The purpose of this study was to investigate aspects of cognitive styles in relationship to the academic orientation of Arab ESL students. More specifically, this study attempted to answer the following questions:1- What are the different cognitive styles Arab students use in their learning of English as a second language?2- To what degree do Arab students who possess different cognitive styles perform differently on the Michigan Test of English Language Proficiency?3- Are students' academic majors related to their proficiency in English as a second language?The subjects of this study were 82 students representing 11 Arab countries enrolled in ESL programs in four American universities. The Inventory of Learning Processes (Schmeck, Ribich, & Ramanaiah, 1977), was used to measure the students' cognitive styles and the Michigan Test of English Language Proficiency (MTELP) was used to measure their performance on English as a second language.Results of this study indicated that Arab students fall on a continuum of four different cognitive styles with Elaborative Processing being the most dominant cognitive style among Arab students (44% of students). Deep Processing and Fact Retention were the next two cognitive styles Arab students possessed (26%, 21 % of students respectively). Only 10% of students possessed the Study Methods cognitive style. There was no significant relationship between students' cognitive styles and their performance on English as a second language except for the weak positive relationship that existed between the cognitive style of Elaborative Processing and proficiency in English as a second language. It was also found that students' academic majors played a major role in their performance on MTELP. Literature majors performed significantly better than science majors in English as a second language.It was recommended that ESL instructors at American universities identify Arab students' cognitive styles by using ILP prior to their enrollment in ESL courses. It was also recommended that ESL instructors vary their teaching strategies and resources so that individual student's needs regarding cognitive style are met. Further research is needed to investigate the interaction between students' academic majors, their cognitive styles and their proficiency in English as a second language. It is also important to further explore the relationship between the Elaborative Processing scale and students' proficiency in English as a second language. / Department of Secondary, Higher, and Foundations of Education
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/185645 |
| Date | January 1996 |
| Creators | Ahmed, Ahmed Khaled |
| Contributors | Ball State University. Dept. of Secondary, Higher, and Foundations of Education., Payne, Charles R. |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | v, 75 leaves ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
| Coverage | n-us--- |
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