A Probe Into The EFL Learning Style Preferences Of Minority College Students

The purpose of this study is to find out the learning style preferences of Tujia EFL learners in Tujia-Miao Autonomous Prefecture of Xiangxi and provide some suggestions for improving effectiveness of College English teaching in Tujia-Miao Autonomous Prefecture of Xiangxi based on the findings. The study adopts a multidimensional learning-styles instrument. To be exact, the present thesis studies the learning styles of Tujia EFL students from a multidimensional perspective. Cognitive learning styles, sensory learning styles, and personal learning styles are included in this instrument. The specific research questions involved in this study are as follows:1. what are the learning style preferences of Tujia EFL learners? 2. (1) Do the learning styles of Tujia college students vary with gender? (2) If they do, what are the contributing factors affecting their learning style preference? 3. (1) Do the learning styles of Tujia college students vary with literal arts and science and technology majors? (2) If they do, what are the contributing factors affecting their learning style preferences? 4. How can the distributions of learning styles affect the methods of Tujia EFL classroom teaching?The subjects of this study are 146 Tujia students from 6 different departments of Jishou University in in Tujia-Miao Autonomous Prefecture of Xiangxi, with their age ranging from 18 to 22. Both the quantitative and qualitative researches are applied in this study. The instrument in quantitative part of the study is a multidimensional learning-styles questionnaire adapted from the one that had been designed by Liu Ruiqing and Dai Manchun for study of the students'learning styles in Xi'an Jiaotong University, which have relatively higher reliability and validity. All the scores which the subjects obtained in the questionnaire served as the data for further analyses. In the qualitative part of the study, the researcher interviewed 10 students and 4 teachers. Each item in the interviews is related to learning and teaching style preferences. The statistical packages of SPSS were used in the quantitative analysis of the study. The quantitative research indicates reflective, individual-oriented, independent, hand-on and serialist styles are the most preferred ones, while impulsive and analytical are the least preferred learning styles. The quantitative study also suggests significant differences exist between Tujia female and male learners in two learning styles:visual and individual-oriented styles. In addition, it is also found that learning style preferences vary significantly among students from different departments in mainly four styles, namely, dependent, analytical, holistic, and random. The results of the qualitative study indicated that most of the Tujia students and their teachers know little about "learning styles" and some teachers thought the research of "Tujia EFL learners'learning styles" is useless. The significant inharmony between teachers'teaching styles and students'learning styles was also discovered.The findings of the study have both theoretical and practical significance. Theoretically, first, the feasibility of the multidimensional questionnaire of learning styles is proved in this empirical study. Future researchers can also make more modifications and extend the instrument to different subjects such as learners of Miao nationality. At the same time, the successful application of the multidimensional learning-styles instrument will help researchers to draw a complete picture of students'learning style preferences. Second, the present study also found "the ethnic culture and socialization are the most important factors that influence the Tujia EFL learning style preferences". Future studies can alter the subjects to verify the hypothesis. Practically, the results help the Tujia EFL learners understand their own learning style preferences and instructors in making decisions about course design and improving the methods of the Tujia EFL classroom teaching. Methodologically, the successful application of both quantitative and qualitative approach and the use of a multidimensional learning-styles instrument expand the methodology of learning styles research.