Learning Style Preferences, Strategy Use and Chinese Undergraduate EFL Students’ English Achievements
Learning Style Preferences, Strategy Use and Chinese Undergraduate EFL Students’ English Achievements

Summary/Abstract: Research shows that both learning style preference and strategy use are important factors affecting second/foreign language (SL/FL) learning, and that both may vary, as learners are different. Yet, studies on learning style preferences and their interaction with strategy in relation to SL/FL learning outcomes are limited. The present study thus examined Chinese undergraduate EFL (English as a FL) students’ preferences for learning styles, use of learning strategies and their predictive effects on their English achievements. Analyses of 439 questionnaires revealed the following major findings: (1) the whole sample, regardless of gender, displayed no major preference for any learning style and generally preferred the kinesthetic style the most, followed by tactile, auditory, visual, group and individual styles respectively; (2) the whole sample, regardless of gender, demonstrated a medium to high level of use of the six types of learning strategies, and used metacognitive strategies the most frequently, followed by cognitive, social, compensation, memory and affective strategies, respectively; (3) cognitive strategy use significantly positively predicted all samples’ English achievements, additionally, memory strategy use and the tactile style significantly predicted female students’ English achievements, and (4) no significant difference was observed between genders in learning styles or strategy use except for group learning. These findings further Pinpoint the importance of learning styles and strategy use in second/foreign language learning, which thus deserve continuous research.

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