Identifying Patterns of Learners' Cognitive Styles on Differences in English L2 Lexical Expression through Cluster Analysis

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the pattern of association between English learners' cognitive styles and their second language vocabulary expression differences. The study used the Embedded Figures Test (EFT) to measure the cognitive styles of the subjects, categorized the subjects into two cognitive styles: field-independent and field-dependent, and used the acquisition test to explore the timely and delayed effects of the subjects' field cognitive styles on the acquisition of second language vocabulary in English. The LSD method was used to verify whether the learners' different cognitive styles made a difference in English bilingual vocabulary expression, and then the k-means clustering analysis was used to derive the pattern of difference between the two. The results show that learners can be classified into three typical patterns: "field-independent - high retention", "field-dependent - high immediacy", and "field-dependent - low efficiency". Different cognitive styles of learners result in different types of second language vocabulary expression differences. The findings of this paper provide empirical evidence and data support for the subsequent implementation of individualized vocabulary instruction and assessment.