LEARNING STYLES
Q. Do you have any particular ways of
learning English? Write two statements that
best describe how you learn English.
Learning styles
-the preferential way in which the student
absorbs, processes, comprehends and retains
information.
-depend on cognitive, emotional and
environmental factors, as well as one’s prior
experience.
Everyone’s different.
(https://teach.com/what/teachers-know/learning-styles/)
Learning styles
•are “general predisposition, voluntary or not,
toward processing information in a particular
way” (Skehan, 1991, p. 288)
•mediate between emotion and cognition.
• are determined by the way people internalize
their total environment. Internalization is not just
cognitive, but physical, affective and cognitive in
combination (Brown, 2000)
Visual learners
Auditory learners
Kinesthetic learners
•Visual learners learn well by visual means
-tend to prefer reading, and studying charts,
drawings, pictures, and other graphic information
•Auditory learners learn well by hearing things
-prefer listening to lectures and audiotapes
-like teachers to give oral instructions
-like making tape recordings of what they are
learning
-like having discussions
Most successful learners use both visual and auditory
input, but slight preferences for one way or the other
distinguish onbe learner from another
Kinesthetic learners
•learn well when they have hands-on experience, when
they are physically involved or actively participate
•like moving around when they learn
•prefer a variety of classroom activities
Questionnaire-Learning styles (Coursebook, p.
141c)
Task. Read the first 10 statements and identify the
learning style each statement refers to. Write K for
kinesthetic, V for visual, and A for auditory learners.
Acting out (Step1, Coursebook, p. 141a)
Work in groups of 4-5. Discuss the situation
(Step 1, p. 141a) and write 5 more pieces of
advice to each type of learner.
Practice (Step 2, Coursebook, p. 141a)
Imagine you teach these words: saxophone,
Italy, and downstairs.
Design a presentation which aims to
accommodate three types of learning styles
(visual, auditory, and kinaethestic).
More learning styles
•Field-independent vs field-dependent
•Ambiguity-tolerant vs ambiguity-intolerant
•Reflective vs Impulsive
• Field-independent style
-defined by a tendency to separate details from the
surrounding context. (Find the hidden monkeys in the
trees)
- by the ability to perceive a particular, relevant item or
factor in a ‘field’ of distracting items
- But being too field independent, you see only the
parts, not their relationship to the whole.
• Field dependent style (field sensitive style)
• - defined by a relative inability to distinguish
detail from other information around it
• - but you perceive the whole picture, the larger
view, the general configuration of a
problem/event
FI FD
• Impersonal orientation • Personal orientation (reliance
(reliance on internal frame of on external frame of reference in
reference in processing processing information)
information)
• Holistic
• Analytic (parts are fused with background)
(parts are distinguished from
background)
• Dependent
• Independent (the self view is derived from others)
(sense of separate identity)
• Socially sensitive
• Not so socially aware (greater skill in interpersonal/social
(less skilled in interpersonal/social relationships)
relationships)
(Hawkey, 1982)
16
• Both field independent (FI) and field dependent
(FD) styles are necessary.
• FI/D is subject to individual variation.
• They are quite variable within an individual. That is,
depending on the context of learning, individual
learners can vary their use of FI/D.
FI&FD checklist - A, E: very much like you / B, D: more
or less like you / C: no inclination
A B C D E
1 I have no problem I need a quiet environment in order
concentrating amid noise to concentrate well.
and confusion.
2 I enjoy analyzing grammar I find grammar analysis tedious and
structures boring.
3 I feel I must understand I don't mind reading or listening in
every word of what I read or the L2 without understanding every
hear. single word as long as I 'catch' the
main idea.
4 I think classroom study is the I think communication is the key to
key to effective language effective language learning.
learning.
5 I prefer working alone to I really enjoy working with other
working with other people. people in pairs or groups.
6 Receiving feedback from I find feedback useful as a means of
other people really doesn't understanding my problem areas.
affect my learning at all. 18
Implications for classroom language teaching
1 Activities that connect different parts of a lesson
are useful for field-dependent learners.
• discuss what they know about a topic
• predict content
• look at and listen to related material.
2 Activities such as extensive reading and writing,
which learners can carry out alone, are useful for
field-independent learners.
(https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/field-independent-learners)
Ambiguity tolerance
Budner (1962)
tolerance of ambiguity= ‘the tendency to
perceive ambiguous situations as desirable’.
Intolerance of ambiguity: ‘the tendency to
perceive (i.e., interpret) ambiguous situations as
sources of threat’
Ambiguity tolerance
-concerns the degree to which you are cognitively
willing to tolerate ideas and propositions that run
counter to your own belief system or structure of
knowledge.
-Some people are more open/willing to accept
ideologies/views/facts that contradict their own views
than others.
-A person who is tolerant of ambiguity is free to
entertain a number of innovative and creative
possibilities and not cognitively or affectively
disturbed by ambiguity and uncertainty.
Ambiguity tolerance
-successful language learning necessitates toterance of
ambiguities (words that differ from the native
language, rules that are inconsistent, ...)
Ambiguity tolerance
-has both advantages and disadvantages
+too much tolerance of ambiguity can have a
detrimental effect. People can become “wishy-washy”
accepting every proposition before them.
+ Intolerance can close the mind too soon, especially if
ambiguity is perceived as a threat, producing a mind
that is too narrow to be creative.
Reflective vs impulsive
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FUXljupKl8)
Reflectivity and impulsivity
-degree to which a person makes a quick or
gambling (impulsive) guess at an answer to a
problem or a slower, more calculated
(reflective) decision.
Implications for classroom language
teaching:
-Teachers tend to treat mistakes too hashly,
especially in the case of a learner with an
impulsive style who may be more willing to
gamble at an answer than a reflective person.
-A reflective person may need patience from
the teacher, who must allow more time for the
students to struggle with responses.
Implications for classroom language
teaching:
-Teachers tend to treat mistakes too hashly,
especially in the case of a learner with an
impulsive style who may be more willing to
gamble at an answer than a reflective person.
-A reflective person may need patience from
the teacher, who must allow more time for the
students to struggle with responses.
-Those with impulsive styles may go through a
number of rapid transitions of SLA
-Those with reflective styles tend to remain
longer at a particular stage with ‘larger’ leaps
from stage to stage.
Questions for discussion
Q1. Do you believe that certain learners learn in
one single way?
Q2. Do you think that learning styles play an
important role in language learning?
Q3. In your opinion, what makes learning
effective?
Watch the Ted talk video about learning
styles and the importance of critical self-
reflection.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=855Now8h5Rs)
Q. Do you agree with the arguments about
learning styles the lady puts forward in the
talk? Why/Why not?
Review
More information about reflective learning
https://study.com/academy/lesson/reflective-learning-
definition-style-theory.html
REFERENCES
Brown, H. D., & Lee, H. (2015). Teaching by principles: An
interactive approach to language pedagogy (4th ed.). NY:
Pearson.
Budner, S. (1962). Intolerance of ambiguity as a
personality variable. J. Pers, 30, 29–50. doi:
10.1111/j.1467-6494.1962.tb02303.x
The slides presented here draw mainly on Methodology 4:
Theory of Teaching and Learning by Faculty of English,
University of Foreign Languages, Hue University.
