Field Dependence Independence And The Performance Of The Online Searcher

Author : Mónica Stella Cárdenas-Claros
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 224 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (631 download)

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Download or read book Field Dependence/field Independence written by Mónica Stella Cárdenas-Claros and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study explored how the cognitive style of field dependence/independence (FD/I) related to performance in CALL-based listening activities. It also attempted to identify the preferred media tools, help options and on-line patterns of behavior of FD and FI learners. To serve this purpose, the Academic Listening On line website (ALO) (Cardenas-Claros, 2004), which allowed students to choose from different media tools such as video/audio and audio, and it offered help aids such as transcripts and a dictionary that students could use on demand, was created. Participants were 20 graduate and undergraduate students enrolled in a listening class offered to international students at Iowa State University. Performance was assessed through a 15-item post-test presented in multiple-choice format that students completed after working on the exercises introduced in ALO. Preferred help aids, media tools and patterns of on-line behavior were tracked by uploading the website to MylowaState portal. To classify students as FD or FI learners, a 30-item questionnaire was designed and piloted with 52 participants. The validity of the questionnaire was investigated by comparing the results obtained after administering the Group of Embedded Figures Test (GEFT) to the results obtained by the FD/I CALL cognitive style questionnaire. Results of the validation inquiry and reliability analysis suggest that the FD/I CALL cognitive style questionnaire should be revised. Findings that investigated the relationship between FD/I and performance in CALL-based listening activities suggest that there is no relationship. It was also found that video/audio is the preferred media tool of both FD and FI learners, but FD learners tended to rely slightly more than FI learners on the media tool as the main source of input. FD learners used the transcripts more frequently than FI learners and FI learners used the Dictionary more frequently. None of these differences were statistically significant. Finally, findings that investigated the patterns of on-line behavior of FD and FI learners, suggest that from the three identified patterns of behavior, no pattern was exclusively associated to FD or FI learners. Findings also support the observation that the GEFT measures "how well" students perform in the test rather than the processes they follow to complete it.