COGNITIVE AND LEARNING STYLES OF LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENT AND ENGLISH PROFICIENT HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

This study examined the difference between preferred cognitive and learning styles of limited English proficient (LEP) and English proficient high school students. The association of ethnicity, sex, English proficiency and English level with preferred cognitive and learning styles also was investigated. By focusing on the relationship of the cognitive and learning styles of limited English proficient students to measures of academic performance, the results of this research suggest the need for a better understanding of how these students learn and how their styles influence their academic achievement in reading, mathematics and English proficiency.;An ex-post facto design was used to investigate the relationship between selected pre-existing independent variables such as sex, ethnic group, English level placement and English proficiency and selected dependent variables. The instrumentation included the Group Embedded Figures Test (Oltman, Raskin and Witkin, 1971), used as an assessment of cognitive style, and the Learning Style Inventory, (Kolb, 1985) employed as a measure of learning style. Adult Basic Learning Examination Level II (Karlsen, Madden and Gardner, 1967) reading and mathematics tests and English as a Second Language criterion reference tests were used to evaluate the academic performance of LEP students. Twenty-one null hypotheses, which addressed five major research questions, were tested. Data analysis employed t-tests, analysis of variance and Pearson Product Moment correlations.;Results of this study indicate significant cognitive and learning styles differences between LEP students and English proficient students. In addition, there is a statistically significant relationship between the cognitive style of LEP students and measures of academic performance in reading, mathematics and English proficiency. There is also a significant relationship between reflective observation as a learning style dimension and reading achievement.(Abstract shortened with permission of author.).;The subjects were 256 high school students. Of these 101 were limited English proficient (LEP) students enrolled in intermediate and advanced levels of English as a Second Language classes in a High Intensity Language Training (HILT) program in a school district in Northern Virginia; the remaining subjects were 155 English proficient students enrolled in three levels of English classes. The subjects were drawn from a total of fifteen intact high school English classes.