Исследовательско-реферативная на тему "Стратегии и стили успешного изучения иностранных языков"

Исследовательская работа по английскому языку на тему:

Successful language learning styles and strategies

Стратегии и стили успешного изучения иностранных языков

Выполнила:

ученица 10 «В» класса

гимназии № 524

Московского района

Тупицына Анастасия

Научный руководитель:

Федотова Татьяна Сергеевна

Санкт-Петербург

2013

Contents

1. Introduction        2

2. Foreign-language acquisition        3

3. Language learning styles        4

3.1. Visual learners        4

3.2. Auditory learners        4

3.4. Kinesthetic learners        4

3.5. Field-independent and field-dependent learners        5

3.6. Reflective and impulsive learners        5

4. Language teaching methodologies        6

4.1. The Direct Method        6

4.2. Grammar-translation        6

4.3. Audio-lingual        6

4.4. The structural approach        6

4.5. Suggestopedia        6

4.6. Total Physical Response (TPR)        6

4.7. Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)        6

4.8. The Silent Way        7

4.9. Community Language Learning        7

4.10. Immersion        7

4.11. Task-based language learning        7

4.12. The Natural Approach        7

4.13. The Lexical Syllabus        8

6. Conclusion: practical advice for successful learners        9

7. Appendixes        10

8. Reference list        12

1. 1. Introduction

The topic of language learning is outstandingly important in the globalized world of today. With English dominating as the lingua franca, more people than ever wish ― or have ― to learn it. Over the last century a truly amazing amount of research has been conducted in order to find out the objective laws of mastering a foreign language, but many problems of language learning still remain unsolved.

Being an experienced and enthusiastic language learner myself, I find the topic of language learning styles and strategies particularly relevant. I suppose that the understanding of one’s own personality may to a great extent be the key to successful language learning.

3. 2. Language-learning aptitude

Language-learning aptitude refers to the potential that a person has for learning languages.

There are few learning tasks where differences in aptitude become as pronounced as in the task of learning a second language. Often, people who are learning the same language will notice that while one seems to make exceptionally quick progress, another will struggle every step of the way. Thus, differences in aptitude are important, but these differences are not the end of the story.

Each language learner has a unique profile of basic aptitudes, learning styles, personality preferences, and attitudes, and all of these factors together will also influence ultimate success. Self-awareness is a critically important part of the process because if you are aware of your strengths as a language learner, you can play to your strengths and help compensate for your weaknesses.

Good language-learning aptitude is a wonderful gift, but it is not everything. In order to make the most of the aptitude we do have, we need to learn to identify our strengths and weaknesses and develop the strengths while compensating for the weaknesses.

There are many things teachers can do in the area of learner training to improve the learner's ability. These include helping learners identify their preferences for learning; thinking about learning styles, and then looking at how these can be developed; and developing learner autonomy by teaching learners how to study effectively.

3. Language-learning styles

Each of us has our own preferred way of learning that is determined by our cultural and educational background and our personalities. Language researchers have categorized various learning styles in numerous ways. Some researchers have identified different perceptual styles: the visual, the auditory and the kinesthetic. Others have looked at cognitive styles and distinguished between field-independent and field-dependent learners. Still others have examined the personality styles of reflectivity and impulsiveness. Let us briefly examine each of these styles:

3.1. Visual learners

Visual learners usually enjoy reading and prefer to see the words that they are learning. They also like to learn by looking at pictures and flashcards.

Someone with a visual learning style has a preference for seen or observed things, including pictures, diagrams, demonstrations, displays, handouts, films, flip-chart, etc. These people will use phrases such as ‘show me’, ‘let’s have a look at that’ and will be best able to perform a new task after reading the instructions or watching someone else do it first. Learners of this kind will work according to lists and written directions and instructions.

3.2. Auditory learners

Auditory learners prefer to learn by listening. They enjoy conversations and the chance for interactions with others. They don’t need to see words written down.

Someone with an auditory learning style has a preference for the transfer of information through listening: to the spoken word, of self or others, or sounds and noises. These people will use phrases such as ‘tell me’, ‘let’s talk it over’ and will be best able to perform a new task after listening to instructions from an expert. These are the people who are happy to be given spoken instructions over the telephone and can remember poems and lyrics of the songs that they hear easily.

A recent study has found that Koreans and Japanese students tend to be visual learners, whereas English-speaking Americans prefer the auditory learning style.

3.4. Kinesthetic learners

Kinesthetic learners learn by touching and manipulating objects. Such learners like movement and need frequent breaks in desk activities.

Someone with a kinesthetic learning style has a preference for physical experience — touching, feeling, holding, doing practical hands-on experiences. These people will use phrases such as ‘let me try’, ‘how do you feel?’ and will be best able to perform a new task by going ahead and trying it out, learning as they go. Such learners like to experiment and never look at the instructions before manipulating new equipment.

People commonly have one preferred learning style of the three mentioned above. However, while the majority of people have a very strong preference, some have a more even mixture of two or less commonly, three styles.

3.5. Field-independent and field-dependent learners

Field-independent learners (also called analytic learners) like to concentrate on the details of language, such as grammar rules, and enjoy taking apart words and sentences. They are sometimes unable to see the “big picture” because of their attention to its parts.

Field-dependent learners (also known as global learners) focus on the whole picture and do not care so much about the details. For example, they are more interested in conveying an idea than worrying about whether it is grammatically correct.

3.6. Reflective and impulsive learners

Reflective learners like to think about language and how to convey their message accurately. They tend not to make so many mistakes because they take time in formulating what they want to say.

Impulsive learners take risks with the language. They are more concerned with speaking fluently than speaking accurately, and so make more mistakes.

5. 4. Language teaching methodologies

Listed below are brief summaries of some of the more popular second language teaching methods of the last century.

4.1. The Direct Method

In this method the teaching is done entirely in the target language. The learner is not allowed to use his or her mother tongue. Grammar rules are avoided and there is emphasis on good pronunciation.

4.2. Grammar-translation

Learning is largely by translation to and from the target language. Grammar rules are to be memorized and long lists of vocabulary learned by heart. There is little or no emphasis placed on developing oral ability.

4.3. Audio-lingual

The theory behind this method is that learning a language means acquiring habits. There is much practice of dialogues of every situations. New language is first heard and extensively drilled before being seen in its written form.

4.4. The structural approach

This method sees language as a complex of grammatical rules which are to be learned one at a time in a set order. So for example the verb "to be" is introduced and practised before the present continuous tense which uses "to be" as an auxiliary.

4.5. Suggestopedia

The theory underlying this method is that a language can be acquired only when the learner is receptive and has no mental blocks. By various methods it is suggested to the student that the language is easy - and in this way the mental blocks to learning are removed.

4.6. Total Physical Response (TPR)

TPR works by having the learner respond to simple commands such as "Stand up", "Close your book", "Go to the window and open it." The method stresses the importance of aural comprehension.

4.7. Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)

The focus of this method is to enable the learner to communicate effectively and appropriately in the various situations she would be likely to find herself in. The content of CLT courses are functions such as inviting, suggesting, complaining or notions such as the expression of time, quantity, location.

4.8. The Silent Way

This is so called because the aim of the teacher is to say as little as possible in order that the learner can be in control of what he wants to say. No use is made of the mother tongue.

4.9. Community Language Learning

In this method attempts are made to build strong personal links between the teacher and student so that there are no blocks to learning. There is much talk in the mother tongue which is translated by the teacher for repetition by the student.

4.10. Immersion

This corresponds to a great extent to the situation we have at our school. ESL students are immersed in the English language for the whole of the school day and expected to learn math, science, humanities etc. through the medium of the target language, English.

Immigrant students who attend local schools, such as children from Bosnia attending German schools, or Puerto Ricans in American schools, find themselves in an immersion situation.

4.11. Task-based language learning

The focus of the teaching is on the completion of a task which in itself is interesting to the learners. Learners use the language they already have to complete the task and there is little correction of errors. The tasks are subsumed in a major topic that is studied for a number of weeks. In the topic of ecology, for example, students are engaged in a number of tasks culminating in a poster presentation to the rest of the class. The tasks include reading, searching the internet, listening to taped material, selecting important vocabulary to teach other students etc.

4.12. The Natural Approach

This approach, propounded by Professor S. Krashen, stresses the similarities between learning the first and second languages. There is no correction of mistakes. Learning takes place by the students being exposed to language that is comprehensible or made comprehensible to them.

4.13. The Lexical Syllabus

This approach is based on a computer analysis of language which identifies the most common (and hence most useful) words in the language and their various uses. The syllabus teaches these words in broadly the order of their frequency, and great emphasis is placed on the use of authentic materials.

6. 6. Conclusion: practical advice for successful learners

So what are the practical implications of the information given in this abstract for people learning a new language?

Firstly, it is useful to identify yourself as a particular kind of learner (although some may feel that their learning style varies according to the learning situation and the language task). Awareness of your preferred learning style may help to explain why some aspects of language learning seem to come easier than others or are more enjoyable. If you are an analytic learner, you are unlikely to feel comfortable doing a language activity which involves a lot of unstructured, spontaneous speech without any concern for grammatical correctness.

The second implication follows from the first. Learners who are in a position to choose how they acquire a new language can ensure that their preferred style matches the teaching methodology of the particular language course they want to enroll in. For example, reflective learners may not fare so well in purely conversational classes and auditory learners will probably want to avoid a course with a heavy reading requirement. In general, however, language teachers are aware of the range of learning styles in their classrooms and try to find activities that will at least please all the students at some time during the course.

Despite the amount of research that has been done into learning styles over the last few years, there is no clear evidence that any one style is generally better than another. This is just as well, because we cannot do very much to alter how we prefer to learn. What is much more important in influencing the rate of progress in learning a language are the strategies that are employed in the particular learning situation.

7. 7. Appendixes

17. 8. Reference list

1. Principles of Language Learning and Teaching by H. Brown (1994) New Jersey Prentice

2. The learning style preferences of ESL students by J. Reid (1987) TESOL Quarterly 21

3. Theory and Research: Learning Styles, Motivation, and the CALL Classroom by K. Soo

(1999)

4. Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching by Richards, J. and Rodgers, T (1986) CUP Cambridge

5. Language learning styles and strategies: an overview by Rebecca L. Oxford (2003)

6. http://esl.fis.edu/parents/index-l.htm

7. http://esl.fis.edu/teachers/support/method.htm

8. http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/knowledge-database/language-aptitude

9. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second-language_acquisition

10. http://www2.wheaton.edu/bgc/ICCT/slares/FAQ1.html

Comments for presentation 
“Language learning styles and strategies”

Slide 1

Hello and welcome to the school conference! I’m glad to see all of you here today and I am proud to present my project called “Language learning styles and strategies”.

Slide 2

To begin with, I would like to say a few words about the purpose of my project.

The topic of language learning is outstandingly important in the globalized world of today. With English dominating as the lingua franca, more people than ever wish ― or have ― to learn it. Over the last century a truly amazing amount of research has been conducted in order to find out the objective laws of mastering a foreign language, but many problems of language learning still remain unsolved.

Being an experienced and enthusiastic language learner myself, I find the topic of language learning styles and strategies particularly relevant. I suppose that the understanding of one’s own personality may to a great extent be the key to successful language learning.

In my research I aimed at answering following questions: ...

Slide 3

• Language-learning aptitude is the potential that a person has for learning languages.
• Each language learner has a unique profile of basic aptitudes, learning styles, personality preferences and attitudes, and all of these factors together influence ultimate success.

Slide 4

• Some of us might not even realize it, but each of us has our own preferred way of learning.
• Language researchers have categorized various learning styles in numerous ways: perceptual, cognitive, character-based etc.

In my presentation I will review all of them, but before I do that, I would like you to complete a short questionnaire.

Slide 5

This is what you have to do. I will turn on the music and, while it plays, you have to answer the questions and count the number of A’s B’s and C’s that you got.

If you do not understand something, feel free to ask me, I’ll be glad to help.

Slides 6-9

Visual learners

Visual learners usually enjoy reading and prefer to see the words that they are learning. They also like to learn by looking at pictures and flashcards.

Someone with a visual learning style has a preference for seen or observed things, including pictures, diagrams, demonstrations, displays, handouts, films, flip-chart, etc. These people will use phrases such as ‘show me’, ‘let’s have a look at that’ and will be best able to perform a new task after reading the instructions or watching someone else do it first. Learners of this kind will work according to lists and written directions and instructions.

Auditory learners

Auditory learners prefer to learn by listening. They enjoy conversations and the chance for interactions with others. They don’t need to see words written down.

Someone with an auditory learning style has a preference for the transfer of information through listening: to the spoken word, of self or others, or sounds and noises. These people will use phrases such as ‘tell me’, ‘let’s talk it over’ and will be best able to perform a new task after listening to instructions from an expert. These are the people who are happy to be given spoken instructions over the telephone and can remember poems and lyrics of the songs that they hear easily.

A recent study has found that Koreans and Japanese students tend to be visual learners, whereas English-speaking Americans prefer the auditory learning style.

Kinesthetic learners

Kinesthetic learners learn by touching and manipulating objects. Such learners like movement and need frequent breaks in desk activities.

Someone with a kinesthetic learning style has a preference for physical experience — touching, feeling, holding, doing practical hands-on experiences. These people will use phrases such as ‘let me try’, ‘how do you feel?’ and will be best able to perform a new task by going ahead and trying it out, learning as they go. Such learners like to experiment and never look at the instructions before manipulating new equipment.

People commonly have one preferred learning style of the three mentioned above. However, while the majority of people have a very strong preference, some have a more even mixture of two or less commonly, three styles.

Slide 10

The survey I conducted among the students of 10th grade revealed that there is an equal proportion of visual and kinesthetic learners among them (about 32 % of each kind), whereas there is a smaller number of auditory learners (23 %). 13 % did not demonstrate a strong preference for a particular language learning style.

Slide 11

The next question is: where does your learning style come from?

...

Slide 12

Despite the amount of research that has been done into learning styles over the last few years, there is no clear evidence that any one style is generally better than another.

Slides 13-14

Field-independent and field-dependent learners

Field-independent learners (also called analytic learners) like to concentrate on the details of language, such as grammar rules, and enjoy taking apart words and sentences. They are sometimes unable to see the “big picture” because of their attention to its parts.

Field-dependent learners (also known as global learners) focus on the whole picture and do not care so much about the details. For example, they are more interested in conveying an idea than worrying about whether it is grammatically correct.

Reflective and impulsive learners

Reflective learners like to think about language and how to convey their message accurately. They tend not to make so many mistakes because they take time in formulating what they want to say.

Impulsive learners take risks with the language. They are more concerned with speaking fluently than speaking accurately, and so make more mistakes.

Slide 15

So far I’ve been talking about the student’s perspective of language learning. Now I would like to go further and explain this process from a teacher’s point of view.

Slide 16

As you can see, there are a lot of different teaching strategies. All of them are practiced throughout the world.

I will concentrate on methods that are used in our school.

Slide 16-17

Now I need you all to help me demonstrate what Total Physical Response is.
All students ― please stand up.
Now clap your hands.
Now close your right eye with your left hand.
[I see this is already too difficult for some of us!]
Thank you. You may take your seats.



TPR works by having the learner respond to simple commands such as "Stand up", "Close your book", "Go to the window and open it." The method stresses the importance of aural comprehension.

Total physical response is often used alongside other methods and techniques. It is popular with beginners and with young learners, although it can be used with students of all levels and all age groups.

Slide 18

The theory behind this method is that learning a language means acquiring habits. There is much practice of dialogues of every situation. New language is first heard and extensively drilled before being seen in its written form.

This approach to language learning was similar to another, earlier method called the direct method. Like the direct method, the audio-lingual method advised that students be taught a language directly, without using the students' native language to explain new words or grammar in the target language.

Slide 19

This method sees language as a complex of grammatical rules which are to be learned one at a time in a set order. So for example the verb "to be" is introduced and practiced before the present continuous tense which uses "to be" as an auxiliary.

Slide 20

The focus of this method is to enable the learner to communicate effectively and appropriately in the various situations he or she would be likely to encounter. The content of CLT courses are functions such as inviting, suggesting, complaining or notions such as the expression of time, quantity, location.

Slide 21

The focus of the teaching is on the completion of a task which in itself is interesting to the learners. Learners use the language they already have to complete the task and there is little correction of errors. The tasks are subsumed in a major topic that is studied for a number of weeks. In the topic of ecology, for example, students are engaged in a number of tasks culminating in a poster presentation to the rest of the class. The tasks include reading, searching the internet, listening to taped material, selecting important vocabulary to teach other students etc.

Slide 22

I researched language-learning styles and strategies used by teachers, which means that I answered ― in general ― the question of how we learn languages.

However, during my research I found out that one essential problem still remains unsolved:

What determinates language-learning aptitude?

This question gives the perspective for future development of the field of knowledge that concerns language learning and teaching.

Slide 23

This is the end of my presentation. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.
I thank you for your attention and I wish you all success with language learning... and teaching.