Cognitive Style, Awareness, and Learners’ Intake and Production of Grammatical Structures

Subject Areas : All areas of language and translation

Parviz Maftoon ¹ , Ghafour Rezaie ²

1 - Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch
2 - Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch

Received: 2011-04-23 Accepted : 2012-01-13 Published : 2013-08-01

Keywords: Noticing, production, cognitive style, intake, awareness, understanding,

Abstract :

This study investigated how awareness affected learners’ intake and production in relation to their cognitive styles. It is assumed that learners’ cognitive styles may affect their ability to notice particular features in the input and, consequently, their intake and production. Adult learners of English were exposed to four English structures through four sets of problem-solving tasks, followed by posttest assessment tests. The participants were asked to think aloud while performing the problem-solving tasks, and their voices were recorded. These online think-aloud protocols, along with postexposure questionnaires, were used to assess the three levels of awareness. Learners’ cognitive styles were determined using the Ehrman and Leaver Learning Styles Questionnaire. Results indicated that (1) cognitive styles did not have any significant impact on levels of awareness reported in the think-alouds; (2) cognitive styles did not significantly affect the intake of the target structures; and (3) cognitive styles were not significantly related to the production of the target structures.