Assessment of adult ESL learners' preferable learning styles: Implications for an effective language learning environment

This research was conducted to investigate how adult ESL students learn effectively according to their learning preferences and their cultural/educational backgrounds. A total of 117 respondents in this study were categorized in three types: 58 language-based ESL students (L-B ESL students), 48 content-based ESL students (C-B ESL students), and 11 ESL teachers at Marshall University. In 2008, during the fourth week of September, the Productivity Environmental Preference Survey (PEPS) and a demographic questionnaire were administered to both L-B ESL students and C-B ESL students at Marshall University, Huntington, West Virginia. Descriptive statistics, including correlation analysis, were used to describe and summarize the data. The findings suggested that the students' educational status seemed to affect their internal needs ("motivation" in learning). The more ESL students learn in a professional field, the more they are likely to be motivated as they develop various types of learning styles.