Gender Variation in Iranian EFL Learners’ Multiple Intelligences and Learning Styles

Individual differences like gender, learning styles, and intelligence are assumed to influence the rate of learning and the ultimate levels of mastery achieved in learning a foreign language. The present correlational study pursued the double purpose of examining gender variation in Iranian EFL learners’ dominant intelligences and their learning styles and to compare any significant relationship among these variables across gender. A sample of 80 undergraduate EFL students majoring English at Islamic Azad University, Tabriz Branch, was recruited from a pool of 97 based on convenience sampling procedure. The research data were obtained through administering Armstrong’s (1993) MI Inventory for Adults and Barsch’s (1991) Learning Style Inventory and were analyzed employing descriptive statistics and Spearman Rank-Order Correlation (Rho). The descriptive statistics indicated that while both female and male participants preferred visual learning style, they differed in their dominant intellectual propensities, with the females opting for bodily-kinesthetic and the males preferring verbal-linguistic intelligence. Significant positive relationships were found between male and females’ preferred learning style and their dominant intelligences. The findings underscore the need for taking these overall inclinations into account by teachers and instructors and offered a number of pedagogical implications to maximize learning opportunities.