A Gender-based Study of the Predictability Power of Thinking Styles in English Writing Strategies

Despite lots of approaches for writing instruction in English as a second or foreign language, many students have not yet mastered this skill effectively. So, a need is felt for further research and investigation. The present study aims at investigating the role of thinking styles in employing different writing strategies before, while and after writing tasks. The study firstly investigates the preferred writing strategy employed by Iranian EFL male and female learners. Secondly, it predicts which components of the five main categories of the thinking styles can be predictors for EFL learners’ preferred writing strategy. To this end, 100 Iranian male and female students of Shiraz University have been chosen. The instruments were thinking style inventory and writing strategy questionnaire. One-way ANOVA and Multiple Regression were used to explore the preferred writing strategies and predictability power of thinking styles. The findings of the study will give a hint to language teachers and designers to consider learners’ thinking style as an individual trait among others which may have significant effects on developing writing skill.