In-Depth Analysis of the Arabic Version of the Felder-Silverman Index of Learning Styles

The aim of this paper is to compare learning style characteristics from two very different linguistic and cultural groups to see how homogeneous they are.. The paper analyses the learning styles of a large sample of Arabic learners using the first validated Arabic version of the Felder-Silverman learning style model (FSLSM), and compares these with samples from English learners in previous studies, notably a study from Graf et al. The analysis takes the form of linear discriminant analysis, cross validated by frequencies and correlation analysis to identify representative characteristics of each learning style dimension and to determine how representative these characteristics are within the different samples. To ensure robust methodological support, the paper applies the methods used by Graf et al., therefore providing a direct comparison between the English and Arabic groups of learners from the two studies. Our results show differences between representative characteristics for the different learning cohorts, which could indicate that culture and learning environment have an influence on learning style preferences.