Cover not available

Article published In: ITL - International Journal of Applied Linguistics
Vol. 85/86 (1989) ► pp.105–121

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
authorization required

The Role of Cognitive and Hemispheric Processing Styles in L2 Learning

 | Bogazici University, Istanbul
Published online: 1 January 1989
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/itl.85-86.06alp
L2 learners fall into two major categories in terms of their cognitive styles. The first group comprises the relatively analytical individuals, who are said to be predominantly field independent. The second group, on the other hand, embodies the relatively holistic persons, who are said to be chiefly field dependent. L2 learners are further classified in terms of their hemispheric processing styles. Some learners are left-hemisphere dominant while others are right-hemisphere dominant. The former are thought to be more efficient with analytic processing in which the left hemisphere specializes. By contrast, the latter are described as more efficient with holistic processing in which the right hemisphere specializes. After reviewing the available evidence for the associations between cognitive and hemispheric processing styles, the paper discusses the educational implications of L2 learners' differences with respect to cognitive and hemispheric dimensions.
References (47)
ABRAHAM, R.G. (1983): Relationship between the Use of the Strategy of Monitoring and the Cognitive Style. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 61.17–32.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
ALPTEKIN, C. (forthcoming): Neurolinguistic Dimensions of Foreign Language Tests. In Proceedings of the Seminar. Testing English at University Level (3-5 November 1987). Istanbul : Bogazici University Press.
BEAUMONT, J.G. (1983): Methods for Studying Cerebral Hemispheric Function. In A. W. Young (ed.), Functions of the Righ t Cerebral Hemisphere. London: Academic Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
BEER, J. (1988): Hemispheric Dominance Inferred from Your Style of Learning and Thinking on Reports of Necker Cube Reversals and Maze Learning. Perceptual and Motor Skills 661.887–890.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
BROWN, H.D. (1987): Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
BRYDEN, M.P. (1966): Left-Right Differences in Tachistoscopic Recognition: Directional Scanning or Cerebral Dominance. Perceptual and Motor Skills 291.1127–1134.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
CANTO NI-HARVEY, G. (1987): Content-Area Language Instruction: Approaches and Strategies. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
CHAPELLE, C. and ROBERTS, C. (1986): Ambiguity Tolerance and Field Indepen-dence as Predictors of Proficiency in English as a Second Language. Language Learning 361.27–45.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
CORBALLIS, M.C. and BEALE I.L. (1983): The Ambivalent Mind: The Neuropsychology of Left and Right. Chicago: Nelson-Hall.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
DAWSON, G.D. (1981): Sex Differences in Dichhaptic Processing. Perceptual and Motor Skills. 531.935–944.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
DAY, J. (1977): Right Hemisphere Language Processing in Normal Right Handers. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 31.518–528.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
DULAY, H., Burt, M., and Krashen, S. (1982): Language Two. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
EHRLICHMAN, H. and Weinberger A. (1978): Lateral Eye Movements and Hemispheric Asymmetry: A Critical Review. Psychological Bulletin 851.1080–1101.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
GALLOWAY, L.M. (1983): Études cliniques et expérimentales sur la répartition hé-misphérique du traitement cérébral du langage chez les bilingues: modèles théoriques. Langages w21.79–113.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
GUR, R.E. (1975): Conjugate Lateral Eye Movement as an Index of Hemispheric Activation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 311.751–757.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
GUR, R.E., Gur, R.C., and Harris, L.J. (1975): Cerebral Activation, as Measured by Subjects' Lateral Eye Movements, is Influenced by Experimenter Location. Neuropsychologia 131.35–44.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
HANSEN, J. and STANSFIELD, C. (1981): The Relationship of Field Dependent-In-dependent Cognitive Styles to Foreign Language Achievement. Language Learning 311.349–367.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
HANSEN-STRAIN, L. (1984): Field-Dependence-Independence and Language Testing: Evidence from Six Pacific Island Cultures. TESOL Quarterly 181.311–324. Second Language Test Performance. TESOL Quarterly 211.565–569.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
HARTNETT, D.D. (1975): The Relation of Cognitive Style and Hemispheric Preference to Deductive and Inductive Second Language Learning. Unpublished M.A. thesis. Los Angeles: UCLA.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(1980): The Relationship of Analytic and Holistic Cognitive Styles to Second Language Instructional Methods. Unpublished Ph. D. dissertation. Los Angeles: UCLA.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
HECAEN, H. and SAUGUET, J. (1971): Cerebral-dominance in Left-handed Subjects. Cortex 7119–48.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
KIMURA, D. (1969): Cerebral Dominance and the Perception of Verbal Stimuli. Canadian Journal of Psychology 151.166–171.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(1973): The Asymmetry of the Brain. Scientific American 2281.70–76.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
KOTIK, B. (1975): Investigation of Speech Lateralization in Multilinguals. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation. Moscow: Moscow State University.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
KRASHEN, S.D. (1986): The Input Hypothesis: Issues and Implications. London: Longman.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
KRASHEN, S.D., Seliger, H., and Hartnett, D. (1974): Two Studies in Adult Second Language Learning. Kritikon Literarum 31.220–228.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
LEVY, J. (1985): Right Brain, Left Brain: Fact or Fiction. Psychology Today 191.38–44.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
MCGLONE, J. and DAVIDSON, W. (1973): The Relation between Cerebral Speech Laterality and Spatial Ability with Special Reference to Sex and Hand Preference. Neuropsychologia 111.105–113.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
NAIMAN, N., FRÖHLICH, M., STERN, H.H., and TODESCO, A. (1978): The Good Language Learner. Toronto: Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
OLTMAN, P.K., RASKIN, E., and WTTKIN, H.A. (1971): Group Embedded Figures Test. Palo Alto, CAL: Consulting Psychologists Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
OLTMAN, P.K., CHARMION, S., and GOLDSTEIN, L. (1979): Cognitive Style and Interhemispheric Differentiation in the EEG. Neuropsychologia 171.699–702.
PIZZAMIGLIO, L. and ZOCCOLOTTI, P. (1977): Laterality and Field Dependence. Paper presented at the Fifth Annual Meeting of the International Neuropsychological Society.
(1981): Sex and Cognitive Influence on Visual Hemifield Superiority for Face and Letter Recognition. Cortex 171.215–226.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
ROBERTS, C.A. (1983): Field Independence as a Predictor of Second Language Learning for Adult ESL Learners in the U.S. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
ROBINSON, G.L.N. (1985): Crosscultural Understanding. New York: Pergamon Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
SACKHEIM, H.A., Weiman, A.L., and Grega, D.M. (1984): Effects of Predictors of Hemispheric Specialization on Individual Differences in Hemispheric Activation. Neuropsychologia 221.55–64.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
SCHNEIDERMAN, E.I. and Wesche, M.B. (1986): Right-Hemisphere Processing and Foreign Language Aptitude. ITL 711.43–64.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
SHOHAMY, E. (1984): Does the Testing Method Make a Difference? The Case of Reading Comprehension. Language Testing 1/2.147–170.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
SILVERMAN, A.J., Adevai, G., and McGough, W.E. (1966): Some Relationships between Handedness and Perception. Journal of Psychosomatic Research 101.151–158.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
STANSFIELD, C. and HANSEN, J. (1983): Field Dependence-Independence as a Var-iable in Second Language Cloze Test Performance. TESOL Quarterly 171.29–38.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
STIEBLICH, C.H. (1984): Language Learning: A Study on Cognitive Style, Lateral Eye-Movement and Deductive vs. Inductive Learning of Foreign Language Structures. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation. Montreal: McGill University.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
TUCKER, G.H. and SUIB, M.R. (1978): Conjugate Lateral Eye Movement (CLEM) Direction and its Relationship to Performance on Verbal and Visuospatial Tasks. Neuropsychologia 161.251–254.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
WEITEN, W. and ETAUGH, C.F. (1973): Lateral Eye Movement as Related to Verbal and Perceptual Motor Skills and Values. Perceptual and Motor Skills 361.423–428.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
WITKIN, H.A., GOODENOUGH, D.R., and KARP, S.A. (1967): Stability of Cognitive Style from Childhood to Young Adulthood. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 71.291–300.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
WITKIN, H.A., MOORE, C.A., GOODENOUGH, D.R., and COX, P.W. (1977): Field-Dependent and Field-Independent Cognitive Styles and their Educational Implications. Review of Educational Research 471.1–64.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
ZAIDEL, E. (1985): Introduction. In D.F. Benson and E. Zaidel (eds.), The Dual Brain: Hemispheric Specialization in Humans. New York: The Guilford Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
ZENHAUSERN. R. (1978): Imagery, Cerebral Dominance, and Style of Thinking: Unified Field Model. Bulletin of the Psychonomie Society 121.381–384.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue