Chapter One Introduction

1.1Background of the Research

During my internship at Inner Mongolia Normal University Affiliated Middle School, Ifind out that some students who are sensitive to seeing can remember information better ifthey make full use of their notes; while others like to learn by hearing words and they liketo listen to BBC or VOA; Some students learn better with the help of their teachers or theirclassmates and they always share their ideas with others; some students learn somethingeffectively without any interruptions; some students like to participate in more activities,such as problem-solving and role-playing in which they can do very well.At first I am confused with above phenomenon and then there appear some questionsin my mind. Why do these students have these learning preferences? How do theselearning preferences come into being? Do these learning preferences correlate significantlywith students’ English proficiency? Then, I read some related theory books and find thatthere are many researches on learning strategy but a few ones on learning style, especiallyon learning style conducted for senior high school students. Thus, the learning stylepreferences of senior high school students at Inner Mongolia Normal University AffiliatedMiddle School is the focus of this paper, as well as the relationship between learning stylesand English learning achievements. I hope that the results of this paper are beneficial to notonly teachers but also students in their English teaching and learning process.

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1.2 Purpose of the Research

Nowadays there are many researches on learning style which mainly conducted fromthree aspects of affective, cognitive and psychological. Some researches concerninglearning styles are involved in cultural aspects. Some other researchers combined learningstyle preferences with gender differences and strategy use. Furthermore, they brought forthlearning style identification and adaptation for students learning. Nowadays, English as aforeign language in China, with the shift from teacher-centered classroom to learner-centered interaction; more attention is being paid to learner differences. It is very importantfor educators to study the difference in individual learning styles. Thus, from differentperspectives and points of view, researchers have analyzed individual differences andcharacteristics of learners in perceiving and processing information.This study is to investigate the learning style of senior high school students in InnerMongolia normal university affiliated middle school, to find the correlations between thestudents’ self-awareness of their diversified learning styles and their English languageachievement. And according to this, teachers and students both make certain changes. Forteachers, they can diagnose students’ learning styles, make instructions on learning styles,diversify teaching methods and stretch students learning styles by applying variouslearning strategies in different learning environment. For students, they have a deepunderstanding on their learning styles, so they can change their learning style when theyrealize other learning styles’ merits.

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Chapter Two Literature Review and Rationale

2.1 Learning Style

The definition of learning style is given by many researchers. They defined it fromdifferent perspectives. So far, there is no agreeable definition in this field. In 2000, Lemiresaid one of important educational movements in the past twenty years has been paid moreattention to students’ learning style.However, what is learning style? Learning style refers to the consistent way a learnerresponds to or interacts with stimuli in the learning context. Other definitions are listed asfollows. Kinsella (2002) says,“A learning style refers to an individual’s natural, habitual,and preferred ways of absorbing, processing, and retaining new information and skillswhich persist regardless of teaching methods or content area.” Keefe (1979, cited inNelson, 2002) defines learning style as “cognitive, affective, and physiological traits thatare relatively stable indicators of how learners perceive, interact with, and respond to thelearning environment.” Based on Skehan, learning style refers to “a general predisposition,voluntary or not, toward processing information in a particular way.”In 1998, Keefepointed out the diagnosis of learning style “opens a door to personalizing education on arational basis. It gives the most powerful leverage to educators to analyze, motivate, andassist students in school”. Besides, Joseph Hill points out twenty nine components oflearning style, among which more than twenty one elements have been affirmed.

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2.2 Humanism

Modern humanistic psychology emerged in the mid-1950s as a reaction to the schoolsof behaviorism and psychoanalysis. Humanistic psychology turned into a major scale ofpsychology during the second half of the 20th century. Humanistic approaches attached theimportance on learners’ inner world with the development of human being. Moreover,humanistic education begins with the opinion that learners are different. Thus, with thehelp of the development of humanistic education, learners under modern backgroundbecome more like themselves and less like others.The research in this paper can be strongly supported by the humanistic approach,because the humanistic approach attaches the importance on individuals’ thoughts andemotions. Hence, it is significant for educators to perceive their learners as individuals whoare in need of more care and advanced viewpoints on learning. To be more specific, byadopting a humanistic approach, learners can clearly distinguish which activity thatconsistent with their learning styles in the class they could participate in to learn Englishwell.

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Chapter Three Research Methodology .........16

3.1Research Questions .........16

3.2 The Subjects.......16

3.3The Instruments.........16

3.4 The Procedures.........19

3.5 Data Collection ........19

Chapter Four Data Analysis and Discussion.......20

4.1 Data Analysis .....20

4.2 Results and Discussions .......28

Chapter Five Implications and Limitations ........32

5.1 Pedagogical Implications......32

5.1.1 Implications for Teachers ........32

5.1.2 Implications for Students.........34

5.2 Limitations .........35

Chapter Five Implications and Limitations

5.1 Pedagogical Implications

In recent years’ language teaching, many teachers teach their students based on theway they learned best at school. Teachers who are visual learners remember to write keyitems on the board provide the related illustrations to help students grasp new contents, butthey hardly consider the feelings of other learners. Although teachers are highlyknowledgeable, innovative, careful and helpful in many aspects, they may be unsuccessfulin educating learners. Without a basic awareness of learning style preferences, it is easy tobelieve that the way they teach is the most effective way. Thus, every teacher should takesome steps to open the channels of success for more learners. In detail, there are waysteacher can adopt.Teachers should take learning style into consideration when they are designingcurriculum, especially in learning assessment process. However, in the reality of classroomassessment, it is impossible to consider all the related factors into account. Beforeadministering the assessment, the teacher should explain the goals of the questionnairesurvey. The most important thing is that they should empathize there is no good or badlearning style, each one has the unique learning style, but the combination of severallearning style may produce the good effect on English learning. Therefore, students shouldhave an honest and careful attitude toward the learning style assessment. After doing thisassessment, teachers should give time for students to discuss the results, which can benefitstudents more, because students can get more knowledge and ideas of learning style. It isnecessary for students to know their classmates’learning style, so they can avoid or seldomuse their own learning style which is less than others.

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Conclusions

Learning style is seldom well considered by teachers in traditional English teaching insenior high school, because some teachers think that learning style has not muchconnection with learners’English proficiency. Hence, they don’t teach much about learningstyle, and some even don’t know much about students’ learning style preference. Based onthe literature review in chapter two, one can see that study on learning style is significantboth for educators and learners, especially for learners, which can enhance their learningachievements greatly. However, there are few researches on learning style of senior highschool students, most of studies are about college students’ learning styles. With thedevelopment of education, the importance of reforming education in primary school hasalready been put on schedule. Therefore, the study on learning style of senior high schoolstudents is increasingly significant. This is the reason why this paper emerges at this time.The study aims at finding out: (1) the major and minor preference for learning stylesof senior high school students; (2) the relationship between the diversity of learning stylesand English learning achievements; (3) the learning styles preference for male and femalesenior high school students; (4) Boys who prefer to auditory learning style have a higherscore on listening; girls who prefer to visual learning style have a better score on reading.

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Reference (omitted)