Learning Styles and Motivation in the ESL/EFL Classroom.
Learning
Learning
styles
Comparison
between different perceptions of learning styles
Motivation
Conclusion
Learning
I will mention different
meanings of the word learning, but I would like to start with my personal idea,
this may change by the end of the essay but I have always seen learning like a
journey, like a quest of discoveries and in a subjunctive way as a reminder of
who we are and the mission we have in our personal and professional life,
because at the same time you learn you discover more of your own personality
and worth.
Learning
Mark K. Smith: A
definition for starters: Learning is a process that is often not under our
control and is wrapped up with the environments we inhabit and the
relationships we make. It involves encountering signals from the senses;
attending to them; looking for connections and meanings; and framing them so
that we may act. (Smith, 2020)
Merriam Webster:
knowledge or skill acquired by instruction or study; modification of a
behavioral tendency by experience (such as exposure to conditioning) (Merriam
Webster Dictionary, 2020).
Robert Gagne: A
change in human disposition or capability that persists over a period of time
and is not simply ascribable to processes of growth. (Malamed, 2020)
My personal definition of
learning is:
Learning is a process that’s
starts since we are conceived, we develop our physical body sometimes in
environments where we have to adapt and survive, at the time we are born we
acquire experience by the things that surrounds us and we also deal with our
personal emotions, we are constantly absorbing knowledge that helps us
understand our life, family, rules and traditions; on the educational side we
acquire knowledge and apply it to our everyday life, making opinions,
expressing our likes and dislikes as well as excelling in different practices
and areas. We become productive people at the time we share our knowledge by
producing something, teaching or giving a service. There is another path of
learning as well, that is the personal, we learn to understand ourselves, to
stop and think of what we have done and continue doing these processes or modifying
them. We learn to be ethic by the values with which we grow. Learning is not
just memorizing, learning is a journey of knowledge in practical, physical,
mental, natural and many other paths.
LEARNING
A LANGUAGE STYLES
As teachers we have to take
in consideration theories, methods, programs, strategies, techniques and
technology, especially at this time of quarantine where we had to learn a
different way of teaching and appreciation for the way our students learn.
To Teach is to:
Motivate our students
You have to inspire your
students to learn, by showing them how important is to learn
Help them build confidence
at the time they use the language at the level they are.
You have to be approachable
so students can ask you and not be afraid to make mistakes.
A Teacher has to be plan the
class and be full of sources, strategies and techniques.
You are a guide in the
learning process of the students by teaching them how to learn, comprehend and
master skills, not just lecturing.
We have to be aware of the
way our students learn to be prepared with activities for all, because we may
have visual, audible or kinesthetic students.
We have to connect what they
learn with their normal life, in order for them to consider this a significant
knowledge.
Be aware of:
Forms and the function of
the language,
The four skills: reading,
writing, listening and speaking.
The aim is to use the
language
Adapt the activities on the
level and age of the students, taking in consideration background and objective
of their learning.
Focus on everybody’s
learning, not only the ones that produce a result.
We have to follow a program
we have to create a necessity for them to learn, investigate and know more.
You need to consider
different:
Activities
Methods
Strategies
and examples.
ESL students have the
advantage of the language being their own, the culture and everyday life, while
students of EFL have to consider different facts and the rephrasing of the
language to their own. Of course the stages and goals may be the same as the
actions taken according to the learning cycle but also have to be adapted to
the group that we are teaching.
Comparison
between different perceptions of learning styles
Learning styles: from Honey
& Mumford to Burke
There are modifications and
adaptation made to all theories, we have to add opinions and discard points of
view depending on the evolution of society, which is the one who dictates how
us as a society think and advance, we have to take in consideration many
different aspects like background, the place where the subjects of study live,
technology and the kind of education people are receiving, said this I analyzed
again Kolb´s theory and then Honey & Mumford to Burk and found many
similarities more than differences.
David
Kolb
Usage of terms:
Diverging: they prefer watch
than do. They have concrete experience that is done by observation, emotionally
strong and imaginative.
Assimilating: these people
like information that they can organize and set in models for them to follow
the information and make schemas for their observation.
Converging: they apply
knowledge to a practice, once they have information they want to explore and
experiment to have their own conclusions.
Accommodating: They are
instinctive; they like to solve problems by doing.
(McPheat, 2017)
Honey
& Mumford to Burke
Usage of terms:
Activist:
These people learn by doing. They love new experiences and will explore all
they can. Even though they may not have all the information they just do it.
Reflectors:
these people won´t act, they set back and observe, maybe by the experiences of
others but they won´t take actions they will observe, make their point of view
and that’s it.
Theorists:
These people like to accumulate knowledge, they like to learn and organize that
knowledge in models and different schemas.
Pragmatists:
these people like the knowledge they see, but the main goal for them is how do
you set and practice that knowledge, what will happen if you do it? They
experiment. (Piqueras, 2014)
But
both visions have similarities:
Reflectors
and Diverging.
Theorists
and Assimilating.
Pragmatists
and Converging.
Activists
and Accommodating.
The manage different
concepts, same ideas. they can also be applied to a learning cycle just like
Kolb´s theory. Both lines of thinking have different names and concepts but the
same ideas. Also, Both agree on the evolution of people, we may have a learning
process at first and then we may transfer or pass to another, we may be also
working on two lines or on the transition in the middle; or minds and processes
are different, so we cannot classify people in a certain category so we may be
in between; the main objective is to learn how we learn. (mohammadkhawar, 2015)
Motivation
There are different aspects
of the words motivation. I would like to start with my own perception of
motivation: This is the intrinsic and extrinsic encouragement that moves my
life, development and goals in order to reach my self-perception of greatness
as a person.
Motivation, different
definitions
Etymology
1863.
From motive + -ate: "to stimulate toward action, act as the inciting cause
of,"
-ion:
“to go”
1873,
Motivation: "act or process of
furnishing with an incentive or inducement to action;" (Harper, 2001 -
2020)
We see the stimulation to
action, basic definition that invites us to think and act.
Psychology
“The essence of motivation
is energized and persistent goal-directed behavior. Motivation is a condition
inside us that desires a change, either in the self or the environment.
Motivation endows the person with the drive and direction needed to engage with
the environment in an adaptive, open-ended, and problem-solving sort of way”.
(Souders, 2020)
As you can observe here we
talk abou the inner energy and the influences we get as human, in order to
advance in our lives, commit and engage with a path, with a goal and with
success.
Humanism
“It is devised as a useful
though controversial hierarchy of needs required to satisfy human potential.
These needs proceed from low-level physiological needs such as hunger, thirst,
sex, and comfort, through such other needs as safety, love, and esteem, finally
reaching the highest level, self-actualization. Human beings progress
sequentially through this hierarchy as they develop”. Abraham Maslow
(1908-1970) (Alliance, 2020)
It is focused a little more
on the physical side of the observation and perception of the human beings,
their bodies, responsibilities and necessities. But still aimed like the
ultimate goal the full development of a person as a whole.
Behaviorism
“The internal state or
condition that activates action and gives it direction; desire or want that
energizes and directs goal-oriented behavior; influence of needs and desires on
the intensity and direction of behavior” (SPAULDING, 2020)
Intrinsic
motivation is personal interests, pursue, and exercise capabilities
Extrinsic
motivation is the group of factors that encourage us from our surrounding.
Goal
is the result or the objective we look for.
This is focused on the way
we act, the way different factors interfere in the things we do and how we
respond to events that we face in life.
Education
Motivation is typically
defined as: “the forces that account for the arousal, selection, direction, and
continuation of behavior”.
It is like a cluster of the
different and previous definitions. But teachers have a misconception of this
word, because we often say that students are unmotivated, what we have to learn
is that they may seem not interested in acting the way we want them to, or that
we do not see the real goal they have, they may have the same objective as the
teachers but they might have a different path already outlined to get there.
(Biehler/Snowman, 1997)
Conclusion
I tried to be specific on
what is learning but there is so much we could mention referring to learning
and learning processes, but I think that the idea of learning depends of the
person, there are people focused in intellectual growth, others in physical and
others in cultural. I consider myself an eclectic person and many times I feel
disperse because I want to absorb as much knowledge as I can so maybe this is
why I consider it a journey, a quest for truth and an adventure of self
discovery.
Every student is different,
we may be influenced by Chomsky, Montessori or any other, follow strategies
from general to particular or backwards, flipped classroom, ESL or EFL
activities, but at the end what matters is that the students learn and use the
language, we are preparing people on a skill for life not just to approve a
test.
Now, after all this i have
to take in consideration Kolb, Honey & Mumford to Burke, they construct
their theories around the old authors and refresh the knowledge we had, setting
a learning cycle determined by the cognitive development of students that can
be applied in different stages and levels of students.
I have mentioned that there
are many variables to take into consideration, specially in ESL and EFL
teaching, It cannot be the same teaching method or strategies, we have to take
in consideration culture and customs as well as examples that can be applied to
the reality the students and teachers are living, I agree on the adaptation to
the general standards like the International Frame of the English Language, but
I also agree that the method of teaching has to be different.
Over all, motivation can be
intrinsic or extrinsic. Intrinsic when we self motivate, we have different
goals, we try our best by being ourselves and getting up every day, knowing we
have to work, study or help in our house with the vison of having a brighter
future. We also have extrinsic motivations which can be monetary rewards,
encouragement from others and the encouragement of a better position in our
job, etc.
Focused on our students the
motivation is also intrinsic and extrinsic, here is where all comes together. We
have to know their learning styles, so we can apply different methods and
strategies for their learning, we have to see which are their responses to the
activities and be aware at all time if a change has to be done. Then from there
comes the self motivation of the teacher to do his or her best and encourage
the students, they respond to the security you provide in the class and they
motivate among them also.
Teaching is a complex job,
because you are not dealing with machines or with things, you are dealing with
individuals with their own way of thinking, their own process, story and background.
As teachers we have to give our best everyday in the benefit of our pupils. We become
a guide in life not only to give concepts.
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