A Comparative Study of Learning Styles of Iranian Students of English and Humanities

Learning styles are among the most determinant factors which play important roles in the process of learning. The identification of students’ learning styles will enable teachers to use proper and apt teaching methods to enhance their learning and to foster and develop various related skills. The present study was aimed at investigating the learning styles used by Iranian students of English and Humanities. To this end, 235 B.A. students of English and humanities with the age range of 20-28, participated in data gathering process. The data were gathered using Learning Styles Survey developed by Cohen, Oxford and Chi (2001) and analyzed using descriptive statistics and Mann-Whitney U tests. The results indicated (a) that, concerning the Students of English, the fourth graders tended to be more metaphorical, with males being more impulsive, (b) that, in relation to students of Humanities, fourth graders reported to be deductive, field-dependent, and reflective learners, with females being more sharpener, and (c) that English and humanities students differed from each other in terms of the Random, Field-dependent, and Literal styles, with humanities students being more random, less field dependent, and less literal learners.