Perceptual learning style preferences among Iranian graduate students

Abstract

Research suggests that a host of cognitive, affective, and perceptual variables are at work when individuals go about the task of second or foreign language learning. Among these variables are learning styles that are habitual ways of perceiving, processing, and storing information. This study was conducted as a response to Isemonger and Sheppard's (2003) call for more context-specific research into the relationship between learning styles and background variables due to the inconsistencies existing in the field. The study aimed at exploring the pattern of graduate learners' perceptual learning style preferences and its possible relationship with their gender, age, discipline, and self-rated proficiency level. The participants were 138 graduate students at Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran. They were randomly selected based on a two-stage sampling procedure and responded to the Perceptual Learning Style Preference Questionnaire. The questionnaire was translated, piloted, and slightly modified before the study proper. The results revealed that the participants favored kinesthetic and tactile modalities and disfavored group learning style. As for the background variables, some significant differences were detected. The findings and their implications are also discussed.