Methodology in Language Learning: Myers-Briggs Type Indicator’

The MBTI is indicating that the inventory has developed an identity of its own, which is understandable in the light of the fact that this is the most widely employed personality test in the world, with more than 2 million copies in 16 languages used each year by individuals and organizations. The use of the term indicator in the title of the MBTI, instead of the more common ‘test’ or ‘inventory,’ is not a mere stylistic issue. It is related to the fact that the dimensions of the MBTI do not refer to traditional scales ranging from positive to negative. They indicate various aspects of one’s psychological set-up and, depending on their combinations, every type can have positive or negative effects in a specific life domain. This value-neutral approach is very similar to what we find with learning styles, where scholars also emphasize that the various style dimensions carry no value judgment and that an individual can be successful in every style position, only in a different way.

 

The four dichotomies targeted by the MBTI:

 

Ø  Extraversion–Introversion, referring to where people prefer to focus their attention and get their energy from: the outer world of people and activity or their inner world of ideas and experiences.

Ø  Sensing–Intuition, referring to how people perceive the world and gather information. ‘Sensing’ concerns what is real and actual as experienced through one or more of the five senses; a sensing person therefore is empirically inclined and tends to be interested in the observable physical world with all its rich details. In contrast, a person on the ‘intuitive’ end of the continuum does not rely on the process of sensing and is less interested in the factual details; instead, he/she relies on the process of intuition, preferring the abstract and imaginative to the concrete, and tends to focus on the patterns and meanings in the data.

Ø  Thinking–Feeling, referring to how people prefer to arrive at conclusions and make decisions. ‘Thinking’ types follow rational principles while trying to reduce the impact of any subjective, emotional factors; they make decisions impersonally on the basis of logical consequences. ‘Feeling’ types, on the other hand, are guided by concern for others and for social values; they strive for harmony and show compassion; they are slow to voice criticism even if it is due but are quick to show appreciation; thus, they ‘think with their hearts’.

Ø  Judging–Perceiving, referring to how people prefer to deal with the outer world and take action. Judging types favor a planned and orderly way, seeking closure and finality, whereas people on the perceiving end of the scale like flexibility and spontaneity and therefore like to keep their options open. They often resist efforts of others to impose order on their lives.

 

The MBTI requires people to make forced choices and decide on one pole of each of the four preferences. The permutation of the preferences yields sixteen possible combinations called “types”, usually marked by the four initial letters of the preferences (because two components start with an ‘I,’ ‘intuition’ is marked with the letter ‘N’).

 

For example, extraverts tend to perform well under conditions of high stimulation or arousal, which, means that some difficult tasks might provide the optimum level of arousal for them, whereas introverts in the same task might be over aroused, which impairs their performance. The issue of individual sensitivity to specific educational situations which 'afford' specific learning opportunities. the personality–learning relation is to a great extent the function of contextual features. In their view, students relatively high on Openness to Experience should thrive in educational settings that promote and rewarding critical and original thought, but not in settings that emphasize the acquisition of received wisdom.

 

© 

University of Oxford - post gradual studies 2009 'English Language Teaching'

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