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A Study Of The Influences Of Cognitive Preference On Senior Middle School Students’ Foreign Language Learning Achievements

Posted on:2013-02-23Degree:MasterType:Thesis
Country:ChinaCandidate:R Y HanFull Text:PDF
GTID:2247330395452840Subject:English Language and Literature
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Cognitive style refers to an individuals’habitual way of perceiving a task, serving as the relatively stable traits. Individuals often tend to be of certain degree of cognitive style. Individuals’preference on cognitive style is called cognitive preference, including hemisphere preference and field preference. In recent years, hemisphere preference and field preference aroused widely public concern. A substantial amount of studies on cognitive preference with various focuses have been carried out by numerous researchers. In the field of foreign language learning, a series of studies abroad have been dedicated to the relationship between cognitive preference and foreign language learning achievements, and various significant findings have been obtained; however, among all researches in the field of cognitive preference, most of them are about the influences of field preference on foreign language learning achievements, the influences of hemisphere preference have not been put enough emphasis on. In addition, few domestic researches on the relationship between hemisphere preference and field preference have been conducted. Therefore, the present study intends to investigate adolescent students’cognitive preference, and explore the influences of cognitive preference upon foreign language learning.The present study was an experimental study in which two tests are involved: Hemisphere Preference Test and Group Embedded Figures Test. The subjects in the present study are80Chinese middle school students who learned English as a foreign language. After the data were collected and analyzed, the present study came to the final conclusions:(1) Most middle school students around the age of16are inclined to be left-brained learners; and in terms of field preference, most of the middle school students involved in the test can be classified as field-independent learners.(2) There is no significant correlation between hemisphere preference and field preference.(3) In terms of hemisphere preference, middle school students are classified into three groups:left-brained learners, middle-brained learners and right-brained learners. The left-brained learners performed best in foreign language learning and achieved highest scores among the three groups. By contrast, field preference has no influence upon foreign language learning achievements.(4) No gender difference exists in either hemisphere preference or field preference.Based on the findings, implications and suggestions on foreign language learning are dealt with in the present study. Teachers are suggested to take students’cognitive preference into consideration, and then adopt suitable teaching methods and choose appropriate teaching materials for different students. In addition to teacher-supplied strategies, learners are also expected to make good use of their cognitive preferences and actively seek suitable strategies to overcome the difficulties in specific linguistic contexts.
Keywords/Search Tags:Cognitive Preference, Hemisphere Preference, Field Preference, SeniorMiddle School Students, Foreign Language Learning Achievements
PDF Full Text Request
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