A Study of Taiwanese Undergraduates' Learning Styles and Learning Anxiety and Their Impacts on Learner Autonomy

• Main Authors: CHEN, WEI-LING, 陳瑋玲
• Other Authors: WANG, CHAO-CHANG
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2019
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/u7va96

碩士 === 銘傳大學 === 應用英語學系碩士班 === 107 === Research on learning style, learning anxiety and learner autonomy in English learning has been carried out for a number of decades. However, only a few research studies have focused on the relationship of these three variables. The purpose of this study was to investigate Taiwanese undergraduate students’ learning style preference and learning anxiety and the impacts of the two variables on learner autonomy. The participants were 326 undergraduates from a university in Northern Taiwan. The study employed Perceptual Learning Style Preference Questionnaire (Reid, 1984), Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986), and Learner Autonomy Questionnaire (Zhang & Li, 2004). Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, t-test, ANOVA, and multiple regression were utilized to analyze data. The results showed that the participants had a strong preference on auditory learning style and a moderate level of learning anxiety and learner autonomy on English learning. There was a significant positive correlation between visual and group learning styles and learning anxiety. Tactile, auditory, kinesthetic and individual learning styles were significantly positively related to learner autonomy. Further, there was a significant negative correlation between learning anxiety and two variables: individual learning style and learner autonomy. In addition, a significant effect of gender on auditory, group and individual learning styles, learning anxiety, and learner autonomy was found. Also, a significant effect of feeling of learning English and the length of time learning English on learning anxiety, and a significant effect of feeling of learning English on learner autonomy were found. Most important of all, only tactile and individual learning styles and learning anxiety significantly contributed to learner autonomy. The findings have implications for the future studies and English teaching.