Saudi female EFL learners’ cognitive styles and reading comprehension : implications for reading instruction and strategies

Abstract EN

The aim of this study is to investigate the cognitive styles of Saudi female EFL learners and their relationship to academic performance in reading comprehension, with a focus on implications for classroom teaching methods and strategies in reading comprehension skills.

One hundred and forty Saudi female EFL students participated in the study.

A questionnaire, a cognitive style test, classroom observation and a reading comprehension test were used to collect the data of the study.

It was concluded that most students employ mixtures of field-dependent and field-independent cognitive styles, resulting in the broad categorization of three types of learners: field-dependent dominant, field-independent dominant and mixed.

The study also shows that mixed-field students significantly out-performed both field-dependent and fieldindependent ones in reading comprehension.

Based on these findings, recommendations for teachers and future researchers are presented.