LEARNERS’ STYLES

CHAPTER 7
Taking Learners into
Consideration
How much similar is this cartoon to the classroom you are
teaching in?
 Strength is one-dimensional.

If you can lift 100 pounds of wood, you can lift 100
pounds of lead. Weight is weight.

But, if you can solve a math problem, can you write

an essay? Beat the stock market? Design a dress?

Learning is NOT one-dimensional!

“They’re not dumb, they’re different.”
Tobias, 1990.
 Learning styles

Learning styles refer to a range of competing and

contested theories that aim to account for
differences in individuals' learning. These theories
propose that all people can be classified according
to their style of learning, although the various
theories present differing views on how the styles
should be defined and categorised. A common
concept is that individuals differ in how they learn
 
 “Learning style theory can be defined as the
way human beings prefer to concentrate on,
store and remember new and/or difficult
information.”
 There are about 70 learning styles

The VAK Theory

 Visual Learners
 Someone with a Visual learning style has a
preference for seen or observed things,
including pictures, diagrams, demonstrations,
displays, handouts, films, flip-chart, etc. These
people will use phrases such as ‘show me’,
‘let’s have a look at that’ and will be best able
to perform a new task after reading the
instructions or watching someone else do it
first. These are the people who will work from
lists and written directions and instructions.
 Tactics for the visual style
• Use maps, flow charts, or webs to organize
materials
• Highlight and color code books/notes to
organize and relate material
• Have students pick out key words and ideas in
their own writing and highlight them in
different colors to clearly reveal organizational
patterns
• Write out checklists of needed formulas,
commonly misspelled words, etc.
• Write out and use flash cards for review of
material
• Draw pictures or cartoons of concepts
• Write down material on slips of paper and
move them around into proper sequence. (Can
be done on PC too)
• Use the chalkboard (them and you) to note
important information
• If using the computer, have the student
experiment with different font sizes and styles
to enhance readability.
 Auditory Learners
 Someone with an Auditory learning style has a
preference for the transfer of information
through listening: to the spoken word, of self or
others, of sounds and noises. These people will
use phrases such as ‘tell me’, ‘let’s talk it over’
and will be best able to perform a new task after
listening to instructions from an expert. These
are the people who are happy being given
spoken instructions over the telephone, and can
remember all the words to songs that they hear!
Auditory learners often talk to themselves. They
also may move their lips and read out loud. They
may have difficulty with reading and writing
tasks. They often do better talking to a colleague or
a tape recorder and hearing what was said.
 Tactics for the Auditory Style
• Engage the student in conversation about the
subject matter
• Question students about the material
• Ask for oral summaries of material
• Have them tape lectures and review them with
you
• Have them tape themselves reviewing material
and listen to it together
• Read material aloud to them
• Use a talking calculator
• Have them put material to a rhythm or tune
and rehearse it aloud
 Kinesthetic or Tactile Learners
 Someone with a Kinesthetic learning style has a
preference for physical experience - touching,
feeling, holding, doing, practical hands-on
experiences. These people will use phrases
such as ‘let me try’, ‘how do you feel?’ and will
be best able to perform a new task by going
ahead and trying it out, learning as they go.
These are the people who like to experiment,
hands-on, and never look at the instructions
first!
Tactics for Kinesthetic or Tactile Learners

• Write out checklists of materials to be learned

or looked for
• Trace words and diagrams on paper
• Use textured paper and experiment with
different sizes of pens, pencils, and crayons to
write down information
• Use role play or dramatize concepts. Students
can move objects around to dramatize a
concept or act out the concept themselves.
• Ask the student to envision a scene in which
the material to be learned is being used or
acted out somehow.  For example: a student
could imagine being a character in a novel.
• Have the student take notes (on paper, word
processor, in textbooks) while reading or
listening.
• Use some form of body movement (snapping
fingers, pacing, mouthing ideas) while reciting
material to be learned.
 Other Learning Styles
The Reflective Learner
1. Process introspectively
2. Work quietly
3. “Let’s think about it.”
4. Delay starting
5. Like solo or pair work
6. Thinking quietly first.
7. While reading, stop periodically and review,
think of possible questions and applications.
8. Write summaries of readings or notes in own
words.
 The Sequential Learner
1. Can function with partial understanding
2. Make steady progress
3. Explain easily
4. Focus on analysis, details (the trees)
 The Global Learner
1. Need the big picture to function
2. Initially slow, then major leaps
3. Can’t explain easily
4. Focus on synthesis, systems thinking (the
forest)
 The Social/ interpersonal Learner
 A student who learns this way can often be
found in conversation, either listening or
talking, aiming to understand the thoughts of
others and communicate their own ideas.
 This type of learner will be more motivated than
most to express their own thoughts and feelings
while respecting the thoughts and feelings of
others. For example, a social/interpersonal
learner might be more apt to remember to ask
others how they are doing, rather than focusing
on only their own situation. As this person
matures, they become skilled at balancing their
own needs and the needs of others because of
this desire to facilitate good relationships.
 Activities for social/interpersonal learners:
-Take place in an interview
-Role Play
-Someone’s shoes activity
-Brainstorm ideas
-Presentations
-Give Advice / instructions activity
 The Solitary Learner
Solitary or Intrapersonal Learners are the opposite
of Social/Interpersonal Learners. These people
much rather prefer the company of themselves,
rather than others. Solitary Learners do their best
work when they are in a quiet space with nobody
else around to distract them.
 They enjoy spending time by themselves (this
doesn't necessarily mean that they always hate
to be around others) Solitary Learners are also
very in touch with themselves. They always
know exactly how they're feeling and what
they need to make themselves feel better. They
also spend a lot of time in self analysis, trying
to decipher why they reacted a certain way to a
certain situation.
Activities for solitary learners:
- Cross-word puzzle
- Summarize
- Follow the line of action to predict ending
- Brainstorm ideas
 So What?
1. It should be remembered that each person's learning
style is a combination of perceiving and processing
information

2. “Each may learn”

3. Instructors must plan and implement student-
centered lessons not teacher-centered lessons
(modify your lesson plan fit your students not
you.)
4. Students need to learn strategies for coping with
varied learning environments and how to modify
or generalize strategies for novel situations.
5. Individualize your teaching as much as possible:
Instead of “one size fits all,” learn as much as you
can about each student, and teach each person in
ways that they find comfortable and learn
effectively. Of course this is easier to accomplish
with smaller classes.
6. Pluralize your teaching: Teach important
materials in several ways, not just one (e.g.
through stories, works of art, diagrams, role play).
In this way you can reach students who learn in
different ways. Also, by presenting materials in
various ways, you convey what it means to
understand something well. If you can only teach
in one way, your own understanding is likely to be
thin.
 The Rainbow Strategy

The big question is:

What do you think of having a whole session of
oral reading?
Or a whole session of reading comprehension?
Or a whole session of grammar?

Boring!!!!!
Killing!!!!
 Never make the learning session of “ one
color”.
 Make it a “ rainbow” session.

So,
1. Vary skills.
For example:
Speaking & reading
Reading & writing
Grammar & Writing
2. Vary activities to suit the multiple learning
styles and meet learners’ interests
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