A Study On The Correlation Between Perceptual Learning Styles And Language Learning Strategies Of Senior Middle School Students

The focus of English education research has shifted from "teacher-centered" to "student-centered" instruction.Teachers pay more attention to students' reactions in classrooms. To carry out "students-centered" teaching,it is necessary to consider all the variables that will influence students' learning.In terms of the second language acquisition,learning styles and learning strategies seem to be the most important variables.(Oxford & Nyikos,1989) Although there are many researches on learning styles and learning strategies already,the studies on the correlations between learning styles and learning strategies are not so mature.Until now studies on the correlations in China mainly focus on the university students.Few studies have touched upon middle school students.Therefore,the thesis will carry on the previous research to reach senior middle school students.The purpose is to find out the characteristics of perceptual learning styles and language learning strategies of senior middle school students,and to find out whether gender has affected perceptual learning styles preferences and language learning strategies choices.The research questions are:1.What are the characteristics of the perceptual learning styles and language learning strategies of senior middle school students?2.What are the correlations between perceptual learning styles and language learning strategies of senior middle school students?3.What are the differences between female students and male students in terms of perceptual learning style preferences and of language learning strategies?115 senior middle school students have finished two questionnaires.One is Reid's PLSP to investigate the characteristics of perceptual learning styles,and the other is Oxford's SILL to find out the characteristics of language learning strategies..Data analysis of PLSP shows that students prefer tactile and auditory styles the most, individual and kinesthetic the second,and visual and group styles the least.Results of SILL show that students use compensation and metacognitive strategies the most,affective and memory strategies the second,and cognitive and social strategies the least.Practically speaking,the research results could help teachers to understand the students' learning styles so that they could choose specific teaching techniques suitable for different learning styles.On the other hand,knowing their learning styles and language learning strategies, students could choose learning strategies according to their own learning styles in order to learn more efficiently.