Examining Visual and Auditory Learners' Reading and Listening Comprehension Skills: A Causal Comparative StudyStudy

Abstract

Reading and listening are two receptive skills indispensable for English language acquisition. Students are given reading and listening comprehension tests in academic settings, increasing the importance of these skills. However, reading and listening comprehension depends on various factors, including learning styles. While previous research in Pakistan has explored the connection between learning styles and academic success, there is a gap in the literature in understanding how specific learning styles, such as visual and auditory, influence fresh undergraduates' reading and listening comprehension. Therefore, employing a causal-comparative design under a quantitative paradigm, this study examined whether reading and listening comprehension differed based on their students' learning styles (visual and auditory). The data was collected using a learning style questionnaire, a reading comprehension test, and a listening comprehension test, and it was analyzed using an independent sample t-test. The findings revealed that students' reading and listening comprehension scores did not significantly differ based on their preferred learning styles, visual or auditory. The findings indicated that sig. values of reading comprehension (0.672) and listening comprehension (0.668) were greater than the p-value of 0.05. Hence, H0 was accepted, and Ha was rejected. The study will have implications for teachers who want to adapt their teaching methods to fit the individual learning styles of their students.

Keywords

• Reading
• Listening
• Comprehension
• Learning Styles
• Visual and Auditory