Every teacher's aim is to help students function in English at the highest level possible. We always try to be sensitive to each student’s capability for learning new material. However this is difficult when faced with a classroom full of mixed ability learners. The challenge we face is to pinpoint the differences and then teach accordingly.

There is a trend in recently published textbooks to incorporate learning strategies. Research has shown that this can contribute to the success of the EFL student. Although the learning strategies have been dealt with, there has been almost no reference to the learner styles that they reflect. All learners use strategies, but not necessarily ones that will improve their English.

In our work in the field, we have seen many students struggle with EFL exercises. They don't seem to use the right strategies. Consequently, we found ourselves trying to analyze their difficulties, in order to facilitate their learning. We noticed that not every student handled language learning activities in the same way.

In this workshop we showed the crucial role learner styles and learning strategies have on making EFL activities effective. We believe our method of analyzing EFL material helps students with different learner styles to succeed in studying English.

Handouts from our presentation

RELEVANT WEB SITES
Ways to Help the Learner Succeed with Listening Comprehension
Personal Learning Style Inventory
What is Learner Autonomy and How Can It Be Fostered? (see section 4. Conditions for Learner Autonomy)
Maximizing Multiple Intelligences Through Multimedia

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