ABSTRACT

The aim of this research is to analyze the learning styles used by the students of elementary state and private schools. This research is a research of a descriptive survey model. The research group is located in Adana province, Turkey, and was selected according to an “convenience sampling method”. There were a total of 354 students mixed of the state and private elementary stage school. In this research, “learning styles scale”, developed by Gökdağ (2004) was used as a data collection tool. Also Kolb’s Learning Styles III ‘with 12 semi-structured questions adapted to Turkish by Evin Gencel (2007) was used. According to the results of the analysis; there is a significant difference to be found with the 5th and 8th grade students from the state elementary stage school in part of visual learning style, auditory learning style, concrete experience, abstract conceptualization, active experimentation, reflective observation. According to the school types there is a significant difference to be found of 5th grade students in part of kinesthetic learning style, concrete experience, abstract conceptualization, active experimentation and reflective observation. Whereas for the 8th grade students there is just a significant difference to be found for concrete experience.

Key Word: Learning Styles, State Elementary School, Private Elementary School, English Teaching