Language Learning Styles and
Learners Achievement in EFL Classroom
Muhammad
Handi Gunawan
Retno
Wiyati
Learning
is an active process of gaining knowledge, insights, and skills through study,
experience, or instruction. Learning is considered successful if there is a
significant change from not knowing something to knowing it well and it is
permanently possessed. There are two elements in learning: learning styles and
learning strategies. Learning styles are internally based characteristics of
individuals for the intake or understanding of new information (Reid:1995). In
other words, learning styles are the styles or the preferences the learners
exhibit in learning the language. There are three different styles of learning:
visual learner, auditory learner, and kinesthetic learner. Visual learners are
those who remember some information better if they see or read the new
information rather than hear it, because they learn primarily with their eyes. Auditory
learners are those who prefer hearing the information and listening to the teacher’s
oral explanation. If there are no teachers, they will read the information out
loud to let them hear what they learn. Kinesthetic learners are those who have
problems learning something that they hear or read because they need to learn
the new information through hands-on experience or through total physical
involvement. This is the way the kinesthetic learners remember when they learn.
After
the teacher identifies the learner learning styles, he should be responsible
for designing and implementing the materials which are suitable with the
students’ needs, strengths or weaknesses, and their learning preferences. For
visual learners, the teacher should use resources that must be seen or read:
the chalkboard, posters, bulletin boards, books, magazines, manuals, programmed
learning materials, drawings, pictures, graphs, diagrams, films, filmstrips,
transparencies, etc. For auditory
learners, the teacher must provide many resources for hearing: lectures,
discussions, small group talk, records, tapes, videotapes, television, etc. For
kinesthetic learners, the teacher must have the manipulative and
three-dimensional materials that are touchable and moveable: origami, recipes,
reading instruction, etc.
The discussions on learning styles and learning strategies
underscore the important contribution to the success of EFL learners since
Smith and Renzully (1984) argued that matching learning styles has a positive
impact on student’s achievement, interests, motivation and identifying
student’s learning and providing appropriate instruction contribute to more
effective learning (Sims and Sims: 1995). In addition, we believe that when an
individual is participating in a learning task, the learning is usually
accomplished more rapidly and retained longer if it is presented in ways that
individual prefers (Claxton and Ralston:1978).
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Gunawan, M. H., & Wiyati, R. (2003, October). Language
learning styles and learners achievement in EFL classroom. Paper presented
at the 51st TEFLIN International Conference,
Website: www.geocities.com/eltindonesia
Email: eltindonesia@yahoo.com