8th CTJ Seminar presentation

1. PRE-WRITING TASKS
FOR VISUAL, AUDITORY, AND
KINESTHETIC LEARNERS
Isabela Villas Boas - CTJ
Claudio Fleury – CTJ
8th CTJ Seminar – In Charge of Change

2. OUTLINE
• ACTIVITIES
• WRITING
• LEARNING STYLES
• EXAMPLE TASKS

3. ACTIVITY 1
ORGANIZING INFORMATION
• Stand up, discuss and organize yourselves in
three groups, according to the activity in your
cards.
• Explain the rationale for the organization.

4. ACTIVITY 2
GENERATING IDEAS
• In pairs, take turns speaking non-stop for
three minutes each.
• Partner A: “What do you know about
perceptual learning styles?”
• Partner B: “How can teachers apply
knowledge about different learning styles to
their teaching?”

5. ACTIVITY 3
ORGANIZING INFORMATION
• Fill in the mind map with information
generated in the previous activities.
• Share your mind map with a partner and
complete the information about learning
styles

6. WRITING ACTIVITY
• Write an article for your school bulletin board
about how important it is that students’
different learning styles be catered to in class.

7. PRE-WRITING ACTIVITIES
AND LEARNING STYLES
• what is the connection?
• pre-writing – why is it important?
• the writing process
• generating ideas and planning are the most
neglected

8. LEARNING STYLES
• “… an individual’s natural, habitual, and
preferred ways of absorbing, processing,
and retaining new information and skills.”
(Kinsella, 1995, p. 171,
in Christison, 2003)

9. LEARNING STYLES
• “How a person is likely to perceive and
process information and experiences.”
(Mc Carthy, 1980)

10. LEARNING STYLES
• “Cognitive, affective, and physiological
traits that are relatively stable indicators
of how learners perceive, interact with,
and respond to the learning
environment.”
(Keefe, 1979, p. 4)

11. KEY RESEARCH FINDINGS
• ESL / EFL teachers’ teaching styles often
reflect their own learning style
• As cited in Leopold, 2010

12. KEY RESEARCH FINDINGS
• Higher student achievement relates to a
match between student learning styles
and teacher teaching styles
• As cited in Leopold, 2010

13. KEY RESEARCH FINDINGS
• Although culture is not the sole
determinant, it is one of the principal
factors influencing learning styles
• As cited in Leopold, 2010

14. KEY RESEARCH FINDINGS
• More than 90% of the traditional college
classroom is auditory
• As cited in Leopold, 2010

15. KEY RESEARCH FINDINGS
• Most ESL students strongly prefer kinesthetic
learning
• As cited in Leopold, 2010

16. PERCEPTUAL LEARNING STYLES

17. Well-known models - Kolb
• http://www.m1creatiyvit.co.uk/creativity%20training/kolb2.jpg
• http://effective.leadershipdevelopment.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/david-kolb-
learning-styles-lsi.jpg

18. Well-known models – Dunn & Dunn
• http://blogs.region4.nycenet.edu/communities/files/563/26340/Dunn%20&%20Dunn.jpg

19. Well-known models - Gardner
• http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ePi1_NwHC04/SmrV7GFXSTI/AAAAAAAAABw/HkdjloelWlA/s400/multiple_intelligences_diagram.jpg

20. LEARNINGstyles in TESOL
Learning STYLES IN TESOL
Type 1: Cognitive Type 2: Sensory Type 3: Personality
Styles Styles Styles
Field Dependent Perceptual: Tolerance of ambiguity
Filed Independent Visual
Auditory
Kinesthetic
Tactile
Analytic Environmental: Right and left
Global Physical hemisphere
Sociological dominance:
Left-brain
Right-brain
Reflective
Impulsive
Christison, 2003

21. PERCEPTUAL LEARNING STYLES
• “the perceptual perspective allows us to take
into account aspects of several well-
recognized learning-style theories by
synthesizing their important characteristics
into an approach that is based on behaviors
and/or actions that can be easily perceived in
a classroom situation (Sarasin, 1998).”

22. WHAT IS YOUR LEARNING STYLE?
• Read the sentences on the posters
• Stand next to the poster with sentences that
best describe your preferred learning style
• Adapted from Barsch http://ww2.nscc.edu/gerth_d/AAA0000000/barsch_inventory.htm
• The actual test involves choosing whether the sentences are seldom, often, or sometimes
true

23. VISUAL LEARNERS
Visual learners have two sub-channels
• Linguistic
• Spatial

24. VISUAL LEARNERS
visual-linguistic learners
• learn through written language, such as
reading and writing tasks
• remember what has been written down, even
if they do not read it more than once
• like to write down directions
• pay better attention to lectures if they watch
them

25. VISUAL LEARNERS
visual-spatial learners
• usually have difficulty with the written
language
• do better with charts, demonstrations, videos,
and other visual materials
• visualize faces and places by using their
imagination and seldom get lost in new
surroundings.

26. VISUAL LEARNERS
Pre-writing activities
• mind-mapping for brainstorming
• http://bubbl.us
• graphic organizers (tree)
• videos
• slides / illustrations
• demonstrations

27. KINESTHETIC LEARNERS
Kinesthetic learners two sub-channels:
• kinesthetic (movement) and
• tactile (touch)
• tend to lose concentration if there is little or
no external stimulation or movement

28. KINESTHETIC LEARNERS
• When listening to lectures, they may want to
take notes for the sake of moving their hands.
• When reading, they like to scan the material
first, and then focus in on the details (get the
big picture first).
• They typically use color highlighters and take
notes by drawing pictures, diagrams, or
doodling.

29. KINESTHETIC LEARNERS
Pre-writing activities
• forming groups - organizing
• tossing objects
• computers and the internet
• acting out
• changing places / moving around

30. AUDITORY LEARNERS
• often talk to themselves
• may move their lips and read out loud.
• may have difficulty with reading and writing
tasks.
• often do better talking to a colleague or a
voice recorder and hearing what was said.

31. AUDITORY LEARNERS
Pre-writing activities
• voice recorders – mp3 players
• Audacity
• http://voicethread.com
• paraphrasing
• debates

32. SAMPLE ACTIVITIES

33. Activity 1 – My weekend
• Work in groups of six. Each person has a
connector. Say the first sentence and use the
connector in another sentence.
• The next person repeats the sentences and adds
one more, using his/her connector
• The last participant should have a whole
paragraph, that can be memorized by the group
On my last vacation I went to China
and I did many interesting things there.

34. Activity 2 – Hosting a world cup
• Form a circle. The first participant gives one
advantage to hosting a world cup and throws
the ball.
• The participant who gets the ball has to say
one disadvantage to hosting a world cup and
throw the ball.
• Continue until all participants have given an
advantage or disadvantage to the topic.

35. Activity 3 – Global Warming
• Complete the tree with causes and
consequences of global warming.
• The trunk of the tree represents the problem.
The roots represent the causes and the
canopy represents the consequences.
• Share your tree with a partner.

36. SAMPLE ACTIVITIES
• Activity 1 – auditory – beginners
• Activity 2 – kinesthetic - advanced
• Activity 3 – visual - intermediate

37. Thank you
• isabela.villasboas@thomas.org.br
• claudios@thomas.org.br
• http://prewriting.pbworks.com

38. Bibliography
• BROWN, H. Douglas Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language
Pedagogy, 2nd ed.New York: Longman, 2001.
• CHRISTISON, M. A. Learning styles and strategies. In D. Nunan (Ed.). Practical
English Language Teaching. New York: McGraw Hill, 2003.
• DUNN, R., K DUNN AND G. E. PRICE. The learning style inventory. Lawrence, KS:
Price Systems, 1975.
• KEEFE, J. W. Student learning styles: Diagnosing and prescribing
programs. Reston, VA: National Association of Secondary School Principals, 1979.
• KINSELLA, K. Understanding and empowering diverse learners. In J.M. Reid
(ed.) Learning Styles in the ESL/EFL Classroom. Boston: Heinle & Heinle, 1995.
• LIGHTBOWN, Patsy and SPADA, Nina. How Languages are Learned, 3rd ed. China:
Oxford, 2006.
• WOOLFOLK, Anita Educational Psychology - 10th ed. New York: Pearson, 2007.

39. Available online
• http://www.bhsu.edu/Academics/TheColleges/CollegeofArtsandSciences/D
epartmentsandPrograms/Humanities/English/WritingResources/LearningSt
yles/tabid/953/Default.aspx
• http://eca.state.gov/forum/vols/vol37/no4/p6.htm#top
• http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Zhenhui-TeachingStyles.html
• http://www.slideshare.net/51625678/teaching-and-learning-styles-
research
• test http://www.vark-learn.com/english/index.asp
• http://www.cloudnet.com/~edrbsass/learningstylesjigsaw.html
• test http://www.open.ac.uk/skillsforstudy/learning-style-activity.php
• http://www.everythingesl.net/inservices/learningstyle.php
• links http://www.shambles.net/pages/staff/lstyles/
• http://ww2.nscc.edu/gerth_d/AAA0000000/barsch_inventory.htm
• http://www.ldpride.net/learningstyles.MI.htm

40. VISUAL LEARNERS
• http://bubbl.us

41. AUDITORY LEARNERS
• Audacity

42. AUDITORY LEARNERS
• http://voicethread.com