EFL Learning Styles

What is a" learning style"?It is the way you tend to learn best .It involves your preferred method

of taking in, organizing ,and making sense of information. A learning style is multi-dimensional (Kinsella 1996). Its elements can

be classified into five categories; environmental elements (sound , light , temperature , design), emotional elements (motivation, persistence , responsibility), physical elements (perception, intake, time, mobility),sociological elements (self , partner, team, mentor , varied), and psychological elements (global, analytical, impulsive, reflective)(Reiff 1992).clearly, learning styles include not only the cognitive domain ,but also the affective and physiological domains (Oxford, Hollaway, Horton-Murillo 1992).

What are the types of "learning styles"?1- Visual (spatial): Learners prefer using pictures, images,

diagrams, maps, charts, films, videos and spatial understanding.2- Aural (auditory-musical): Learners prefer using sound and

music. They benefit from obtaining information from audio tapes or listening to lectures.

3- Verbal (linguistic): Learners prefer using words, both in speech and writing.

4- Physical (kinesthetic): Learners prefer using their bodies, hands, sense of touch.

5- Logical (mathematical): Learners prefer using logic, reasoning and systems.

6- Social (interpersonal): Learners prefer to learn in groups or with other people.

7- Solitary (intrapersonal): Learners prefer to work alone and use self-study.

How does learning style affect teaching?People learn most effectively when the strategies used are closely

matched with there preferred learning style.We can improve our learning by knowing what our strengths and

weakness are to enhance our skills in these areas.How the learning styles impacts education?

Curriculum: Educators must place emphasis on intuition, feeling, sensing, imagination, in addition to the traditional skills of analysis, reason and sequential problem solving.

Instruction: Teachers should design their instruction methods to connect with all learning styles, using various combinations of experience, reflection, conceptualization and experimentation. Instructors can introduce a variety of elements into the class room such as sound, music, visuals, movement, experience and even talking.Assessment: Teachers should employ a variety of assessment techniques focusing on the development of the whole brain capacity and each of the learning styles.

What are learning styles strategies?

Metacognitive Strategies

MetacognItive planningDeciding the purpose of a particular language learning task (e.g., learn to make a reservation by watching an anecdote in a movie)

Advance organizationPreviewing an upcoming learning passage or activity, and linking it with what is already known

Selective attentionDeciding in advance to focus on important aspects of language input and to ignore distractions

Self-monitoringChecking one's understanding while listening/reading and identifying errors in speech/written production

Self-evaluationJudging how well one has learned the material by analyzing one's own written work or checking one's reading record.

Cognitive Strategies

ResourcingUsing reference materials such as dictionaries, grammar books, tapes, TV, and video cassettes for receiving and transmitting messages

GroupingClassifying words and concepts according to their attributes or in personally meaningful groups

Inferencing

Making guesses based on previous knowledge such as guessing meanings of unfamiliar words with linguistic clues or predicting outcomes using background knowledge

Reasoning

Using the entire linguistic and extralinguistic context to understand/produce the target language, or applying prior knowledge to facilitate the acquisition of new knowledge

Elaboration

Making learning material concrete and personally meaningful by integrating the new material into existing semantic networks and by relating items to one another to make relationships explicit

Note-takingWriting down key words and points in abbreviated form to sort or organize language information

VisualizingVisualizing settings of a listening/reading passage to understand and remember new information

Socio-Affective Strategies

Lowering Anxiety

Reducing anxiety by listening to soothing music, or reading humorous stories, or reminding oneself of progress by using the self-talk technique or by writing progressive journals

Asking questionsAsking the speaker (a teacher or a peer) to give additional explanation, example or verification

CooperationWorking with peers to solve problems, build confidence, and pool information

Raed Ahmed Mohamed El Mansy