A comparative study of Chinese ESL university students' learning styles and Canadian university students' learning styles

Many researchers have shown that culture influences learning styles. The number of students that are studying in Canada reached 50,000 in 2009, and the number is expected to grow due to the expansion of the Student Partners Program (SPP) (Citizenship and Immigration Canada, 2010). The population of Chinese students in Canada has increased rapidly from a few hundred a year in the mid-1990s to nearly 10,000 a year between 2000 and 2008 (Zhang, 2010). As many Chinese international students now seek to further education in Canada, their presence becomes more and more significant. This study compared Chinese ESL university students' learning styles and Canadian university students' learning styles so as to determine if there are differences in learning style preferences between these two cultural groups. Data collected from these two groups were examined quantitatively by using Kolb's Learning Inventory Version 3.1 which was developed based on Kolb's experiential learning theory. Significant group differences were found in the comparisons of the four learning modes and learning styles between Canadian university students and Chinese ESL university students, and are reported in this paper. However, the author found that, overall, Chinese ESL university students' learning styles and Canadian university students' learning styles were similar. In addition, data on teacher educational specialization by elementary and secondary programs was gathered, and significant group differences were found.