iEffective combination of learning styles and college English te achng— acc0mmodating these learning styles is for teachers to change their own styles and strategies and provide a variety 0f activities to meet the needs of diferent learning styles.Then all students will have at least some activities that appea1 to them based on their learning styles,and they are more likely to be successful in these activities. Hinkelman and Pysock(1 992),for example,have demonstrated the effectiveness of a multimedia methodology for vocabulary building with Japanese students.This approach is effective in tapping a variety of learning modalities.By consciously accommodating a range of learning styles in the classroom in this way,it is possible to encourage most students to become successful language learners・ 2.2 Altering teaching style to create teacher-student style matching The prospect of altering language instruction to somehow accommodate diferent learning styles might seem forbidding to teachers.This reaction is understandable.Teaching styles are made up of methods and approaches with which teachers feel most comfortable;if they try to change to completely diferent approaches,they would be forced to work entirely with unfamiliar,awkward,and uncomfortable methods.Fortunately,teachers who wish to address a wide variety of learning styles need not make drastic changes in their instructional approach.Regulr ause of some the instructional techniques given below should suffice to cover some specified learning style categories. 2.3 Fostering guided style-stretching Learning style is a consistent way of functioning which reflects cultural behavior patterns and,like other behaviors influenced by cultural experiences,may be revised as a result of training or changes in learning experiences.The following are examples of teaching activities that guide students to alter their learning behaviors, stretch theft learning styles and enable them to improve their language performance. 2.4 Providing activities with diferent grouping In a class made up of students with various learning styles and strategies.it is always helpful f0r the teacher to divide the students into groups by learning styles and give them activities based on their learning styles.This should appeal to them because they will enjoy them and be successfu1.No matter how students are to be grouped, teachers should make a conscious effort to include variOUS learning styles in daily lesson plan. 2.5 Consideration of college English learners An overwheling majmority of College students are adults,and they have their own characteristics.Adult 1earners are self-directed and independent,and they are able to draw on a reservoir of accumulated experience as a irch resource in learning,are aware of their learning needs and want to apply skills and knowledge to real—life problems and tasks.Their previous learning experience does have impact on their learning styles.Students usually make contrasts and comparisons between their former English teachers’teaching practice and the new one’s.Even if the new one’s teaching is more reasonable and appealing,their former teacher’s teaching impact still lasts.In China,college students have no or 1ittle real—life experiences;therefore,they don’t have a clear picture of their needs required by their future career.English teachers are expected to inform their students of what to learn and the language requirements by the society. 3.Teaching techniques involved in learning styles Traditionally,the teaching of EFL in China is dominated by a teacher—centered,book—centered, grammar.trans1ati0n method and an emphasis on mechanical memory.These traditional language teaching approaches have resulted in a number of typical learning styles,with visual learning being one of them.A teacher 26 维普资讯 http://www.cqvip.com
Effective combination of learning styles and college English teaching must design her lesson plan around her students.After you know the students’learning stylesyou should set goals ,for your teaching strategies.This requires you to diferentiate instruction through use of the learning styles. Ideally you want to incorporate all of the learning styles so that each student may learn in a way that suits them bestfortheday. Studies show that matching teaching styles to learning styles can signiifcantly enhance academic achievements,student attitude and student behavior at the college leve1.This is not to say that the best thing one can do for one’s students is to use their preferred modes of instructions exclusively.The following are some techniques suggested by successful teaching practitioners and educators: (1)Provide a balance of concrete information(data,facts,experiments and results)and abstract concepts (principles,theories). (2)Balance material that emphasizes practical problem—solving methods with material that emphasizes fundamental understanding. (3)Use pictures,graphs and simple sketches liberally,during and after the presentation of verbal materia1. Show films or provide demonstrations,if possible. (4)Don’t fill every minute of class time lecturing and writing on the blackboard.Set aside intervals--however briefl_f0r students to learn what have been told on their own.Raise questions and problems tO be worked on by students in a small group. (5)Talk to students about learning styles,both in advising and in class.Students ale reassured to find their academic dificultifes may not all be due to personal inadequacies.Explaining to students how they learn most eficiently may be an important step ifn helping them reshape their learning experiences so that they can be successfu1. (6)Try to design some activities which involve students’senses as many as possible,using all the senses to help improve English learning,for example,relatively long passage dictations,and games,which require students to write down what they are told by their classmates,who already have learnt that by heart. (7)Encourage students to learn English online,such as,posting writing assinmentsg through e-mail,reading materials given online(the students in the Experimental Class use the new horizon college English book,a web—assisted textbook). (8)Motivate learning.As much as possible,teach new material in the context of situation to which students can relate in terms of their personal experiences,rather than simply as more material to memorize. Teachers confronted with this list of techniques might feel that it is impossible to do all that in the English class and still cover the syllabus and requirements.The idea,however is not to adopt all the techniques at once but rather to pick several that look feasible and ty them on an occasional basis;and try one or rtwo more later in class. In this way a teaching style that is both effective for students and comfortable for teachers will evolve naturally, with a potentially dramatic effect on the quality of learning. 4.Conclusion Learning styles are useful in promoting students’learning.Knowledge about learning styles can also serve as a guide in designing learning experiences that match or mismatch students’styles,depending on the teacher’s purpose.Matching is particularly appropriate in working with poorly prepared students and with new college students,as the most attrition occurs in those situations.Some studies show that identifying a student’S style and 维普资讯 http://www.cqvip.com
Effective combination of learning styles and college English teaching then providing instruction consistent with that style contribute to more effective learning. In other instances,some mismatching may be appropriate SO that students’experiences help them to learn in new ways and to bring into play ways of thinking and asectps of the self not previously developed.Any mismatching.however,should be done with sensitivity and consideration for students,because the experience of discontinuity can be very threatening,particularly when students are weak in these areas.Knowledge of learning style can thus help faculty design experiences appropriate for students in terms of matching or mismatching and enable them to do SO thoughtfully and systematically.A better understanding of the link between them would provide a helpful framework for examining teaching methodologies,the role of learning in individual development,and the use of the disciplines to promote more complex and integrative thinking. References: FENG Zhi—wei.1999.A survey ofapplied linguistics.Guangzhou:Guangdong Education Press. GUI Shi—chun.1992.English learning psychology ofChinese students.Changsha:Hunan Education Press. Larsen—Freeman,D.1986.Techniques andprinciples in language teaching.Oxford:Oxford University Press. Reid,J.2002.Learning styles in the ESL/EFL classroom.Beijing:Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press. (Edited by Jessica,Robert and Stella) (continuedfromPage24) winners of children’S English.As more and more parents pay attention to children’S English,training schools take more cares to children’S English and more children join in children’S English,children’S English will meet its reatg development and more glorious future in China soon. References: Brumfit.1991. P communication approach to language teaching.Oxford:Oxford University Press. Halliday,M.A.K.1975.Learning how to mean:Explorations in the development oflanguage.New Yl0rk:Elsevier. Lewis.1993. P lexical approach.Hove.England:Language Teaching Publications. Munoz,M.L.1998.Language assessment and intervention with children who have visual impairments:A guidefor speech—language pathologists.Austin.TX:Texas School for the Blind nd aVisually Impaired. Rod Ellis.1 985.Understanding second language acquisition.New York:Oxford University Press.1l 3. Tough.1 99 1.Young children learning languages.New York:Harpercollins Publishers. YAO Li,CAO Ying&WANG Shang-jiang.2003.E—English:The future of English language learning.Chinese English Teaching,1. (Edited by Stella and Jessica)
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