A Cognitive Style-Inclusive Approach as a Means of Learner-Centered EFL Teaching Mode Implementation

This chapter describes a methodology for developing English as a foreign language (EFL) communicative skills with respect to students' cognitive styles in the context of intercultural communication. A cognitive style-inclusive approach is now considered one of the most efficient ways to tailor teaching frameworks to the needs of each student. The chapter explores a number of psychological and pedagogical conditions that contribute to the efficient implementation of a learner-centered paradigm in the context of EFL education at the university level. Such aspects as students' involvement in the intercultural context, modelling the conditions of intercultural dialogue, the variability of content types and forms of learning activity, the complexity of information processing strategies, and polymodal cognitive experience are described, and their potential value for the developed methodology analyzed. Ways these can support students' communicative and cognitive development in EFL courses, in addition to teachers' efforts to create a rich and effective learning environment, are explored.