Language competences and their relationship with learning styles: A study applied to a group of students in the journalism career at the University Autónoma de Chiriquí

Abstract

Higher education has undergone a series of signifcant changes in recent years, both in terms of teaching and learning methods and in the evaluation and accreditation processes. One of the issues that has become more relevant in the feld of higher education is the relationship between learning styles and language skills, especially in the feld of journalism. 

In this sense, the main objective of this research is to analyze the relationship between learning styles and linguistic competencies of a group of students of Journalism at the Autonomous University of Chiriqui in Panama. This is a quantitative research, with a mixed approach, descriptive and correlational, in which a questionnaire was applied to evaluate the students’ learning styles structured in 36 items. This instrument ofered multiple response alternatives: always, almost always, sometimes, almost never and never, aimed at evaluating the behavior of the variables considering their dimensions and indicators. Two other instruments were also prepared for teachers and authorities of the same educational entity.

As for the quantitative paradigm, it is nonexperimental and transversal, considering that the data were collected at a single moment. For the qualitative aspect, the action research design was used, because the researchers get involved with the population to learn about the circumstances and suggest alternatives for improvement. For the quantitative analysis and to check the reliability of the instrument, it was calculated through Cronbach’s Alpha coefcient, resulting in .996 (students) and .861 (teachers); considered acceptable, according to the scale.

The type of sample was simple random; this technique allows all the elements that make up the universe to have equal probability of being selected. After calculating the sampling formula, which resulted in 51 students from the frst to the fourth year of the Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism, the questionnaire was applied to them. For the interviews, 12 teachers and 4 authorities were interviewed.

The research provides new knowledge on the relationship between learning styles and language skills in the feld of journalism, which can contribute to improving the quality of higher education and the training of more efective journalists in communicating complex ideas to diverse audiences.

In conclusion, as a result of the analysis, refection and rigorous support of existing theories supported by the fndings, it is determined that there is a directly proportional correlation between the types of language skills and learning styles of the students of the School of Journalism of the Autonomous University of Chiriqui, since in the same proportion that positive changes occur in some language skills, they will occur in learning styles.