An Investigative Study On EFL Perceptual Learning Style Preferences Among Chinese Non-english Majors

Since the 1960s, academic research in the West on the learning of foreign languages has gradually shifted from the exploration of teaching methods and the design of related teaching materials to the individual differences (ID) among learners. Learning style is one of the most significant factors in ID and is drawing the attention of more and more researchers.Perceptual learning style preference is one of the important dimensions of learning styles.It describes the channel through which students take in, process, and retain new information and skills comfortably and efficiently.The major purposes of this study include: examining Chinese non-English majors'perceptual learning style preferences; probing the factors that influence Chinese non-English majors' perceptual learning style preferences; exploring the implications of the finding for Senior High School English.Forty two first-year non-English majors and forty nine second-year non-English majors of the second semester in HBIS Vocational Senior High School were randomly investigated.The data for the study were collected by a questionnaire and processed by the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS 12.0).The study shows that: the subjects involved in the study like the independent,haptic and visual learning styles more than auditory and group-learning styles. Grade, gender, the places where the learners grew up and were schooled (rural or urban areas), Chinese proficiency,English proficiency and English learning timespan all influence learners' perceptual learning style preference. The specific findings are: The first-year students prefer haptic and visual styles most while the preferences of those in their second year are more balanced, except that they like visual learning style most.Males prefer independent, auditory and haptic learning style while females prefer visual and group learning styles more than males.The students from rural areas prefer visual and independent styles most while those from urban areas manifest a more balanced profile. The learners whose Chinese proficiency is "good" or better prefer haptic and visual styles most,and prefer auditory and independent least, while those whose Chinese proficiency is bad prefer the independent and visual styles most,and those whose Chinese proficiency is not good prefer the haptic learning style most. The participants with a good English proficiency prefer visual learning style most, those with English proficiency prefer visual and independent learning styles most,and those whose English proficiency is "not good" prefer haptic and group most. The short-time English learners prefer independent and haptic learning styles most; the medium-time English learners prefer visual and independent most; and the long-time English learners prefer visual learning style most.The implications of this study are significant for both English instructors and students,and the research is helpful in improving English teaching and learning in China.