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The Relationship between Learning Style and Listening Comprehension
Achievement of Twelfth Grade Students of SMA Pusri Palembang
Eska Putri Afriani
UIN Raden Fatah Palembang
eskaputriafriani@gmail.com
Abstract: This research aimed to describe the relationship between students‘
learning style and their achievement in listening skill. The method which was used
in this research was correlational research. The population of the research was the
twelfth grade students of SMA Pusri Palembang in the 2016/2017 academic year.
There are 128 students from five classes as the population in this research. The
sample was taken by using convenience sampling which consist of 86 students.
Furthermore there were two variables in this research. The first one was students‘
learning style (variable X) and the second one was students‘ achievement in
listening skill (variable Y). The students‘ learning style score was taken from the
questionnaire whereas the student‘ achievement in listening was taken from scoring.
Based on the data analysis, it was found that the r-obtained (-.084) was lower than r-
table (0.1765). then the level of probability (p) significance (sig.2-tailed) was .443. It
means that p (.443) was higher than .05. It means that null hypothesis (H0) is
accepted and the alternative hypothesis (Ha) is rejected. From the research finding, it
can be concluded that there was no significant relationship between students‘
learning style and their achievement in listening skill. It means that students‘
learning style is not a dominant factor that affects listening achievement.
Key words: learning style, listening comprehension achievement
INTRODUCTION
In developing and investigating proficiency in English, the literature of the language
skills is very dense, and as the result, an intense amount of sources dealing with the importance of
speaking, writing, and reading exists. Alderson (2005, p. 138) says that listening is highly complex
ability to understand spoken text has received much less attention in the literature. Listening has
been neglected in the foreign literature until recently whereas a language acquisition theory by
Krashen (1982) emphasizes that people acquire language understanding the linguistic information
they hear. In line, Rost (2002, p.236) also agrees that developing proficiency in listening is a key
of achieving proficiency in speaking. Not surprisingly, listening has a critical priority among
the four skill areas for language students. Having good mastery in listening skill is the
fundamental for everybody to communicate in daily activity. Bozorgian (2012, p. 2)
claims that listening skill occupies almost 50% of our daily communication.
Listening plays an important role in language teaching. It means that teaching
listening becomes an important task for English teachers to conduct in order to achieve
the curriculum objective. Moreover, teaching listening also has attracted a greater level of
interest in recent years than in the past. According to Richard (2008, p. 1), university
entrance exams, school exams, and other examinations often include listening component.
mailto:eskaputriafriani@gmail.com
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It indicates that listening skill is one of main components of second language proficiency,
and also reflects that if listening is not tested, teachers will not teach it. Listening is also
an important part in determining the success of students in academic settings. They need
good listening comprehension skill to help them in teaching and learning process.
Daweesh (2014) states that for success in academic setting, both instructors and students
should acknowledge the importance of listening comprehension. Especially for senior
high school students, having good listening comprehension can help the students
understand about the material and get so much new information. As a result, having good
listening comprehension skill will improve students‘ learning achievement.
For many students, listening is a difficult skill to improve because in listening,
students have to pay much attention, they have to concentrate, and sometimes they feel
asleep. It also needs a quiet situation without any noise to do because when there are a lot
of noise, listening in English will be hard to do (Faridah, 2014, p. 2). Thus, students have
a limited vocabulary. The speaker may choose words the students do not know. Students
sometimes encounter an unknown word which may cause them to stop and think about
the meaning of that word and thus cause them to miss the next part of the speech. In
relation, Malkawi (2010, p. 773) explained that there are three listening problem that
senior high school students usually face in listening comprehension. 1) speech speed; 2)
limited knowledge of vocabulary and structure of sentences; 3) limited knowledge of
topic in question. The problems above happen because the students did not aware about
strategy when they are learning listening.
Learning style becomes one of strategies of that students have to know because it
will help them to comprehend listening easily. Moreover, there are many teachers who do
not pay attention to learning styles of their students and many students also do not pay
attention to their own learning style whereas knowing it can help them to learn listening
easily. According to Chiya (2003, p. 27), teachers should consider students‘ learning
styles for their successful learning. When teachers are aware of the importance of
learning styles, they can provide a good map to their students.
It is not easy for teachers to accommodate different learning styles unless their
students develop the ability to shift learning styles according to the activity. Recognizing
the weaknesses of their own styles and the strengths of the learning styles is important for
the students in order to be effective learners (Chiya, 2003, p. 6). It is also supported by
Coffield, Moseley, Hall and Ecclestone (2004, p. 2) that states that the students will be
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more motivated to learn by knowing more about their own strength and weaknesses as
learners, in response to individuals‘ strength and weaknesses, retention and achievement
rates in formal programs are likely to rise and ‗learning to learn‘ skills may provide a
foundation for lifelong learning. In relation, Pritchard (2009, p. 42) states each individual
will adopt an approach to learning with which they are most comfortable and in doing so
leave behind the approaches with which they are less comfortable. It is helpful for
learners if they are aware of their own particular learning preferences in order that they
can use an appropriate learning style to suit the particular learning that is being
undertaken, and take opportunities to improve their potential for learning when faced with
a learning activity that might steer them towards one of their ‗weaker‘ – or at least one of
their less favoured – styles.
Based on the informal interview with the twelfth grade students of SMA Pusri
Palembang, most of students don‘t know about learning styles and their own learning
styles. The teachers use teacher-centered approaches to teach their students and the
teacher never do the activities related to the learning styles. As a result, most of the
students never identify their learning styles. In relation to their achievement in listening
comprehension, the students have difficulties in understanding it because sometimes they
don‘t know that the speakers is talking about and it is hard for them to comprehend it.
Some researchers have previously explored those related variables; Students‘
learning styles and their achievement in listening skill. Jowkar (2015) found that there
was correlation between types of learning styles and listening comprehension but Naning
and Hayati (2011) found that the students‘ learning styles were not related to their
listening achievement.
The research problems in this study are: (1) is there any significant relationship
between learning style and listening comprehension achievement of twelfth grade
students of SMA Pusri Palembang? (2) How much does learning style significantly
influence listening comprehension achievement of twelfth grade students of SMA Pusri
Palembang?
LITERATURE REVIEW
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The Concept of Learning Style
Learning styles can be defined, classified, and identified in many different ways.
It can also be described as a set of factors, behaviors, and atti-tudes that enhance learning
in any situation. How the students learn and how the teachers teach, and how the two
interact with each others are influenced by different learning styles. Each person is born
with certain tendencies toward a particular style, and these biological characteristics are
influenced by external factors such as: cultures, personal experiences, and developments
(Chermahini, Ghanbari and Talab, 2013 p. 324). Each learners have different and
consistent preferred ways of perception, organization and retention. These learning styles
are the indicators of how learners perceive, interact with, and respond to the learning
environments. Students have differ-ent styles of learning, and they learn differently from
one another.
Active and Reflective Learners
Active learners do not learn much in situations that require them to be passive
(such as most lectures), and reflective learners do not learn much in situations that
provide no opportunity to think about the information being presented (such as most
lectures). Active learners work well in groups; reflective learners work better by
themselves or with at most one other person. Active learners tend to be experimentalists;
reflective learners tend to be theoreticians
Sensing and Intuitive Learners
Sensors like facts, data, and experimentation; intuitors prefer principles and
theories. Sensors like solving problems by standard methods and dislike ―surprises‖;
intuitors like innovation and dislike repetition. Sensors are patient with detail but do not
like complications; intuitors are bored by detail and welcome complications. Sensors are
good at memorizing facts; intuitors are good at grasping new concepts. Sensors are
careful but may be slow; intuitors are quick but may be careless. These characteristics are
tendencies of the two types, not invariable behavior patterns: any individual—even a
strong sensor or intuitor—may manifest signs of either type on any given occasion
Visual and Verbal Learners
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The ways people receive information may be divided into there categories,
sometimes referred to act modalities; visual – sights, pictures, diagrams, symbols,
auditory – sounds, words, kinesthetic – taste, touch and smell. Visual learners remember
best what they see; pictures, diagrams, flow charts, time lines, films, demonstrations. If
something is simply said to them they will probably forget it. Auditory learners remember
much of what they hear and more of what they hear and they say. They get a lot of
discussion, prefer verbal explanation to visual demonstration, and learn effectively by
explaining things to others.
Sequential and Global Learners
Sequential learners follow linear reasoning processes when solving problems;
global learners make intuitive leaps and may be unable to explain how they came up the
solutions. Sequential learners can work with materials when they understand it partially
or superficially, while global learners may have difficulty doing so. Sequential learners
may be strong in convergent thinking and analysis, global learners may be better at
divergent thinking and synthesis. Sequential learners learn best when material is
presented in a steady progression of complexity and difficulty, global learners sometimes
do better by jumping directly to more complex and difficult material. However, global
learners are the last students who should be lost to higher education and society. They are
the synthesizers, the multidisciplinary researchers, the systems thinkers, the ones who see
the connections no one else sees.
The Concept of Listening Comprehension
According to Tyagi (2013, p. 1), listening skill is a key to receiving messages
effectively. It is combination of hearing what another person says and psychological
involvement with the person who is talking. It involves a sender, a message and a
receiver. it is the psychological process of receiving, attending to constructing meaning
from and responding to spoken and/or nonverbal messages. As in line what Tyagi (2013)
states, Brown (2007) states that listening is not a one way street it is not merely the
processes of a unidirectional receiving of audible symbols. One facet-the first step-of
listening comprehension is the psychomotor process of receiving sound waves through the
ear and transmitting nerve impulses to the brain. Meanwhile, Yousefinia (2012, p. 4)
declared listening comprehension means the process of understanding speech in
a second or foreign language. It is the perception of information and stimuli received
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through the ears. It can be conclude that listening comprehension is the process of
understanding of aural message from the speaker and match it to the listener knowledge
TOEFL Junior Standard Test
The TOEFL Junior Standard test is an objective and reliable measure of your
English communication skills. While the ETS university-level TOEFL test continues to
set the standard for the measurement of English-language proficiency worldwide, the
TOEFL Junior Standard test measures the degree to which students in middle school and
lower levels of high school have attained proficiency in the academic and social English-
language skills representative of English-medium instructional environmentsUsually
these students are ages 11+. However, the test may be appropriate for other students. The
appropriateness is based on the English-languageproficiency of the students. It is an
English-language proficiency test that is not based on or limited to any specific
curriculum. The TOEFL Junior Standard test may not be appropriate for students who
have not yet attained a basic level of proficiency (TOEFL Junior Handbook, 2015).
RESEARCH METHOD
In conducting this research, correlational research was used in terms of
explanatory research design to find out the correlation between variables and explain and
interpret the results that may appear. A correlational study is a scientific study in which a
researcher investigates associations between variables.
The population of this research was the twelfth grade students of SMA Pusri
Palembang. The sample was taken by convenience sampling. Since XII IPA 1 did not
participate in this research because doing daily examination. That was why only XII IPA
2, XII IPA 3, XII IPS 1 and XII IPS 2 were taken as the sample. There were 103 students.
However, only 86 students participated and others were absent when conducting the test.
To collect the data, two techniques were used. They were questionnaire and test.
The questionnaire was used to find out the students‘ learning style and TOEFL Junior
listening section was used to find out the students‘ listening comprehension.
The questionnaire was used a ready-made questionnaire taken from Felder and
Silverman. It was written in Indonesian since the sample of this research was senior high
school students. The questionnaire consisted on 44 items and each items had two options
(a and b). Letter ―a‖ for activist, sensing, visual and sequential and letter ―b‖ for reflector,
intuitive, verbal and global. The students chose which letter that appropriate with
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themselves. Each letter has 1 point for each question. For the test, TOEFL Junior listening
section was applied. TOEFL Junior was used because it is an appropriate test to measure
students‘ proficiency in English for high school.
Table 1. The Descriptor of Listening Comprehension
Interval Category
86 – 100 Very Good
85 – 71 Good
70 – 56 Average
55 – 46 Poor
0 – 45 Very Poor
Source : Scoring System of SMA Pusri Palembang
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
Result of Learning Style
The total active students in the twelfth grade students of SMA Pusri Palembang
were 103 students. 86 students participated in this study, and the others were absent when
conducting this study. The result of learning style were 38 (44.18%) were active, 10
(11.62%) were intuitive, 9 (10.46%) were sequential, 7 (8.13%) were visual, 6 (6.97%)
were verbal, 5 (5.81) were global and 3 (3.48%) were reflective
The desriptive statistical analysis of ILS for the participants is shown below. The
maximum score is 22.00, and the lowest score is 8.00. The mean of the learning style
scores for the participants is 13.96 and the standard deviation is 3.33. There are 38
students in active, 10 students in intuitive, 9 students in sequential, 8 students in sensing,
7 students in visual, 6 students in verbal, 5 students in global and 3 students in reflective.
Result of Listening Comprehension
The result of listening comprehension were 7 (8.13%) were very good, 40
(46.51%) were good and 39 (45.34%) were average. The desriptive statistic analysis of
listening for the participants is shown below. The maximum score is 83.0, and the lowest
score is 60.0. The mean of the listening scores for the participants is 71.45 and the
standard deviation is 5.89. There are 40 students in good level, 39 students in average
level and 7 students in very good level.
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Result of Normality Test
The data are interpreted normal if p> 0.05. If p< 0.05, it means the data are not
normal. Kolmogorov-smirnov was used to see the normality. The results of normality test
is indicated that the data from each variable were all normal and appropriate for data
analysis with coeficients .110 for learning style and .297 for listening comprehension.
Result of Linearity
For linearity test, deviation of linearity was obtained. If probability is more than
.05, the two variables are linear. The results showed that, the deviation from linearity
between learning style and listening comprehension was .645.
Relationship between Learning Style and Listening Comprehension Achievement
Based on Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coeficient, the result indicated that
there was no significant relationship between learning style and listening comprehension..
The correlation coeficient or the r-obtained (-.084) was lower than r-table (0.1765 ). Then
the level of probability (p) significance (sig.2-tailed) was 443. It means that p (.443) was
higher than .05. Thus, there was no significant relationship between the students‘ learning
style and their listening comprehension.
Table 2. Correlation between Learning Style and Listening Comprehension
Correlations
LEARNING
STYLE LISTENING
LEARNING STYLE
Pearson Correlation 1 -.084
Sig. (2-tailed) .443
N 86 86
LISTENING Pearson Correlation -.084 1
Sig. (2-tailed) .443
N 86 86
Having analyzed the result of the questionnaire and listening test, it was found learning
style was not related to listening comprehension. The result showed that the level of
probability (p) significance (sig.2-tailed) was 443. It means that p (.443) was higher than
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.05. Thus, there was no significant relationship between the students‘ learning style and
their listening comprehension.
In this study, the researcher focused on listening comprehension achievement and
learning style in learning. Based on the informal interview with the twelfth grade students
of SMA Pusri Palembang, it was found that the students have difficulties in
understanding the words by words because sometimes they don‘t know what the
speakers is talking about and it is hard for them to comprehend it. Then the English
teacher recommended five classes, XII IPA 1, XII IPA 2, XII IPA 3, XII IPS 1 and XII
IPS 4 but XII IPA 1 couldn‘t be allowed in this research because that class did daily
examination with their teacher. In this research, 86 students from four classes participated
and others were absent when conducting this research. First, the researcher distributed
ILS questionnaire to the students after they answered the questionnaire, the researcher
distributed listening question to the sample to know the students ability in listening
related to their learning style.
Based on the findings, the researcher found that 38 students with 44.18% result
were active learners. It meant that most of students tend to retain and understand
information best by doing something active with it for example discussing or applying it
or explaining it to others. An active learner in a class that allow little or no class time for
discussion or problem-solving activities, the students should try to compensate for these
when they studied. An active learner could study in a group in which the members take
turns explaining different topics to each other. Work with others to guess what active
learners will be asked on the next test and figure out how they will answer. Active
learners will always retain information better if they find ways to do something with it.
To teach active learners, the teacher should use students-centered when they are teaching.
The teacher can divide them to some groups and give them topic to discuss with their
group related to the topic. It will make them active in class.
Then researcher found 10 students with 11.62% result were intuitive learners. It
meant that the students often prefer discovering possibilities and relationships. Intuitors
may be better at grasping new concepts and are often more comfortable. If they were an
intuitor and they happend to be in a class that deals primarily with memorization and rote
substitution in formulas, intuitors may have trouble with boredom. They could ask the
teacher for interpretations or theories that link the facts, or try to find the connections
themselves. Intuitors may also be prone to careless mistakes on tests because they are
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impatient with details and don't like repetition (as in checking your completed solutions).
It took time to read the entire question before they started answering and be sure to check
the results. Then, the researcher also found 9 students with 10.46% result were sequential
learners. It meant they tend to gain understanding in linear steps, with each step following
logically from the previous one. Sequential learners tend to follow logical stepwise paths
in finding solutions and may not fully understand the material but they could nevertheless
do something with it (like solve the homework problems or pass the test) since the pieces
they had absorbed were logically connected. Sequential learner who had a teacher who
jumps around from topic to topic or skips steps, they may haddifficulty following and
remembering. They could ask the teacher to fill in the skipped steps, or fill them in
themselves by consulting references. When they were studying, took the time to outline
the teacher material for themselves in logical order. In the long run doing so would save
the time.
Next, the researcher found 8 students with 9.30% result were sensing learners. It
meant they tend to like learning facts and tend to be patient with details and good at
memorizing facts and doing hands-on (laboratory) work. Sensors did't like courses that
had no apparent connection to the real world. Sensors remembered and understood
information best if they could see how it connected to the real world. If sensors were in a
class where most of the material is abstract and theoretical, they may have difficulty.
They could ask the teacher for specific examples of concepts and procedures, and find out
how the concepts apply in practice. If the teacher did not provide enough specifics, try to
find some in the course text or other references or by brainstorming with friends or
classmates. Then, the researcher found 7 students with 8.13% result were visual learners.
It meant they remember best what they see for example pictures, diagrams, flow charts,
time lines, films, demonstrations etc. a visual learner try to find diagrams, sketches,
schematics, photographs, flow charts, or any other visual representation of course
material that is predominantly verbal. They could ask the teacher, consult reference
books, and see if any videotapes or CD-ROM displays of the course material are
available. They could prepare a concept map by listing key points, enclosing them in
boxes or circles, and drawing lines with arrows between concepts to show connections.
Colour-code your notes with a highlighter so that everything relating to one topic is the
same colour.
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Then, researcher found 6 students with 6.97% result were verbal learners. It
meant they got more out of words such as written and spoken explanations. They could
write summaries or outlines of course material in their own words. Working in groups
could be particularly effective: they gain understanding of material by hearing classmates'
explanations and you learn even more when they do the explaining. The last the
researcher found 5 students with 5.81% result were global learners. It meant they tend to
learn in large jumps, absorbing material almost randomly without seeing connections, and
then suddenly "getting it." Global learners may be able to solve complex problems
quickly or put things together in novel ways once they had grasped the big picture, but
they may had difficulty explaining how they did it. It could be helpful for global learners
to realise that they need the big picture of a subject before they can master details. If the
teacher plunges directly into new topics without bothering to explain how they related to
what you already know, it can cause problems for them. Fortunately, there were steps
they could take that may help them get the big picture more rapidly. Before global
learners began to study the first section of a chapter in a text, skim through the entire
chapter to get an overview. Doing so may be time-consuming initially but it may save
them from going over and over individual parts later. Instead of spending a short time on
every subject every night, they might find it more productive to immerse themselves in
individual subjects for large blocks. Try to relate the subject to things that already know,
either by asking the teacher to help them see connections or by consulting references.
In relation to their listening comprehension, based on the findings, 7 students
with 8.13% result got in very good level. It meant that they could understand what the
speaker says and they could comprehend well words by words from the speakers. Then
40 students with 46.51% result got in good level. It meant that they were able to
understand the words but they could not concentrate well and sometimes the missed the
words. The last 39 students with 45.34% result got in average level. It meant the students
were lack of vocabulary and it was hard for them to analyze the words that the speaker
said. It was relevant to the statement of Malkawi (2010, p. 773), that there are three
listening problem that senior high school students usually face in listening
comprehension. 1) speech speed; 2) limited knowledge of vocabulary and structure of
sentences; 3) limited knowledge of topic in question. To improve students with average
score, the teacher can improve their teaching listening skill or they can improve or change
their strategy when they are teaching. The teacher should practice with the students in
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listening in order to can make them usually listen about English to develop the students‘
achievement in listening comprehension.
In short, based on the data analysis researcher found that the total contribution of
learning style and listening comprehension showed no correlated and influenced. It was
possible to happen because every student has their own style when they are learning
English and comprehend it well and will influence the result they get. As Munsakorn
(2012, p.234) said that each student will use a different style of learning to gain the most
benefit from a course in English for the workplace. The success of each student comes
from the ability to provide a variety of learning style. The result could happen since
learning style was not only one factor than affected listening comprehension. The result
not only occurred because learning style was not the only one factor affecting the students
listening achievement, but also since it was not the most dominant factor affecting the
students listening achievement. The writer assumed the difference experience time of
learning was the most dominant one. It can cause the students to have difference
experiences and knowledge. The difference knowledge, of course, causes them to have
difference listening achievement. As well, another factor that should not be neglected was
the condition of the students when joining the test
Finally, this study found there was no relationship and influence between
learning style and listening comprehension achievement of twelfth grade students of
SMA Pusri Palembang.
CONCUSIONS
Two conclusions are drawn in this research. First; there was no relationship
between learning style and listening comprehension achievement. The finding showed
that the null hypothesis (H0) was accepted and the alternative hypothesis (Ha) was
rejected. Second; based on the finding, it can be concluded that the students‘ learning
style does not give dominant effect through listening achievement. In this case, the other
factors maybe give more dominant effect through it. It also means that the students with
good understanding and using their learning style effectively not certify will have good
achievement in listening and the students with bad understanding and using their learning
style ineffectively not certify will have bad achievement in listening.
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