Individual Differences in Strategy Use for L2 Lexical Inferencing: The Case of Learning Styles

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the effect of the second language (L2) learners’ perceptual learning style preferences on their strategy use for lexical inferencing and the treatment effect from an explicit instructional program. Joy Reid’s (1995) Perceptual Learning Style Preferences (PLSP) Inventory, a lexical inferencing test, and a vocabulary strategy questionnaire were administered to 145 university students during a 15-week reading course. The results of a simple regression analysis showed that the tactilc students tended to use more lexical inferencing strategies than the others with different learning styles; and that the visual learners tended to use strategies less frequently, compared to the other counterparts. Further analysis of simple regression indicated that the individual learners benefited most from the treatment effect, followed by the visual learners. The findings can be of significance for teachers and the L2 learners to concern individual differences in L2 inferential strategy use.