The Implications of Learning Styles and Strategies for Language Teaching Essay Example

-- such as seeking out conversation partners, or giving oneself encouragement to tackle a difficult language task -- used by students to enhance their own learning” (Scarcella & Oxford, 1992, p.

63). When the learner consciously chooses strategies that fit his or her learning style and the L2 task at hand, these strategies become a useful toolkit for active, conscious, and purposeful self regulation of learning.Learning strategies can be classified into six groups: cognitive, metacognitive, memory-related, compensatory, affective, and social. Each of these is discussed later in this chapter.

Because this chapter contributes to an instructional methodology book, it is important to emphasize that learning styles and strategies of individual students can work together with –or conflict with –a given instructional methodology.If there is harmony between (a) the student (in terms of style and strategy preferences) and (b) the combination of instructional methodology and materials, then the student is likely to perform well, feel confident, and experience low anxiety. If clashes occur between (a) and (b), the student often performs poorly, feels unconfident, and experiences significant anxiety. Sometimes such clashes lead to serious breakdowns in teacher-student interaction. These conflicts may also lead to the dispirited student’s outright rejection of the teaching methodology, the teacher, and the subject matter.

. Learning Styles Pedagogical theory and practice have seen a great number of advancements over the past half-century, but perhaps the most significant of these is the recognition by educators that the teaching-learning process must be seen as a single transaction. In other words, if something has not been learned, then it has not been taught. Educators have taken ownership of the process and, in today’s world,

they accept that their teaching has not reached its objective, and they have not met their obligation, if all students have not learned the material at hand.This approach to teaching and learning has forced educators to focus on how individual students learn.

It has always been recognized, of course, that sensorial experience and activity are the fundamentals of anyone’s learning process, whether child or adult, and effective teachers have always provided the opportunity for these in their lesson plans. It is only in recent years, however, that educational theory has focused on learning styles as a way of helping students who are not achieving normal learning objectives.If some children do not succeed well by one approach, then perhaps they will do better by another. Educators normally refer to fundamental learning styles as auditory, visual, and tactile. It would be a mistake, however, to imagine that any individual student relies on a single style of learning.

The reality is that humans learn through a variety of processes and all of them involve fundamental sensorial and motor components. What the teacher must realize is that some tudents require more sensorial or motor engagement than others in order to learn effectively. Auditory instruction is by far the weakest in terms of reaching teaching-learning objectives. Even adults have difficulty listening to a speaker for any length of time. Most children are unable to listen and learn effectively without other stimuli, and a child who can succeed well through listening alone, an auditory learner, is a rare child indeed.

Visual perception is an essential component of the learning process for most people.Though blind persons, for example, are able to learn

much about the world through other means, the formation of certain concepts are impossible for them. Educators over the past three centuries have considered visual stimulation to be the essence of concept formation, and it is for this reason that classroom teachers have always considered visual aids to be a basic necessity in any lesson. Listening and seeing, then, are vital requirements in the learning process for most children and adults.

But it is the hands-on approach that characterizes effective teaching in today’s classroom.Though some students are identified as auditory or visual learners, the reality is that all children, and probably all adults, learn most effectively through practical involvement in the task at hand. Effective teachers everywhere understand the importance of providing tactile experience for their students. Certainly, some students may succeed quite well without a hands-on approach, but it is undeniable that learning is enhanced for all of them when an opportunity for tactility is added to auditory and visual instruction.

2.Implications of learning styles for language Learning styles are an important consideration to any teacher who is determined to succeed. Today’s teachers are well trained and they know that they have not succeeded as long as some students have not reached the objectives of their teaching. A knowledge and understanding of the learning process, the importance of sensorial stimuli and activity, and a recognition of the significance of learning styles, will enable today’s educators to succeed where perhaps their predecessors did not.Learning styles refers to the relatively stable learning method formed by learning individual during long-term learning process. In the routine teaching of foreign languages,teachers emphasize only on the tests and evaluations on

students academic levels and ignore the understanding of their learning styles.

In fact, the evaluation on learners’ learning styles is the important foundation for educators to determine which kind of teaching methods they shall adopt.Rita Dunn and her colleagues claimed that a careful match between learning styles and classroom experiences led to higher achievement and an improvement in attitudes. Based upon the investigation result in 1992,Pmfessor Wang Churning advocates the existence of different learning styles with consciousness, encourage students to fully recognize themselves and pay attention to give play to their advantages and avoid their disadvantages during their learning process, which might be helpful for them.During the process of teaching foreign languages,it is impossible for teachers to cater for the taste of each student but they shall give judicious guidance according to circumstances to promote students’learning;at the same time,they should make themselves understood by students about their own styles and cooperate with each other, by which it will create a true learning environment to make the classroom a favorable place for the promotion of students’enthusiasm in learning. The learning style paradigm assumes that when the learning environment matches a student’s learning style,the student’s learning is enhanced.Students preferentially take in and process information in different ways:by seeing and hearing,reflecting and acting,reasoning logically and intuitively, analyzing and visualizing,steadily and by fits and starts.

Teaching methods also vary. Some instructors lecture,others demonstrate or lead students to self-discovery;some focus on principles and others on applications;some emphasize memory and others understanding. 3. Learning Strategies “Strategy”, from the ancient Greek term strategia, refers to generalship or the art of war.In a more specific sense, strategy entails the optimal management of troops,

ships or aircraft in a planned campaign.

“Tactics” is different but related to strategies, which are tools to achieve the success of strategies. Moreover, the two expressions share some basic concepts: planning, competition, conscious manipulation and movement toward a goal. In nonmilitary settings, the concept of strategy has been applied to the non-adversarial situations, where it has come to mean a plan, step or an action is taken for achieving a specific objective (Oxford, 1990).Oxford (1990) stated that strategies are particularly important for language learning “because they are tools for active, self-directed involvement, which is essential for developing communicative competence” (p.

1). Because of its significance, learning strategies have been extensively employed in the educational field. In defining the language learning strategy, “different researchers use different terms and different concepts” (Oxford & Crookall, 1989, p. 14); therefore, a great number of researchers have formulated their own definitions which will be discussed in the followings.

Schemeck (1988) stated, strategy is “the implementation of a set of procedures (tactics) for accomplishing something” and learning strategy is “a sequence of procedures for accomplishing learning” (p. 5). Weinstein and Mayer (1986) proposed learning strategies as “behaviors and thoughts that a learner engages in during learning and that are intended to influence the learner’s encoding process” (p. 315).More specifically, Rigney (1978) defined learning strategies as “cognitive strategy” which is “used to signify operations and procedures that the student may use to acquire, retain, and retrieve different kinds of knowledge and performance”(p. 165).

Rubin (1975) defined strategies as “the techniques or devices, which a learner may use to acquire knowledge” (p. 43). Later, Rubin (1981) conducted a study to identify cognitive

strategies in second language learning and introduced the distinction between direct and indirect language learning strategies.In 1987, Rubin proposed, “language learning strategies are strategies which contribute to the development of the language system which the learner constructs and affect learning directly” (p. 23).

She also suggested that language learning strategies include “any set of operations, steps, plans, routines used by the learner to facilitate the obtaining, storage, retrieval and use of information” (p. 19). Bialystok (1978) defined language learning strategies as “optional means for exploiting available information to improve competence in a second language” (p. 71).A Study of Language Learning Strategies Used by College EFL Learners in Taiwan Meanwhile, he identified four kinds of language learning strategies: (a) formal practicing; (b) functional practicing; (c) monitoring; and (d) inferencing.

According to O’Malley et al. (1985), “language learning strategies have been broadly defined as any set of operations or steps used by a learner that will facilitate the acquisition, storage, retrieval, or use of information” (p. 23). In this study, they classified twenty-six strategies into three subgroups: metacognitive, cognitive and socio-affective.

Similarly, Chamot (1987) gave a definition of language learning strategies as “techniques, approaches or deliberate actions that students take in order to facilitate the learning and recall of both linguistic and content area information” (p. 71). She proposed that some language learning strategies are observable, but some may not be observable. In cognitive perspective, O’Malley and Chamot (1990) viewed language learning strategies as “the special thoughts or behaviors of processing information that individuals use to help them comprehend, learn, or retain new information” (p.

1).Nisbet (1986) offered another definition of language learning strategies as “always purposeful and

goal-oriented, but perhaps not always carried out at a conscious or deliberate level. They can be lengthy or so rapid in execution that it is impossible for the learner to recapture, recall or even be aware that one has used a strategy” (p. 25). Oxford and Crookall (1989) defined language learning strategies as “steps taken by the learner to aid the acquisition, storage, and retrieval of information” (p. 404).

They noted that strategies may be used consciously but they can also become habitual and automatic with practice.Similarly, Oxford (1990) claimed “learning strategies are steps taken by students to enhance their own learning” (p. 1). She proposed a more specific definition of learning strategies as “specific actions taken by the learner to make learning easier, faster, more enjoyable, more self-directed, more effective, and more transferable to new situations” (p. 8). MacIntyre (1994) argued that the term strategy implied active planning in pursuit of some goal, which was not something that would automatically occur.

He emphasized the learners’ deliberate action of language learning strategies.He provided a different perspective of defining language learning strategies as “the actions chosen by language students that are intended to facilitate language acquisition and communication” (p. 190). The definition focuses more on learners’ intention and choice of using language learning strategies. In Oxford’s (1990) study, she synthesized prior study results and came up with a language learning strategy system.

Six categories, including memory strategies, cognitive strategies, compensation strategies, metacognitive strategies, affective strategies, and social strategies, were divided into two major types, direct and indirect. . The implications of learning strategies One of the fundamental education objectives of the study on LLS is to

develop students’ autonomous learning. It is intended that insights derived from the research will guide students’ training activities so that they become more efficient in learning English and more capable of self-monitoring. The findings in the present study provide teachers with pedagogical insights and imply the significance of monitoring students’ LLS.

First, both teachers should understand LLS and the relationships between LLS and proficiency deeply.Teachers are expected to know not only how to teach English but also how to teach LLS in order to improve teaching efficiency. All the teachers should understand LLS more systematically and explain how using good LLS can make English learning easier in their teaching. Second, teachers should know about the students’ LLS usage and pay attention to its tendency. In addition, teachers need to adjust their teaching strategies according to LLS adopted by students.

In present study, the students make use of memory strategies least frequently.Thus this kind of strategy such as creasing mental linkages, applying images and reviewing well needs enhancing. Furthermore, teacher should give various LLS instructions to students to meet their individual specific needs. Most subjects in the study want to know how to improve skills of listening and speaking effectively. Therefore, related LLS training should be developed in class teaching. As for weak students, affective strategies need to be instructed to them so as to lower their anxiety and take their emotional temperature.

Third, metacognitive strategies have been demonstrated the strongest predictors to English achievement. Therefore, students’ use of metacognitive strategies such as paying attention, linking with already familiar materials, organizing, setting goals and objectives, considering the purposes, self-monitoring, self-evaluating and planning for a language task should

be further strengthened. That is, management of learning is vital to the whole process of English learning. On the other hand, it is essential for teachers to help students learn how to control their English learning actively and efficiently.

Finally, LLS instruction needs to be integrated, not only into the language learning scheme of work, but also more generally into the school curriculum as a whole. It is suggested that LLS instructions should be arranged as a necessary part in English course. The research synthesized in this paper has four implications for classroom practice: assessing styles and strategies in the L2 classroom, attuning L2 instruction and strategy instruction to learners’ style preferences, remembering that no single L2 instructional methodology fits all students, and preparing for and conducting strategy instruction.Assessing Styles and Strategies in the L2 Classroom L2 teachers could benefit by assessing the learning styles and the strategy use of their students, because such assessment leads to greater understanding of styles and strategies.

Teachers also need to assess their styles and strategies, so that they will be aware of their preferences and of possible biases. Useful means exist to make these assessments, as mentioned earlier. Teachers can learn about assessment options by reading books or journals, attending professional conferences, or taking relevant courses or workshops.Attuning L2 Instruction and Strategy Instruction to Learners’ Style Needs The more that teachers know about their students' style preferences, the moreeffectively they can orient their L2 instruction, as well as the strategy teaching that can be interwoven into language instruction, matched to those style preferences.

Some learners might need instruction presented more visually, while others might require more auditory, kinesthetic, or

tactile types of instruction. Without adequate knowledge about their individual students’ style preferences, teachers cannot systematically provide the needed instructional variety.Remembering that No Single L2 Instructional Methodology Fits All Students Styles and strategies help determine a particular learner’s ability and willingness to work within the framework of various instructional methodologies. It is foolhardy to think that a single L2 methodology could possibly fit an entire class filled with students who have a range of stylistic and strategic preferences. Instead of choosing a specific instructional methodology, L2 teachers would do better to employ a broad instructional approach, notably the best version of the communicative approach that contains a combined focus on form and fluency.

Such an approach allows for deliberate, creative variety to meet the needs of all students in the class. Preparing for and Conducting L2 Strategy Instruction L2 teachers should consider various ways to prepare to conduct strategy instruction in their classes. Helpful preparatory steps include taking teacher development courses, finding relevant information in print or on the Internet, and making contacts with specialists. Although we do not yet know all we wish to know about optimal strategy instruction, there is growing evidence that L2 teachers can and should conduct strategy instruction in their classrooms.For some teachers it might be better to start with small strategy interventions, such as helping L2 readers learn to analyze words and guess meanings from the context, rather than with full-scale strategies-based instruction involving a vast array of learning strategies and the four language skills, i. e.

, reading, writing, speaking and listening. Other teachers might want to move rapidly into strategies-based instruction. Strategies based instruction is not so much

a separate “instructional method” as it is sound strategy instruction interwoven with the general communicative language teaching approach noted above.Chamot and O’Malley (1996) describe the CALLA model, a form of strategies-based instruction for ESL learners that includes explicit strategy instruction, content area instruction, and academic language development. Cohen (1998) presents a different but somewhat related version of strategies-based instruction for native English speakers learning foreign languages.

In evaluating the success of any strategy instruction, teachers should look for individuals’ progress toward L2 proficiency and for signs of increased self-efficacy or motivation.