The Application of Learning Style in Senior High School

宣懿

During last decades， a number of researchers have mentioned learning styles. Because of learners different learning styles， current education study suggest that teachers have to realize students differences. Without considering the individual students learning style， education program can not be successful （Hood， 2008）. Mismatch between teachers teaching styles and learners learning styles can occur. Many teachers will criticize their students when they meet students who have low scores， seldom attendance， and lots of dropouts. We also think learning styles are helpful teachers and students.

There are many different learning styles， and Reid suggests there are three types of them. For example， sensory or perceptual learning styles， cognitive learning styles and affecting learning styles. As he says generally speaking， study means learning styles like being a point along a continuum. Learner can change their learning styles according to different environment or learning tasks. Cognitive styles deal with thinking， problem solving abilities， they relate to the ability to organize information. As we can see， field independence and field dependence in learners is regarded as one type of cognitive styles which have been measured by the researchers. The field independence students show stronger preference for learning in a context. Rules， instructions， tests and imitation are focused on the contexts. On the other hand， the field dependent students show preference for cooperative learning environment. Affecting learning styles refer to learners emotions， feelings. There are many factors influence learning styles， everyone has his own learning styles. According to many researcher， there are some factors relate to learning styles. Eisenstein suggests auditory ability in a foreign language may be greater in females than in males （Reid， 2002）. Age is one of the factors leading to differences in second language acquisition. The first ten years of each ones life， the brain is fit for this. Learners personality is the actual and potential human behavior patterns influenced by the environment.

As an English teacher， we should awareness of learning styles， they are the most significant factors influencing the learners styles. It is important to let students know their own learning styles. They also must aware their advantages and disadvantages. For teachers， besides concerning their students learning styles， they should consider their approaches to learning. Helping students understand and expand their learning styles. Teachers should encourage students to reflect their own learning styles. There are lots of learning styles for them to students. So teacher could tell students there are no good or bad learning styles， and every style has its advantages and disadvantages. Teacher should provide some suggestions according to every students learning styles. For example， classroom observation， questionnaire， interview， talk and diary can be regarded as the ways to know learners learning styles. Teachers could ask students to practice more in their daily life in order to expand their learning styles. Teachers can teach according to students differences of learning styles. A variety of learning styles should be experienced by many students， and they should try to sue less available learning styles as much as possible. Teachers teaching styles can not match students learning styles every time. Students are forced to expand their learning style to choose the less used learning styles in each days learning. After some time， they will find that they have accustomed to one learning styles that they not prefer before. Students could make their comfortable zone to transit from one major learning styles to another major one. The learners with multiple learning styles are easy to achieve high score than those with single learning styles， they could handle well no matter in what form the knowledge is presented. The students would benefit a lot when their teachers realize this and provide different teaching methods for them， though they may not suit at the beginning.

At senior high school， we should meet students learning preferences. As a senior high school teacher， we try to use new methods in order to match their teaching techniques with students different learning styles. These learning styles can find many activities in the English classroom. We prepare some methods and try to satisfy all students sensory preferences.

References：

[1]Brown，H.D.（2001）.Teaching by principles：An interactive approach to language pedagogy.New York，NY：Pearson Education Ltd.

[2]Reid，J.M.（ed.）.Learning styles in he ESL/EFL classroom[M].Beijing：Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.

[3]Hood，K.Exploring Learning Styles and Instruction[OL].Retieved 18 Oct.2008.（http：//jwilson.coe.uga.edu/EMT705/EM1705.Hood.html）.