Exploring Iranian EFL Learners’ Cognitive Styles and Their
Listening Comprehension
Lida Habibpour
1
, Leila Dobakhti
2*
1
M.A. in TEFL, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran, habibpourlida@gmail.com
2*
Associate Professor in TEFL, Tabriz Islamic Art University, Tabriz, Iran,
l.dobakhti@tabriziau.ac.ir
Article Info
ABSTRACT
Article type:
Research Article
Received:
11/01/2020
Accepted:
15/05/2020
Research on cognitive styles in the area of listening comprehension is very
important and needs to be explored. The present study aimed to investigate
the relationship between Iranian EFL learners’ cognitive styles and their
listening comprehension. This study sought to explore the extent to which
these styles can be correlated with the L2 learners’ performances on listening
comprehension tests. To this end, a descriptive quantitative study was utilized
to investigate the possible relationship between the aforementioned factors.
Some 70 upper-intermediate EFL learners from three language institutes in
Iran were asked to complete a questionnaire and then take part in a listening
comprehension test based on IELTS format after a two-week interval. The
questionnaire was drawn from Learning Styles Survey designed by Cohen,
Oxford, and Chi (2002). It included ten sections which were used to
determine learners’ cognitive styles and their demographic information. The
obtained data were analyzed using Pearson product-moment coefficient. The
findings indicated that there was a statistically significant correlation between
Analytic cognitive style and listening comprehension performances of the
participants. It was also found that there was a statistically negative
correlation between Global cognitive style of the learners and their listening
comprehension. Other cognitive styles including Particular, Synthesizer,
Field Dependent, Deductive, Inductive, Impulsive, Field Independent, and
Reflective had barely any statistically significant relationship with listening
comprehension. Finally, pedagogical implications for EFL teachers and
learners, limitations and suggestions for further study are presented and
discussed.
Keywords: Cognitive styles, Listening comprehension, EFL learners
Cite this article Habibpour, L., & Dobakhti, L. (2022). Exploring Iranian EFL learners’
cognitive styles and their listening comprehension. Journal of Modern Research in English
Language Studies, 9(2), 77-97. DOI: 10.30479/jmrels.2021.14893.1817
© The Author(s).
Publisher: Imam Khomeini International University