An investigation into english learning styles of the 11th grade students and some suggested activities = nghiên cứu phong cách học tiếng anh của học sinh lớp 11 và một vài hoạt động gợi ý

Students’ Ideas about the importance degree of learning styles in English leaning success .... Students’ Opinion about the Importance of Learning Styles in Target Language Leaning .... C

Vinh University

Foreign language department

-*** -

Nguyễn Thị Thanh Loan

An investigation into English learning styles

activities

(Nghiên cứu phong cách học tiếng anh của học sinh lớp

11 và một vài hoạt động gợi ý)

Graduation thesis

Field: English Methodology

Vinh, 2009

Vinh University Foreign language department

-*** -

An investigation into English learning styles

activities

(Nghiên cứu phong cách học tiếng anh của học sinh lớp

11 và một vài hoạt động gợi ý)

Graduation thesis Field: English Methodology

My graduation thesis has been completed with great support from my teachers, friends and members of my family

First of all, I would like to gratefully and respectfully acknowledge my supervisor, Mrs Nguyen Thi Van Lam (M.A) for her enormously useful advice, constant and tirelessness helps and support when doing this thesis Without her help, this thesis would not have finished

Additionally, I wish to express my deep gratitude to the foreign language librarian who gives much useful help to get necessary materials for this thesis Also, I am really thankful for the enthusiastic participation of students and teachers in Le Hong Phong High School who give me a great deal of help to finish this thesis

Finally, I am grateful to my dedicated friends and my beloved family who give me a great deal of encouragement and useful advice during my studying process

Vinh, December, 25th 2008

Abbreviations

FLA: First Language Acquisition

SLA: Second Language Learning

SLL: Second Language Learning

Lists of figures

Figure 2.1 Students and Their Interest in Leaning English 17 Figure 2.2 Chart Showing Students and their Interest in Leaning English 18 Figure 2.3 Students’ Personalities 18 Figure 2.4 Chart Showing Students’ Personalities 19 Figure 2.5 Students’ Opinion about their Favorite Activities 19 Figure 2.6 Chart Showing Students’ Opinion about the Favorite Activities 19 Figure 2.8 Students’ Ideas about the importance degree of learning styles

in English leaning success 20 Figure 2.7 Students’ Opinion about the Importance of Learning Styles in Target Language Leaning 21 Figure 2.9 Chart Showing Students’ Ideas about the Importance Degree of Learning Styles in English Leaning Success 21 Figure 2.10 The Frequency Degree of Teacher’s Using Variety of Activities in the Class 22 Figure 2.11 Students’ Opinion about Teachers’ Teaching Styles 23 Figure 2.12 Chart Showing Students’ Opinion about Teachers’ Teaching Styles 23 Figure 2.13 Students’ Satisfaction about Teacher’s Pedagogical Methods 23 Figure 2.14 Chart Showing Students’ Satisfaction about Teacher’s Pedagogical Methods 24 Figure 2.15 Students’ Change in Learning Ways 24 Figure 2.16 Students' Understanding about Their Learning Styles 25 Figure 2.17 Chart Shows Percentage of Students' Perceptual Learning Styles 25 Figure 2.18 Percentage of Students' Perceptual Learning Styles 25 Figure 2.19 Students' answers to questions about cognitive learning styles 26 Figure 2.20 Types of Cognitive Learning styles 27

table of contents

Acknowledgements I

Abbreviations II

Lists of figures III

Table of contents Iv

Part I: Introduction 1

1 Reasons for Choosing the Topic 1

2 Aims of the Study 1

3 Scope of the Study 2

4 Methods of the Study 2

5 Design of the Study 2

Part II: DEVELOPMENT 3

Chapter 1: Theoretical Background 3

1.1 First and Second Language Learning: 3

1.1.1 First and Second Language: 3

1.1.2 Learning and Acquisition: 3

1.1.3 First and Second Language Learning: 3

1.1.3.1 Behaviourist: 3

1.1.3.2 Innatism: 4

1.1.3.3 Interactionist Position: 5

1.2 Factors Affecting Second Language Learning 5

1.3 Learning Styles 6

1.3.1 Definition: 6

1.3.2 Classification 7

1.3.3 Factors affecting learning styles 10

1.4 Application of Learning Styles into teaching English 11

1.5 Ways to Identify Students’ Learning Styles: 12

1.5.1 Observation: 12

1.5.2 Questionnaire: 13

1.5.3 Interview: 14

Chapter 2: Investigation into Students' Learning Styles in Le Hong Phong High School- Nghe An 15

2.1 Overview of the Survey: 15

2.1.1 Aims of the Survey: 15

2.1.2 Informant and Settings: 15

2.2 Description of the Survey Questionnaires: 16

2.2.1 Survey Questionnaires: 16

2.2.2 Results and Findings: 17

Chapter 3: Suggestions for Teachers to Use Variety of Activities to Agree Students’ Learning Style 29

3.1 Preparation of Lesson Plans: 29

3.2 Suggestions of Some Appropriate Activities for Each Learner: 30

3.2.1 For Visual learners: 30

3.2.1.1 Using Visual Aids in Teaching: 30

3.2.1.2 Writing Story through Pictures 31

3.2.1.3 Remembering Words 32

3.2.1.4 Movie – watching 33

3.2.2 For Auditory learners: 34

3.2.2.1 Using Audio Aids: 34

3.2.2.2 Story- telling: 35

3.2.2.3 Using Music in Class: 36

3.2.2.4 Listening in Motion: 38

3.2.2.5 Repeating Hard Words: 39

3.2.3 For Kinesthetic Learner: 40

3.2.3.1 Using Visual Aids and Objects: 40

3.2.3.2 Role- playing: 40

3.2.3.3 Action Games: 41 3.3 Suggestions for Students to Take Advantages of Their Strengths in

Learning English 42

3.3.1 For Visual Learner: 43

3.3.3 For Kinesthetic Learners: 44

3.3.2 For Auditory Learners 44

Part III : Conclusion 45

Preference 47

Appendix 51

Part I: Introduction

1 Reasons for Choosing the Topic

Learning style is an important factor that affects to the second language learning (SLL) In fact, many researchers and teachers seem to know of the concept, and most of them find learning styles interesting and important However, there is little research that reveals about the relationship between learning styles and success in English learning Therefore, the author would like to find out more information about learning styles and its application in teaching English

Moreover, the classroom teachers tend to ignore students’ learning styles although they know that there are always many kinds of learning styles in a class Meanwhile each learner has his own way to learn and to process information, teachers often only use the same methods to teach This leads to the low results in the teaching and learning process Thus, the author would like to present some suggestions that may be useful for teachers to adjust these teaching styles so that they are suitable for students' learning styles Lastly, the author is being trained to be a teacher of English in the near future She is aware that knowing and catering to students’ learning styles can help them a great deal to improve their English

With all the reasons above, the author finds it interesting to conduct this

study entitled “An Investigation into English Learning Styles of the 11 th grade students and Some Suggested Activities”

2 Aims of the Study

The study aims at

- Investigating into learning styles and its benefits in second language learning

- Providing teachers, students with activities needed to satisfy students’ learning styles in classroom

- Providing students with some clues for them to help themselves in learning English

3 Scope of the Study

In the limitation of a thesis, the author only wishes to help focus on learning styles and the importance of learning styles, some suggestions for students to help them to make use of their strengths and some clues for teachers to satisfy students’ learning styles in classroom

4 Methods of the Study

To complete this study, the following methods were employed:

- analytic and synthetic methods

- comparative and contrastive methods

- descriptive methods Firstly, the author uses analytic and synthetic methods to review the theories related to the matter in concerned to form a theoretical framework for the analysis, collect books and materials, find and select necessary information

Then, the information received from the survey is analyzed and sorted to make a clear distinction about students learning styles The results are arranged into categories for comparison

Finally, descriptive methods are used to make a description about some activities suitable for each learning styles

5 Design of the Study

The thesis consists of three main parts: introduction, development and conclusion

Part I: Introduction

This part includes five sub-parts: reasons, aims, scope, methods and design of the study

Part II: Development

This part consists of three chapters:

Chapter 1: Theoretical Background

In this chapter, the author reviews some aspects of theory that relate to learning styles as a theoretical background for the study The theories about first and second language learning and factors affecting second language learning are presented in the comparison with the first language learning Additionally, learning style's definitions and classifications are presented form different points of view The author also discusses the factors affecting students' learning styles and ways to identify their learning styles

Chapter 2: Investigation into Students' Learning Styles in Le Hong Phong High School- Nghe An

In this chapter, the results of a survey on students' learning styles in Le Hong Phong High School are presented with some comments and anlysis The author describes the aims, informant and settings, survey questionnaires, results and findings to make the clear understanding about students' learning styles in high school

Chapter 3: Suggested Teaching and Learning Activities for Different Learning Styles

In this chapter, suggested activities for teachers are presented first to help them accommodate students' learning styles at the classroom level Additionally, activities for students are discussed to help them make use of their strengths in learning styles

Part III: Conclusion

This part summarizes what has been discussed in the two parts above and offers some suggestions for further studies

Part 2: DEVELOPMENT

Chapter 1: Theoretical Background 1.2 First and Second Language Learning

1.2.1 First and Second Language

First language is the language that an individual learn first First language is also called native language or mother tongue

Second language is defined as any language other than the first language in a wide sense In narrower sense, it is a language learned after the first language in

a context where the language is used widely in the speech community

1.1.2 Learning and Acquisition

Learning is a conscious process of study and attention to form and rule learning The results of learning are the explicit knowledge about the form of a language and the ability to verbalize this knowledge In contrast, acquisition is the natural way and this definition refers to an unconscious process that involves through using language for meaningful communication

According to Krashen (1982, cited in Nguyen Thi Van Lam and Ngo Dinh Phuong 2007), acquisition is the more important process and he asserts that only acquired language is readily available for natural, fluent communication Further,

he claims that learning cannot turn into acquisition

1.1.3 First and Second Language Learning

There have been three main theoretical approaches to explaining the relation between first and second language learning: behaviorist, annatist and interactionist approaches

1.1.3.1 Behaviourist

Behaviorism is a psychological theory of learning which was very influential

in the 1940s and 1950s Traditional behaviourists believed that language learning

is the result of imitation, practice, feedback on success and habit formation Behaviorism accounts for second language acquisition (SLA) with the same theory as for first language acquisition (FLA) Behaviorists explain that the

process of learning first language as well as the second language can take place through imitation, practice, reinforcement and habit formation Language development is viewed as the formation of habits formed in the first language and these habits interfere with the new ones needed for the second language (Lado 1964, cited in Nguyen Thi Van Lam and Ngo Dinh Phuong 2007)

Behaviourism was often linked to the Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis (CAH) which was developed by structured linguists The CAH predicts that where there are similarities between the first language and the target language, the learner will acquire target structures with ease and where there are differences, the learner will have difficulties (Nguyen Thi Van Lam and Ngo Dinh Phuong, 2007)

1.1.3.2 Innatism

The linguist Noam Chomsky claims that children are biologically programmed for language and that language develops in the child in just the same way that other biological functions develop For Chomsky, language acquisition is similar to the way the children learn to walk The environment - the availability of people who speak to the child - and the child's biological endowment will do the rest In Chomsky's writing, language acquisition is based

on the hypothesis that innate knowledge of the principles of Universal Grammar (UG) permits all the children to acquire the language of their environment, during a critical period in their development According to Chomsky's theory, he explains Universal Grammar as a set of principles that are common to all languages and argues that the language acquisition device works successfully only when it is stimulated at the right time called "Critical period"

Linguists working within innatist theory assume that the U.G offer the best perspective from which to understand SLA Krashen (1982, cited in Nguyen Thi Van Lam and Ngo Dinh Phuong 2007) presented five hypotheses which constitute what he calls the "Monitor Model" by origin: Acquisition- Learning Hypothesis, Monitor Hypothesis, Natural Order Hypothesis, Input Hypothesis and Effective Filter Hypothesis

1.1.3.3 Interactionist Position

According to the Interactionist Position, language develops as a result of the complex interplay between the uniquely human characteristics of the child and the environment in which the child develops (Cited in the Nguyen Thi Van Lam and Ngo Dinh Phuong, 2007) In the Interactionists' point of view, much second language acquisition takes place through conversational interaction Besides, Lex Vygosky had the sociocutural theory of human mental processing which assumes that language develops entirely from social interaction He referred to the child's

zone of proximal development as what the child could do in interaction with

another

In short, behaviorism can explain how some aspects of the language such as word meanings and some language routines are learned Innatism can account for the complexity of the knowledge that all learners eventually attain Interactionists view that learners develop language through one-to-one interaction

1.2 Factors Affecting Second Language Learning

There are many factors that affect second language learning (SLL) Some of them are intelligence, aptitude, personality, motivation, attitudes and learner preferences (Nguyen Thi Van Lam and Ngo Dinh Phuong, 2007)

Intelligence is one of the factors which are related to success in SLL The term "intelligence” refers to performance on certain kinds of tests The new way

of testing the relation between intelligence and second language learners’ success called IQ (intelligence quotient) came into being as a good means of predicting the rate of success of language learners

Aptitude is also a factor that has an effect on second language learning Aptitude is considered such as a special ability to learn a foreign language quickly It consists of different types of abilities such as to identify and memorize new sounds, to understand the function of particular words in sentences; how words function grammatically in sentences, to figure out grammatical rules from language samples and memory for new words

Personality is another factor believed to have many effects on the success

in learning Some studies have found that success in language learning is correlated with learner scores on characteristic often associated with extroversion such as assertiveness and adventurousness; others have found that successful learners do not get high score on measures of extroversion Inhibition, self- esteem, empathy, dominance, talkativeness, and responsiveness are also factors

of personality affecting students’ leaning in some degrees

Furthermore, motivation and positive attitudes are viewed to affect success

in SLL The overall findings show that positive attitudes and motivation are related to success in second language learning There are two kinds of motivation

in learning; they are integrative motivation which refers to language learning for personal growth and cultural enrichment and entrustment motivation for language learning for more immediate or practical goals Linguistics proves that internal motivation is better than external motivation

Additionally, learner preferences (learning styles and learner belief) exert an effect on the process of second language learning Learner beliefs are usually based on previous learning experiences and the assumptions that a particular type

of instruction is the best way for them to learn Learning styles are the ways learners use to absorb, process and retain the new information Learners’ preferences for learning will influence the kinds of strategies they use in order to learn new material The teacher can use this information to help leaners expand their repertoire of learning strategies and thus develop greater flexibility in their ways of approaching language learning

1.3 Learning Styles

1.3.1 Definition

The layman’s understanding of learning styles is something like the way in which you learn or the special strengths and tactics of the learner These

definitions are very broad to be of any practical use

According to Light Bown and Spada (1995, cited in Nguyen Thi Van Lam and Ngo Dinh Phuong 2007), the term “learning styles” has been used to

describe an individual’s natural, habitual and preferred way of absorbing, processing and retaining new information and skills This definition is used widely in academic

For Dunn and Dunn (1978), learning styles is the way in which each individual learner to begin to concentrate on, process, absorb and retain new and difficult information This seems similar to Light Bown and Spada’s definition Curry (1987) speaks of “individual differences in individual cognitive approach and process of learning”, Kolb (1984) defines it as “dialectic tension between the apprehension and transformation dimensions”

Mc Cathy (1987) defines learning style as “the combination of how we perceive and how we process that forms the uniqueness of our learning styles, our most comfortable way to learn.”

Also, there are many researchers and scholar who have been trying to define learning style and most of them focus on students’ ways to absorb, process and retain new information

1.3.2 Classification

According to Gardner (1993), there are eight types of learning styles: Verbal (linguistic), logical (mathematic), visual (partial), bodily (kinesthetic), musical (rhythmic), interpersonal, intrapersonal and naturalistic learning styles

Kolb (1984) classifies four major learning styles: imaginative learners, analytic learners, common sense learners and dynamic learners Imaginative learners can perceive information concretely, process information by thinking about it They want to listen and share information to learn and need to personally involve in and see all sides

Analytic learners can perceive information abstractly and process information by thinking about it Furthermore, they need details and specific ideas They are also skilled verbally and often integrate their observation into what they already know

Common sense learners are those who perceive information abstractly The most prominent characteristic of this kind of the learners is that they process information by doing it They are problem solvers and are skills oriented They like to experiment and tinker with things Common sense learners need to know how things work and want to work on real problems They especially want to apply learning into real purposes

Dynamic learners perceive information concretely They also process information by doing They like changes and are risk-takers They are not sequential and like to pursue interests in diverse ways

According to Light Bown and Spada (1999, cited in Nguyen Thi Van Lam and Ngo Dinh Phuong 2007), there are two types of learning styles: perceptual and cognitive learning styles

Perceptual learning styles are based on perception-aware of directly through any of the senses, especially sight or hearing There are five subtypes

of perceptual learning styles They are visual learners, auditory learners, kinesthetic learners, tactile learners and haptic learners

Visual learners prefer using images, pictures, colors and maps to organize information and communicate with others This kind of learner cannot learn something well until they have seen it Visual learners have a good spatial sense, which gives them good sense of direction

Kinesthetic learners learn more effectively through concrete body experience or body movement They often use their body and sense of touch

to learn about the world around They like to think out issues, ideas and problems while they exercise

Auditory learners can learn effectively through the ears They have good sense of pitch and rhythm Moreover, they can remember tunes and sound patterns more easily than others

Tactile learners can learn more effectively through touching Tactile learners are those who learn through experiencing or doing things For this reason, tactile learners may become bored more quickly than other students

while listening to a class lecture Tactile learners like to experience the world and act out events To remember a phone number, tactile learners may remember the pattern of their fingers as the press the numbers

Haptic learners can learn more effectively through touching and body movement, a combination of the kinesthetic and tactile styles Haptic learning refers to the sense of touch or grasp These learners like a "hands on" approach to learning, like to do artwork or doodle on notebooks, and succeed with tasks requiring manipulation

In cognitive learning styles, Light Bown and Spada (1999) divide them into two subtypes: field-independent learners and field-dependent learners Field-independent learners are more analytical, they can pick out hidden figures in a complicated drawing more quickly They tend to perceive elements independently of a context or field and focus on details or see the details separate from the background

Field dependent learners are more relational and more inclined to see the whole drawing and have difficulties separating it into parts They tend to perceive the whole field or situation and focus on general meaning They see things more holistically or generally

Listed below are the principal characteristics of the two cognitive styles and the implications of each for second language learning (Ellis, 1993)

1 Impersonal orientation

i.e reliance on internal frame of

reference in processing information

1 Personal orientation

i.e reliance on external frame of reference in processing information

2 Analytic

i.e perceives a field in terms of its

component parts; parts are

distinguished from background

2 Holistic

i.e perceives field as a whole; parts are fused with background

i.e sense of separate identity i.e the self view is derived from

others

4 Socially sensitive

i.e greater skill in

interpersonal/social relationships

4 Not so socially aware

i.e less skilled in interpersonal/social relationships

In the scope of a thesis, the author would like to deal with three main kinds

of perceptual learning styles (visual, auditory and kinesthetic ) and two main kinds of cognitive learning styles (field-independent, field-dependent)

1.3.3 Factors Affecting Learning Styles

There are several factors that can influence a student’s learning styles They are environmental, personality, developmental and psychological factors

The environment can affect all learning styles to some degree Some students achieve better in warm environments and others in cool environments (Hart, 1981) If the room is too hot or too cold, or if there is outside noise making it difficult to concentrate or hear, all learning will be affected However, some learners may be more affected than others Other environmental factors that may affect learning include furniture or design Some people prefer studying in a wooden, plastic, or steel chair, but others become so uncomfortable in conventional classroom seats that they are prevented from learning

A student’s personality can also have some bearing on his or her preferred learning style A normally outgoing person may need to engage in group activities so that they feel they have a chance to discuss the learning More reserved people may resist group activities and prefer to work alone Therefore, students’ own emotion may also affect their ability to learn

One of the most important things to understand about learning styles is that they are developmental in nature Your learning style changes over time, based

on your experiences and your level of education This is a natural process, so people who have been out of school for some time may be surprised to find that they do not learn the same way they remember learning before

Sociological factors may also affect learning Teachers need to be aware of the students’ learning styles under various conditions Variations that enhance,

or inhibit, learning may include learning alone, in pairs, in small groups, as part

of a team, with either an authoritative or a collegial adult, and wanting variety as opposed to patterns and routines (Dunn and Dunn, 1993)

Physiological characteristics are another factor that can affect students' learning These characteristics refer to when and how students learn best Understanding students’ physiological characteristics is an effective way for teachers to help students learn based on their perceptual strengths The characteristics include time of day, outside stimulation, energy level, and mobility while studying Some like to eat, chew gum, or drink while learning Some older students may even prefer to smoke while learning Still other students may have perceptual strengths in the area of energy level or mobility They may study better or work better in a classroom situation if they can move around while learning and not be confined to one desk space (Dunn and Dunn, 1993)

1.4 Application of Learning Styles into Teaching English

Learner’s preferences for learning, whether due to their learning styles or their belief about how languages are learned will influence the kinds of strategies they choose to learn new materials Teachers can use this information to help their learners to expand their repertoire of learning strategies and thus develop greater flexibility in their ways of approaching language learning Students not only can identify preferred learning styles, but students can score higher on tests, have better attitudes, and are more efficient if they are taught in ways to which they can more easily relate Therefore, it is an advantage that the teacher should take of to teach students in their preferred styles

Even though learning styles will differ among students in the classroom, the teacher should try to make changes in their classroom that will be beneficial to every learning style Some of these changes include room redesign, the

development of small group technique, preparation of lesson plans, appropriate activities for each learner etc

One of the key factors for students in having acknowledge of their learning styles is improved self-esteem (Martin and Potter, 1998) “Now these at-risk students exhibit confidence and accept responsibility for their own learning” (Perrin, 1990, p.24) When they are willing to struggle to learn, they can be more

in control of their environment and ask for what they need (Martin and Potter, 1998)

Many believe that “schools should spend more time developing students’ awareness of their styles rather than pushing teachers into more in service workshops” about adapting curriculum (O’ Brien, 1989, p.85) When students understand their learning styles, they no longer feel different because they require total quiet to study Meanwhile others involve in activities actively

Dunn (1993) claims that “students can learn almost any subject matter” when they are taught with methods and approaches responsive to their learning styles strengths; these same students fail when they are taught in an instructional style dissonant with their strengths

1.5 Ways to Identify Students’ Learning Styles

There are many ways to identify students’ learning styles Below the author would like to present three most popular ways for teachers to apply at the class level They are observation, interview and questionnaires

things and have a good sense of parts to the whole and remember places by descriptions or images Kinesthetic learners have a good sense of balance They are graceful in movement They have tendency to solve the problem through doing and use gestures They feel ease in manipulating objects and especially good at physical activities Auditory learners are often sensitive to sound and have good sense of pitch They are good at remembering tunes and sound patterns

However, this method is limited in observable behaviors and it is rather difficult to make exact statistics of students’ learning styles

In an interview, teachers depend partly on students’ utterances to identify their learning styles because each learner often has different ways to express their ideas Visual learners often express their point of view by the phrases: “As I can see”, “let’s look at differences”, “I cannot quite picture it”, “see how this works for you”, “let’s draw a map ", etc Kinesthetic learners often say “that feel right to me”, “I have a good feeling about this”, etc Auditory learners speak of

“that sounds right”, “tune into what I am saying”, etc However, this way of assessment is limited in a small number of students It takes a very long time to investigate in the larger scope

1.5.3 Questionnaire

Using a questionnaire in the survey is the third way of learning styles identification In this way, the teacher uses a questionnaire including a certain number of questions relating to learning styles Using a questionnaire, the teacher can test and identify learning styles accurately (Beaty, 1986) For instance, it is difficult to determine whether a students’ hyperactivity is due to a need for mobility, an informal setting arrangement, kinesthetic resources or a lack of disciplines A questionnaire is a reliable and valid entrustment and only comprehensive one that can diagnose many learning styles traits that influence individuals (Shaughnessy, 1998)

One of the advantages of learning styles questionnaire is that it can assess the rate of different learning styles in a vast number of students It gets information accurately and simultaneously The analysis of the received information is also easier than interview and observation This way helps the teacher to collect even students’ attitudes and beliefs There are many researchers’ questionnaires which teachers can use to identify learners’ learning styles They are VAK survey (Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic), VARK survey (Visual, Auditory, Reading, Kinesthetic), Barbara Fretz’s Model or Ray Barsch’s Model, etc (Martin and Potter, 1998)

Observation, interview and questionnaire are the most popular ways for the teacher to assess students’ learning styles at class level Each way has its own benefits and difficulties The teacher should choose the sutable technique due to his aims and the scope of the identification Also, the teacher can use three techniques stimultaneously to get the highest results

To investigate English learning styles of students in Le Hong Phong High School, the author uses the third technique – questionnaire because of its accuracy and popularity

Chapter 2: Investigation into students' learning

styles in Le Hong Phong high school- Nghe An

2.1 Overview of the Survey

2.1.1 Aims of the Survey

Students' learning style has been considered one of the important factors affecting the learner's success in learning English Teachers' profound understanding about students' learning styles is the basis to promote learner's results Thus, it is essential to get hold of students' preferences or more specifically their learning styles Students’ learning styles may be different from one another despite the fact that they are taught by the same teachers and the same methods Although the survey occurs in the scope of students in class level, the survey will partly point out the facts about the application of learning styles

in learning English and the differences in the proportions of students' learning styles in high school

2.1.2 Informant and Settings:

After her teaching practice at Le Hong Phong High School, the author collects some information about English teaching and learning here There are six teachers of English, most of whom are still young (30- 35 years old) and responsible for their teaching There is only one teacher who passed the English teaching test in choosing excellent teachers of Nghe An province in 2009

There are three grades 10, 11 and 12 with 27 classes in Le Hong Phong High School in the school year 2008-2009 All of students are studying the new English textbooks Students in Le Hong Phong High School are not quite good at learning English There is only one 12th grade class learning the textbook English 12 (advanced) However, the result of English learning in this class is not very high There has been no excellent English student over the past few years

Grade 11 is considered to learn at the normal level in comparison with grade

10 and 12 The objectives of the survey are two classes 11A1 and 11A2 that are

acknowledged to be two best 11th grade classes in leaning English Having chances to practice teaching English in theses classes, the author finds that students here are quite interested in leaning English In fact, they are specialized

in Math, Physics, Biology and Chemistry However, they still pay attention to learning English The survey questionnaire was conducted among quite a large number of the students in these classes to investigate their learning styles

- Objects: 95 students from two classes of 11A1 and 11A2 in Le Hong Phong High School

- The form of carrying out the survey: using questionnaires and analysis the data

The first questionnaire including 15 questions helps make a clear and full understanding about students’ background, ideas and their preferred styles Question 1 reveals about how much time the students have been learning English for Question 2 shows us students’ interest in learning English Question 3 enables the author to analyze students’ personalities Question 4 shows the information about students’ most favorite activities in class Question 5 and 6 reveal about students’ ideas on the role of learning styles in the success of target language learning Question 7 estimates the frequency degree of the teacher’s using variety of activities in the class Questions 8 and 9 indicate students’

satisfaction about teaching styles Question 10 enables us to know how often students change their leaning ways Questions 11, 12 and 13 are the basis for the author to classify students into field dependent and field independent learners Question 14 shows students’ understanding about their learning styles Finally, question 15 reveals about students’ results in leaning in the last term

The second questionnaire helps the author classify students into three types: visual learners, auditory learners and kinesthetic learners There are 15 questions

in this questionnaire These questions aim to assess students’ learning styles due

to three subtypes: visual learners, auditory learners and kinesthetic learners Students will read the questions carefully and decide if they always apply the statements or sometimes or seldom Questions 1, 6, 10, 12 and 15 help the teacher to identify auditory learners Questions 2, 4, 7, 9 and 13 are used to assess visual learners Questions 3, 5, 8, 11 and 14 are used to identify kinesthetic learners

2.2.2 Results and Findings

All students in the survey learn English when they were in grade 6 They thus have been learning English for 6 years so far Classes 11A1 and 11A2 are the two best classes in learning English of grade 11 They are learning Basic English textbooks and have 3 classes of English per week and an English extra-class each week Although they are not specialized in English, and their majors are Math, Physics, Biology and Chemistry, they are mostly interested in leaning English (82.11 %) and only a small number of students do not enjoy leaning English (17.89%)

Below is the chart revealing about students' personality, one important factor effecting to students' learning styles

Figure 2.1 Students’ Personalities

As it can be seen clearly from the chart, talkativeness and activeness are two most popular personalities in students, 51.57 % and 36.84% espectively Self- esteem (34.47 %,) and sociability (32.65 %) rank the second group in students' personalities Approximately 20% of all are sensitive and reserved A few of students think that they are conservative and shy with the same percentage of 11.58% In short, mostly students think they are active, sociable, and talkative These personalities are extroversive and this is good for English learning process Additionally, question 4 shows us the students' opinions about the activities they like best in an English class The bar chart below shows the information about the activities which students believe that they are fruitful for their English learning As it can be seen from the chart, students' most favorite activity in the class is playing games 25.27% of students think that they learn best when they are involved in games The second favorite activity is listening sounds 17.89%

of them claim that listening to music is an effective way for them to learn English Writing and reading are two least interesting for students Only 7.37% and 10.53% of students take delights to these activities 16.84% of students like

to watch videos or power point presentations in the class and only 13.68% of

Students' Personalities

51.57 11.58

20 22.1

34.74 32.65 11.58

them think that doing exercises in the textbook helps them to get more knowledge

Students’ Opinion about their Favorite Activities

17.89

25.27 13.68

8.42 7.37 10.53

16.84

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

A listening to English songs

B playing games

C doing exercises from textbooks

D discussions, debates, presentations

E writing: stories, sentences, poems

F reading: stories, newspaper articles

G watching videos

%

Figure 2.2 Students’ Opinion about their Favorite Activities

This result provides evidence that students like a variety of activities Each learner has their own belief about activities that are suitable for them Therefore,

it is very necessary for the teacher to create a lot of activities to satisfy students’ belief

Besides, question 5 indicates students' points of view about the role of learning styles in English learning

5 the role of learning

styles in target language

in English learning 44.21% of students estimate learning styles as a very important factor effecting to learning process, the same number of students think

it is important and only 11.58% do not think the same

Furthermore, the students in 11A1 and 11A2 display their views on the role of learning styles by ranking it in five other factors relating to the success in learning English in question 6

Students’ Ideas about the Importance Degree of

the 1st the 2nd the 3rd the 4th the 5th

Figure 2.3 Students’ Ideas about the Importance Degree of Learning Styles in

English Leaning Success The bar chart indicates students' point of view about the role of learning styles in comparison with 4 other factors affecting the results of language learning process These factors are students' motivation, students' attitude, students' personality and teacher's methods As it can be seen clearly from the chart, 31.58% of students rank learning styles the second important factor 28.42% of them think it is the third important factor Only 8.42% claim that learning styles play the least important role among five factors This figure claims that students are highly aware the importance of their learning styles in success of English learning

The table below reveals about the frequency degree of activities that teachers use in class The chart shows the fact that teachers have not yet used a variety of activities in the classroom 71 students say that teachers seldom let students watch any videos Games, physical activities, music and power point presentations are in the same situation Teachers seldom use them in the classroom