A Study on Preferred Learning Styles of Turkish EFL Teacher Trainees

Abstract: Since people have different ways of perception, levels of motivation, and attitudes towards teaching and learning they consistently differ from each other in their preferences of learning and acquiring knowledge. Therefore, the more instructors understand the differences, the better chance they have of understanding and meeting the diverse learning needs of their students. The present study has been conducted to investigate the Turkish ELT students’ learning style preferences in relation to gender and age to see if there is any relationship between achievement and learning style preferences. To perform the aim of the study Wintergerst and DeCapua’s (1999) learning style indicator (LSI) was administered on 249 English trainees. To find the male and female students ’ learning style preference differences separately, t-test was utilized. The result indicated that Turkish students are mostly group-oriented learners and learn best through interacting with other students while learning. Gender also varies according to the three orientation areas under investigation. In the current study, no relation between achievement and learning style has been identified