Different learning styles - Essay Example

ESL 103 B ification Essay: Different Learning Styles Nowadays, the academe recognized the differences in individuals when it comes to learning styles. While learning used to come as a form of either lecture or reading before, other learning ways or processes are now given increased importance. In addition, in the early days, teachers determine the method of teaching to learners. In modern times, students are encouraged to understand their personal learning style in order to maximize one’s learning potential.

While some individuals may only need to read to understand a lesson, others may need to hear discussions or see a demonstration regarding the topic to process the information better. These different learning styles are visual, auditory, and tactile (Call and Featherstone 45). An individual is with visual learning style if learning is through images and visual representations of ideas, opinions, theories, and knowledge. Visual learning is the first learning style. Visual learners will also easily understand symbols that show the relationship of one idea to another.

Key words or key phrases can help make the meanings clearer, but the information should still be outlined with images to help visual learners grasp the information easily. These learners are usually with good visual memory and they retain more information when learning is done through knowledge maps, concept diagrams, tables, charts, and other graphic organizers. They mostly use the eyes to learn (Call and Featherstone 47-8). The second learning style is auditory, which utilizes an individual’s sense of hearing.

An individual with auditory learning styles learn better through speaking and listening. They usually do not respond well to written information. They need to hear the information for them to be able to retain it. For example, an auditory learner will easily memorize a phone number by saying it aloud and then memorizing how it sounded. Most of them benefit well in lectures and do well in oral exams and speeches. They mostly use the ears and hearing the lessons will help them retain the knowledge (Call and Featherstone 55-6).

The third type of learning style is the tactile learning or kinesthetic learning. Tactile learners learn better when they are physically doing something. They are also considered the doers. According to experts, individuals with this learning style usually learn through discovery or action. They usually act first before learning from that action. They are also good at doing 2 things at the same time. What normally happens is that tactile learners will remember things associated to the physical activity at hand.

It is said that tactile learners have a hard time processing information acquired through reading or listening (Call and Featherstone 61-2). Activities inside the classroom should be able to accommodate the different needs of individuals with different learning styles. It will be good if information will be given in a manner wherein individuals with differing needs can all benefit from. In the above classification, it is easy to see that visual, auditory, and tactile learners have vast learning differences, and sometimes, “the learning strength of one is the weakness of the other” (Call and Featherstone 44).

Work CitedCall, Nicola and Sally Featherstone. The Thinking Child: Brain-based Learning for the Foundation Stage. Moorabbin, Vic: Hawker Brownlow Education, 2004. Print.