Teacher Discussion Forums

Through my reading I have come to learn that there are many styles of successful language learning. When learners gain self-awareness of their individual styles, they can choose learning strategies that might work best for them. Teachers can administer informal self-checklists or personality style tests to help students recognize their own style and strategy preferences towards learning. I would like to know if anyone has tried this exercise. Has this proven successful for anyone in an ESL setting? I imagine this could be confusing for ELLs and would assume it could only be done with higher age and proficiency level students.

I have tried it and found that learning style tests are very helpful in finding out what kind of learners you have in your classroom so that you can create lesson plans that meet their needs. Through such tests, I was able to find out what kind of leaners they were, I incorporated Gardner's Multiple Intelligence. It can be difficult for the ELLs or younder students, but you can go through the test with them one question at a time. It sounds like time consuming, but it is very beneficial in the long run. You will definitely learn more about your students' learning style.

I agree with your background theory and intentions about tailoring teaching/assessment to best align with multiple intelligences. I’m wondering about the “personality style tests” you’ve mentioned though. What are these? Where can they be found and are they credible? Another point I want to raise: While I’ve already stated my support for garnering teaching to particular intelligence styles, shouldn’t we also try to teach students (when they are ready) to work outside of their comfort zones? Teach them to use/improve different intelligence styles?

I do genuinely believe that being aware of any students learning style is both beneficial and important. Especially since the technology wave in education, there are even more ways students can exhibit their skills and intelligence. Students learn in many different ways so it is important to try to touch on all the different styles of learning at least once to give each student a fair chance to succeed and be engaged in your classroom. For example, some students are visual learners while others are artistic or hands on. Does anyone know of any challenges this could pose in the context of ESL?