Chinese EFL Seafarer Learning Style Preferences: Implications For EOP/EVP Instruction

Learners' individual differences, which can cause various learning results, have been an important research issue in language education. Among these variables, learning styles have been paid much attention to by many educators. However, in China there are fewer researches in this area, especially on EOF (English for Occupational Purposes) learning.The present study addresses the following three research questions:1) Are there any differences between EOF teenager students and EOF adult trainees regarding their learning styles by Reid's Perceptual Learning Style Preferences Survey?2) Are there any conflicts between students' learning styles and teachers' teaching styles in EOF classroom?3) How should teachers deal with students' diverse learning styles in EOF classroom?The research project is carried out in two steps. In the first step, the researcher, using Reid's Perceptual Learning Styles Preferences Questionnaire, investigates learning styles of two groups of participants ?30 seafarer teenagers and 30 seafarer adults from Nanjing Marine College. The researcher then begins her nine-month experimental study on learning styles in which 30 teenagers are involved. Various instruments, such as questionnaire, interview, a pre-test and a post-test, and classroom observations are employed in the second step. Based on quantitative and qualitative data analysis, some conclusions are drawn as follows:1. There exist differences in terms of learning style preferences between Chinese EOF teenager seafarer students and adult seafarer trainees.2. There is a considerable gap between style preferences of teaching and learning on the part of the students and teachers. Therefore a step forward towards teacher-student adaptations in designing syllabuses, implementing teachingplanning, and classroom management is called for.3. Both teachers and learners should be exposed to the concept of learning styles and learn to identify their own. On the other hand, teachers should try to carry out diverse classroom activities to accommodate various styles, and to encourage students to stretch and diversify their learning style preferences.Due to some limitations of this study and complex nature of learning styles, further research on the relationship between learning styles and such other factors, as learning strategies, is invited.