Investigating the Relationship between Learning Styles and ESP Reading Strategies in Academic Setting

Abstract

The present study investigated the relationship between Art and Science students’ learning styles and their ESP reading strategies in academic settings. Learning styles are defined as general orientations learners take toward their learning experiences. This notion has recently obtained attention in the area of language learning. Strategies are also defined as specific behaviours or techniques learners employ towards leaning in order to achieve their learning goals. The strategies chosen are often linked to the individual's learning style. The purpose of this study was to identify Art and Science students’ major learning style preferences and their strategies they employ to tackle their reading materials in ESP courses at Tabriz Islamic Art University. To this end, 313 Art and Science students at Tabriz Islamic Art University answered two self-report questionnaires (PLSPQ and SORS) to identify their major and minor learning styles as well as their reading strategies in ESP reading. In order to find any relationship between the students’ preferred learning style (s) and their reading strategies in ESP, Pearson Product Moment Coefficient r was used to analyze the participants’ answers to the questionnaires. The results showed that Art students favored Kinesthetic, Auditory, Visual and Tactile learning styles as their major learning styles while Science students showed preference to only Kinesthetic Learning style as their major learning style and other learning styles as their minor ones. It was also found that the most dominant reading strategies both Art and Science students apply in reading their ESP texts was cognitive strategies. Correlational analyses of their major learning styles and their reading strategies are discussed.