2 Applied Linguistics Introduction LANE 423 While we all exhibit inherently human traits of learning, every individual approaches a problem or learns a set of facts or organizes a combination of feelings from a unique Styles and Strategies perspective This chapter deals with cognitive variations in learning a second language, i.e. variation in learning styles that differ across individuals, strategies used by individuals to attack particular problems in particular contexts. 1 Lecturer: Haifa Alroqi 3 4 Process: Process, Styles, and Strategy All human beings engage in certain universal processes. Just as we all need air, water, and food for our survival, so do all humans of normal intelligence engage in certain levels or In SLA, what do we mean by the terms: types of learning. Process? Human beings universally engage in association, transfer, Style? and generalization. Strategy? We all make stimulus-response connections and are driven by reinforcement. Process is characteristic of every human being. 5 6 Style: Style: It is a term that refers to consistent tendencies or preferences For example: within an individual. you might be: Styles are those general characteristics of intellectual more visually oriented, functioning (and personality type, as well) that more tolerant of ambiguity, are directly related to a person as an individual, more reflective than someone else differentiate him/her from someone else. these would be the styles that characterize a general or dominant pattern in your thinking or feeling. So styles vary across individuals. 1
7 8 Strategies: Learning Styles Suppose you are visiting a foreign country whose They are: specific methods of approaching a problem or task, language you don't speak or read. modes of operation for achieving a particular end, You have landed at the airport and your contact planned designs for controlling and manipulating certain person, whose name you don't know, is not there to information. meet you. They might vary from moment to moment, or from one situation To top it off, your luggage is missing. to another, or even from one culture to another. It's 3:00 a.m. and no one in the airport staff speaks They vary within an individual each of us has a number of possible options for solving a particular English or Arabic. problem, and we choose one — or several in sequence — for a given What would you do? problem. 9 10 Learning Styles Learning Styles There is obviously no single solution to this complex problem It happened to Brown (2007)! As he tells it: Your solution will be based to a great extent on the styles you With a style that tends to be generally tolerant of ambiguity, I first told myself not to get flustered, and to remain calm in spite of my fatigue and frustration. happen to have(e.g. tolerant of ambiguity, reflective, field My left-brain style told me to take practical, logical steps and to focus only independent, etc. ) on the important details of the moment. If you are tolerant of ambiguity, you will not easily get flustered or Simultaneously, my sometimes equally strong natural tendency to use a right- nervous by your unfortunate circumstances. brain approach allowed me to empathize with airport personnel and to use If you are reflective, you will exercise patience and not jump quickly numerous alternative communicative strategies to get messages across. to a conclusion about how to approach the situation. I was reflective enough to be patient with miscommunications and my If you are field independent, you will focus on the necessary and inability to communicate well, relevant details and not be distracted by surrounding but irrelevant yet impulsive to the extent that I needed to insist on some action as soon as possible. details. 11 12 Learning Styles Learning Styles The way we learn things in general and the way we attack a So, what are learning styles? problem seem to depend on a rather vague link between According to Keefe (1979): personality and cognition. They are the ― cognitive, affective, and physiological traits This link is refereed to as Cognitive style that are relatively stable indicators of how learners perceive, When cognitive styles are specifically related to an interact with, and respond to the learning environment.‖ educational context, where affective and physiological According to Skehan (199): factors are mixed, they are usually more generally referred to A learning style is "a general predisposition, voluntary or not, as learning styles . toward processing information in a particular way." 2
13 14 Learning Styles Learning Styles Learning styles mediate between: Emotion People's styles are determined by the way they Cognition internalize their total environment. EXAMPLE: A reflective style always grows out of a reflective personality However, the internalization process is not strictly or a reflective mood. cognitive; it is also physical & affective. An impulsive style usually arises out of an impulsive emotional state. 15 16 Learning Styles Learning Styles Ehrman and Leaver (2003) listed the following Learning styles to SLA: Are styles stable traits in adults? 1. Field independence-dependence It would appear that: 2. Random (non-linear) vs. sequential (linear) 3. Global vs. particular Individuals show general tendencies toward one style or 4. Inductive vs. deductive another 5. Synthetic vs. analytic 6. Analogue vs. digital 7. Concrete vs. abstract However, differing contexts will evoke differing styles in the 8. Leveling vs. sharpening same individual. 9. Impulsive vs. reflective 17 18 Field Independence Field Independence Field Independent(FI) Style: It is a person’s ability to perceive a particular, relevant item or factor in a "field" of distracting items. 3
19 20 Field Independence Field Independence An FI style enables a person to: Field Independent Style: distinguish parts from a whole (Monkey coloring book) concentrates on something (like reading a book in a noisy In general psychological terms, train station) that ―field‖ may be perceptual , analyzes separate variables without the contamination of or it may be more abstract and refer to a set of neighboring variables thoughts, ideas, or feelings from which your task is to perceive specific relevant subsets. 21 22 Field Independence Field Independence Too much FI may result in: Field Dependent (FD) Style : cognitive "tunnel vision": you see only the parts and not their relationship to the you perceive the whole picture, the larger view, whole. the general configuration of a problem or idea or ―You can't see the forest for the trees" . event. 23 24 Field Independence Field Independence FI/FD Styles FI/FD Styles FI/D literature has shown: It is clear, then, that both FI and FD are necessary for FI increases as a child matures to adulthood most of the cognitive and affective problems people A person tends to be dominant in one mode or the other face. FI/D is a relatively stable trait in adulthood. 4
25 26 Field Independence Field Independence FI/FD Styles FI/FD Styles A democratic, industrialized, competitive society with Cross-culturally, the extent of the development of a freer raising norms = (FI) FI/D style as children mature is a factor of the type of society and home in which the child is raised. Authoritarian or agrarian societies, which are usually highly socialized and utilize strict raising practices = (FD) 27 28 Field Independence Field Independence Persons who are FI tend to be generally more Persons who are FD tend to be: more socialized derive their self-identity from persons around them Independent are usually more empathic (being able to understand Competitive other’s feelings and problems) and perceptive of the Self-confident feelings and thoughts of others 29 30 Field Independence Field Independence FI Student Characteristics FD Student Characteristics They have no problem concentrating amid noise and confusion. They need a quiet environment in order to concentrate well. They enjoy analyzing grammatical structures. They find grammar analysis tedious and boring. They feel they must understand every word of what they read or They don't mind reading or listening in the L2 without understanding hear. every single word as long as they 'catch' the main idea. They think classroom study is the key to effective language learning. They think communication is the key to effective language learning. They prefer working alone to working with other people. They really enjoy working with other people in pairs or groups. Receiving feedback from other people really doesn't affect their They find feedback useful as a means of understanding their learning at all. problem areas. 5
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