Investigating the Preferred Learning Styles in English Language Courses among Undergraduates in Universiti Malaysia Kelantan

Abstract

Generally, individuals have different ways and particular preferences when processing new information in learning. It is also believed that their language learning styles are one of the main indicators that contribute to their academic performance. This study aims to identify Universiti Malaysia Kelantan (UMK) learner’s learning styles in English language courses. The selected respondents for this study were three hundred and twenty-nine (329) undergraduates at UMK who were taking the English language courses I, II and III. A ninety (90) items of self-administered questionnaire was adapted from established questionnaire on Multiple Intelligences Theory (MIT) whilst, another fifty-five (55) items were on undergraduates’ learning styles. The total items in this study were one hundred and forty-five (145). The findings showed that the majority of the respondents prefer Musical Intelligence the most and the Naturalist Intelligence the least. The implication of this study is on the challenges faced by the lecturers in identifying the possible language teaching methods that could accommodate and work for all the learners since there are learners with different MI within one classroom.