Students’ Learning Styles: A study on Academic Writing Class Semester I/ 2012-2013
Abstract
According to the Minister of Education’s regulation (Kemendiknas) No
22, 2006, one of the purposes of the teaching of English in Indonesia is to
help students develop their communication skills, both the oral and written
ones. In order to achieve that, teachers have to bear in mind throughout
the teaching learning process; every learner learns and processes
information differently. The way learners learn something and process
information is unique and different from one another. There are several
models of learning styles proposed by different language experts and
psychology, and of which was proposed by Knowles (1982). They are
concrete, analytical, communicative, and authority-oriented learning
styles, each with special characteristics and distinctive, interesting
learning habits. This study aims to identify the different learning styles
that Academic Writing students in Semester I/ 2012-2013 had. Research
was conducted at the Faculty of Language and Literature, SWCU Salatiga
with the 23 students as the participants. Data on the characteristics and
unique habits of the students’ learning styles were derived mainly through
six reflective journals submitted via email throughout the semester.
Findings show that the students in the Academic Writing class have
different learning styles; all types were found among the students. This
piece of study hopefully can enrich our horizon as lecturers and educators
about the diversity and variety of students’ learning styles and processes.
Introduction
environment. Components of cognitive styles are cognitive, affective, and psychological. All of them are strongly influenced by cultural backgrounds. Learning styles, on the other hand, can be classified in three general ways; perceptual modality, information processing, and personality patterns. The one that becomes the focus of this study is perceptual modality. i It is defined as how we perceive many aspects of the world; trough vision, hearing, or body movements. About the close ties between individual learner differences and learning styles, Mariani (1996) further states that
“Learning styles are one of the many kinds of individual differences which affect learning - age, aptitude, general intelligence, modality preferences (e.g. visual, auditory, kinaesthetic), motivation and sociocultural factors being other important variables in this respect (Skehan 1989, 1994).”
Mariani (1996) then draws a figure showing the relationship between learning styles and learning strategies. The complex relationship is summarized in the figure below.
Personality
|
Learning style
|
Learning strategies
|
Techniques/Tactics
Personality is found at the top. It is the “very general basic individual character structure”. Learning styles are in the second place after personality. It is defined as how personality works in a learning context, in the classroom, as an example. Styles reflect an individual learner‘s consistent and preferred learning approach; that is, an approach which he or she exhibits in a wide range of situations and contexts, not only in school contexts. A person‘s style affects the kinds of learning strategies. A learning strategy consists of a group of tactics or
Rooting from my interest in how second language learners learn English, I formulated one research question to answer in this study, that is, “What are the Academic Students’ learning styles?” Thus, this study has one basic aim, that is, to identify Academic Students’ learning styles. Due to limitation of time and space, the analysis will be focused on data dealing with students’ journals about classroom behavior, teacher behavior, and aspects of language that students liked most. Classroom behavior includes activities that students liked most, some of which are games, problem solving, discussions, consensus building, tracking down ideas, routine activities, or whole-class sharing, or writing.
Perceptual modalities define “biologically-based reactions to physical environment and the way learners adopt data”. There are three kinds of learning styles according to this theory.ii The first kind is visual learners. Just like the name, visual learners learn through their sight.
They need to see teachers’ expressions and gestures to understand the lesson well. Diagrams, illustrations, videos, hand outs, and other kinds of visual displays really help them to learn best.
Another kind is auditory learners. They learn through listening. These learners learn best through lectures, discussions either whole-class or group discussions, or any other kind of listening activities. Reading aloud and listening from tape recorder or videos also help them. These learners uniquely interpret meanings through voice, pitch, and speed of speech.
The next is kinesthetic learners. These learners are simply defined as people who learn through moving, doing, and touching. They always explore the world around them, and cannot be silent and do nothing for long periods. They are easily distracted by the need to do activities and to explore. This theory, however, is not the only one proposed on learning styles.
(2013) strengthens this idea and mentions that concrete learners like to ask why, and they learn mostly from experiences and reflection. Anglistika (2008) adds that concrete learners are interested in language use and language as communication rather than language as a system. Games and group work are what they like best.
Different from concrete learners, analytical learners like problem solving and enjoy developing principles. They tend to be independent. Logical and systematic way of presenting new materials pleases them. However, they are very serious, and often push themselves to hard. Therefore, they are prone to failure easily (Richards and Lockhart, 2005). They like to learn grammar and read text books. They also want their teacher to let them find their own mistakes. The Faculty of Teaching and Learning (2013) adds that analytical learners hate making mistakes, and think seriously before speaking. They like studying grammar and working with great details.
Convergers, or analytical learners, in Anglistika’s term (2008) mentions that they tend to avoid groups; but they are independent and confident with their abilities.
The third kind of learners is the communicative ones. These learners like to learn by talking or listening to native speakers like Americans or Australians. Talking to peer students or watching TV in English also excite them. They like personal interaction, group discussion, and they like personal feedback. Anglistika (2008) again supports this idea, stating that these learners are language-use oriented, and are interested in social interaction with other language users, rather than with the analysis of language. Even without the guidance of a teacher, they are happy to learn.
The last kind is authority-oriented learners. They are responsible, dependable, and learn best in traditional classrooms. They perceive teachers as source of authority. They like clear instructions but dislike discussions. They like their teacher to explain everything for them, and they want to write everything in their textbook and want to have their own book.
From all those sources, the characteristics of all types of learners, that is, concrete, communicative, analytical, and authority-oriented, can be summarized in a table as follows:
Concrete learners Analytical learners Communicative learners
Curious spontaneous hate routines & written work like verbal & visual
experiences like to learn by games, pictures, videos,
enjoy working in pairs
interested in language use & language as communication like problem solving & developing principles tend to be independent logical and systematic in presenting things very serious like to learn grammar & read text books. hate making mistakes Think seriously before speaking work with great details
tend to avoid groups independent confident with their own abilities like talking & listening to native speakers like to talk to peer students like to watch TV in English like personal interaction, group discussion, & feedback interested in social interaction rather than analysis of language happy to learn, even without the guidance of a teacher
responsible dependable learn best in traditional classrooms see teachers as the source of authority like clear instructions dislike discussions want the teacher to explain everything want to write everything in their textbook want to have their own book
Based on the summary table, I then analyzed the students’ learning styles. Each learner is clearly unique and has his/her own special characteristics.
The study
The setting of this study was at the Faculty of Language and Literature, at Satya Wacana Christian Salatiga, where I was teaching. To be more specific, I conducted this study in one of my classes, that is, Academic Writing, in Semester I/ 2012-203. It was the highest writing classes before students go to thesis proposal writing. Considering that it was worth 4 credits (100 minutes x 4), I decided that I did my research there. I would have a lot of time dealing with the students, and thus, they had enough time to help me with my research.
Semester I, 2012-2013 Academic Year, or from September to December 2012. In the classroom, there were five male students, and eighteen female students. The descriptions of the students’ profiles are presented below. For research ethics, I did not use the participants’ real names. Instead, I used initials to name the students.
No Students’ initials Sex Class year
1. Student A F 2010
2. Student B F 2010
3. Student C M 2010
4. Student D F 2010
5. Student E F 2010
6. Student F F 2010
7. Student G F 2010
8. Student H F 2010
9. Student I F 2010
10. Student J F 2010
11. Student K F 2010
12. Student L M 2010
13. Student M F 2010
14. Student N F 2010
15. Student O F 2010
16. Student P F 2010
17. Student Q M 2006
18. Student R M 2010
19. Student S F 2010
20. Student T F 2010
21. Student U M 2010
22. Student V F 2008
23. Student W F 2010
opinions with characteristics of each learning style mentioned in the theories. Data were then interpreted and the findings presented.
Discussion
In this section, students’ opinions on the three questions answered in the journals are presented and discussed. The first question is related to favorite classroom activities, the second favorite aspects of language, and the final one group and individual work. Data were mainly derived from journals, and additional data were derived from students’ answers via email that I sent at the end of June 2013, in order to validate answers that I already got from them. The last question that I asked was, In your opinion, which type of earner are you? Are you concrete, communicative, analytical, or authority-oriented students? I also gave the descriptions of the
characteristics of each type of learner to them, so that they could easily see, which type of learner they were. From all students whom I sent my email to, only nine responded by replying my email and they were Student A, Student E, Student F, Student J, Student K, Student O, Student P,
Student T, and Student W.
From the 23 students who became my participants, I found there were 5 (five) concrete students, 11 (eleven) students with communicative learning style, 6 (six) students with analytical learning style, and only one student was authority-oriented. Further elaboration was as follows.
Concrete learners
To refresh our mind, let me review a bit about concrete learners. These learners are curious, spontaneous, and risk-taking. They try to avoid routines and written works. But they like verbal and visual experiences. They like being physically involved. Richards and Lockhart (2005) further state that concrete learners tend to learn by games, pictures, video, and enjoy working in pairs. TroyM (2013) strengthens this idea and mentions that concrete learners like to ask why, and they learn mostly from experiences and reflection. Anglistika (2008) supports this, saying that concrete learners are interested in language use and language as communication rather than language as a system. Games and group work are what they like best.
About her love to games, Student A said, “Games make our eyes wide open”. She also stated this in her email at the end of July. Similar to Student A, Student B also stated that games and visual aids attract her brain.
Student E, just like her statement in her email, also belonged to this group; she liked discussion a lot, and her reason was because in discussions, she feels free to share and gives opinions to her friends. In line with her was Student P, who loved practicum classes as well as problem solving. For her, “Problem solving is attractive. When there is a problem, the whole class tries to solve it.”
As underlined by Knowles (1982), learners with concrete learning styles use direct and active means to process information. They are curious, spontaneous, and risk-taking. They hate
routines and written works. But they like verbal and visual experiences. Being physically involved in is what they like. Richards and Lockhart (2005) further state that concrete learners tend to learn by games, pictures, video, and enjoy working in pairs. All students belonging to this
group who became my participants enjoyed working in pairs or in groups.
Analytical learners
Again, let me review about this type of learners. Different from concrete learners, analytical learners like problem solving and enjoy developing principles. They liketo be independent, logical and systematic. However, they are very serious, and often push themselves to hard. Therefore, they are prone to failure easily (Richards and Lockhart, 2005). Learning grammar and reading text books are their favorite activities. They also want their teacher to let them find their own mistakes. The Faculty of Teaching and Learning (2013) adds that analytical learners hate making mistakes, and think seriously before speaking. They like working with great details. Convergers, or analytical learners, in Anglistika’s term (2008) mentions that they tend to avoid groups; but they are independent and confident with their abilities.
text books. They always work with great details. Student O confirmed this, and the following is her statement in her email:
“I am very serious and independent in doing the assignments. I will give my best in every detail thing. Moreover, I, myself, like grammar subject very much. It can be seen through how often I silently correct people’s grammar, especially in the social media’s status. Haha…”
It is very clear then that this student is an analytical one. In almost every task given to her, she did it carefully, and she also did a lot of consultation. As a final result, she always excelled in her work. The other students also showed similar interests as Student O. They love studying grammar which most students detest, and love reading. They seemed to be serious students, very logical, and systematic in their way of thinking as well as working. Passion to analyze sentence patterns and grammar rules is one of the characteristics of this type of learners. Student I is one of the examples. She claims, “It is interesting for me to know more about the language itself. And from this curiosity, I get knowledge about discourse about how and where
language is used.” Learning the rules and structure of language attracts these students more than other aspects.
Communicative learners
As I mentioned above, these learners like to learn by talking or listening to native speakers like Americans or Australians. Talking to peer students or watching TV in English also
excite them. They like personal interaction, group discussion, and they like personal feedback. Anglistika (2008) again supports this idea, stating that these learners are language-use oriented, and are interested in social interaction with other language users, rather than with the analysis of language. Even without the guidance of a teacher, they are happy to learn.
Gathering information from people is beneficial for her. She was a very communicative student. Below is her statement that strengthened this idea:
Talk about aspect of language that I like most is, speaking. …First of all is because I’m a talk-active person, I love to talk every time with every person I meet. The second one is, through speaking, I can make network with people. The last is, speaking for me is a job…I’m a part-timer “penyiar radio” and a host, and only by my own speaking skill, I can earn some money for myself.
The other students who belonged to this group also shared more or less the same characteristics. Student J and K are two examples. In their email that they sent me, they claimed that they were communicative students. Student J claimed that she liked to watch films or TV series, and it helped increase her speaking ability. She also liked listening to native speakers, though she often felt afraid and ashamed of making mistakes when talking to them.
Student K, in line with Student J, mentioned that she liked to analyze social interaction, rather than analyze the language. She assertively claimed that she was a communicative learner. Other students that I mentioned previously, Student C, D, F, L, Q, R, U, and V, all shared similar characteristics as their communicative peers. They mostly liked speaking classes, and they enjoyed having discussions with their peers. They also liked group work.
Authority-oriented learners
Authority-oriented learners are responsible, dependable, and learn best in traditional classrooms. They perceive teachers as source of authority. They like clear instructions but dislike discussions. Besides that, they want their teacher to explain everything for them, and they want to write everything in their textbook and want to have their own book.
Not many students are of this type of learners. There was only one student who mentioned that she belonged to this group, and she was Student W. The aspects of language that she liked most were reading, listening, and speaking. However, she admitted that she enjoyed working individually. In her email that she sent at the end of July, she mentioned that she was authority-oriented. The following is her statement, “…I think I learn best in traditional
Conclusion
Every learner, absolutely, is unique. They are different from one another. One of the characteristics that makes each of them unique and special is the way they learn and process information. There are concrete learners, analytical learners, communicative, and authority-oriented learners. This is the model introduced by Knowles (1982), among other models.
As seen from my discussion on the findings, from all 23 participants that I had from my Academic Writing class in Semester I, 2012-2013 Academic Year, there were only one authority-oriented learner, seven analytical learners, five concrete learners, and the majority, ten students (43.48%), were communicative. However, we, as teachers as well as educators, cannot judge which type of learner is the best. Each has their own strengths and weaknesses.
As a whole, this study only focused on Knowles (1982)’s model of classifying learning styles. Other studies can be done on other models proposed by different linguists or
psychologists like Gardner with his seven intelligences. More participants can be involved and more data gathering methods like interviews and video recorded observation can be done.
In my understanding, it is the task of the teacher as the facilitator for these learners to grow with their own styles, and teachers need to help them develop their potentials or strengths in each unique style. As the final word, I hope this piece of study can be useful for other researchers who are interested in the field of learning styles, and thus can help build better relationship through better understanding from teachers to their students. By understanding each student’s characteristics, including their learning styles, teachers can understand their students’ ways of thinking and working. They can also see with better perspectives how their students process information received. Better teaching-learning process (TLP) hence is expected to be realized in the classroom.
Quoted below is a very nice statement about teachers’ role in helping their students “start with what they know” and “build on what they have”.
Go to the people
Live among them
Start with what they know
Build on what they have
When their task is accomplished
Their work is done
The people will remark
We have done it ourselves
(Chinese Poem, Luciano Mariani)
---ooo000ooo---
References
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i
______. “Learning Styles”. Retrieved from
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