The Effect of Learning a Second Language on Problem-Solving Skills and Decision-Making Styles

This study was done to compare problem-solving skills and decision-making methods between the intermediate and advanced second language learners (English, French, German) and non-learners. The present study was carried out on the basis of the casual-comparative method. The statistical population of this research contained two groups in which the first group included all learners who participated in the English Language Institutes in Tehran in the first half of the year (2019) to learn English, French and German, whereas the second group included ordinary people who live in Tehran. All the participants were in the range of 18-40 years old. After eliminating scratched questionnaires, 120 subjects were assigned in each group on the basis of multi-stage clustering. Data collection was done by Cassidy and Long problem-solving questionnaire (1996) and Scott and Bruce Decision-making Methods (1995), but due to the lack of normality of data distribution for analyzing data, U Man-Whitney test was used. The results showed that there is no difference in problem-solving skills between Second Language Learners (English, French, German) and non-learners. However, in decision-making methods, dependent decision-making method was significantly lower in second language learners than non-learners (P<0. 01). Difference among other methods was rejected due to higher significance level than assumed 0. 05. Research has shown that people who have learned a second language have the ability to process higher information and learn more quickly, making it more accurate and faster than those who know only one language. Collect and summarize.