A Study On The Relationship Between Language Learning Style Preference And Language Learning Strategy Use Among English Major Graduates

Learning styles are characteristic cognitive, affective, and psychological behaviors that serve as relatively stable indicators of how learners perceive, interact with, and respond to the learning environment(Keef, 1982). Language learning strategies are behaviors or actions taken by learners to make language learning more successful, self-directed and enjoyable(Oxford, 1989). Learning styles make an impact on the choice of learning strategies and language learning effects. Therefore,the research on their relationship is of great importance to foreign language learning and teaching.This study adopts quantitative and qualitative methods to investigate the relationship between learning styles and learning strategies as well as the influence of gender, personality and grade on learning styles and learning strategies. To be more exact, there are four research questions: 1) what is the general tendency of learning strategy use for the English major graduates? 2) What is the general tendency of English major graduates’ learning styles? 3) What is the relationship between learning styles and learning strategies of English major graduates? 4) How do the individual factors, such as gender, personality and grade, affect learning strategy use and learning style preference?The subjects are 146 English major graduates in Nanchang University, Jiangxi Normal University and Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics. The quantitative method is questionnaire-based, including Reid’s Perceptual Learning Style Preference and Oxford’s Strategy Inventory for Language Learning. Besides, the qualitative method is interview-based, including 9 subjects. All the statistics are collected and analyzed through SPSS16.0. The interviews further supplement the results of quantitative research.The main research results are presented. Firstly, English major graduates favor meta-cognitive, social and compensation strategies in the process of English learning and research. Secondly, English major graduates have a strong preference for tactile,auditory and kinesthetic styles in learning and research. Thirdly, the research demonstrates that visual style has positive correlation with meta-cognitive, affective and social strategies. Tactile style correlates with compensation, meta-cognitive,affective and social strategies. Auditory style and group style correlate with affectiveand social strategies. Kinesthetic style has a positively significant relationship with all learning strategies. Individual style does not correlate with learning strategies. Finally,the investigations show the relationship between learning strategies and individual differences, as well as between learning styles and individual differences. In terms of learning strategy use, no difference exists in gender and different grades and significant difference can be found in different personality types. With respect to learning style preference, significant differences are discovered in gender and different grades and no difference exists in different personality types.Theoretically, this study reinforces people’s understanding of the relationship between learning styles and learning strategies. Furthermore, it proves Oxford et al’s viewpoint that there exists close link between learning styles and learning strategies.Practically, this study has implications to students’ learning and teachers’ teaching. On the one hand, it arouses students’ attention to learning styles and strategies. In order to complete diverse language learning tasks, students could apply various learning strategies to diversify their learning styles. On the other hand, teachers should realize students’ learning styles and then adjust their teaching styles and methods to fit different students’ need. Teachers also need to strengthen the interaction with students and assist them to explore the relationship between learning styles and learning strategies so as to improve their development of language learning ability.