Causal Relationship between Individual Characteristics, Cognitive and Social Learning Styles, and Learning Strategies, with the Mediating Role of Academic Engagement of Middle School Students in Arabic Language Lessons in the City of Naseri

Abstract

 
This study aimed to examine the causal relationship between individual characteristics, cognitive and social learning styles, and learning strategies, with the mediating role of academic engagement among middle school students in Arabic language lessons in the city of Naseri. The statistical population of this research included all middle school students studying Arabic in Naseri, totaling 4,000 students. Based on the Krejcie and Morgan sampling table (1970), a sample of 380 students was selected using a cluster random sampling method. Data were collected using the following questionnaires: Individual Characteristics by Buss, Valenzi, and Eldridge (1975), Social Learning by Afshani et al. (2022), Cognitive Learning by Karami (2002), Academic Engagement by Reeve (2013), and Learning Strategies by Pintrich and De Groot (1990). The reliability coefficients of these questionnaires were 0.92, 0.92, 0.90, 0.88, and 0.80, respectively. The results showed that individual characteristics (β = 0.443) and cognitive learning (β = 0.437) had a significant effect on learning strategies, whereas social learning did not significantly affect learning strategies (β = 0.070). Additionally, individual characteristics (β = 0.061), cognitive learning (β = 0.317), and social learning (β = 0.418) significantly influenced academic engagement. Furthermore, academic engagement had a significant effect on learning strategies (β = 0.492). There was no significant relationship between individual characteristics and learning strategies mediated by academic engagement (r = 0.030). However, there was a significant relationship between cognitive learning and learning strategies mediated by academic engagement (r = 0.156), as well as between social learning and learning strategies mediated by academic engagement (r = 0.206). The findings suggest that teachers should assess students' cognitive learning styles (visual, auditory, kinesthetic, etc.) and incorporate various teaching methods that appeal to these styles.