INDIVIDUAL FACTORS
When learning a foreign or second language there are three main factors that influence this process.One of them is the Cognitive Style each of our students bring with them. Have a look at the following presentation:
Individual Factors: Cognitive Styles in Learning a Foreign Language
Then, the Psychological factor does play quite an important role as attitude and motivation may determine whether the learner's affective filter as Krashen suggests is ready for learning or not.
LEARNING STYLES AND ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING
"My learning style as regards language learning"
‘When are we listening to music?’
‘Not now, sit down!’ ‘When are we playing?’ ‘You’ve come here to study, not to
play’ ‘When are we watching a film?’ ‘We
don’t have time for that.’ Are these questions familiar to you? Are the answers
familiar to you? In the English language learning classroom students are likely
to expect to do all of the former activities; is it because they only want to
have fun? The physiological, social, psychological, cultural and other characteristics
of the learner influences the way they assimilate the learning process taking
place in the classroom, this is known as learning style (MacKeracher, 2004).
Personally, since language learning is closely related to the use of it in real
life situations, it offers a great opportunity to cope with the different
learning styles our students have; however, this seems not to be taking place
in the classroom.
To start with, the student must be
aware of the manner in which they will be more successful in learning. In other
words, they ought to know what learning style they have. According to Biggs
(2001) ‘The more successful the individual is at solving the problems she/he
faces, the more she/ he will take over their lives”. Identification and
knowledge of the learning style makes the student take responsibility for their own learning process and future success. Unlike a learner who is
oblivious to how he learns, a better informed student will even give direction
to what is given in the classroom and even suggest activities to the teacher.
Thus the teacher must encourage this identification of learning styles by using
for example the Perceptual Learning Style Preference Questionnaire (PLSPQ)
(Reid, 1987). So, what are those learning styles our students must recognise?
There are various categorisations or
models of the learning styles which have increased in number through the years.
For instance the Myers-Briggs type indicator (MBTI) which classified students
into extraverts, sensors, thinkers and judgers and was based on Jung’s studies
in the early 1900’s proved to be complicated to categorise the different
combinations of these types for individuals. Since then, many a theorists have
attempted to make this classification easier and more accurate being one of
them Kolb and his Learning Style Model presented in 1984. Four different types
of learning were presented by Kolb: concrete, reflective, abstract and active. Nowadays
the most widely used and accepted model is the one presented by Flemming
(2001), the VAK model (Visual, Auditory and Kinesthetic). Although there is a
tendency for individuals to have developed only one type of learning more than
the others, it has been proved in later studies that the VAK model clearly
shows the dominance of two of these types are plausible. The predominance of
one style of learning may respond to the preference of the individual and the
kind of task he / she is faced to. That is to say that for one task he/ she may
use certain learning styles and for a different task others.
Then, the question is: how do these
different learning styles can enhance language learning?
A Visual learner may prefer to watch
and receive visual stimuli. They like to learn through reading or writing;
however, they have difficulty with the written language and do better with
charts, pictures or graphic organisers. Shouldn’t we offer activities which
involve watching a film?
Auditory learners would often talk to
themselves, reading out loud, listening to audios and talking to others about
the things they are to learn. Here is the one who likes singing.
Kinesthetic learners prefer active
participation experiences like role-plays or moving around. Games are suitable
for these learners.
To sum up, the identification of the learning styles
that our students have is as important as the students’ self-awareness about
them. Our classes must involve activities for students who learn by watching,
hearing and doing otherwise, our students’ success in language learning is
quite limited and predictable to failure and even cause frustration in students
and teachers. This individual factor must be present in our everyday teaching
practice. If only my English teacher in Secondary had known, I had the auditory
and kinesthetic learning styles!
REFERENCES
James
Cook University. Australia.Visual, Auditory and Kinesthetic (VAK) learning
style model. Retrieved from: http://www.jcu.edu.au/wiledpack/modules/fsl/JCU_090460.html
Institute for Learning Style Research. Overview of the
seven Perceptual Styles. Retrieved from.
http://www.learningstyles.org/styles/visual.html on
June 19th, 2011.
Pourhossein
Gilakjani, Abbas. (2011) Visual,
Auditory, Kinaesthetic Learning Styles and Their Impacts on English Language
Teaching. Islamic Azad University, Lahijan, Iran
English Language Department.
Šabatová, Jarmila.
(2008) Learning Styles in ELT. Masaryk University- Faculty of education. Department
of English Language and Literature.
