1 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY of POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ------------------------------------- LÊ SA A STUDY ON STUDENTS’ ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING STYLE PREFERENCES AT DO LUONG 2 HIGH SCHOOL, DO LUONG DISTRICT, NGHE AN PROVINCE ( Nghiên cứu phương pháp học tiếng anh ưa thích của học sinh trường Đô Lương 2, huyện Đô Lương, tỉnh Nghệ An) M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.10 Hanoi-2010 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 2 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY of POST-GRADUATE STUDIES -------------------- LÊ SA A STUDY ON STUDENTS’ ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING STYLE PREFERENCES AT DO LUONG 2 HIGH SCHOOL, DO LUONG DISTRICT, NGHE AN PROVINCE ( Nghiên cứu phương pháp học tiếng anh ưa thích của học sinh trường Đô Lương 2, huyện Đô Lương, tỉnh Nghệ An) M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60. Ngô Đình Phương Hanoi-2010 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration i Abstract ii Acknowledgements iii List of table contents iv List of tables vii PART A: INTRODUCTION I.
Aims of the study. Scope of the study. Significance of the study. Design of the study.
3 PART B: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1. Definition of learning styles. Classification of learning styles. Perceptual learning styles.
Cognitive learning styles. Active and reflective learners. The importance of understanding students‟ learning styles. Mismatches between Teachers' and Students' perceptions of learning activities………………………………………………………….
The need to study students‟ learning styles and meet students‟ needs and demands. 10 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.1 Setting of the study.4 Data collection procedure.1 Students‟ interest in learning English.2 The way of learning in class. Preferences of learning items. Preferences of teaching methodologies.
Teachers‟ methodologies often used in English class. The importance of learning styles. Students‟ opinions about their useful activities. The activities students like using in English class.
Students‟ favorite activities in class. Studying at home. Suggested teaching and leaning activities for different learning styles………30 2.1 Suggested teaching activities………………………………………………30 2.2 Suggested leaning activities ………………………………………………34 3. Limitations of the study.
Suggestions for further studies. 37 REFERENCES………………………………………………………………………… 38 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 8 APPENDIXES Appendix 1: Survey questionnaire for students Appendix 2: Survey questionnaire for teachers Appendix 3: Written test set by the teachers LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 9 LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Students and their interest in learning English…………………………………16 Table 2: Students‟ and Teachers‟ view on learning individually or in groups………….17 Table 3: Students‟ and Teachers‟ preferences in learning items…………………………18 Table 4: Students‟ and Teachers‟ preferences of teaching methodologies……………….18 Table 5: The frequency degree of teachers using activities in class………………………19 Table 6: Students‟ and Teachers‟ opinion about the importance of learning styles………20 Table 7: Students‟ and Teachers‟ opinion about useful activities…………………………21 Table 8: The activities students like using in English class……………………………….22 Table 9: Students‟ and Teachers‟ favorite activities in class….23 Table 10: Students‟ and Teachers‟ opinion in using teaching aids……………………….24 Table 11: Students‟ and Teachers‟ view on being corrected immediately or later……….24 Table 12: Students‟ and Teachers‟ thought in correcting errors.…………………………25 Table 13: Students‟ and Teachers‟ view on studying at home….…………………………26 Table 14: Students‟ and Teachers‟ view on improvement……………………………….27 Table 15: Students‟ written tasks‟ marks from the teachers………………………………28 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 10 PART A: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale Since the end of the 20th century, communicative language teaching has been central in the agenda of second and foreign language teaching. It has become the order of the day to curriculum developers and English language teachers around the world.
Although Vietnam accepted communicative language teaching a little bit later than many other countries, the principles of communicative language teaching have been used as the foundation of the curriculum development and pre-service and in-service teacher training programs. Many researchers and scholars have proposed that second or foreign language teaching should emphasize the development of communicative skills rather than just linguistic competence, i. In order to find out the suitable content and appropriate teaching strategies, teachers have to meet learners‟ demands and needs first. However, many teachers seem to be unaware of their students‟ learning styles to find the suitable teaching methods for different kinds of learners.
Each learner has his own way of receiving and processing information and knowledge. Some learn from seeing and hearing, some learn from reflecting and acting; reasoning logically and intuitively; memorizing and visualizing (Felder, 1995). Similarly, teachers do not follow the same method teaching, or if they do the way they implement that teaching method in the classroom is quite different. As Felder (1995: 21) noted that “teaching methods also vary.
Some instructors lecture, others demonstrate or discuss; some focus on rules and others on examples…” Since teachers ignore or pay little attention to their students‟ learning styles, some still use the same method of teaching to teach different learners, serious mismatches may occur with some unfortunate consequences such as bored and inattentive and even discouraged learners; unresponsive or hostile classes. Then teachers may have critical attitude towards their learners. LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Aims of the study This study is aimed to find out the students' learning style preferences and the teachers' teaching styles at Do Luong 2 high school, Do Luong district, Nghe An province.
To be more specific, the major aims of the study are as follows: To aim at investigating students' learning style preferences at Do Luong 2 high school. To find out the extent of the teacher‟s awareness of their learning style preferences through a set of questionnaires. To examine the extent of students‟ improvement after teachers focus on learners‟ learning styles and adjust teaching accordingly. To make suggestions on how to satisfy students‟ learning styles better in classroom.
Research questions The study is aimed at investigating learning style preferences of the students at Do Luong 2 High School and the extent of the teacher‟s awareness of them and the extent of improvement after teachers are awareness of their learner‟s learning styles. The study is carried out to find answers to the following the questions: 1) What are the learning styles preferences of the students at Do Luong 2 high school? 2) What is the gap between students‟ learning styles and teachers‟ teaching styles in our school, if any? 3) How to narrow the gap between teaching and learning so as to bring about students‟ expected learning outcomes? 4. Scope of the study The main focus of the study is on the investigation of the students‟ learning styles at Do Luong 2 school and the importance of learning styles. Particularly, this minor thesis only refers to the categorization of the students' learning styles in our school; finger out the gaps between students' learning styles and teachers' awareness and provide some techniques for different learning styles.
LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Significance of the study Oxford (2003) emphasized that learning styles and strategies of individual students can work together or conflict with a given instructional methodology. If there is a harmony between them, then the students are likely to perform well, feel confident and experience low anxiety. If classes happen, serious breakdowns in teacher-student interaction will exist.
These conflicts even result in the dispirited student‟ rejection of the teaching methodology, the teacher, and the subject matter. Therefore, finding out the learners‟ learning styles is a crucial step to help the teachers choose the suitable teaching method for them. The results from this study will help to provide an overview of students‟ learning style preferences at Do Luong 2 school. The study also finds out the extent of the gap between students‟ learning styles and teachers‟ awareness of them.
Importantly, the study shows that when the teachers are aware of their students‟ learning styles, there can be great improvement in their students‟ language proficiency. Students not only have positive attitudes towards learning, but also towards the teacher and the subject since the teachers find out the best teaching methods for them, and create the interesting and attractive learning atmosphere with many practical and effective lessons. Suggested teaching activities can be drawn out for language teachers in general and teachers in the similar teaching context in particular. Design of the study The thesis includes three main parts: Part I is Introduction, which states the rationale, aims, research questions, scope, significance and design of the thesis.
Part II consists of three chapters: Chapter 1 reviews the literature relevant to the topic of research, deals with definition of learning styles, classification of learning styles, the importance of understanding students‟ learning styles, Mismatches between Teachers‟ and Students‟ Perceptions of learning activities and the need to study students‟ learning styles and meet students‟ needs and demands. LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 13 Chapter 2 presents the research methodology of the study. It provides information about the setting of the study, participants, data collection instruments and data collect procedure. Chapter 3 is the main part of the study whose major findings are revealed and discussed Part III is conclusion that presents some conclusions, suggested teaching and learning activities for different learning styles, limitations and suggestions for further studies.
LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 14 PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1. LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter briefly presents the definition of learning styles, the classification of learning styles, the importance of understanding students‟ learning styles, mismatches between teachers‟ and students‟ perceptions of learning activities and the need to study students‟ learning styles and meet students‟ needs and demands.1 Definition of learning style As early as fifty years ago, Lewenfeld (1945) researched visual versus haptic preferences, but the concept of learning style has not been well explored at present. There is confusion that comes from a wide variation in the scale and scope of learning, school achievement, and other behavior predicted by the various learning style terms (Nel, 2008). Learning style can be defined as “learners’ consistent ways of responding to and using stimuli in the context of learning” (Claxton and Ralston, 1978: 7).
According to Light Brown and Spada (1995) describes it as “learners’ natural, habitual, and preferred ways of absorbing, processing, and retaining new information and skills which persist regardless of teaching methods or content area.” Curry (1983) employs a metaphorical onion with its multiple layers to decide an individual‟s preferences (i., instructional and environmental preferences, information processing preferences of the learner, and the individual‟s personality dimension).2 Classification of the learning style According to Light Brown and Spada (1999, cited in Nguyễn Thị Vân Lam and Ngô Đình Phương), they classify learning styles into 2 major categories: Perceptual and LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 15 cognitive learning styles. According to this definition, other learning styles categorized by M Felder (1995) seemed to belong to this list, however, the researcher wants to add one more styles of learners: active and reflective learners.1 Perceptual learning styles In the first category which is based on perception, there are different sub- categories which are visual learners, auditory learners, kinesthetic learners, tactile learners and haptic learners. Visual learners: DVC website online emphasizes that with this kind of learning style, you learn best when information is presented visually and in a written language format. Hence, visual learners learn more effectively through images, colors and maps.
When seeing something, they can learn better. Therefore, when they want to remember something, they often visualize a picture of it in their mind. Auditory learners: Auditory learners prefer learning in a situation when information is presented auditory in an oral language format. These kinds of learners are interested in learning through ears because they have good sense of pitch and rhythm.
Therefore, when trying to remember something, they can often "hear" the way someone told them the information, or the way them previously repeated it out loud. Interacting with others in a listening/speaking exchange helps them learn better.