Educational Psychologists have narrowed down learning styles to 4 different categories:
1) Visual/ Verbal
Visual pictures and written information in front of you whilst you are talking (like on the white board, PowerPoint presentations and worksheets).
2) Visual/ Non-Verbal
Visual/ Non- Verbal people also learn from pictures and written information (such as on the white board, PowerPoint presentations and worksheets); however they NEED TIME to read things once, twice or more between speaking and listening activities.
3) Auditory/ Verbal
These people learn by talking and discussion. They also like to listen to things that are entertaining. If the teacher provides multi-media lessons, then the auditory/ verbal learners will learn faster. If the teacher just makes them sit down and read and write, then auditory/ verbal learners will learn at a slower pace.
4) Tactile/ Kinaesthetic
They learn by "doing" and interaction between objects. For instance, asking tactile or kinesthetic students to write a worksheet on a textbook topic and give it to their friend will help them learn better. Even encouraging students to do small social experiments such as "talking English to a stranger for 5 minutes per week and making a graph based on your conversation" will help.
There is no right or wrong way to learn.
Everybody uses a combination of the 4 learning styles. However, some people just respond better to activities and teaching which utilise one or two of their favoured learning styles. It is not that you WON't learn if your teacher doesn't utilise your preferred learning style... It's just that you probably won't learn as fast.
Your responsibilities as an ESL learner.
Find a teacher that you like.
It is important to have a nice teacher who you feel comfortable with. However, even nice teachers can't always know your learning problems/ learning styles. If you are not learning, try to adapt your study techniques to match your learning styles. If you have a problem, then ask the teacher to explain it in a way that will help you.
Communicate and ask questions.
Many people can have a fear of teachers. This even carries on to adult learners. Even confident professionals, can at times fear asking their teacher something for various reasons including; not wanting to show disrespect to the teacher, and not wanting to seem like a slow learner. However, if you are having problems understanding the material, you need to let your teacher know. You also cannot blame your teacher solely for not learning. Even people with the worst teachers, and learning from the worst text books can be successful with the right attitude and learning plan.
Decide your learning plan.
Do not leave it to the teacher to tell you everything. After all, you have been learning for a very long time and you know your best way to learn. Some tips I use as a learner myself are:
Asking for clarification:
E.g. "Sorry, I didn't understand that. Could you please explain it again". Or "Sorry, I studied it, but I now forget. Could we please do a quick review". OR "Sorry, could you please explain it another way". (Maybe asking for use of pictures, another exercise or different vocabulary).
Bargaining:
So, your teacher wants you to do a boring exercise which you know you can do at home. Maybe, you want to bargain by saying "Teacher, if I do numbers 1-10 in class; can I please finish the rest for homework?"
Appeal to the teachers talents:
You know how you learn best. So let the teacher know without making it seem like you are undermining them. Ask "I know you are very busy, but can we finish today by listening to and discussing an English song?" (If you are an auditory learner). Or if you are a kinaesthetic leaner "If you have 5 minutes, could you show me how to write an introductory essay paragraph". If you are a visual/ non-verbal learner then it may be helpful to buy yourself some time by stating "I need a few more moments to read this information before we focus on speaking. Is that OK?" If you are visual/ verbal it will help to ask before a task "Can you please write that down for me? It helps if I can see the words when I am learning to speak them".
If you are learning in a group, don't be afraid of your peers:
Don't think that by asking questions you are making your peers slow down. Often they are thinking similar things, but they are shy or afraid to ask questions. If you ask questions, it may even encourage your peers to speak up more and ask more questions.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Leisha_K_Henry
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8369061
No comments:
Post a Comment