Learning styles

The big challenge in the classroom is developing an interesting methodology that

implies the learning styles of the pupils. In fact, teaches must consider that every

person has one or more learning styles but also learning strengths and learning

weakness.

According to Riener & Wilingham (2006) the most popular current conception of

learning styles equates style with the preferred bodily sense through which one

receives information, whether it be visual, auditory, or kinesthetic.

Learning styles could be considered also as variables in the process of learning,

which has many elements that work interactively between them, as an example,

Keefe, (1979) diagrams the school learning process as a triangle of interaction

between the learning enviroment, the teaching style, and the learning style of the

students.

First of all, the process learning is a wide field but the truth is that it is important to

consider some facts about theory, research, and methodology in psychology that

laid the Gardner’s Theory of intelligence.

Howard Gardner was an educator for more than two decades, the main

contribution that is well-known it is that he challenged the classical view of

intelligence. Gardner creat his theory of Multiple intelligences in response to his

beliefs, he though that traditional methods for assesing the intellect were not

sufficiently for measure the wide range of intelligent behavior.

Gardner’s original theory ofmultiple intelligences consists of three components,

seven “intelligences,” and eight supporting criteria of what comprises an

“intelligence”, which is defined by him as the ability to solve problems, or to create

products, that are valued within one or more cultural settings.

Actually, the explanation of Gardner’s definition includes the important assumption

that the process of problem-solving set the groundwork for the acquisition of new

knowledge, wo could understand that this process is critical in the development of

bodily-kinesthetic intelligence, or motor learning, a fundamental component of

vocal technique.

Gardner introduce those seven intelligences explaining that these intelligences are

fictions ( useful fictions) and they could be useful for discussing processes and

abilities that are continuous with one another. So, as we turn our attention to the

specific intelligences, we must emphazise that they exist not as physically

verifiable entities but only as potentially useful scientific constructs.

Now it is important to understand that the study of the different intelligences

(linguistic/verbal, musical, logical/mathematic, spatial/visual, bodily/kinesthesic,

interpersonal and intrapersonal) could be a tool for the teacher in order to addres

some activities that help them in the classroom. Reid (1998) suggest that the more

awareness students have of their own intelligences and how they work, the more

they wll know how to use that intelligence to access to the necessary information

and knowledge from a lesson. Lazear (1998) suggest four stages to teach with

multiples intelligences:

Awaken the intelligence (stage 1) it is related to a particular intelligence can be

activated trhough exercises and activities that make use of sensory bases (the five

senses), intuition or even metacognition. A clear example is when you are teaching

vocabulary to describe things, you might bring many different items to class

because the students can touch something sof, rough, cold or smoth, an so on.

Amplify the intelligence (stage 2) it is focusing on improving and strenghtening the

intelligence, evidently with use and practice. Now the student have to add

information and increase their knowledge into the clasroom.

Teach for/with intelligence (stage 3) it is about emphasizing and using different

intelligences in the teaching learning-process. The teacher must consider structure

the lessons according to cooperative work, such as working in small groups.

Transfer of the intelligence (stage 4) is concerned with going beyond the

classroom, with the integration of intelligence into daily living such as solving

problems and challenges in the real world. So, the teacher could ask some

reflective questions about the lesson in order to understand the whole idea.

The truth is that teachers must imply the use of strategies in the process of

learning, actually the term “learning strategy” according to Oxford & Nam, (1998) is

a technical phrase that means any specific conscious action or behavior a student

takes to improve his or her own learning. In fact, learning strategies choices are

often related to preferred learning styles, as an example, a student who has a

strongly visual learning style tends to use the strategies of taking notes, whereas a

kinesthetic learner tends to use the strategies that allow them use their senses.

However, the problematic of studyng English in this level (junior high school) is that

the motivation of the students is bassically low, so, the teachers have to deal with

this big challenge: how to encourage learner independece in the study of english,

evidently using the learning styles. So, the teacher have to consider the strategies

for improving language skills, students could be introduced to, and given practice

in, techniques and strategies such as selective listening, skimming scanning, and

so on.

The importance of the teacher as a guide, it is because he helps students

according to their needs, to focus on those areas where they feel they need the

most help. So, the teacher must be creative, use their freedom and do not use the

inefective ways (traditional) and replace for those that are highly recommended

using the learning styles, in order to be efective in the process of language

learning.

As a conclusion, I think that the teacher is the main responsible to provide multiple

opportunities for their students to investigate and identify their learning styles.

However, students need to cooperate with teachers in matching teaching and

learning styles because it could be a useful tool to inform their teacher when

classroom approaches and activities are not meeting their needs. Finally, it is

absolutely difficult but the students should also learn to become more tolerant of

the complex situation of foreign language learning because such tolerance will

serve them well in adjusting to different learning styles, and will allow them to work

to strengthen their weaker learning style preferences, in order to become more

autonomous in their learning.

ReferencesKeefe. (1995). Considering classroom dynamics. In J. M. Reid, Learning styles in the ESL/EFL classroom (p. 264). Boston, Massachusets: Heinle & Heinle Publishers.

Leazar, D. (1998). Creating lesson plans. In J. M. Read, Understanding learning styles in the second language classroom (p. 207). New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Oxford, R., & Nam, C. (1998). Learning styles and strategies of a partial bilingual student diagnosed as learning disablead: a case study. In J. M. Reid, Understanding learning styles in the second language classroom (p. 206). New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Reid, J. M. (1998). Understanding learning styles in the second language classroom. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Riener, C., & Wilingham, D. (2006). The myth of learning styles. New York: Random House.