THINKING STYLES OF UNDERGRADUATE EFL LEARNERS IN HIGHER EDUCATION: A SURVEY STUDY

Abstract

The aim of this study is to identify the Thinking Styles of undergraduate EFL learners in higher education in Indonesia. The participants were 140 learners from English education department major in one of the Islamic private university in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. They responded to the Thinking Styles Inventory (Sternberg, 1997) that consisted of 5 dimensions: function, form, level, scope, and leaning. The data were analyzed by using descriptive qualitative setting since the study is survey. The results showed that External Thinking Styles (M=5.408, Std. Deviation=1.18) was the highest thinking styles employed by the learner. Then, followed by Legislative Thinking Styles (M=5.287, Std. Deviation=1.092) and Hierarchic Thinking Styles (M=5.157, Std. Deviation=1.09). The implication of this research is students should increase the responsibility of managing their thinking styles and teachers are suggested to select the best method based on students’ thinking styles.