Price Professional TEFL

LearningTechniques Part of being a good teacher is understanding how students learn and formatting lessons so that they appeal to the different ways students learn. Every day people use their senses to take in information. This intake of information is part of the process we call learning. Typically, one sense is dominant over the others. Because of this, people can be said to have different learning styles. These learning styles can be divided into three basic categories: auditory, visual, and kinesthetic. The first learning style is auditory learning. Auditory learning is used to categorize those who learn best through sound. These students prefer hearing information over seeing or feeling it. This type of learner would rather hear a lecture or an audio tape than read the lesson or watch someone act the lesson out. According to www.studyingstyle.com, only thirty percent of learners are auditory learners. Typically, you will find these people humming or reading out loud to themselves as they study. As a teacher, it is important to cater to each learning style. For auditory learners, it is important to have verbal lectures, listening exercises, class discussion, Q&A, and other speaking/listening activities. These students may have trouble with reading comprehension exercises and written exams. The second type of learning style is visual learning. These students assimilate information best through pictures and images and written words. The whiteboard will be an essential piece of equipment in a class with this type of learner. Teachers can write out key ideas and examples for these students, giving them a visual component to the lesson. A teacher who knows he has a class with a high volume of visual learners would be wise to include pictures, videos and other visual components in the lesson. Visual learning doesn?t just refer to physically visual things; visual learning also includes mental maps and images. Giving these students mental pictures can be as effective as holding up physical pictures. A third type of learning style is that of those who learn best kinesthetically. These students learn best by doing and moving. As opposed to the other two styles, these students will take action and learn through experience rather than gathering information first. In some ways these students can be the hardest to teach because active, moving styles of teaching are not the norm. These students benefit from games and actions in the lessons. Often, times, these students work best when multi-tasking. If there is a physical component to an idea, the two will be remembered better. For example if the teacher points to his elbow and has the class do the same as they learn the vocabulary word, those with a kinesthetic learning style will remember the action and then the word. Some studies suggest that kinesthetic styles of teaching encourage more authentic usage of the second language. It is critical for a teacher to understand these various ways of learning. It will affect the way one plans for a lesson and the way one actually teaches the lesson. Ideally, a teacher will use activities to target all three styles of learning during a lesson. Using visual aids, speaking/hearing activities, and reading are all components that should be included in every lesson. Depending on the way a teacher assesses the students and incorporates learning styles into his or her lesson will greatly affect the students? learning ability and determine his or her own effectiveness in the classroom. Internet Sites Consulted www.learning-styles-online.com/style/aural-auditory-musical/ http://www.studyingstyle.com/auditory-learners.html http://people.usd.edu/~bwjames/tut/learning-style/styleres.html