Learning Styles Based on the Different Cultural Background of KFL Learners in Online Learning

Author: Donggil Song, Eunyoung Oh

Multimedia-Assisted Language Learning, vol. 14, no. 3, pp. 133-154, December 2011

Citation:
Song, D. & Oh, E. (2011). Learning styles based on the different cultural background of KFL learners in online learning. Multimedia-Assisted Language Learning, 14(3), 133-154.

Abstract — It is imperative to analyze learning styles based on learners’ cultural backgrounds when designing successful online learning courses. The present study investigated the learning styles preferences of learners who have diverse cultural backgrounds in an online language learning environment. For this purpose, the study employed the Felder and Silverman’s Learning Styles Model and examined sixty five international students who enrolled in a Korean language course at a university’s language education institute in Seoul, Korea. The participants were culturally diverse and represented numerous countries, which were categorized according to six cultural clusters: China, Japan, Middle East, other Asia, America, and Europe. The online language learning course was analyzed using the active/reflective, sensing/intuitive, sequential/global and visual/verbal dimensions of the model. The participants’ learning style preferences were investigated using a questionnaire. A one-way ANOVA was conducted to compare the effect of cultural backgrounds on learning style preferences of each section. In addition, MANOVA and post hoc multiple comparison of means tests (Scheffé test) were conducted. The results demonstrate significant cultural group differences in learning style preferences of learners of Korean language with diverse cultural backgrounds.

Keywords: learning styles, cultural background, online language learning, Korean as a foreign language