Applied linguistics. Antonieta Fahham.

Learning Styles & Strategies.

Every student learns differently. That's why was made different ways in which
students can learn easily. Learning styles are general approaches to language learning,
these general approaches are used by students in acquiring a new language or in
learning any other subject. By the way, learning strategies are specific ways learners
choose to cope with language tasks in particular contexts. These are the ways that help
students to learn, remember information, and study for tests. These are the strategies
that depend on students learning styles.
In the world, exist different learning styles and each student has his own. There
are seven known of them. Visual or spatial learners, these students learn from visual
objects by using pictures rather than words. Visual learners need to see things to fully
understand them; auditory or musical learners, these students learn best from what
they hear. They learn through discussions and talking. They prefer to involve
communicating through speaking ideas rather than writing; physical or kinesthetic or
tactile learners, these students learn through using their bodies, hands, and sense of
touch. They learn best through using their hands making things; social or interpersonal
learners, these students learn through communication with others, whether it’s verbal
or non-verbal. They like to learn by socializing. These students love working in groups,
and overall learn through social interactions; solitary or intrapersonal learners, these
students prefer to work alone and use self-study. They enjoy working independently,
and learn best when working alone; verbal or linguistic learners, as their name says,
these students prefer using words, can be in speech and writing; logical or
mathematical, these students prefer learning logical, by reasoning.
On the other hand, exist different learning strategies that students use when
they are learning a language. These strategies are; cognitive strategies, these strategies
refer to processes and behaviors that students use to improve their learning and
memorization skills; metacognitive strategies, these strategies are used to help
students understand the way they learn. It helps students to think about their thinking;
memory-related strategies, these strategies involve the mental processes for storing
new information in the memory. These strategies are used by acronyms, sound
similarities, images, keywords; compensatory strategies, these are techniques or
modifications to our behavior or environment that are used to compensate for a
deficit, weakness, injury. These strategies are used by gestures, miming, or guessing
the meaning from the context; affective strategies, these strategies help the students
manage their emotions by identifying their mood and anxiety level, talking about
feelings, rewarding themselves. This can happen by encouraging and counseling
learners, by helping them identify achievable aims and work towards autonomous
learning; and social strategies, these strategies help the student to learn via interaction
with others. This occurs by asking questions, asking for clarification, asking for
conversation help, talking with a native-speaking partner, and exploring cultural and
social norms.
Learning styles and strategies are made to help students in their learning
proccess, adapting each one to the ability of each student. Students do not learn by
the same learning method. So, It is necessary to choose the right one for each of them.