A Reflection on Perceptual Learning Styles and Their Application in China’s college English Classroom

王希

【Abstract】This paper focus on the study and application of perceptual learning styles in college English classroom， and then make practical suggestions for teachers to broaden their teaching styles to accommodate to students diverse characteristics while helping students develop a more flexible learning style to adapt to a wider range of learner tasks and context.

【Key words】perceptual learning styles； college English teaching

1. Introduction

Learning style， as one of the personal characters imbedded in each individual， has valuable significances for both language learners and teachers. Since perceptual learning styles are among the most obvious dimensions of learning styles based on sensory preferences， this paper， on the basis of former and current researches， intend to study the general situation and features of learning styles in language classroom， in particular， the use of perceptual learning styles in Chinas college English classroom.

2. Research on learning styles

The study of learning style has been a research topic which can date back to 1960s by Witkins Field Dependence & Field Independence theory （Ellis， 1999）. However， the systematic development of this field has not been carried out till 1980s by Dunn & Dunn， Price， Gregorc and Keef， and the application of this study in language learning and teaching has not began until 1990s. Recent years， studies developed rapidly in light to the attentions from both learners and educators. However， in the research of learning styles， there is no agree-upon opinion of its definition. Since researchers focus on different elements of individual differences， a wide range of definitions have been used to describe this issue. For Keefe （1979）， learning styles might be cognitive， affective， and physiological indicators of how learners perceive and interact with the learning environment. Learning style can also be simply defined as a general predisposition towards processing information in a particular way. According to Dunn （1993）， it is the way learners begin to concentrate on process， internalize， and remember new and difficult academic information. It is composed of both biological and development characteristics， therefore most people have learning styles preference and their styles vary significantly.

Four perceptual learning styles

Since there are different perceptions on the definition of learning styles， researchers has promoted a range of studies based on different dimensions. Reid （1995） divides the learning style research into three categories： research on cognitive learning styles， on sensory learning styles， and on personality learning styles. The Perceptual learning styles discussed here is one of the most obvious dimensions of learning styles based on sensory preferences as it has great connection with individuals input preferences. Do language learners prefer to get input about the world through their ears， eyes， or sense of touch？ The sensory mode they prefer will affect how easily they can learn in different situation. There are four perceptual learning styles according to Dunn， which divided the learners into： Visual learner， auditory learner， kinesthetic learner and tactile learner.

Visual refers to the sense of sight. Hence， visual learners promote information more effectively through their eyes. They prefer read a lot and see pictures of things and tend to study charts， drawings， and other graphic information. Generally， the use of bulletin boards， overhead projector， videos， and films is good visual stimulations for visual learners. Since most people are classified as visual learners， it is quite valuable to find an effective teaching approach for them.

Auditory learners use their ears as the primary means of learning. They learn more effectively through their hearing. These learners enjoy listening to lectures and audiotapes and attending class discussion， conversation， and group work. They prefer processing information by working and talking with others， and they appreciate oral directions from their teachers.

Kinesthetic learners are characterized by a preference of concrete and complete body experience， these learners learn best when they are physically acting out what they are studying. They prefer understanding and remembering things through the physical means. Most kinesthetic learners gesture when they speaking and they are poor listeners of long speeches.

Tactile learners are always mentioned together with kinesthetic learner. The difference between them is that kinesthetic learners prefer whole body movement while tactile learners only desire the sense of touch.

3. The general situation and features of college English teaching

Unlike the emphasizing of grammar and vocabulary in high school， students in college begin to get in touch with the practical use of English which is another difficult point for them. Students of this stage always confront pressures of the transition from high school study to college study. Their listening and speaking ability are not good enough to adapt to the immersion teaching approach. Teachers need to use both the first language and the target language in their teaching， otherwise students may not understand the content of the teaching well. For all these reasons， a junior high school teacher should be able to prepare his or her class well， knowing how to stimulate the students' interest and giving consideration to the development of the students linguistic and communicative competence.

4. The applications of perceptual learning styles in college English classroom

Most learners have style preferences， and those preferences vary significantly among different individuals. Therefore it is important for teachers to know their students perceptual learning styles preferences in order to adjust their teaching styles accordingly. Unfortunately， current situation in Chinas college English classroom reflects that different learner preferences are rarely attended to. As we all know， due to the peculiar characters of Chinas classroom， like crowded class， short class time and teacher shortage， it is impossible to provide extensive individualized instruction for every student. However， the understanding of the general learning profiles of the whole class can to a certain extent guide the teachers to arrange and present the teaching material appropriately. Therefore， adopting a wide variety of teaching styles in the English classrooms will benefit both the students and the teachers a lot.

There should be different teaching strategies for the different perceptual learning steals. For visual learners， they prefer processing information through visual means. If the teacher is presenting with material written on an overhead transparency or using films， television， videos， plays and pictures as teaching aids， the students will follow more easily. As we all know， most learners are characterized as visual learner， however， there are still slight differences among those visual learners. Some visual learners learn most effectively by silent Reading， while others may appreciate a less verbal presentation of information through pictures， graphs， charts， and diagrams. If the students are more visual ones， handouts and visual aids are absolutely necessary.

Auditory learners are more suitable for oral presentations and classroom discussions. They would appreciate that teacher explain the knowledge through speaking. Correspondently， they might be easily distracted by sounds than other learners. Therefore， under the guide of the students profiles， teachers would enrich their class context with more activities.

Kinesthetic and tactile learning styles are great challenges for most teachers. Those learners generally concentrate on the experiences， tasks， practice connected to real situation. They learn thing by touch it or act out it. But at the crowded classroom， it is hard for teachers to organize such activities. It is sure that， teachers should try their best， and out of class activities would help a lot.

5. Conclusion

It seems that if teachers could tell what kind of the learner their students are， they could choose one teaching approaches to satisfy the students easily. However it is far from that easy， most students use more than just one kind of the learning styles to promote information， and only a minority of students learns by only one style. Consequently， teachers not only need to understand the students perceptual learning styles in order to adjust their own teaching styles， but also should they pay attentions to the different need of each individuals and choose appropriate instructional materials and classroom activities to enhance students language learning. In conclusion， it is the teachers responsibility to know which kind of teaching methods are good and appropriate for our students and to guarantee that those methods are carried out properly.

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