Examining the Match or Mismatch between Teaching Style preferences and Upper-intermediate EFL Learners’ Learning Style Preferences

Abstract

This study investigates the learning style preferences of Iranian EFL language learners at Upper-Intermediate level and examines the teachers’ educational treatment with these preferred styles. Thus, the study is divided into three parts: students’ learning style preferences, teachers’ teaching style preferences, and match or mismatch between the students’ and teachers’ style preferences. In total, 725 EFL English major students participated in this study. Among them, 542 students took part in three pilot studies for the instrument validation. The main study participants, whose classes were observed during a term, were 183 undergraduate English major students studying at English language institute of Farahmand, English Language Institute of Safir and ten of their teachers. A Persian translated version of Reid's (1987) Questionnaire was validated and three new learning scales (Group, Tactile and Guided Learning Scales) were explored. The Learning Style Preference and the Teaching Style Preferences Questionnaires were administrated to the students and teachers, respectively. Later, the teachers and 42 of the 183 students were interviewed. Results of the study showed that the preferred learning style of the students was Tactile. Results of classroom observation showed that the teachers had no major teaching style preference .However, the teachers’ responses to the questionnaire and their performances in the classes did not confirm each other on the Group and Tactile scales. According to the results of the questionnaire, the teachers knew the theories of learning styles, but they did not apply them in their classrooms. Specifically, while Tactile Preference was the students’ major learning style preference, it was only a negligible teaching style for the teachers. Moreover, the teachers’ performance showed that they ignored students’ preferences. The results of the teachers’ interviews indicated that most of the teachers had only a fixed style of teaching based on the requirements of the course, not on the students’ learning style preferences.