| As one of the principal branches of learner's individual differences in EFL/ESL learning, learning styles attract more and more academic concerns of foreign or second language teaching worlds. This thesis investigates into the learning styles of 235 undergraduate English majors from three dimensions: perceptual learning styles, tolerance of ambiguity and field independence.Different from previous researches most of which merely examine one dimension of learning style, this thesis approaches the subject matter from three dimensions to have a more profound and extensive knowledge of the subject matter. We want to find out in the investigation how learners differ in their learning style and to what extent their learning style is related to their achievements of Test for English Majors Band 4 (TEM-4). Based upon the results of the investigation, the investigation aims to find out the features of the subjects and to facilitate the matching of learning styles with teaching styles, and to promote the EFL learning achievement.There are six parts in this thesis. Part One starts with a brief introduction to the aims and significance of this investigation, followed by the clarification of the constructs of learning styles and other key terms involved. In Part Two, we present the representative theories of learning styles and a survey of research in this regard at home and abroad. The third part introduces the theories involved in this investigation. Based upon the Curry's three-layered "Onion Model," three theories are proposed for an extensive and deep understanding of learning styles: theories of perceptual learning styles, tolerance of ambiguity and field independence. In Part Four, we first advance the hypotheses, then provide some information concerning the subjects, instruments as well as the procedure of the investigation.Part Five concerns itself with data analysis and discussion which falls into five steps: at the outset, to understand the general distributive tendency of the data involved, descriptive analysesare made of the data concerning learning styles and TEM-4 achievements; then anindependent-sample T-test is made to find out the gender variation in learning styles; in what follows, one-way variance analysis (ANOVA) is made to identify whether the variance of ambiguity tolerance and field independence exert different influence upon TEM-4 achievements; a fourth analysis is designed to find out how learning styles contribute to TEM-4 achievements. Linear regression analysis is made to serve the purpose. Finally, correlation analysis is conductedto understand the relationship between the three style dimensions under discussion. Each analysis is followed by the discussion in respective regard. The thesis ends with Part Six which contains the conclusions and implications of the investigation as well as the suggestions for further research in this regard. Limitations of this investigation are presented in this part.Based upon the results of data analysis, we conclude that: 1) the university English majors in China prefer kinesthetic and individual learning most and group learning least; 2) male learners demonstrate more preference for individual learning than their female counterparts; 3) the variance of ambiguity tolerance has no significant impact upon TEM-4 scores, while the variance of field independence produces different influences upon TEM-4 dictation, listening and total scores; the differences of the scores result from the variance between low and medium field independence as well as between low and high field independence, not from the variance between medium and high field independence; 4) field independence is positively correlated to TEM-4 writing, dictation, listening and total scores; group learning is negatively correlated to writing and cloze scores; and tactile learners score poorly in dictation and reading; 5) with regard to the interrelationship between the three dimensions of learning styles involved in this investigation, tolerance of ambiguity is negatively correlate...
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