Bayview Beach Resort, Batu Ferringhi Beach, Penang, Malaysia

27-30 September 1999

Culture and Learning: A cross-cultural comparative study on learning style preferences

Hariharan N. Krishnasamy

Syaharom Abdullah

SBPS, Universiti Utara Malaysia, Sintok, Kedah, Malaysia

Abstract

The preferences for certain learning styles are closely linked to the experiences of the learner, which have its roots in the cultural background and the socialization process. As noted by Oxford RL, ME Hollaway and D Horton-Murillo (1992), there is an important correlation between culture and learning styles although there are other intervening influences. Based on studies (Reid,1987; Milton, 1990) related to culture and learning styles, Hyland K. (1993) observes that 'learning style preferences of ESL students often differ significantly from those of native speakers and that students from different language and cultural backgrounds sometimes differ from one another in their preferences" (p 73). The present study intends to further expand the study on cross-cultural comparison on learning style preferences. The study will compare the Malaysian students' learning style preferences with those of students from China and Japan. The study concludes by discussing pedagogical implications.

Biodata

Hariharan is a lecturer at Universiti Utara Malaysia. He has been teaching English for more than 10 years. His academic interests include language pedagogy and genre analysis.

Syaharom Abdullah is lecturing at the School of Languages and Scientific Thinking, Universiti Utara Malaysia. He was a secondary school teacher before joining UUM. His academic interests are communication and technology in language teaching.