Language Learning Styles and Learning Strategies of Tertiary-Level English Learners in China

Abstract

This study focuses on the relationship between learning styles and language learning strategies in the EFL context in China. The study presents two kinds of data: quantitative and qualitative. In the quantitative study, the subjects consisted of 187 second-year undergraduates. Two self-reported inventories, the Chinese version of MBTI-G and a questionnaire on the use of learning strategies adapted from O’Malley and Chamot’s classification system, were used to examine the students’ learning styles and learning strategies respectively. Structured interviews have been performed among the six high and low achievers in the qualitative aspect of the study. The analyses show that learning styles have a significant influence on learners’ learning strategy choices. There is evidence that the Judging scale correlates positively with seven sets of learning strategies. Thus it turns out to be the most influential learning style variable affecting learners’ learning strategy choices. Compared with low achievers, high achievers are more capable of exercising strategies that are associated with their non-preferred styles. Based on the available research results, it is proposed that learning styles may influence learners’ language learning outcomes through their relationship with learning strategies. The pedagogical implications of these findings are discussed, as are suggestions for future research.

Language Learning Strategies Employed by Chinese English-Major Pre-Service Teachers in Relation to Gender and Personality Types

“…We can come to such a conclusion that extroversion-introversion scale has more influence on LLS choice than judging-perceiving scale. This is not consistent with what Li and Qin (2006) claimed that judging-perceiving has more influence on strategy choice than extroversion-introversion. The inconsistency of the findings may be due to the different participants and research instruments in the two studies.…”

“…This finding is consistent with some previous studies (e.g. Ehrman & Oxford, 1990;Ellis, 1994;Oxford & Ehrman, 1995;Wakamoto, 2000;Liyange, 2004;Li & Qin, 2006;. However, it does not fit in with some other studies, which have failed to find relationships between personality and strategy use (e.g.…”

“…According to Li and Qin (2006), judging is found to significantly influence seven strategies, turning out to be the most influential personality type affecting the use of learning strategies. Judging learners indicate clear preference for the metacognitive strategy.…”

“…The extroversion-introversion scale references a tendency to prefer stimulation, company of others, and engagement with the external world (Costa & McCrae, 1992). The majority of findings from previous studies on the relationships between extroversion-introversion and LLS use have reported that extroverted students preferred to use social strategies (Ehrman & Oxford, 1989Li & Qin, 2006;, functional practice and social-affective strategies (Wakamoto, 2000;Liyanage, 2004), and affective and visualization strategies (Ehrman & Oxford, 1989). In comparison, introverted students preferred to use metacognitive strategies while avoiding using social strategies (Ehrman & Oxford, 1990; and strategies for searching for and communicating meaning (Ehrman & Oxford, 1989).…”

“…The relatively more researched personality aspect in language studies has been the extroversion-introversion dimension (Dörnyei, 2005). Although Li and Qin (2006) has such claim that judging and perceiving scale has more significant influence on strategy choice than extroversion-introversion scale, there are few studies on effects of judging-perceiving scale on strategy use in China. In addition, although gender has been shown to have a strong effect on learners' use of different types of strategies (Rahimi, Riazi, & Saif, 2011), the results have not come to the agreement either, with mixed results of the effects of gender on LLSs.…”