The effect of Learning styles on vocabulary learning of Iranian undergraduate EFL learners

Each EFL learner may have a particular learning style which may affect mastering of new language skills and components, one of which is vocabulary. The current study is intended to find out the preferred learning style(s) of Iranian undergraduate learners, in an EGP course, and their achievement in vocabulary test. In other words, this study aims at determining the vocabulary knowledge of undergraduate students based on their learning styles. That is, how they perform on the vocabulary test according to their learning styles. Forty four undergraduate students took part in the study. VARK learning style questionnaires and the teacher developed test of vocabulary were used in this study. The validity and reliability of the learning style questionnaire and the teacher developed test of vocabulary were determined. The data were collected and analyzed, using appropriate statistical analyses including descriptive statistics and one way ANOVA within groups. The results indicated that the participants were mainly auditory learners. Moreover, it was found that multi-modal and visual learners had the best performances on the vocabulary test. The findings may help EFL learners and teachers find out which learning style is more preferred by the learners and which one is more beneficial in mastering English vocabularies.

کلیدواژه ها:

“EFL learners” ، “undergraduate” ، “vocabulary learning” ، “learning style”