大學生學習風格的性別差異研究 A Study on Gender Differences of College Students’ Learning Style

（延邊大學外國語學院，吉林 延吉 133000）

【Abstract】：This thesis describes the basic connotation of learning style，does an investigation of 220 non-English majors’ learning styles of different genders by using questionnaire method.The data were analyzed with Statistical Package for Social Science 20.0（SPSS 20.0） by using Independent-Sample T-Test，Descriptive Statistics. This thesis analyzes the overall tendency of non-English majors’ learning style， and the differences of different genders in learning styles，then puts forward relevant proposals according to their aptitudes.

【Keywords】： Learning style；Learning Style Preference； Research； Different genders； Difference.

Learning style has a very important influence on language learning.Herbert Thelen was the first scholar to introduce “learning style” in 1954.Then，many experts and scholars began to study on it.

I.Definition of Learning Style

In a general view，learning style is characterized by cognitive，emotional and physical style，as learners obtain relatively stable indicators，interaction and the response of the learning environment.（Keefe，1979，1-17）.

Kolb（1984，32-357）showed that learning styles could be concluded as：Concrete experience；Reflective observation；Abstract conceptualization；Active experimentation. Dunn（1979）regards learning styles as the way for learners to focus，process，internalize and remember new knowledge or skills.

In this thesis，the author regard Reid’s（1987，87-11）as working definition.It reads like this：“A learning style refers to an individual’s natural，habitual，and preferred ways of absorbing，processing，and retaining new information and skills”.

There are three stages on the research of learning style abroad：

The first stage of learning style research was in the 50s and 60s of the 20th century.During this time， the characteristics of learning style could be regarded as a global or general study.It studied on the different learning styles of students from different perspectives，learning strategies and cognitive styles.

The second phase of learning style research was in the 1970s.In the meantime，the characteristic of learning style was the study of global polarization trend and using the method of scientific experiment investigation of various factors of learning style.

In the third phase，researchers tried to do some studies on some professional field. Learning styles researches were introduced into English classroom to guide teaching and learning.

Scholars of this filed came up with a variety of learning style models，some well-known classifications will be discussed in this thesis.

（1） Reid’s Classification of Learning Styles

Reid（1984）provided us with the Perceptual Learning Style Preference Survey （PLSPS）.It is used to identify the style preferences in English as a second language （ESL） learner.According to Reid’s research，he divided learning styles into three major categories：major learning style，which a learner likes best；minor learning style，which is the second best；negligible learning style，which is the least preferred.

（2） Willing’s Classification of Learning Styles

In another investigation，Willing（1987）did a research on 517 students’ learning styles in Australia and distinguish the learning styles from two major aspects.One was cognitive，the other was affective.Willing describes four general learning styles：Concrete learning style；Analytic learning style；Communicative learning style；Authority-orientated learning style.

（3） Oxford’s Classification of Learning Styles

Based on the previous studies，Oxford（1993）designed a more comprehensive questionnaire.She divided learning styles into five categories as follows：How to use physical senses to study or work；How to deal with other people；How to handle possibilities；How to deal with problems；How to deal with ideas

Finally， the author adopts Oxford’s Style Analysis Survey（SAS）because it is the most detailed and comprehensive survey tool used in this study.

Reid investigated 90 Chinese English as a Foreign Language（EFL）learners in 1987.Melton gave the PLSPS to 331 Chinese university and middle school students in 1990.Wang Chu Ming did a survey of learning styles in 1992.His investigation employed Reid’s survey to make inquiries about 490 English majors in Guangdong University of Foreign Studies.Some scholars started introducing the theory of learning style in China since 1994.So we can learn that the theory of learning style started late in China，which are based on foreign theory and measuring methods and the fruits of foreign study result.Although some researchers have got some achievements，the overall level is far behind，even more there are no series of theories about learning style in China.

II.The Experimentation Process

The participants in this study were 104 students from Yanbian University.Of them，52 were males and 52 were females.

The objectives of the study are：

1.To find out how the learning styles are generally distributed among the subjects.

2.To find out whether there would be a statistically significant relationship between the perceptual English learning style preferences and gender difference.

3.To find out what differences of learning style between male and female.

The instrument used in this study was Oxford’s Style Analysis Survey （SAS） to find out Yanbian University non-English majors’ learning style preferences，which is a back-translated version detection based on previous translations，and ultimately put into use.The questionnaire consists of five parts，110 topics. Through investigating and studying the behavior of objects in five areas to help the subjects understand their own learning style preferences. Here are the five aspects of the behavior of each learning style：

1. How to use physical senses to study or work： visual， auditory， hands-on.

2. How to deal with other people： extroverted and introverted.

3. How to handle possibilities： intuitive， concrete-sequential.

4. How to deal with problems： closure and open.

5. How to deal with ideas： global and analytic.

A total of 220 students answers were completed and returned during the class. Finally there are 104 valid responses formed the basis for subsequent analyses.

After the completion of the survey，the relevant data of the questionnaires would be typed into computer and be analyzed by using SPSS 20.0.The questionnaire adopted a 4-points scale，“0”means“Never”；“1”means “Sometimes”；“2”means“Often”； “3”means“Always”.The answers were classified and calculated according to different genders.The statistics approaches used in this study are as follows：

1.Descriptive Statistics，including means and standard deviations of each category of learning styles were the methods of data analysis for the first research question： “What kinds of learning style preferences of non-English majors of Jilin Agricultural University？ ”

2.Independent-Sample T-Test was used to examine the second research question： “Are there any possible links between genders and learning style preferences？ ”

III.Results and Discussion

Analysis of Different Learning Style Preferences

The first research question is to study the present distribution of learning styles among the students of Yanbian University. The learning style preferences of the participants’ are analyzed by SPSS and descriptive statistics are employed to find the learning styles’ distribution of the students in Yanbian University.

Table 1： Descriptive Statistics： the descriptive results of learning style preferences

As seen from descriptive statistical analysis of 104 samples in Table 1 of 11 learning styles，it contains the descriptive statistics of minimum，maximum，mean and standard deviation of learning style preferences.As for the minimum，the value of the analytic learning style is the smallest in the 104 samples，the score is 0.As for the maximum，the value of the visual learning style is the biggest in the 104 samples，the score is 30，followed by hands-on，intuitive，global learning style，and the score is 29. Concrete-sequential and open learning style are relatively small.The mean shows that among 11 kinds of learning styles，closure learning style is the highest，introverted is the lowest.As a whole，closure learning style is more intense，followed by intuitive， introverted learning style is weak.The standard deviation shows that concrete-sequential is the smallest among 11 kinds of learning styles scores，we can learn that the overall score of the global learning style is relatively small，the score distribution is very balanced.It can clearly be seen that extroverted learning style is relatively large differences in scores， are more disparity.

Gender Differences of College Students’ Learning Style

In order to give a clear results of whether and how male students and female students different from each other， an independent samples T-test is used to determine whether there exist significant differences in learning style preferences.

To sum up， there is a significant difference between male and female in the visual （p= 0.021） ， auditory （p= 0.006） ， hands-on （p= 0.000） ， extroverted （p= 0.008） ， intuitive （p= 0.014 ） ， closure （p= 0.006） and open （p= 0.000） the seven aspects of learning styles in the 104 valid samples. There was no significant difference in the other four types of learning styles.

IV.Enlightenment for Learners and Teachers Respectively

This study provides the valuable enlightenment to help teaching and learning match better. From teachers’ perspectives， here are some enlightenments as follows：（1） Teachers should adjust their teaching methods according to students’ different learning styles. （2） Knowing that what kind of learning style of students will help students to find suitable method for themselves?。?） The students-centered classroom should be created.

On the other hand， from students’ perspectives，as for girls， they are more inclined to the learning styles of visual and closure. As for boys， they are more likely to the learning styles of auditory， hands-on， open， extroverted and intuitive. So there are some enlightenments for them.

（1） They should learn how to develop their learning styles in accordance with their teachers’ teaching styles.

（2） Although individual different from each other， in many ways， the understanding of their own learning style preferences could help their language learning and make students understand how to adjust their own learning process， how to achieve most from their language learning.

（3） Students identify the weaknesses of their own learning style preferences to help them improve their interests， and learn more effectively.

Although this thesis has its limitations， to be honest， time， fund and capability are limited in this study. the author hopes that this research can help EFL teachers and learners in a sense and can lead to a more extensive and comprehensive research in the future.

References

[1] Dunn， et al. Identifying Individual Learning Styles In Students Learning Styles： Diagnosing and Prescribing Programs [J]. National Association of Secondary School Principals， 1979： 12-29.

[2] Keefe. Student Learning Styles： Diagnosing and Prescribing Program[M]. Reston， VA： National Association of Secondary School Principals， 1979， 1-17.

[3] Kolb， D.A. Experiential Learning： Experience as the Source of Learning and Development[M]. Englewood Cliffs， NJ. 1984， 32-357.

[4] Oxford. Style Analysis Survey（SAS）： Assessing Your Own Learning And Working Styles[Z]. In： Reid， J.M. （ed.1995.）， Learning Styles in the EFL Classroom[M]. Boston： Heinle and Heinle， 1993， 208-215.

[5] Reid， J.M. The Learning Style Preferences of ESL Students[J]. TFSOL Quarterly. 1987， 21 （1）： 87-111.

[6] Willing， Learning Styles in Adult Migration Education[M]. Adelaide， Australia： National Curriculum Resource Center， 1988.

作者簡介：王舒（1992-），女，漢族，籍貫：吉林白山，單位：延邊大學外國語學院，2015級研究生，研究方向：語言學。