The effect of cognitive style on learning to write a letter of complaint

Abstract

Background. Cognitive style has been shown to influence several areas of academic learning. Aims. This study examines the influence of one aspect of cognitive style, the verbal-imagery dimension, on the ability to learn to write a specific type of text, the letter of complaint, taught using genre-based teaching procedures. Samples. A group of 41 post-compulsory secondary school students (23 females and 18 males) aged between 15 years 6 months and 16 years 9 months. Methods. The study employed a time series design in which the influence of cognitive style on acquiring components of the text type was monitored during learning. Students wrote letters of complaint under six conditions that match..