The Relationship between Field Dependence and Independence Cognitive Style ofIranian EFL Learners and their Performance in Cognitive ability for Novelty in Acquisition of Language Foreign Test

Abstract

The present study was carried out with the aim of finding the probable effects of
Iranian EFL learners' cognitive styles on their performance in a recent aptitude test, Cognitive
Ability for Novelty in Acquisition of Language (CANAL-FT) as applied to foreign language test
designed by Grigorenko et al. (2000). The two cognitive styles, i.e. field dependent (FD) and
field independent (FI), were considered as independent variables and CANAL-FT as the
dependent variable. For the purposes of this research, 126 undergraduate students (95 females
and 31 males) all majoring in English at Shiraz Azad University participated in this study. At
first, the Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT, Witkin,1977) was given to the participants to
identify field dependent/independent groups. In the same session, the CANAL-FT was given to
the same students who took the GEFT in order to predict the learners’ foreign language abilities
and success. The result of the study suggests that test-takers’ language abilities do not correlate
with field dependency. In terms of sex differences and test performance, it was found that females
had a significantly better performance than males.