A Correlation Study between EFL Students’ Learning Styles and their Academic Performance
Ibraheem Khalaf Salih Hilo
College of Education for Humanities, Tikrit University, English department
DOI: https://doi.org/10.25130/jls.5.2.17
Keywords: learning styles, academic, performance, EFL
Abstract
Learning style is an effective and a natural process in which learners begin with what they already know or feel or read. Real learning cannot take place randomly. It is based on effective steps to learn something new. This will lead to use the new content and participate in how it might work in real life. Learners are also required to creatively take what they have learned beyond the classroom. This final step moves students out of the class into their real performance. According to the learning process, each student will have a place in the learning cycle where he or she is most comfortable and can contribute the most excellent work. Even though different students prefer different places in the cycle, it is important for all students to go through each of the steps in the cycle. Learning styles approach works best within a system that focuses on self-control, intrinsic rewards and self-expression. Working with learning styles, you may find that you naturally move toward a student-centered discipline approach that encourages student self-responsibility. Students usually differ in their ways of learning. Each student can understand the subject in the way he can and interpret. There are so many external factors that affect leaning. Some of them are environmental and social. Others are psychological related to age, motivation, individual differences etc.The present study aims at investigating the correlation between learning styles of EFL college students and their academic performance.The sample consists of thirty student-teachers from Department of English / College of Education for Humanities/ University of Tikrit. The instrument of the study is a learning style questionnaire that is adapted from O Brien (1985). Results show that there is a positive relationship between students' styles and their academic performance. Based on the results gained, specific recommendations are put forward.
