Understanding How Cognitive Styles Shape Instructional Strategies Among English Language Teachers

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of elementary school English teachers' cognitive styles—left, right, and middle brain utilization—on their teaching methodologies and interactions with students at grade 6. In the quantitative phase, eighty English teachers from public schools participated in the Cognitive Style Questionnaire. The analysis of the findings led to FGDs with sixth-grade students to further examine the effects of the teaching strategies. The study found that 45% of the teachers are middle-brained, 37.5% are moderately left-brained, and 7.5% are strongly left-brained, encompassing both male and female educators. Additionally, the research indicated that early-career teachers tend to demonstrate a higher dominance of left-brain characteristics, implying a reliance on traditional methods, as well as a structured, rule-based approach to teaching that offers limited opportunities for speaking practice, as reported. The instruction of the English language tends to undervalue creativity, intuition, and flexibility due to the predominance of left-brain-oriented teachers