Is There A Co-relationship Between Learners’ Cognitive Styles and Their English Writings?

This study aims to examine the co-relationship between learners’ cognitive style of field in/dependence and their writings. Forty university students participated in the study. The Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT) developed by Oltman, Raskin, and Witkin in 1971 and 300-word essay writing were administered. The GEFT was analyzed to identify the learners’ cognitive preference of field in/dependence, and the essay writing was evaluated to measure the quality in general as well as analytically in five areas of organization, content, vocabulary, language use, and mechanics. The general evaluation of students’ writings shows that learners’ preference of field in/dependence was not correlated to their writing abilities in general. The analytical evaluation shows, on the other hand, that there was some correlation between FI learners and mechanics as well as between FI learner sand language use. In addition, there was no correlation between FD learners and content and vocabulary. Comparing these two types of learners, there was no difference between FI and FD students in terms of their writing abilities in general as well as in the five areas. In conclusion, this research proved that learners’ cognitive preference of Field In/dependence has a minimal effect on their writings.