Gender is a key factor in the field of Second Language Acquisition (SLA), where its impact on language learning strategies (Aslan, 2009; Oxford & Nyikos, 1989; Sumarni & Rachmawaty, 2019) and productive vocabulary (Canga Alonso & Arribas García, 2014; Fleckenstein, 2018; Jiménez Catalán & Moreno Espinosa, 2004) has been investigated. However, to our knowledge, there is a lack of research of gender on language learning strategies in relation to productive vocabulary in English as a Foreign Language (EFL). The present study aimed to pursue three objectives. The first one was to ascertain whether males or females employed more language learning strategies. The second objective was to determine whether males or females had more productive vocabulary. Finally, the third objective was to investigate whether there was a statistically significant relationship between language learning strategies and productive vocabulary. The sample consisted of 51 EFL learners (20 males and 31 females) at the second year of Spanish non-compulsory Secondary Education (equivalent to 12th grade). The Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) questionnaire (Oxford, 1990) and the Productive Vocabulary Levels Test (PVLT) (Laufer & Nation, 1995, 1999) were the instruments employed in order to measure informants’ language learning strategies and productive vocabulary respectively. Afterwards, students’ answers were processed electronically and analyzed quantitatively. Results revealed that females use language learning strategies significantly more than males, but there were not statistically significant differences between them regarding productive vocabulary. Moreover, a positive correlation was found between language learning strategies and productive vocabulary.

This study investigated the productive vocabulary of EFL learners divided into two groups: multimodal (preference for two or three perceptual learning styles) and unimodal (preference for one perceptual learning style). The objectives of this research were twofold: (1) to identify the productive vocabulary of multimodal and unimodal EFL learners; and (2) to ascertain whether there were statistically significant differences between productive vocabulary and the preferences for learning (multimodality or unimodality). The sample consisted of 60 Spanish EFL learners (24 multimodal and 36 unimodal) in the 12th grade. The data collection instruments were the Learning Style Survey (Cohen et al., 2009) to divide the informants into multimodal and unimodal learners, and the 2,000-word version of the Productive Vocabulary Levels Test (Laufer & Nation, 1995, 1999) to measure their productive vocabulary. Then, data were coded and subjected to quantitative analyses. The findings indicated that multimodal learners had more productive vocabulary (1,186 words) than their unimodal peers (948 words). However, there were not statistically significant differences between multimodal and unimodal learners in their productive vocabulary. However, both the effect size and the strength of association were large. Therefore, the results suggested that EFL learners employed different sensory modalities to learn vocabulary.

El presente estudio exploró los estilos de aprendizaje de percepción de alumnos monolingües y bilingües aprendientes de Inglés como lengua extranjera. Esta comparación permitiría conocer si utilizan estilos de aprendizaje similares o diferentes. También ofrecería una visión de cómo se aprende Inglés en un curso escolar y una comunidad determinadas. Esta investigación tuvo un objetivo doble: (1) identificar los más y menos preferidos estilos de aprendizaje de los alumnos monolingües y bilingües; (2) determinar si se encontraron diferencias estadísticamente significativas entre el perfil lingüístico de estos estudiantes y sus estilos de aprendizaje. La muestra estaba formada por 60 aprendientes de Inglés como lengua extranjera (47 monolingües y 13 bilingües) que cursaban 2º de Bachillerato. Se utilizó el instrumento Learning Style Survey (LSS) (Cohen et al., 2009) para medir los estilos de aprendizaje. Los resultados indicaron que los alumnos monolingües y bilingües prefirieron el estilo de aprendizaje visual, mientras que el estilo auditivo fue el menos preferido. No se encontraron diferencias estadísticamente significativas entre los perfiles lingüísticos de los estudiantes y los estilos de aprendizaje, y el tamaño del efecto fue pequeño. Por tanto, se puede deducir que el hecho de ser monolingüe o bilingüe no afecta las preferencias que los estudiantes tienen al aprender Inglés.

This study explores the conceptualization of ‘School’ in the English lexicon of EFL learners, and compares this lexicon to the meanings attributed to the entry School in English dictionaries. Our first objective aimed at identifying the most frequent content words retrieved by Spanish EFL learners in response to the cue-word SCHOOL in a lexical availability/association task, and comparing them with the meanings attributed by dictionaries. Our second objective aimed at ascertaining whether there were gender similarities or differences in the lexical production and the actual words retrieved by males and females. The quantitative analyses applied to the data revealed a common structure in male and female EFL learners’ available lexicon as well as a high correspondence to the meanings attributed to School in dictionaries. However, the qualitative analysis also uncovered typical patterns related to adolescent school life not present in dictionaries as well as vocabulary not shared by males and females but exclusively generated either by males or by females.

The chapter explores the perceptual learning style preferences of multimodal English as a foreign language (EFL) learners in two English instructional programs. This study also aims at ascertaining if there is a relationship among perceptual learning style preferences and the English instructional programs. The sample comprised 24 Spanish EFL learners in the 12th year of secondary education (equivalent to the 12th grade): eight studied English as a school subject and 16 were enrolled in a collaboration program with the Official School of Languages. Results revealed that the latter group had slightly more learning preferences, but the type of preferences were similar in both programs. However, findings suggested an absence of differences among the perceptual learning style preferences of multimodal EFL learners and the instructional programs in which they were enrolled.