LEARNING STYLES PREFERENCE, GENDER AND ENGLISH LANGUAGE PERFORMANCE OF EFL LIBYAN SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN MALAYSIA

The purpose of this study is to determine if there were relationships among learning style preference, gender and English language performance of EFL Libyan secondary school students in Malaysia. Specifically, the study was guided by three research questions focused on Libyan student’s level of performance in EFL class in Malaysia, their learning styles and gender, and the relationship between students’ learning styles and their English language performance. There has been a limited number of studies on Libyan secondary schools’ student studying in Malaysia. This study was a correlational study involving 108 Libyan secondary school students in Malaysia. Data was analysed using the statistical package for Social Science (SPSS, version 20.0). The results showed that most learners who participated in this study had a medium proficiency level in the English language and majority of the Libyan students preferred independent learning style. It was found that there was a difference in the learning styles preferred by female and male secondary school students. The study also revealed that there was no significant relationship between students’ overall learning styles and their English language performance and. Recommendations were offered. Future researches could use more than one school to obtain accurate results and could also focus on gender bias

本研究旨在探究马来西亚境内的利比亚籍中学生在英语作为外语（English as a Foreign Language, EFL）学习中的学习风格偏好、性别与英语学业表现三者间的关联。具体而言，本研究围绕三个核心研究问题展开：其一为马来西亚境内利比亚籍中学生的EFL课堂学业水平，其二为其学习风格与性别分布情况，其三为学生学习风格与其英语学业表现间的关联。目前针对在马来西亚求学的利比亚籍中学生的相关研究较为匮乏。本研究为相关研究设计，共纳入108名马来西亚境内的利比亚籍中学生作为研究对象，数据采用社会科学统计软件包（Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, SPSS）20.0版本进行分析。研究结果显示，参与本次研究的多数学生英语水平处于中等区间，且绝大多数利比亚籍学生偏好自主学习风格。研究发现，男女中学生所偏好的学习风格存在显著差异。此外，本研究未发现学生整体学习风格与其英语学业表现间存在显著关联。本研究最后给出了相关研究建议。未来相关研究可纳入多所学校以获取更精准的研究结果，亦可聚焦于性别偏见相关议题。