LANGUAGE LEARNING SYLES PREFERENCES OF KOLEJ UNIVERSITI ISLAM (KUIM) ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE (ESL) LEARNERS
by
Zarina Ashikin Zakaria
&
Norhana Abdullah Faculty of Major Languages Islamic University College of Malaysia
ABSTRACT
Much has been said about the poor performance of some KUIM learners in English Language. One of the factors that contribute to this scenario is the unsuitable learning styles they adopted. As we know, there are many types of learning styles; and different learners have different learning styles preferences. Having their own preferences can help them to learn better and thus perform better because learning styles can affect learners' performances. This paper will highlight what type of learning styles the learners of KUIM prefer.
Introduction
Teaching English as a second language has changed tremendously over the past two decades. Curricula, teaching methods and teaching materials have been developed to meet the changing needs of the ESL population. However, the curricula of many ESL programmes are still linear or systematic and do not allow much room for individualizing instruction.
On the other hand, research on learning styles has provided educators with a different view of learning. It has also demonstrated how different learning styles could applied to classroom teaching. An awareness of individual differences on learning has made ESL educators and programme designers more sensitive to their roles in teaching
and learning. This has permitted them to suit teaching and learning approaches to learning styles so as to develop students’ potentials in second language learning.
Literature Review
The ways in which an individual acquires, retains and retrieves information are termed the individual learning styles. Learners learn in many ways – by seeing, hearing, touching etc. Teaching methods also vary. Some instructors lecture, demonstrate or discuss. How much a learner learn in a class is governed not only by the learner’s native ability and prior preparation but also by the compatibility of his or her characteristic approach to learning and the instructor’s characteristics approach to teaching.
Good learners are always associated with good learning styles and strategies. How do teachers know whether their learners are good or otherwise, theoretically there are several characters of good language learners which teachers should know. Teachers need to look in-depth and read between the lines as Larsen-Freeman (1998) notes “being a learner-centred teacher means embracing the whole learners applies to teachers who get personal satisfaction when they see successful language learners.”
Many researches have been conducted in the area of learning styles and thus different researchers have gained different definition of learning styles but somehow the concept of it is almost similar. Reid (1998) defines learning styles as internally based characteristics often not perceived or consciously used by learners for the intake and comprehension of new information. According to Nunan (1995) learning style is any individual’s preferred ways of going about learning which result from personality variables, including psychological and cognitive make-up, socio-cultural background and
educational experience. Dunn & Dunn (1993) defines learning style as a biological and development set of personal characteristics that make the identical instruction effective for some students and ineffective for others. In simpler words, learning style refer to the different approaches learners use in their learning process. A lot of research has been done in Second Language Acquisition (SLA) which shows that when learners express a preference for a learning style which varies from the norm, teachers should not view their way of learning is totally wrong. Instead teachers should encourage learners to use all means available to them as they work to learn another language.
Good learners are always associated with good learning styles and strategies. How do teachers know whether their learners are good or otherwise, theoretically there are several characters of good language learners which teachers should know. Teachers need to look in-depth and read between the lines as Larsen-Freeman (1998) notes “being a learner-centred teacher means embracing the whole learners applies to teachers who get personal satisfaction when they see successful language learners.”
Serious mismatches may occur between the learning styles of learners in a class and the teaching style of the instructor. The results of this, learners tend to be bored and inattentive in class, perform poorly in exams and tests and poor attendance.
There are many types of language learning styles but in this paper the researchers are concentrating only on four learning styles – auditory, visual, tactile and kinesthetic.
Auditory learners learn best from hearing words spoken and from oral explanation. They remember information by reading aloud or by moving their lips as they read especially when they are learning new material. Learners of this category benefit from hearing audio-tapes, lectures and class discussions.
Visual learners learn well from seeing words in books, on the board and in workbooks. They remember and understand information and instructions better of they read them. They do not need much oral explanation and can often learn on their own with a book. Learners of this category should take notes of lectures and oral directions of they want to remember the information.
Tactile learners learn best by touching and working with materials. By writing notes or instructions, they can remember information and physical involvement in class related activities may help them to understand new information.
Kinesthetic learners learn best by experience, by being involved physically in classroom experiences. They remember information well when they actively participate in activities, field trips and role playing. A combination of stimuli (e.g. audio tape combined with an activity) will help them to understand new material.
Methodology
A set of questionnaires was distributed to 180 respondents in order to collect data. The questionnaire is adopted from ‘A Learning Style Survey for College’ written by Catherine Jester. The questionnaires consist of questions related to respondents’
preferences of learning styles. Respondents stated their gender in order for the researchers to find out whether this has any effect on their learning styles preferences.
The 103respondents were ESL learners of one of the faculties in KUIM – Faculty of Leadership and Management. These 103 respondents are majoring in Bachelor of Da’wah
and Communication. Besides distributing questionnaire, informal interviews with some of the respondents were also conducted in order to triangulate the data collected.
Distribution of questionnaires was done by both researchers to 103 respondents of that particular faculty in KUIM. Upon collecting the questionnaires, they were analysed accordingly. As for the interview, respondents of the Faculty of Leadership and Management were picked at random.
In analysing the data, the researchers analysed to get the percentages of what kind of learning styles preferred by the learners. It was also analysed according to the respondents’ gender. In a way, the data was analysed in categories and this will help the researchers to see the result clearly.
Data Analysis
The results of the most preferred language learning styles according to gender are presented in the tables below :
Table 1 : Language Learning Styles Preferred by Female Learners (81 respondents)
RANK STYLE %
1 VISUAL 96.3
2 KINESTHETIC 68
3 AUDITORY 62.7
4 TACTILE 56.8
This table shows that majority of KUIM learners in the Faculty of Leadership and Management prefer visual learning style.
Table 2 : Language Learning Styles Preferred by Male Learners (22 respondents)
RANK STYLE %
1 KINESTHETIC 91
2 VISUAL 86.4
3 AUDITORY 59 4 TACTILE 41
The majority of KUIM male learners in the Faculty of Leadership and Management prefer kinesthetic learning style followed by visual learning style.
Table 3 : Language Learning Styles Preferred by Male and Female Learners (Overall 103 respondents)
RANK STYLE %
1 VISUAL 97.1
2 KINESTHETIC 74.8
3 AUDITORY 62.1
4 TACTILE 53.3
The majority of the respondents (both male and female) in the Faculty of Leadership and Management prefer visual learning style followed by kinesthetic learning style.
Implications
Learners have been exposed to visual learning style from an early age from example textbooks, notes, diagrams on blackboards etc. Hence, they are used to learning using visual style. As they grow up, they tend to use this kind of learning style and get used to it in all their learning process.
As we can see, the male learners prefer kinesthetic learning style more than visual learning style. This is because they do not like conventional teaching style like lecture as they learn best by being involved physically such as role play, field trips and group discussion. This is in line with the typical perception of the natural traits of the male gender.
As Restak (1979) and Cheang at al (1997) researched, male and female learners prefer different learning styles. This study consolidated this finding in which it has been proven that the male prefer kinesthetic learning style while the female prefer visual learning style.
Therefore, ELT practitioners should consider gender when choosing teaching techniques and also in designing teaching materials because all these do affect the learning outcome of the learners. If the teaching styles match their learning styles, they will be more enthusiastic to learn and thus perform better in their studies and vice versa.
As for auditory and tactile learning styles, they have been overlooked by ELT practitioners. On the other hand, more emphasis has been given to enhance visual
learning style. Therefore, efforts should be made to explore teaching techniques which can inculcate auditory and tactile learning styles among learners.
References Bada, E. & Okan, Z. 2000 Students’ Language Learning Preferences. http://www- writing.berkeley.edu:16080/tesl-ej/ej15/a1.html. Accessed on 22 February 2006.
Felder, R. & Brent, R. 2005. Understanding Students Differences. Journal of Engineering Education, 94(1), pp 57-72.
Felder, R. & Soloman, B. Learning Styles and Strategies. http://www.ncsu.edu/felder- public/ILSdir/styles.htm. Accessed on 21 Mar 2006.
Felder, R. Matters of Style. http://www.ncsu.edu/felder-public/Papers/LS-Prism.htm.
Accessed on 21 Mar 2006.
Felder, R.(1995) Learning and Teaching Styles in Foreign and Second Language Education. Foreign Language Annals, 28(1) pp 21-31.
Biodata of Presenters
Zarina Ashikin Zakaria is a lecturer in Faculty of Major Languages, Kolej Universiti Islam Malaysia (KUIM), Bandar Baru Nilai. She has 6 years of experience in teaching tertiary level students. Her areas of interest are Extensive Reading, Learning Styles and also Testing and Evaluation. She is looking forward to pursue her PhD. in the future.
Norhana Abdullah has 16 years of English Language teaching. She is currently a lecturer in Faculty of Major Languages, Kolej Universiti Islam Malaysia (KUIM). Her area of interest is Learning Styles and culture in ESL.
