Methodology in Language Learning: Sensory Preferences

 

 

The learning style dimension that most language teachers, and even many language students, would be familiar with is the categorization of sensory preferences into ‘visual,’ ‘auditory,’ ‘kinesthetic,’ and sometimes ‘tactile’ types. This dimension concerns the perceptual modes or learning channels:

 

Ø  Visual learners outnumber all the other three groups as 50% to 80% of people in any class would say they are predominantly visual. As the term suggests, these learners absorb information most effectively if it is provided through the visual channel. Thus, they tend to prefer reading tasks and often use colorful highlighting schemes to make certain information visually more salient. We need to be careful not to equate automatically the visual style with the unconditional love of the written word. Some visual learners may be overwhelmed by extensive printed material and require a less verbal presentation of information through media such as pictures, graphs, charts, and other graphic forms. In general, visual learners like visual stimulation such as films and videos, and if some large chunk of information is presented orally (e.g., in a lecture) their understanding is considerably enhanced by a handout and various visual aids, such as overhead transparencies, as well as by taking extensive notes.

 

Ø  Auditory learners use most effectively auditory input such as lectures or audiotapes. They also like to ‘talk the material through’ by engaging in discussions and group work. They benefit from written passages to be read out and they often find that reciting out loud what they want to remember (even telephone numbers or dates) is helpful. Not surprisingly, they find teaching tapes very useful.

 

Ø  Kinesthetic and tactile learners are often grouped together under the ‘haptic’ style category and this is understandable because the two style preferences are somewhat related although not identical. The kinesthetic style refers to learning most effectively through complete body experience (e.g., whole-body movement), whereas tactile learners like a hands-on, touching learning approach. The key issue for the former group is movement, while for the latter the manipulation of objects. Kinesthetic learners thus require frequent breaks or else they become fidgety—sitting motionless for hours is a real challenge for them. They often find that walking around while trying to memorize something helps. Tactile learners enjoy making posters, collages, and other types of visuals, building models, and they also happily engage in creating various forms of artwork. For them conducting a lab experiment may be a real treat.

 

The different sensory preferences do not exclude each other. For example, successful learners often use both visual and auditory input, but they usually display slight preferences, or modality strengths, one way or the other. As students grow older, those with mixed modality strengths have a decidedly better chance of success than do those with a single modality strength because they can process information in whatever way it was presented.

 

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

 

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