Identifying Learning Style Preferences of Freshmen in Higher Education

Abstract

Learning styles are the key to developing performance in learning process. The purpose of this study is to identify students’ learning style preferences in EFL context, this case is interesting to discuss due to the importance of knowing students’ learning styles for the teachers to provide a supportive environment for the students. The Perceptual Learning Style Preferences Questionnaire (PLSPQ) by Reid (1987) already distributed from 62 students in the first semester of English Language Education in one of Islamic University. The result presents that students most preferred auditory with mean value 3,91 as their learning style and group with mean value 3,64 as the least preferred learning style. Auditory learners prefer learn by hearing the information from other perhaps listening to the lecture. Thus, they are interested in hearing audio tapes or class discussion.