Written by Rebecca Sprengel

In my first article on learning styles, I mentioned the Honey and Mumford learning styles questionnaire which I would like to present. H & M distinguish between four learning styles.

 

  1. Pragmatist (plan) – a learner who will pick up new ideas and immediately seeks to find a practical application for them. In the context of language learning this type of learner will immediately try to integrate any new vocabulary or structures in to their language production.
  2. Activist (experience) – a learner who is happy to ‘have a go’, who prefers to play an active part (and is not afraid of producing language).
  3. Theorist (conclude) – a learner who needs to link any new learning into their theoretical knowledge of the world. In the context of language learning a theorist will first seek out grammatical rules or the morphology of vocabulary before they feel confident in using the newly learnt language elements.
  4. Reflector (reflect) – a learner who needs to observe (language) patterns before they will attempt to use a new construction.

Imagine you did not learn to ride a bicycle as a kid. If you are a:

  1. Pragmatist, you want to receive practical tips and techniques from a biking expert.
  2. Activist, you will leap on the bike and have a go at it.
  3. Theorist, you want to understand the theory and have a clear grasp of the biking concept.
  4. Reflector, you will think about riding and watching another person ride a bike.

Therefore, in a language learning context.

  1. Pragmatists: need to know why they are doing an exercise and will probably be happy doing anything as long as it is not too lengthy and they see the point in it.
  2. Activists: need entertaining, love pair and group work but might dominate. Find it difficult to acquire grammar rules and tend to make the same mistakes repeatedly – much to the annoyance of Ts and Rs.
  3. Theorists: like to solve complex grammar points – don’t like “touchy feely” exercises. They feel comfortable with other Theorists in communicative exercises.
  4. Reflectors: like written or listening on their own. Need more time and encouragement.

People may find that they have a dominant style of learning, with far less use of the other styles. Others may find that they use different styles in different circumstances. There is no right mix. Nor are your styles fixed. You can develop ability in less dominant styles, as well as further develop styles that you already use well. As a teacher, you might prefer activities that suit your own style. Therefore it is useful to choose tasks that suit the different styles in your class, unless you have a group of activists which might feel like trying to herd cats!

So how can we teachers create an online learning experience that suits all four types?

The group feeling is even more important here. A few tips could be:

  • Use the present situation, the reality of the situation (describe the weather where you live, your background images on Zoom …)
  • Give time (beginning of class or during break time) to students to speak alone without the teacher
  • Use breakout rooms of 2-3 people with same styles
  • Make sure that everybody knows each other’s names and use them when they address their classmates.
  • Be flexible and open-minded vis-à-vis new technology.
  • Vary activities more to suit all styles because it is easy to disengage when on Zoom
  • Break learning into smaller yet varied chunks
  • Have small breaks which allow different types to unwind in a way that suits them

Get your students to do the Honey and Mumford questionnaire either before class if it is a larger group or during the session if you are teaching one to one or a very small group.  All my students, without exception found it interesting and revealing.

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To sum up, incorporating learner styles can lessen the gap between face-to-face and online teaching. Research shows that students prefer face to face and I expect most teachers do as well, so let’s hope that Covid 19 will be brought to its knees in the very near future.

Resources:
Picture: https://community.dpgplc.co.uk/blog/honey-and-mumford-learning-styles-a-simple-picture
https://teachonline.asu.edu/2018/09/best-practices-for-teaching-online/
https://www.open.edu/openlearn/ocw/pluginfile.php/629607/mod_resource/content/1/t175_4_3.pdf