Styles and Strategies Interaction among Saudi

Adult English as a Foreign Language Learners

Ibrahim Alzahrani

October, 2015

Definitions

• Style: “an individual’s natural, habitual, and preferred ways(s) of absorbing, processing, and retaining new information and skills” (Reid, 1995, p. viii)

• Strategies: “activities consciously chosen by learners for the purpose of regulating their own language learning” (Griffiths, 2013, p. 50)

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Styles and Strategies• Choice of strategies is significantly affected by

style, (Ehrman and Oxford, 1990)

• Current millennium witnessed seeing styles and strategies as one entity, (Cohen and Weaver, 2006; Cohen, 2011; Oxford, 2001 & 2011).

• Strategies do not operate by themselves, (Cohen, 2011)

• Style-stretching enables learners draw on more strategies, (Cohen, 2011)

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Study

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StylesSensory/Perceptual Learning Style

Visual Prefers charts, graphs, something to read, or a picture.

Auditory Prefers listening to lectures, conversations, audio recordings, etc. when learning.

Kinaesthetic\Tactile

Prefer aids that can be touched, manipulated, or written; and may practice language by drawing and/or tracing.

Psychological Type (Personality)

Extroverted Energized by the outside world; active, interaction-oriented and outgoing; have broad interests; tend to reflect later (motto: “Live it, then understand it”).

Introverted Energized by inner world; prefer concentration; focus on thoughts and concepts; have fewer interests, but deep ones; like to be reflective (motto: “Understand it, then live it”).

Cognitive Learning Style

Global Enjoy getting the main idea and is comfortable communicating even if they don’t know all the words of the concepts.

Particular Need specific examples to understand fully; pay attention to specific facts or information; good at catching new phrases or words.

5Adapted from Cohen and Weaver (2006, pp. 13-14)

Strategies

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What We Know

7+: Positive, -: Negative, S: Significant

Study Style Metacognitive Cognitive Social Affective

    + - S + - S + - S + - S

Rossi-Le (1989) Visual                      

Auditory                

Tactile                      

Ehrman and Oxford (1990)

Extroverted                    

Introverted                  

Shi (2011) Global                

Particular                

Liyanage and Bartlett (2013)

Extroverted                

Introverted                

Subjects’ Styles

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A: Auditory, E: Extroverted, G: Global, I: Introverted, KT: Kinaesthetic\Tactile, N: Neutral, P: Particular, V: Visual

Used Strategies

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Correlation between Styles and Strategies

** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).*Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

PC: Pearson Correlation, S: Sig. (2-tailed), N: Number.

    Metacognitive Cognitive Social Affective

Auditory PCSN

.140*0.05197

0.10.162197

0.0880.216197

.157*0.027197

Particular PCSN

.184**0.01197

0.1130.113197

.141*0.049197

0.0650.363197

Extroverted PCSN

0.0280.697197

0.1180.1197

0.0690.336197

0.0210.773197

KT PCSN

0.0460.518197

0.0750.292197

-0.0320.658197

-0.0010.99197

Introverted PCSN

0.0320.66197

-0.0580.417197

-0.0230.749197

0.0280.696197

Visual 

PCSN

-.144*0.044197

-0.1320.064197

-0.0520.47197

-.179*0.012197

Global PSN

-.268**0197

-.209**0.003197

-.173*0.015197

-0.1020.155197

Strategy Users

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Results• Majority: Global, Extroverted and Visual learners.

• Cognitive strategies are the highest used followed by social, metacognitive and affective strategies.

• Metacognitive, cognitive, social, and affective strategies have positive and sometimes significant positive relationship with auditory, particular and extroverted styles.

• They have negative and sometimes significant negative relationship with visual and global styles.

• Mixture of positive and negative but not significant relationship they have with K\T and introverted styles.

• Auditory learners are the most users of strategies and global learners are the least users of strategies.

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Implications for Research and Instruction

• Teach LLSs to students with different learning styles to enhance knowledge of strategies.

• Teachers should provide a variety of exercises and strategies to suit different styles.

• Teachers should encourage students stretch their styles to draw on more strategies.

• Be cautious when considering relationship between LLSs and learning styles as this relationship is context dependent.

• Strategy use is not only affected by learning styles, but also by learning context. Chameleon’s character (Liyanage and Bartlett, 2013)

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ReferencesCohen, A. D. (2011) Strategies in learning and using a second language. Harlow: Longman.

Cohen, A.D. and Weaver S. J. (2006) Styles and strategies-based instruction: A teachers' guide. Minneapolis: MN: Center of Advanced Research on Language Acquisition, University of Minnesota.

Ehrman, M. and Oxford, R. L. (1990) Adult language learning styles and strategies in an intensive training setting. Modern Language Journal, 74, 311-327.

Griffiths, C. (2013) The strategy factor in successful language learning. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.

Liyanage, I. and Bartlett, B. (2013) Personality types and languages learning strategies: Chameleons changing colours. System, 41(3), 598-608.

Oxford, R. L. (2001) Language learning styles and strategies. In M. Celce-Murcia (ed.) Teaching English as a second language. Boston, MA: Heinle and Heinle, 359-366.

Oxford, R. L. (2011) Teaching and researching language learning strategies. Harlow: Longman.

Reid, J. M. (1995) Learning styles in the ESL/EFL classroom. NY: Heinle and Heinle.

Rossi-Le, L. (1989). Perceptual learning style preferences and their relationship to language learning strategies in adult students of English as a second language. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Drake University, Des Moines, IA.

Shi, C. (2011) A study of the relationship between cognitive styles and learning strategies. Higher Education Studies, 1(1), 20-26.

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