A Review of Learning Styles

王航

1.The Definition and Types of Learning Styles

Learning styles refers to an individual's natural， habitual， and preferred ways of absorbing， processing， and retaining new information and skills. These learning styles persist， regardless of teaching methods and content areas. The definition of learning styles can be defined as cognitive， affective， and physiological traits that are relatively stable indicators of how learners perceive， interact with， and respond to the learning environment

The research of learning styles can be traced back to 1970s， and this kind of research formed in the year of 1980s and 1990s. The original purpose of researchers was to have a better understanding of the relation between different learners and difference learning effect of foreign language. Many researchers have investigated different aspects of learning styles at earlier time such as Dunn， Gemake， Jalali and Zenhausern. Often these researchers label their learning style aspects with different terminology， frequently obscuring understanding.

2.The Present Situation of Learning Styles

The purpose of the research is based on understanding the character of learning styles. The purpose of earlier research is to have a better understanding the relation between the success of learning language and learning styles. But then the researchers realize that there is no division of good or bad， and that everyone has his own learning styles. Therefore， the purpose of the research on learning styles should not be the exploration of the learning styles beneficial to linguistic study.

Learning styles are not unchanging. In fact， learning styles have close relations with learning strategies. Learners can broaden their learning styles and change their learning styles to some extent. Based on the above， large number researchers point out that the purpose of studying learning styles should be significant to language teaching first. What's more， learners can get a better understanding about their styles and adjust based on their characters and learning tasks.

In recent years， in the field of foreign language teaching， a topic has been discussed， that is student-centered. What is student-centered？ How should we do about student-centered. Student-centered does not mean redistribute class time， but more important is that teachers organize the class based on the learning process and characters of students. As a result， we can find that teaching method should be characteristic. However， our traditional way of class teaching pay attention on the domination of teachers and ignores the personal characters and violate regular patterns of language acquisition.endprint

Nowadays， the distant teaching and network teaching just remain at the beginning stage. These kind of learning modes is beneficial for personal teaching， for the reason that the basic unit of learning is based on individuals， and the texts should be considered for personal difference and varied choices. The research of learning strategies cover a lot for Chinese researchers in the present day， but little about learning styles.

3.The Unsolved Problems of the Research of Learning Styles

There are still some unsolved problems for the research of learning styles. First， the definition of learning styles remain issues because we still lack of theories about learning styles. Another problem is on the aspect of methodology， that is how to measure learning styles. Different measurement result in different research conclusion. Most of ways of measurement is obtained by questionnaire. But the research of learning styles is a kind of cognitive form through consciousness， and observation is the most effective form to have a better understanding about learning styles. On the other hand， some of the measurement model ignores the influencing factors. Although the research of learning styles is difficult， but it is a promising field. There are still other some ways to develop the research method such as the relation between learning styles and teaching styles； how to help learners develop learning styles， the relation between learning styles and the difference of personality， and the role of learning styles in the cognitive forms and so on so fourth.

【References】

[1]Joy M. Reid. Learning Styles in the ESL/EFL Classroom

[2]Vivian Cook.. Second Language Learning and Teaching

[3]David Nunan. Second Language Teaching and Learningendprint