Saudi EFL Students’ Personality Types and Their Language Learning Strategies

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between personality types and English language learning strategies, and to examine the pattern of English language learning strategies used by Saudi EFL university students. The sample of the study consisted of 68 EFL female students in the English department at Al-Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU). Two instruments were used to collect the data; Oxford’s (1990) Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). The findings indicated that the participants were medium-high range strategy users and that the most frequently used strategy category among the six categories is metacognitive strategies followed by cognitive strategies, compensation strategies, social strategies, memory strategies, and finally, affective strategies. The observations indicated that there were some significant differences among students’ language learning strategy preferences based on their personality type. However, the relationship between the two variables is more complex and by no means direct and the reason was discussed in the research.