Field Independent Style Research Articles

Field Independence-Dependence and the Teaching of Grammar

The cognitive style of field independence (the tendency to differentiate objects from their surroundings) has been shown in a number of studies to be related to success in second language classrooms in which deductive teaching dominates. The purpose of the study reported in this article was to discover whether less rule-oriented teaching might prove more beneficial for field-dependent students. A pretest/post-test design was used to compare the effectiveness of two ESL lessons on participle formation for subjects at various points along the field independent/dependent continuum. One lesson was based on a traditional deductive approach; the other provided no rules but directed attention to many examples of participles in context. A regression analysis showed a significant interaction between field independence and lesson, with field-independent subjects performing better with the deductive lesson and fielddependent subjects better with the example lesson. Examination of individual items on pre- and post-tests provided evidence that the majority of subjects in both lessons had engaged in step-by-step rule building. Implications for teaching and further research are discussed. The interest of both teachers and researchers in the field of second language learning has increasingly focused on the learner--including the strategies which an individual uses in learning and communicating and the individual differences that may affect both strategy use and success. One learner characteristic that appears to be related to a number of second language performance measures is the cognitive style of field independence. The field independence/dependence continuum is described by Messick (1976:14) as follows:

Field independence, task ambiguity, and performance on a proportional reasoning task

AbstractThis study investigated the proportional reasoning abilities of 35 college science students. Using a projection of shadows problem, proportional reasoning was assessed under one of two experimental conditions corresponding to the type of information presented: (a) relevant only, or (b) relevant and irrelevant. Subjects were also measured on the cognitive style of field independence. Results showed that subjects in the relevant only condition performed significantly better than those in the relevant‐irrelevant condition. Degree of field independence was related to performance only in the relevant‐irrelevant condition. These results indicated an interaction between type of information presented in a task and cognitive style.

The Interaction of Field Independence with Small-Group Instruction in Mathematics

This study tested the hypothesis that the cognitive style of field independence would interact with treatments that dif fered in the use of small groups as opposed to individual in struction. Students (N = 111) were assessed on field inde pendence and general ability and randomly assigned to treatments for a week of instruction. Achievement was measured by an immediate posttest and a delayed retention test, and student ratings of instruction were obtained. There was a significant (p < .05) interaction with measures of field independence when achievement was the dependent variable, but not when student ratings were used. However, the interaction appeared to be due more to general ability than to cognitive style. Also, students gave significantly higher ratings to small-group instruction.