A Study On English Learning Styles For Vocational School Non-English Majors

This study investigated vocational learners'English learning styles in relation to social and cultural background, gender differences and English achievement. Firstly, it tried to offer specific analysis of learners'unique features in English learning styles. Then, it discussed gender differences and their causes in English learning styles. Finally, it focused on the correlation between learning styles and English achievement.As every one knows, China has the largest population of English learners. But"high input, low efficiency"is still a very common phenomenon. How to improve vocational English learning has been one of the focuses in research field. In the 1960s and 1970s, with the development of cognitive psychology, learning has been regarded as the process of mind instead of mechanic conditioning. Learners'role has changed from passive receptor to active constructor. So learners'individual factors attract more and more attention. As one of the important individual factors, learning styles have been a focus of researches. This thesis employed Rebecca L. Oxford's (1993) Style Analysis Survey, which classified learning styles into three categories: sensory styles, personality styles, and cognitive styles. 204 non-English major learners from different departments took part in the investigation. The statistics were analyzed by Spss 13.0.This thesis contained three parts. In the first part, it tried to find the general characteristics of vocational learners'styles in learning. It considered the influencing factors of learning styles in terms of social changes and cultural differences. After that, it examined learners'personality styles and analyzed the reasons for their preference choices. The correlation among sensory, personality and cognitive styles was analyzed and suggestions for teaching arrangement were provided. In the second part, it examined gender differences in learning styles and analyzed the reason by associating with both physiological and social influencing factors. Based on analysis, it put forward the idea to establish cross-gender likeness in learning. In the third part, it investigated the correlation between learning styles and English achievement. According to statistic results, it gave explanation to the question that why the correlation between learning styles and English achievement is insignificant. In all, it studied vocational non-English majors'learning styles in relation to cultural and social background, gender differences and English achievement. On the basis of statistics analysis, it got specific conclusions that could serve as the implications for English teaching.