AN INVESTIGATION INTO ENGLISH LEARNING STYLES OF NON – LANGUAGE MAJOR FRESHMEN AT QUANG BINH UNIVERSITY tran thi giang nga

AN INVESTIGATION INTO ENGLISH LEARNING STYLES OF NON – LANGUAGE MAJOR FRESHMEN AT QUANG BINH UNIVERSITY Le Thi Hang, Ph.D Tran Thi GiangNga University of English Language K54 Tóm tắt Bài viết tóm tắt nghiên cứu thực trường đại học Quảng Bình Nghiên cứu nhằm điều tra khó khăn mà sinh viên năm chuyên ngành ngoại ngữ gặp phải trình học kỹ nghe Mục đích khác nghiên cứu để đưa giải pháp thực tế giúp cải thiện tình hình học kỹ nghe sinh viên Việc phân tích liệu cho thấy đa số sinh viên nhận thức tầm quan trọng việc học kỹ nghe họ gặp khó khăn chưa nắm bắt phương pháp, thiếu vốn từ vựng chưa thực tập trung Trong phần cuối nghiên cứu, số giải pháp đưa nhằm áp dụng sinh viên giúp họ nâng cao khả học kỹ nghe Từ khóa: khó khăn, sinh viên chuyên ngữ, kĩ nghe INTRODUCTION 1.1 Retionale At Quang Binh University, the English program was taught for non – major is Pre Intermediate With a view to helping students have with more knowledge for their future careers Students here come together from different backgrounds within a university so that their level is not the same with each others Through the teaching process and based on the students’ marks in the test, the results are often not good Teachers are always in the face of difficulties in teaching because of the difference of individual English level, besides overcrowded students in a class combine with the difference in learning styles For each student, the way they learn and comprehend information is in a different mode Some students want to learn by the way of connecting or associating with their partners, meanwhile the others want to learn by seeing pictures, charts or listening to the tapes, the recordings The reason it is dissimilar because they are different from others, they all have their own learning strategies as well as learning styles As the first and unique university in Quang Binh, QBU is in the process of development and integration world Students speaking English well after graduation is always the main purpose as well as the specific goal that QBU is looking forward to Nevertheless, non – English major students at QBU still can not achieve good result as they desire Based on this fact, conducting a research entitled “An investigation into English learning styles of non – language major freshmen at Quang Binh University” is really indispensable Besides, researcher also would like to this research to give a general view of applying English learning style for these students at Quang Binh University, and come up with some more suitable learning style for them in QBU context 1.2 Research questions Due to the limitation of time and knowledge, this thesis only focuses on examining the learning style preferences utilized by non – major students in learning English at Quang Binh University The research aims to answer these following questions: What are propensities for English learning styles of non-language major freshmen at Quang Binh University? What suggestions can be made to improve the effectiveness of their English learning based on those propensities for English learning styles? 1.3 Scope of the study The study concentrates mainly on investigating learning style of students However, in this thesis, my subject are mainly a group of non – English major students at QBU with the hope to help students find out the suitable learning style based on their strong point or their ability and then give some supplemental for these students ENGLISH LEARNING STYLES OF NON – LANGUAGE MAJOR FRESHMEN AT QBU 2.1 Theoretical background 2.1.1 Definition of learning styles Learning Style is a term that refers to consistent and rather enduring tendencies or preference within an individual There are hundred of definitions about learning style in the world Each author or expert also had their own way to define According to Dr Rita Dunn [3], “Learning styles are the way that he or she concentrates on, processes, internalizes and remembers new and difficult information or skills.” Besides, Keefe [9] emphasizes learning styles as cognitive, affective, and psychological traits that serve as relatively stable indicators of how learners perceive, interact with, and respond to the learning environment 2.1.2 Learning style taxonomy for the L2 classroom LEARNING STYLE TAXONOMY Type 1: Cognitive styles Field – dependent Field – independent Analytic Global Type 2: Sensory Styles - Perceptual: Visual Auditory Tactile Kinesthetic - Environmental: Physical Sociological Type 3: Personality Style Tolerance of Ambiguity Right and Left hemisphere dominance: - Left brain - Right brain Reflective Impulsive 2.1.3 Multi – Intelligences Theory (MIT) and Learning styles 2.1.4 Ways and advantages of identifying students' learning style First of all, observing their specific behaviors in the classroom Next step in identifying students’ learning styles is the use of Questionnaire Apart from questionnaires, the interview is also a popular manner used Knowledge of learning style provides us ways to learn more and faster with improving our work If we can learn in a way that suits our style, we will absorb the information faster and retain more of it Knowing the best way to learn to pay dividends when it comes to mine, as we can take advantage of our strength to things and increase our productivity 2.2 Methodology 2.2.1 Participants The research was carried out 80 non - majored students enrolled at QBU Most students majored in many disciplines including University of Physic Pedagogy K57 (20 students), University of History Pedagogy K57 (20 students), University of Pre School K57 (20 students) and University of Biology Pedagogy K57 (20 students) 2.2.2 Data collection method - Observation - Questionnaire 2.2.3 Data analysis This study was conducted in the light of quantitative and qualitative methods When gathering the data, it is carefully observed by the researcher then analyzed using percentages and finally the results were shown in charts, figures or tables 2.3 Students’ foreground propensities in English learning styles 2.3.1 Based on three students’ learning styles Figure 4: Cognitive styles and learners’ tendency Figure 5: Sensory styles Figure 6: Personality styles 2.3.2 Based on Multi – Intelligences Table 2: Students’ MI classification of University class of Biology Pedagogy K57 PERCENT / AN INTELLIGENCE TYPE Bodily Linguistic Logical Musical Spatial Kinesthetic Naturalist 42 64 46 51 48 Intra - Inter - Personal personal 20 34 70 Table 3: Students’ MI classification of University class of History Pedagogy K57 PERCENT / AN INTELLIGENCE TYPE Bodily Linguistic Logical Musical Spatial Kinesthetic Naturalist 39 32 57 32 25 Intra - Inter - Personal personal 28 36 32 Table 4: Students’ MI classification of University class of Pre - School K57 PERCENT / AN INTELLIGENCE TYPE Bodily Linguistic Logical Musical Spatial Kinesthetic Naturalist 36 45 69 34 38 32 Intra - Inter - Personal personal 24 36 Table 5: Students’ MI classification of University class of Physic Pedagogy K57 PERCENT / AN INTELLIGENCE TYPE Bodily Linguistic Logical Musical Spatial Kinesthetic Naturalist 40 57 60 38 22 Intra - Inter - Personal personal 18 34 48 CONCLUSION 3.1 Conclusions This thesis investigates individual differences from personal learning styles preferences The results from the investigation into learning styles demonstrate that most of students learn best when they were given time to consider the data or information Besides they are pictures smart which means they learn better by seeing photos, pictures, paintings They prefer visual aids; the results suggest that students at QBU benefit a lot from visual aids and individual work The data from the investigate shows close relationship between learning style and Multi – Intelligences 3.2 Suggestions The following are some techniques employed in some English class: (1) Provide a balance of concrete information (data, facts, experiments and results) and abstract concepts (principles, theories) (2) Balance material that emphasizes practical problem-solving methods with material that emphasizes fundamental understanding (3) Use pictures, graphs and simple sketches liberally, during and after the presentation of verbal material Show films or provide demonstrations, if possible (4) Don’t fill every minute of class time lecturing and writing on the blackboard Set aside intervals—however brief—for students to learn what have been told on their own Raise questions and problems to be worked on by students in a small group, (5) Talk to students about learning styles, both in advising and in class Students are reassured to find their academic difficulties may not all be due to personal inadequacies Explaining to students how they learn most efficiently may be an important step in helping them reshape their learning experiences so that they can be successful (6) Try to design some activities which involve students, senses as many as possible, using all the senses to help improve English learning For example, relatively long passage dictations, and games, which require students to write down what they are told by their classmates, who already have learnt that by heart (7) Encourage students to learn English online, such as, post writing assignments through e-mail, read materials given online (the students in the experimental class use the new horizon college English book, a web-assisted textbook) (8) Motivate learning As much as possible, teach new material in the context of situation to which students can relate in terms of their personal experiences, rather than simply as more material to memorize  ...Based on this fact, conducting a research entitled An investigation into English learning styles of non – language major freshmen at Quang Binh University is really indispensable... research aims to answer these following questions: What are propensities for English learning styles of non- language major freshmen at Quang Binh University? What suggestions can be made to improve... ability and then give some supplemental for these students ENGLISH LEARNING STYLES OF NON – LANGUAGE MAJOR FRESHMEN AT QBU 2.1 Theoretical background 2.1.1 Definition of learning styles Learning