Language Learning Styles: An Investigation into Iranian Female EFL Learners’ Preferences and the Reasons that Lie behind their Preferences

Individual learners are assumed to be different in terms of their learning preferences Differences in learners preferred styles may influence the extent to which they are successful in learning a foreign language This study aimed at investigating Iranian female EFL learners learning styles preferences as well as identifying the reasons that lie behind the learners preferences To this end a group of 30 female EFL learners who sat for a proficiency test at the outset of the study and were recognized to be at intermediate level of language proficiency were randomly selected from two language institutes in Ahvaz Iran The participants ranged between 18 to 30 years of age A revised version of Willing s (1988) Learning Styles Preferences Questionnaire was administered to the participants The reliability Cronbach s Alpha of the scale was 0 84 The data was then analyzed descriptively by computing means and standard deviations of the four types of learning style preferences The results indicated that communicative style was the preferred learning style by Iranian female EFL learners in the sample Moreover the findings implied that students preferred styles have a bearing on learning outcomes and as such for increased achievement they need to be taken into consideration by both educators and learners