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The influence of curriculum diversification and ethnic
culture on student cognitive functioning
Saad Shawer
Curriculum & Instruction Department Chair, College of
Education, Ittihad University, RAK, P.O. Box 2286, UAE.
E-mail:
saadsaad71@yahoo.com,
sshawer@ittihad.ac.ae,
saadshawer@wsu.edu.
Tel.:
00971-72059911.
Fax: 00971-72059982.
Accepted 4 November 2009. |
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This study examined the influence of curriculum
diversification on student use of learning strategies; EFL
Arab students’ patterns of strategy use; and how they differ
from other ethnic groups in their strategy use. The study
made use of positivism at the levels of ontology (one form
of reality), epistemology (detachment from the subjects) and
methodology (‘nomothetic’/ standardized research strategy
((survey) and instrument (questionnaires)). Data analysis
involved percentages, means, one-way MANOVA (Lambda), and
one-way ANOVA (Scheffe). Working with college students, the
study concluded that course diversification influenced
student use of compensation (but not memory, cognitive,
meta-cognitive, affective, and social) strategies in favour
of the scientific track of study. It also concluded that
Arab learners were frequent users of meta-cognitive and
social strategies but moderate users of memory, cognitive,
compensation, and affective strategies. In addition,
disagreement about ethnic cultures’ patterns of strategy use
still continued. The study recommended that clear
identification of effective cognitive strategies and styles
could guide classroom-level and school-level curriculum
developments and innovations and facilitate curriculum
implementation (instruction). Moreover, it recommended that
research should focus more on influential cognitive
functioning factors (e.g., cognitive strategies and styles)
than ethnic cultures.
Key words:
Cognitive strategies, learning styles, diversification,
curriculum differentiation; foreign language learning. |
