A Research On The Correlation Between Learning Styles & Listening Achievements Of Non-English Majors

Since the 1970s, with the rapid development of cognitive psychology and the introduction of humanism theories, researches into second language teaching and learning have shifted their attention from exploring methods of teaching to investigating process of learning. More and more attention is paid to learners instead of teachers. With unique learning styles, personality types, motivation, and learning strategies, learners differ from each other, which affects their academic achievements.Among these variables, learning style has been suggested as an important factor. According to Joy Reid, learning style refers to an individual's natural, habitual, and preferred way(s) of absorbing, processing, and retaining new information and skills. Learning style has the characteristics of stability, uniqueness, and expansibility. It can be divided into three major categories: cognitive learning style, perceptual learning style, and personality learning style. As there are many researches concerning cognitive learning style, this research focuses on the other two aspects of learning style: one is perceptual learning style, which refers to the sensory modes or learning channels through which students obtain information most comfortably, and it can be classified into six dimensions: visual, auditory, kinesthetic, tactile, individual, and group learning styles; the other is personality learning style, which can be further divided into four dimensions: extroversion/introversion, sensing/intuition, thinking/feeling, and judging/perceiving.As the most frequently used skill in language communication, listening is both an important approach in language acquisition and a necessary link in language teaching. To a certain degree, learner's listening level directly affects how far they can improve their language abilities. However, low listening level is a universal phenomenon among Chinese college students. Although the development in second language acquisition theories pushes people to attach importance to listening comprehension, there is little research related to this field.In view of the present situation of college English listening teaching and learning, this research takes learning style as the main focus and discusses the correlations among perceptual learning style, personality type, and English listening achievements. It aims at helping teachers understand the students'learning style preferences and match teaching styles to different learning styles thus to improve teaching and learning efficiency. Five research questions are put forward: (1) What kinds of perceptual learning style preferences do non-English majors of Shanxi Agricultural University have?(2) What are the personality types of these students?(3) What is the correlation between these students'perceptual learning style and listening achievement?(4) What is the correlation between these students'personality types and listening achievement?(5) What is the correlation between perceptual learning style and personality types?The research adopts quantitative research methods and takes 200 non-English majors in a certain university as the subjects. The statistic analysis is processed with SPSS 17.0. Two questionnaires are selected to investigate the subjects'perceptual and personality styles: one is the perceptual learning style preference survey designed by Joy Reid; the other is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator by Myers and Briggs. Both questionnaires were publicly published and adopted extensively by researchers, which guarantees the reliability and validity of this research. The findings indicate that:1. The subjects prefer visual style most and group style least.2. Most of the subjects have the preference for inversion, sensing, feeling, and judging types.3. The visual and auditory styles have positive correlations with listening achievements.4. There is a negative correlation between extroversion and listening achievements.5. A positive correlation can be found between introversion and visual style.6. A positive correlation can be found between extroversion and group style.Though the research has its limitations, the results are still instructive to college English listening teaching. During the listening teaching and learning process, teachers should pay more attention to individual differences, take students'learning style preference into consideration in curriculum design, match corresponding teaching styles to various learning styles, and make classroom a positive learning environment for students.