The Relationship Between Personality Types And English Learning Strategies Of Senior High School Students

This study attempts to find the relationship between personality types and English learning strategies (ELSs) of senior high school students in the EFL context in China. The study adopts both quantitative research method and qualitative research method. In quantitative study,90senior high school students in Xi'an city are surveyed. Two self-reported inventories, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)(Chinese version of MBTI-M) and Oxford's Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) are used to examine the personality types and ELSs respectively. The collected data are processed by Statistical Package of Social Science (SPSS16.0) for Descriptive statistics, Independent-Samples T test and Correlation analysis. In qualitative study, semi-structured interviews are conducted among3high and3low achievers to see the differences in use of ELSs between these two groups.Descriptive statistics presents that1) the senior high school students are generally extroverted and perceiving types and their type distributions on the SN dimension and TF dimension are almost even;2) the overall application rate of ELSs of senior high school students is generally at a medium level.Correlation analysis presents that1) extroversion positively correlates with the overall ELSs;2) extroversion positively correlates with cognitive strategies, affective strategies and social strategies;3) sensing positively correlates with affective strategies;4) judging positively correlates with metacognitive strategies.Independent-Samples T Tests present that1) no significant difference is found between extroverts and introverts in use of overall strategies;2) extroverts and introverts have significant differences in use of cognitive, affective and social strategies;3) sensing and intuitive types have significant differences in use of affective strategies;4) judgers and perceivers have significant differences in use of metacognitive strategies.Interviews present that1) both high achievers and low achievers prefer to utilize ELSs that closely related to or suit their personality types;2) compared with low achievers, high achievers use more kinds of strategies, especially the non-preferred strategies;3) high achievers are more motivated to practice English than low achievers.Based on the above results, it is inferred that learners'personality types may affect the choice of ELSs. Some pedagogical implications and suggestions are also provided in this study. First, teachers should help students to know well their personality types and the effect on ELSs. Second, teachers should incorporate personality types into leaner strategy training. Third, learners themselves should also be sensitive to their personality types and the effect on ELSs.