
Auditory
0.707
0.327
0.745
Kinesthetic
1.759
0.978
0.332
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Literary
Visual
2.663
1.662
0.102
Auditory
-0.335
-0.177
0.860
Kinesthetic
0.121
0.077
0.939
Third
Linguistic
Visual
3.188
1.860
0.068
Auditory
-1.049
-0.517
0.607
Kinesthetic
0.753
0.447
0.657
Literary
Visual
-3.622
-2.258
0.028
Auditory
2.032
1.071
0.288
Kinesthetic
2.397
1.520
0.134
Fourth
Linguistic
Visual
-0.354
-0.027
-0.209
Auditory
0.183
0.014
0.091
Kinesthetic
-0.505
-0.045
-0.303
Literary
Visual
0.653
0.341
0.734
Auditory
0.911
0.402
0.689
Kinesthetic
-0.186
-0.099
0.922
Table (3) reveals that the most effective
style within the linguistic subjects for the
first year students was the kinesthetic style
(2.918) while the effect of both of the
visual and auditory styles are (-0.798)(-
0.796) respectively. Concerning literary
materials, again the Kinesthetic is the most
effective one among the three styles
(2.431) followed by the visual style
(1.310) and the less effective one is the
auditory style (-1.835). The correlation
coefficients between the research variables
in the second year showing that the
kinesthetic style has the greatest effect on
the students’ achievement in the linguistic
subjects (1.759) while the visual style has
it in the literary subjects (2.663). On the
contrary, the visual style in the linguistic
subjects and the auditory style in the
literary subjects have less effect.
Correlation coefficients of third year
manifests that the visual style has the
greatest effect on the students’ academic
achievement in the linguistic subjects
(3.188) and the kinesthetic style in the
literary subjects (2.397). On the contrary,
the auditory style represents the less
effective style within the linguistic
subjects (-1.049) and the visual one (-
3.622) in the literary materials. Regarding
the fourth year the auditory style shows
the most prominent effect to both of the
linguistic subjects and the literary ones
estimated (0.183)(0.911) while the visual
style and the kinesthetic style shows less
effect in the same context.
CONCLUSION AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
According to the study's findings,
the majority of the students under
investigation showed that among the three
learning modalities, the visual learning
style was the most preferred while
kinesthetic learning was found to be the
least preferred. This is probably a result of
the Iraqi educational system's emphasis on
using visual methods to present various
subjects. By utilizing written instructional
subjects, they are accustomed to
controlling their eye contacts with the
learning stimulus. They build a framework
to help students "see" and "sense" the big
picture, and, eventually apply this learning
ability to other academic disciplines. These
results corroborate Willing's (1989)
assertion that Arab students with Islamic
backgrounds preferred the visual learning
style in ESL colleges in Australia.
Through all four years of college,
there are differences in the relationships
between the three styles and the students’
achievement in the linguistic and literary
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subjects. A reflexive relationship between
the visual style and the linguistic subjects,
and a direct relationship between each of
the auditory style and the kinesthetic with
the linguistic subjects of the first year of
college. A direct relation between both of
the visual and the kinesthetic style, but a
reflexive relationship of the auditory style
with the literary subjects of the first year.
A direct positive relationship between all
of the learning styles and the second year
linguistic and literary subjects
achievement. More specifically students
indicated the greatest preference for the
kinesthetic learning style in the scientific
subjects and the visual style in the literary
subjects. During the third year a reflexive
relationship between the auditory style and
the linguistic subjects and a similar one
between the visual style and the literary
subjects. Strong direct relations between
the visual and kinesthetic style with the
linguistic subjects and the kinesthetic and
auditory style with the literary subjects .
The fourth year showed a reflexive
relationship between the three styles and
the linguistic subjects. While the
relationship between all the styles with the
literary subjects is direct. These
differences in relations is ascribed to a
variety of factors, including the subjects'
nature, how the subjects are presented,
and/or the professors' methods in
presenting the subjects
However, it can be understood
from the above-mentioned relation that the
most effective style within the scientific
subjects for the first year students was the
kinesthetic style. Concerning literary
subjects, again the kinesthetic is the most
effective one among the three styles. In the
second year, the kinesthetic style also has
the greatest effect on the students’
achievement in the linguistic subjects
while the visual style has it in the literary
subjects. The visual style has the greatest
effect on the students’ third year academic
achievement in the linguistic subjects and
the kinesthetic style in the literary subjects.
Regarding the fourth year, the auditory
style shows the most prominent effect to
both the linguistic and the literary subjects.
Focusing on how the aforementioned
styles affect literary and linguistic subjects,
the kinesthetic style appears to be the most
effective of the bunch. There are a number
of plausible explanations for these findings
that should be taken into consideration.
The possibility that learning by doing is
more engaging and effective for students.
Another explanation follows that the
majority of students likely possessed
multiple learning styles or a mix of various
learning styles. As a result, they can learn
things effectively. Despite the fact that
their English language ability is only
moderately proficient, their learning styles
have a big impact on it.
This study found that there were
substantial differences in the overall
academic achievement of the students. It
revealed that the majority of the students
surveyed have multiple learning styles or a
blend of different learning styles. Multi-
style learners typically achieve more and
perform better on tests than those who
only have one or two learning preferences,
according to Dunn and Dunn (1986). As a
result, it can be concluded that learning
preferences do affect students' general
academic success. Such a finding
emphasizes the value of appreciating
students' various learning preferences. For
effective learning to occur, teachers must
be aware of the value of learning styles.
The learning styles framework is constant
across all subjects, where they actually
have a significant impact. Consequently,
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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVANCEMENT IN SOCIAL SCIENCE AND HUMANITIES
the findings here suggest lines of inquiry
for additional study to comprehend this
phenomenon.
The following suggestions are made in
light of the results of this study.
1. Professors of English should be aware
of their students' preferred learning styles
and should implement instructional
techniques that accommodate a variety of
learning styles.
2. From the first-year, college students
could be divided into groups based on their
preferred learning styles, which would
make it easier for the professors to choose
the appropriate activities.
3. Professors should help students become
more aware of their preferred learning
styles and motivate them to take charge of
their education by adapting these styles to
the teaching method(s) being used in class.
4. English language courses ought to be
created with pertinent learning exercises to
accommodate students' differing learning
preferences.
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APPENDIX (1)
Perceptual Learning Style Preference Questionnaire
Name, Surname__________________________ Date:
Sex: F M
Directions: People learn in many different ways. For example, some people learn primarily
with their eyes (visual learners) or with their ears (auditory learners); some people prefer to
learn by experience and / or by “hands-on” tasks (kinaesthetic or tactile learners.
This questionnaire has been designed to help you identify the way(s) you learn
best – the way(s) you prefer to learn.
Read each statement on the following pages. Please respond to the statements
AS THEY APPLY TO YOUR STUDY OF ENGLISH. Decide whether you agree or disagree
with each statement. For example, if you strongly agree,mark:
Strongly agree
Agree
Undecided
Disagree
Strongly
disagree
X
Please respond to each statement quickly, without too much thought. Try not to change your
responses after you choose them. Please use a pen to mark your choices.
Questionnaire statement
Strongly
agree
Agree
Undecided
Disagree
Strongly
disagree
1. When the teacher tells me the,
instructions I understand better.
2. I prefer to learn by doing
something in class.
3. I learn better by reading what the
teacher writes on the chalkboard.
4. When someone tells me how to
do something in class, I learn it
better.
5. When I do things in class, I learn
better.
6. I remember things I have learned
in class better than things I have
read.
7. When I read instructions, I
remember them better
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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVANCEMENT IN SOCIAL SCIENCE AND HUMANITIES
8. I understand better when I read
instructions.
9. I enjoy learning in class by
doing experiments.
10. I learn better in class when the
teacher gives a lecture.
11. I understand things better in
class when I participate in role-
playing.
12. I learn better in class when I
listen to someone.
13. I learn better by reading than
listening to someone.
14.. I learn best in class when I
participate in related activities.
15. I learn more by reading
textbooks than by listening to a
lecture.
APPENDIX (2)
The linguistic and literary subjects under study
Year
Linguistic
Literary
First
Grammar Composition
Phonetics Conversation
An introductory to English Literature
Second
Grammar Composition
Phonetics
Poetry
Short Story
Drama
Third
Linguistics
Essay
Grammar
Conversation
Poetry
Novel
Drama
Fourth
Linguistics
Translation
Grammar
Poetry
Novel
Drama
