A Study Of Perceptual Learning Style And Its Correlation With English Learning Achievements In Senior High School

Since the 1970s, research interest in EFL/ESL has shifted from teachers' teaching to students' learning and increasing numbers of studies have been undertaken from the students' perspective. As an important component of individual learner differences, learning style has attracted more and more attention from researchers. Research shows that learners' language learning styles, language instruction and learning outcome are interrelated.This thesis reports on the findings from an exploratory study of perceptual learning style preferences among 148 senior three students at a high school. The main objectives of the study are: to describe perceptual learning style preferences of the students, to find the relationship between learning styles and English learning achievements, to raise awareness of sensory modality strengths and weaknesses on the part of both teachers and students, and to make suggestions as to how to apply the research of language learning style into classroom instruction.There are six parts in this thesis. Part one begins with a brief introduction, the significance and aims of this investigation. In part two, the representative theories of learning styles and a survey of researches at home and abroad are presented. Definitions and classifications of learning styles are tackled; influential and important findings are generalized and analyzed. The third part introduces the theories involved in this investigation: theories of learning styles and perceptual learning style, visual learners, auditory learners, tactile learners, kinesthetic learners, group learners and individual learners, followed by the presentation of Reid's Perceptual Learning Style Preference Questionnaire (PLSPS), the instrument employed in this paper to measure perceptual learning style. Part four puts forward the research questions, the subjects, instruments, procedures as well as data collection and data analysis of the research. Results and discussion are provided in part five. Firstly, results show the correlation between perceptual learning styles and English learning achievements. That is, auditory style and kinesthetic style are positively correlated to listening while visual style is negatively correlated to listening. Tactile style is positively correlated to reading while visual style and group style are negatively correlated to it. Tactile style, auditory style, kinesthetic style and individual style are correlated to writing positively while group style is correlated to it negatively. On the whole, tactile style and individual style are the most contributable style variables affecting English learning achievements. They are positively correlated to total score with a significance level of .183(*) and .117. And group style is negatively correlated to total score with a significance level of -.147. This finding is no contrary to the ordinary observation in our teaching. Secondly, according to the data of the investigation, the research questions are discussed. The thesis ends with part six which contains the limitations of the research as well as the conclusions of this research that tactile style and individual style are most preferred by the students while group style is least preferred among the perceptual learning styles, and most students show a rather strong preference for individual modalities.The implications of the research are taking learning styles into consideration when designing curriculum, raising awareness on perceptual learning style of the students; matching with and stretching learners' styles, implementing learning style preferences by varying class presentations, and using diverse teaching strategies to meet diverse learning styles. To make English learning/teaching successful, educators must understand and respect individual's diverse learning styles and make efforts to create optimal learning environments for learners.