Gender Variation in Iranian EFL Learners’ Multiple Intelligences and Learning Styles

Individual differences like gender, learning styles, and intelligence can influence the rate of learning and the mastery levels achieved in learning a foreign language. The present correlational study pursued the double purpose of examining any possible gender variation in Iranian EFL learners’ dominant intelligences and their learning styles, and to discover any significant relationship between their dominant intelligences and learning styles across gender. To this purpose, eighty undergraduate EFL students majoring English at Islamic Azad University, Tabriz Branch, participated in the study. The research data were obtained through Armstrong’s (1993) MI Inventory for Adults and Barsch’s (1991) Learning Style Inventory, and were analyzed employing descriptive statistics and Spearman Rank-Order Correlation (Rho). The results indicated that while both genders preferred visual learning style, they differed in their dominant intellectual propensities. Additionally, significant positive relationships were found between male and females’ preferred learning style and their dominant intelligence. These findings could benefit both policy-makers in designing materials more relevant to the preferences and capabilities of Iranian EFL learners and the teachers in choosing and conducting classroom activities which tap learners’ dominant styles and intelligences.