Language Learning Style Preferences: Bangladeshi EFL Learners

Harvest: Jahangirnagar Studies in Language and Literature, Vol. 26, (June, 2011) ISSN 1729-8326

Language Learning Style Preferences: Bangladeshi EFL Learners

Md. Jahurul Islam1

Abstract

This research intended to investigate the language learning style preferences of Bangladeshi EFL learners, and the degree to which teachers are aware of them. For this purpose, 256 language learners (148 males and 108 females) from different educational institutions were included as the subjects of the study. Furthermore, this study also included 16 teachers who were teaching the subject students. A language learning preference questionnaire containing 13 items, adopted and adapted from Brindley (1984) and Riazi and Riasati (2007), was administered to bring out information for the study. The data produced by the employment of the questionnaire were subjected to Chi-square tests with a view to checking the significance of the difference between the responses. The results showed the learning preferences of students in different areas. The results also indicated that teachers are aware of the learning preferences of their students in several cases, but unaware in several others. Hence, a closer cooperation between teachers and students in some instances is necessary.

1. Introduction

Language learning styles have aroused a great deal of attention and have been the focus of a number of L2 studies in the years since Reid's influential work on the topic was published in 1987. Reid (1987, 1995) viewed that ‘all students have their own learning styles and learning strengths and weaknesses,’ and ‘a mismatch between teaching and learning styles causes learning failure, frustration, and demotivation.’

With the advent of the Communicative Language Teaching Approach, the focus of language teaching theories has shifted from the teacher or instructor to the learners. It is beyond any doubt that individual learners adopt different manners or styles for their comprehension, apprehension and understanding of the language they learn. The different ways of how a

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1 Md. Jahurul Islam, Lecturer, Department of English, Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Email: [email protected]

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learner takes in and processes information are collectively referred to as learning styles or learning preferences (Reid, 1987; Celce-Marcia, 2001; Riazi and Riasati, 2007). Mismatches between the learning preferences of the learners in a given class and the teaching style of the teacher will normally lead the learners to become bored and inattentive in classes, do badly on tests, get discouraged about the course and curriculum, and in some cases change to other curricula or drop out of the program (Felder, 1996).

In the perspective of Bangladesh, most teachers are little aware of the ways and media their students prefer to learn the language. Even if some are a bit aware of them, they hardly pay or have little scope to pay little attention to it, which naturally leads to the failure of the instructional program to attain its general as well as specific goals and objectives. Therefore, teachers need to discover their students’ preferred ways of learning the language, by which they can make their style of teaching appealing to the students to the optimum level. Alongside the teachers of a language teaching program, people involved in material designing and syllabus planning can also be substantially helped by such information. According to Spratt (1999), those who design and develop syllabuses, materials and teaching and learning activities often work by predicting the intended learners’ likes and dislikes on the basis of their own past experience and/or by consulting the relevant literature available in the market. Evidently, this type of approach catastrophically fails to reflect the intended learners’ language learning preferences, leading to the failure of the instructional program as well. That is why, the present researcher considers that it is very important to find out the language learning styles and preferences of the learners. This researcher also believes that this study can help teachers, in general, and Bangladeshi EFL/ESL teachers, in particular, to attain more efficiency and success in their professional career.

2. Literature Review

2.1. Categorization of learning styles

Reid (1987) categorised styles into six types. Reid (1995), however, categorized learning styles into three major types:

a. cognitive learning styles

b. sensory learning styles, and

c. personality learning styles

Cognitive learning styles

Field-independent vs. Field-dependent: Field-independent learners learn more effectively step by step, beginning with analyzing facts and

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proceeding to ideas. On the other hand, field-dependent learners prefer to learn in context and holistically.

Analytic vs. Global: Analytic learners learn individually, and prefer to achieve set goals. Global learners, contrarily, learn more effectively through concrete experience, and by interaction with others.

Reflective vs. Impulsive: Reflective learners learn more effectively if they get some time to consider options before the response is made. Impulsive learners, in contrast, are able to respond immediately and take risks.

Sensory learning styles

Sensory learning styles are further divided into two types: perceptual learning styles and environmental learning styles.

Perceptual learning styles

Auditory learner: An auditory learner learns more effectively through the ear (hearing).

Visual learner: A visual learner learns more effectively through the eyes (seeing).

Haptic learner: A haptic learner learns more effectively through touch and body involvement.

Environmental learning styles

Physical vs. Sociological: Physical learners learn more effectively when variables such as temperature, sound, light, food, time, and classroom arrangement are considered.

Sociological learners, in contrast, learn more effectively when variables such as group, individual, pair, and team work, and level of teacher authority are regarded.

Personality learning styles

Extroversion vs. Introversion: Extroverted learners’ interests include concrete experience, contact with outside, and relationship with others. Introverted learners, on the other hand, are more interested in individual, independent situations.

Sensing vs. Perception: Sensing learners learn best from reports of observable facts and happenings, and rely on their five senses. On the other hand, perception learners learn more effectively from meaningful experiences and relationships with others.

Thinking vs. Feeling: Thinking learners learn best from impersonal circumstances and logical consequences. On the other hand, feeling learners prefer personalized circumstances and social values.

To Willing (1988), there are four kinds of learners as per the ways through which they prefer to learn: concrete learners, analytical learners, communicative learners and authority-oriented learners.

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Concrete learners: these learners like using games, pictures, films, video, cassettes, talking in pairs and practising English outside the class.

Analytical learner: these learners like to study grammar and English, read English newspapers, and who like to study alone, find their mistakes and work on problems set by the teacher.

Communicative learners: these learners learn by watching, listening to native speakers, talking to friends in English and watching television.

Authority-oriented learners: these learners prefer that the teacher should explain everything, and who write everything in notebooks, study grammar, learn by reading and learn new words by seeing them.

2.2. Learners’ learning preferences

Researchers have started working on the learning preferences over the past three decades. A number of researchers have taken interest and worked to find out the language learning modalities by the means of self-reporting questionnaires, where students select their preferred learning styles.

Reid (1987), for example, based on the findings of a survey, distinguished four perceptual learning modalities. These perpetual learning modalities include:

1) Visual learning (for example, reading and studying charts)

2) Auditory learning (for example, listening to lectures or audiotapes)

3) Kinaesthetic learning (involving physical responses)

4) Tactile learning (hands-on learning, as in building models)

According to the findings of Reid's study, ESL students strongly preferred kinaesthetic and tactile learning styles. Group learning was marked as a negative preference by most of the learners. Reid came to the conclusion that ESL students from different language backgrounds sometimes differ from one another in their learning style preferences, and that variables such as sex, field of study, level of education, TOEFL score, and age are related to differences in learning styles (cited in Riazi and Riasati, 2007).

Wintergerst, DeCapua, and Marilyn (2003) carried out research over three different populations, namely Russian EFL students, Russian ESL students and Asian ESL students, and tried to explore their learning style preferences. The studies revealed that all these three groups of language learners demonstrated a clear preference of group activity to individual work; the Russian EFL and Asian ESL students favoured group work and project work.

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From the above mentioned research, Kavaliauskiene (2003) drew three main conclusions attempting to investigate the issue of learners' preferences of the methodology of learning a foreign language. Firstly, slightly more than half of the learners favour a communicative approach to perfecting their language skills by working in pairs/small groups, taking part in projects and practicing English by talking to their peers. Secondly, 93 percent of learners support the idea of homework against a very small 7 percent who reject it. Thirdly, a short-term approach to studying a foreign language prevails. Learners seek passing their exams and getting good marks, and are not concerned with improving language skills and competence for the future usage.

To sum up, the importance of understanding and exploring each individual’s learning style is beyond any question. Exploring and analyzing a learner’s individual particular learning style can be very helpful and beneficial to the learner by aiding them in becoming a more focused and attentive learner, which ultimately can augment educational success.

3. Objectives of the study

The present study intended to investigate the language learning preferences of the Bangladeshi EFL students along with the extent of teachers’ awareness of them. To be more specific, the study sought answers to the following questions:

1. What are the learning style preferences of the Bangladeshi EFL learners?

2. To what extent, if any, are teachers aware of their students’ learning preferences?

3. How can these students be categorized in terms of learning styles typologies?

4. Method

4.1. Participants

The present study was carried out among two hundred and fifty-six students (148 males and 108 females) studying at the undergraduate level in Bangladesh. The subjects included in this study were selected from four institutions: two public and two private universities in Bangladesh. The respondents were first year students and sophomores. All of these students were studying EFL as partial requirement of their Bachelor’s degree.

The study also incorporated sixteen English teachers teaching these students in the same institutions. All of the teachers have the experience of teaching English in the tertiary level curriculum for more than five years at different educational institutions in Bangladesh.

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4.2. Instrument

The instrument used in this study was a 13-item language learning preference questionnaire adopted and adapted from Brindley (1984) and Riazi and Riasati (2007). The questionnaire had two versions: Version I for students and Version II for teachers. In the students’ version, the students were asked to express how they prefer to learn the language. In the teachers’ version, the teachers were asked to provide opinions as to how they feel their students prefer to learn the language.

4.3. Data collection and analysis

The questionnaires were administered in one single session for the same students. Students were provided the questionnaires during their class periods. Necessary information for completing the questionnaire was provided in Bangla to facilitate a better communication. Version II of the questionnaires was given to the teachers when they were free in their rooms. There was apparently no time restriction to respond to the items in the questionnaire; however, it was expected that they should finish within 20 (twenty) minutes.

The data obtained through the questionnaire were subjected to Chi-square tests in order to define the significance of the difference between the responses.

5. Results and Discussion

This section presents the results of the responses to some of the items in the questionnaire, which seemed noteworthy. Some of the responses received rendered significant results, while some others did not. This section briefly presents those responses which were statistically significant. However, it should be noted that for the purpose of not making this paper lengthy and hence difficult to follow, only some of the most prominent responses (that is, items 2, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 13) are briefly discussed.

In item 2, students were asked to express whether they preferred working individually, in pairs, in small groups, or in a large group. Results are presented below:

Table 1: Learning Mode

Learning individually Observed % Expected Chi-square

Yes 8533.2

0 12828.90

No 17166.8

0 128Total 256

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Table 1 reveals that 33.20% of the students expressed their preference for working individually. On the other hand, 66.80% of the students preferred other modes of learning the language, such as learning in pairs or in groups.

Hence, conclusion can be made from the results of this item that learners seemed to be in favour of a communicative approach to language learning by showing reluctance to working on their own. It seemed they felt more comfortable, productive, and relaxed by working in other ways, e.g. in pairs, or in groups where their voices would be heard, and views listened to and valued.

Teachers, in the teachers’ version, were asked whether their students liked working individually, in pairs, or in groups. The following table illustrates the results:

Table 2: Teachers' view on students' learning mode

Learning individually Observed % Expected Chi-square

Yes 1275 8

4

No 425 8

Total 16

As Table 2 illustrates, 75% teachers were of the opinion that their students liked working individually, while 25% did not hold such a belief. Teachers generally believed that students did not like to have interaction with their classmates and form groups.

According to Riazi and Riasati’s (2007) study, teachers manifestly were not aware that their students did not like to work on their own, and preferred to work in other ways such as in pairs or in groups. Here was also a disagreement between students and teachers regarding this point of view.

Item 6 asked whether students liked learning by listening, reading, repeating what they hear, listening and taking notes, copying from the board, and making summaries. Tables below demonstrate the results:

Table 3: Preferring listening and taking notes

Listening and taking notes

Observed % Expected Chi-square

Yes 19877.3

4 12876.5625

No 5822.6

6 128Total 256

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Table 4: Preferring reading and taking notes

Reading and taking notes


Yes 18070.3

1 12842.25

No 7629.6

9 128Total 256

Tables 3 and 4 illustrate that a high percentage of students (77.34%) responded in support of “Listening and taking notes”. Likewise, “Reading and taking notes” also received rather high percentage (70.31%) from students.

It can be concluded from the results displayed in Tables 3 and 4 that students were not in favour of remaining altogether passive during their learning; rather, they would like to assume some active roles, whether in taking notes or not. This notion is further supported by the fact that the students opted for “Listening and taking notes” and “Reading and taking notes” skipping the first two options, “Listening” or “Reading.”

Item 7 intended to find out how students would like to learn new vocabulary. The options were: (1) by using the word in a sentence, (2) by thinking of relationship between the known items and new items, (3) by saying or writing words several times, (4) by avoiding verbatim translation, (5) by guessing the unknown words, and (6) by reading with no dictionary help. Table 5 displays the results:

Table 5: Using new words in a sentence

Using new words in a sentence


Yes 160 62.5 12816

No 96 37.5 128Total 256

As is clear from results in the table, the majority of students (62.5%) gave priority to using new words in a sentence. This shows that learners preferred to learn the new vocabulary by making a sentence with them and using them in a context.

“Avoiding verbatim translation” was another option for learning new words. Results received for this choice are tabulated below:

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Table 6: Avoiding verbatim translation (students’ view)

Avoiding verbatim

translation


Yes 8232.0

3 12833.0625

No 17467.9

7 128Total 256

The table manifests that students highly favoured translating new words to learn them. This result reveals the poor condition of the true implementation of communicative language teaching (CLT) in Bangladesh.

In the teachers’ version, teachers were asked about their students’ preference for learning vocabulary. The following table presents the pertaining results:

Table 7: Avoiding verbatim translation (teachers’ view)

Avoiding translation


Yes 531.2

5 82.25

No 1168.7

5 8Total 16

It is evident from the table above that only 31.25% of teachers believed that their students do not like verbatim translation, while most teachers (68.75%) held that students were inclined to learn new vocabulary through translation. It can be inferred that most teachers thought of translation as an effective way of teaching vocabulary, and that their students were fond of such strategy.

The findings shown in Tables 6 and 7 are in sharp contrast with those of Riazi and Riasati’s (2007) study where they found that both students and teachers were in favour of avoiding verbatim translation.

Table 8: Students' preference for feedback

Later feedback Observed % Expected Chi-square

Yes 169 66 12826.66

No 87 34 128Total 256

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It is revealed from the table above that majority of the learners (66%) preferred to be corrected later in private. The other 34% of the students did not hold such a belief. This shows that students were against immediate correction and preferred to be corrected later in private. The reason might lie in the fact that students feel ashamed of their mistakes to be identified in front of their peers.

To find out the view of the learners and teachers regarding the use of media in language teaching learning and teaching, item 10 asked students whether they like learning from (1) television/video/films, (2) radio, (3) tapes/cassettes, (4) written material, (5) blackboard, or (6) pictures/posters. Results are tabulated below:

Table 9: Television/video/films

Television/video/films Observed % Expected Chi-square

Yes 22085.9

4 128132.25

No 3614.0

6 128Total 256

A huge number of language learners (85.94%), as the table above shows, were in favour of learning language from media like television, video or films. The reason, as Celce-Murcia (2001) contends, may be the fact that such media motivate students by bringing a fragment of real life into the classroom and by presenting language in its more complete communicative context.

Table 10: Teachers' view on students' preference for Television/video/films

Television/video/films Observed % Expected Chi-square

Yes 12 75 84

No 4 25 8Total 16

The results presented in the Table 11 reveal that most teachers thought that their students preferred television/video/films to other media. It is a very positive matter that teachers were aware of their students’ media preference, and hence should make more effective use of such media in their teaching. However, teachers in Bangladeshi context would certainly

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find it very difficult to increase the use of such media due to infrastructural and logistic limitations.

The last option of the item was "Learning about culture." Table 14 illustrates the results received for this option:

Table 11: Students’ view learning about culture

Learning culture


Yes 17267.1

9 12830.25

No 8432.8

1 128Total 256

Table 14 shows that most of the students (67.19%) believed that culture and language are interwoven and should be treated as such. Although teachers devote a good deal of time, effort, and attention to the teaching of language skills, gaining linguistic competence is not adequate for many learners to achieve their goals.

Table 12: Teachers' view on students' preference for learning about culture

Learning culture


Yes 531.2

5 82.25

No 1168.7

5 8Total 16

Contrary to the findings of Table 14, Table 15 reveals that most teachers (68.75%) believed that their students are not willing to learn about culture, and are not aware of the importance of developing cultural competence when learning the language. So, there seems to be disagreement between teachers and students in this regard.

In fine, it can be said that the most of the learners in the study seemed to favour a communicative approach to learning. They wished to work in pairs, in groups; they favoured learning activities that involved interaction between learners. This is in line with the studies of Spratt (1999), Kavaliauskiene (2003) and Riazi and Riasati (2007), which produced similar results.

The students’ perceptions did not match those of teachers in some cases. Therefore, a closer cooperation between teachers and students as to how language learning activities should be arranged and implemented in the

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classroom is still required to make the language learning and teaching process more fruitful.

6. Conclusions

The study provides some major implications which can be summarized in the following points:

1) Regarding studying style, students did not prefer working individually, but teachers were not found to be aware of this fact.

2) Students did not favour the types of learning activities which emphasize receptive skills only leaving the students passive during the learning program. They did not like to remain passive in the classroom, but wished to participate actively in classroom activities.

3) The vocabulary learning strategies favoured by the students include verbatim translation as well as using words in a sentence and guessing the meaning of unknown words. Teachers wrongly thought that their students like to learn the new words through translation only.

4) Students seemed to be bothered about being corrected immediately in front of every one. Rather they thought it better to be corrected later in private and individually.

5) Regarding the use of media, students would like to see more television programs and video films which make language learning more exciting and meaningful. Teachers also appeared to have the same outlook. They had a tendency to see what they are learning. However, some learners were more interested in listening to tapes. The former group can be labelled “visual” learners, while the latter are referred to as “auditory” learners, as classified by Reid (1995).

6) Interestingly, “Language games” did not highly catch the attention of the students. But, most students enjoyed talking with and listening to other students and having interaction with each other (global learners).

7) “Learning about culture” caught the interest of both students and teachers. This fact shows that they were aware of the crucial importance of developing cultural competence in the process of language learning and teaching.

8) Strikingly, students would feel satisfied with their achievement in English both (a) if their works obtain good

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grades by their teachers and (b) if they could use the language effectively in real-life situations.9) Finally, students got a sense of satisfaction not only by getting high grades, but also by seeing that they were more successful than before in using the language to communicate.

Pedagogical Implications

The objective behind conducting this study was to come across findings that could feed into classroom practice, and provide guidance for students and teachers as well as material designers and syllabus planners. Now, the following implications can be made with the light of the findings discussed in the study:

1) The findings of this study can be helpful to students in demonstrating the importance of identifying learning styles. Students are recommended to identify the best way(s) through which they can enjoy the act of learning a new language and make their achievement more fruitful. Becoming conscious of one's learning style may be beneficial in that the learner will now be aware of his or her strengths and weaknesses in terms of learning experiences.

2) Evidently, students do not like working individually, and it is to be kept in mind by the teachers seriously. They have to plan class lessons as well as teaching and learning activities in congruence with this orientation of their students.

3) Teachers should motivate their students to use the new words in sentences, and encourage them to avoid the act of translating words into Bangla to make them interested in attaining communicative goals.

4) Teachers need to remember that students like to watch television programs or video films since they like to see what they hear. So they need to be innovative in relating learning references as well as lessons to the optimum degree possible.

5) Teachers should keep in mind that students would like to be evaluated on the basis of their progress and their improvement in English.

6) It is a good way for the teachers to help students discover their own learning preferences and provide constructive feedback about the advantages and disadvantages of various styles in accordance with the students’ ability, personality, motivation, objective, and so on.

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The results of the study can, moreover, contribute to materials and syllabus designers in the way that they can reveal which language learning activities or areas of language are most likely to meet students’ approval and needs.

7) Lastly, there are scopes of further research, utilizing the results of the present study, whether some other variables like gender, age, level of education, ethnicity, cultural influences, regionalism, and so on. have any effect on the learners’ specific choice and preference of styles of language learning.

References

Barkhuizen, G. P. (1998). Discovering learners' perceptions of ESL classroom teaching/learning activities in a South African context. TESOL Quarterly, 32, 85-108.

Brindley, G. (1984). Needs analysis and objective setting in the adult migrant education program. Sydney, NSW: Adult Migrant Education Service.

Brinton, D. M. (1997). The use of media in language teaching. In M. Celce-Murcia (2001), Teaching English as a second or foreign language (pp. 459-76.). NY: Dewey Publishing Services.

Celce-Murcia, M. (2001). Teaching English as a second or foreign language (3rd ed.). NY: Dewey Publishing Services, pp. 359-366.

Felder, R. M. (1996). ‘Matters of styles’. ASEE Prism, 6(4), 18–23.

Kavaliauskiene, G. (2003). English for specific purposes: Learners’ preferences and attitudes. Journal of Language and Learning, 1(1).

Reid, J. (1995). Learning styles in the ESL/EFL classroom. Boston, MA: Heinle and Heinle Publishers.

Reid, J. M. (1987). The learning style preferences of ESL students. TESOL Quarterly, 21, 87-111.

Riazi, A. & Riasati, M. J. (2007). Language learning style preferences: a students case study of shiraz EFL Institutes. Asian EFL Journal, 9(1).

Spratt, M. (1999). How good are we at knowing what learners like? System, 27, 141-155.

Willing, K. (1988). "Learning styles in adult migrant education." Adelaide, South Australia: National Curriculum Research Council.

Wintergerst, A. C., DeCapua, A., & Marilyn, A. V. (2003). Conceptualizing learning style modalities for ESL/EFL students. System, 31, 85-106.

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Appendix

Questionnaire (Version 1) : How do you like learning?

Please put a circle around your response.

1. Are you satisfied with your achievement in English?

YES NO

2. In class do you like learninga. individually? YES NO

b. in pairs? YES NOc. in small groups? YES NOd. in one large group? YES NOe. others (specify please) ..............................

3. Do you want to do work at home as well? YES NOIf YES, how much time outside class hours? .......... hours a day or .......... hours a week.

4. How would you like to spend this time?a. preparing for the next class? YES NO

b. reviewing the previous lessons? YES NO

c. others (specify please)..............................5. Do you want to

a. spend all your learning time in the classroom?

YES NO

b. spend some time in the classroom and some time practicing your English with people outside?

YES NO

c. others (specify please)..............................6. Do you like learning

a. by listening? YES NO

b. by reading? YES NOc. by copying from the board? YES NO

d. by listening and taking notes? YES NOe. by reading and making notes? YES NOf. by repeating what you hear? YES NOg. by making summaries? YES NOh. others (specify please)..............................

7. When learning new vocabulary, do you like learning

a. by using new words in a sentence? YES NOb. by thinking of relationships between known

and new? YES NO

c. by saying or writing words several times? YES NO

d. by avoiding verbatim translation? YES NOe. by guessing the unknown? YES NO

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f. by reading without looking up words? YES NO

g. others (specify please).............................. ?8. When you speak do you want to be corrected

a. immediately, in front of everyone? YES NOb. later, at the end of the activity, in front of

everyone? YES NO

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c. later, in private? YES NOd. other (specify please)..............................

9. Do you mind if other students sometimes correct your written work?

YES NO

Do you mind if the teacher sometimes asks you to correct your own work?

YES NO

10. Do you like learning froma. television/video/films? YES NOb. radio? YES NO

c. tapes/cassettes? YES NOd. written/printed material? YES NO

e. the blackboard? YES NOf. pictures/posters? YES NOg. others (specify please)..............................

11. Do you do the following in your class?a. Role play YES NOb. Language games YES NOc. Songs YES NO

d. Talking with and listening to other students YES NO

e. Memorizing conversations/dialogues YES NO

f. Getting information from guest speakers YES NO

g. Learning about culture YES NO

12. How do you like to find out how much your English is improving?

a. By written tasks set by the teacher? YES NO

b. By seeing if you can use the language you have learnt in real-life situations?

YES NO

c. Others (specify please)..............................13. Do you get a sense of satisfaction from

a. having your work graded? YES NOb. being told that you have made progress? YES NOc. feeling more confident in situations that

you found difficult before?YES NO

d. others (specify please)..............................

Questionnaire (Version 2) : How do your students like learning?Please put a circle around your response.

1. Are you satisfied with your students' achievement in English?

YES NO

2. In class do your students like learning a. individually? YES NOb. in pairs? YES NO

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c. in small groups? YES NOd. in one large group? YES NOe. other (specify please)..............................

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3. Do they want toa. spend all their learning time in the

classroom? YES NO

b. spend some time in the classroom and some time practicing their English with people outside?

YES NO

c. other (specify please)..............................4. Do they like learning

a. by listening? YES NOb. by reading? YES NOc. by copying from the board? YES NOd. by listening and taking notes? YES NOe. by reading and making notes? YES NOf. by repeating what they hear? YES NOg. by making summaries? YES NOh. other (specify please)..............................

5. When learning new vocabulary, do they like learning

a. by using new words in a sentence YES NOb. by thinking of relationships between

known and new YES NO

c. by saying or writing words several times YES NOd. by avoiding verbatim translation YES NOe. by guessing the unknown YES NOf. by reading without looking up words YES NOg. other (specify please)..............................

6. When they speak do they want to be correcteda. immediately in front of everyone? YES NOb. later, at the end of the activity, in front of

everyone? YES NO

c. later, in private? YES NOd. other (specify please)..............................

7. Do they mind if other students sometimes correct their written work?

YES NO

Do they mind if you as the teacher sometimes ask them to correct their own work?

YES NO

8. Do they like learning froma. television/video/films? YES NOb. radio? YES NOc. tapes/cassettes? YES NOd. written/printed material? YES NOe. the blackboard? YES NOf. pictures/posters? YES NOg. other (specify please)..............................

9. Do you do the following in your class?a. Role play YES NOb. Language games YES NOc. Songs YES NO

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d. Talking with and listening to other students YES NOe. Memorizing conversations/dialogues YES NOf. Getting information from guest speakers YES NOg. Learning about culture YES NO

10. How do you think students like to find out how much their English is improving? By .....

a. written tasks set by you? YES NOb. seeing if they can use the language they

have learnt in real-life situations? YES NO

c. other (specify please)..............................11. Do you think students get a sense of

satisfaction froma. having their work graded? YES NOb. being told that they have made progress? YES NOc. feeling more confident in situations that

they found difficult before? YES NO

d. other (specify please)..............................

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Language Learning Style Preferences: Bangladeshi EFL Learners

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