LEARNING STYLE OF SLA STUDENTS

Ben Axel Jeconiah

Benaxejec@yahoo.co.id

Richard Trihart
Richardtrihart@rocketmail.com

1.1. Research Background

Language is the need in life, it is the important and necessary thing to be have to the
living. Language is the symbol to characterize one community and differs it from the other.
Through the organs of speech and hearing, language is a tool and a way to communicate to
the other, to socialize around, to be a part of the community a person needs language.
As we know that language is a system to communicate, as some experts explained the
definitions of language:
Language is a system of communication by sound, i.e. through the organs of speech
and hearing, among human beings of a certain group or community, using vocal symbols
possessing arbitrary conventional meaning (Pei & Gaynor 1954:119). Language as a system
of vocal symbols used for human communication (Wardhaugh 1972:3).
Second language learners acquired their target language by learning it. An effective
learning depends on the learner itself and some factors affected the learners too. Taken from
Muriel Saville-Troike;
Differential L2 outcomes may also be affected by individuals learning
strategies: i.e. the behaviors and techniques they adopt in their efforts to learn
a second language. Selection from among possible strategies is often a
conscious choice on the part of learners, but it is strongly influenced by the
nature of their motivation, cognitive style, and personality, as well as by
specific contexts of use and opportunities for learning.
Not all strategies are equal: some are inherently more effective than others, and
some more appropriate in particular contexts of learning or for individuals with
differing aptitudes and learning styles.
As Muriel Saville-Troike stated above, some factors affected learners' learning strategies in
learning their target language and some learning strategies that implemented by some learners
are not fit for the other learners in other words not all strategies are equal: some are

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inherently more effective than others, and some more appropriate in particular contexts of
learning or for individuals with differing aptitudes and learning styles.
By the right learning style to be implemented to the particular students, their learning
will become suitable for the students themselves. Just like what Nancy-Scapo stated from
their findings;
Students vary in the way they process and understand information. when
students understand their learning style preferences, research has shown they
are more successful learners. Students reported that early knowledge of their
learning style type affected how they adapted to and strengthened their
strategies for learning, including how they developed their study habits.

1.2. Literature Review

Second Language Acquisition (SLA) refers both to the study of individuals and
groups who are learning a language subsequent to learning their first one as young children,
and to the process of learning that language. The additional language is called a second
language (L2), even though it may actually be the third, fourth, or tenth to be acquired. It is
also commonly called a target language (TL), which refers to any language that is the aim or
goal of learning. The scope of SLA includes informal L2 learning that takes place in
naturalistic contexts, formal L2 learning that takes place in classrooms, and L2 learning that
involves a mixture of these settings and circumstances.
Ehrman and Oxford (1990) cited 9 major style dimensions relevant to L2 learning,
although many more style aspects might also prove to be influential. Four dimensions of
learning style that are likely to be among those most strongly associated with L2 learning:
sensory preferences, personality types, desired degree of generality, and biological
differences. Learning styles generally operate on a continuum or on multiple, intersecting
continua. For example, a person might be more extraverted than introverted, or more closure-
oriented than open, or equally visual and auditory but with lesser kinesthetic and tactile
involvement. Few if any people could be classified as having all or nothing in any of these
categories (Ehrman, 1996).
Sensory preferences can be broken down into four main areas: visual, auditory,
kinesthetic (movement-oriented), and tactile (touch-oriented). Sensory preferences refer to
the physical, perceptual learning channels with which the student is the most comfortable.
Visual students like to read and obtain a great deal from visual stimulation. For them,
lectures, conversations, and oral directions without any visual backup can be very confusing.
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In contrast, auditory students are comfortable without visual input and therefore enjoy and
profit from unembellished lectures, conversations, and oral directions. They are excited by
classroom interactions in role-plays and similar activities. They sometimes, however, have
difficulty with written work. Kinesthetic and tactile students like lots of movement and enjoy
working with tangible objects, collages, and flashcards. Sitting at a desk for very long is not
for them; they prefer to have frequent breaks and move around the room.
Personality Types Another style aspect that is important for L2 education is that of
personality type, which consists of four strands: extraverted vs. introverted; intuitive-random
vs. sensing-sequential; thinking vs. feeling; and closure-oriented/judging vs. open/perceiving.
Personality type (often called psychological type) is a construct based on the work of
psychologist Carl Jung.
Extraverted vs. Introverted. By definition, extraverts gain their greatest energy from
the external world. They want interaction with people and have many friendships, some deep
and some not. In contrast, introverts derive their energy from the internal world, seeking
solitude and tending to have just a few friendships, which are often very deep. Extraverts and
introverts can learn to work together with the help of the teacher.
Intuitive-Random vs. Sensing-Sequential. Intuitive-random students think in abstract,
futuristic, large-scale, and nonsequential ways. They like to create theories and new
possibilities, often have sudden insights, and prefer to guide their own learning. In contrast,
sensing-sequential learners are grounded in the here and now.
Thinking vs. Feeling. Thinking learners are oriented toward the stark truth, even if it
hurts some peoples feelings. They want to be viewed as competent and do not tend to offer
praise easily even though they might secretly desire to be praised themselves. Sometimes
they seem detached. In comparison, feeling learners value other people in very personal
ways.
Closure-oriented/Judging vs. Open/Perceiving. Closure-oriented students want to
reach judgments or completion quickly and want clarity as soon as possible. These students
are serious, hardworking learners who like to be given written information and enjoy specific
tasks with deadlines. Sometimes their desire for closure hampers the development of fluency
(Ehrman & Oxford, 1989). In contrast, open learners want to stay available for continuously
new perceptions and are therefore sometimes called perceiving. They take L2 learning less
seriously, treating it like a game to be enjoyed rather than a set of tasks to be completed.
Open learners dislike deadlines; they want to have a good time and seem to soak up L2
information by osmosis rather than hard effort.
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 Desired Degree of Generality, this strand contrasts the learner who focuses on the
main idea or big picture with the learner who concentrates on details. Global or holistic
students like socially interactive, communicative events in which they can emphasize the
main idea and avoid analysis of grammatical minutiae. They are comfortable even when not
having all the information, and they feel free to guess from the context. Analytic students
tend to concentrate on grammatical details and often avoid more free-flowing communicative
activities.

1.3. Methodology
In this papers writters give the report about their research about the successful second
langauge learners by their learning style and learning strategies. The research involved 28
students of SLA (Second Language Acquisition) class of English Language Education Study
Program of Palangkaraya University in filling the questionnaire. From 28 questionnares only
24 that return to the researchers but the datas are enough. The given questionnare was given
to survey the data about their learning style. The only media that used by the researchers to
collect the data was questionnare VAK Learning Styles Self-Assessment Questionnaire. The
questionnare was given to all the subjects on Wednesday, November 16th, 2016 at 03.00 pm
and returned by all of the subjects on the same day.

1.4. Discussion and Result

From the questionnare, A=visual, B=Auditory, C=Kinaesthetic. All the subjects that
filling the questionnare are include both gender, men and women. From the collected data
A=9 people, B=3 People, C=12 people. The most dominant answer are C (kinaesthetic).
The clear description of the data can be seen on the table and chart.

Table. The persentage of Learning style of SLA students.

VAK Learning Styles Total Persentages
Visual 9 37%
Auditory 3 12,5%
Kinaesthetic 12 50%
Total 24 100%

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Chart. The persentage of Learning style of SLA students.

Learning style of SLA students

Visual
37%
Kinaesthetic
50% Visual
Auditory

Auditory Kinaesthetic
12,5%

Someone with a Visual learning style has a preference for seen or observed things,
including pictures, diagrams, demonstrations, displays, handouts, films, flip-chart, etc. These
people will use phrases such as show me, lets have a look at that and will be best able to
perform a new task after reading the instructions or watching someone else do it first. These
are the people who will work from lists and written directions and instructions.
Someone with an Auditory learning style has a preference for the transfer of
information through listening: to the spoken word, of self or others, of sounds and noises.
These people will use phrases such as tell me, lets talk it over and will be best able to
perform a new task after listening to instructions from an expert. These are the people who
are happy being given spoken instructions over the telephone, and can remember all the
words to songs that they hear
Someone with a Kinaesthetic learning style has a preference for physical experience -
touching, feeling, holding, doing, practical hands-on experiences. These people will use
phrases such as let me try, how do you feel? and will be best able to perform a new task
by going ahead and trying it out, learning as they go. These are the people who like to
experiment, hands-on, and never look at the instructions first

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1.5. Conclusion
Based on the result of this small research, learning style of SLA students is
kinaesthetic. It means that most of SLA students have kinaesthetic learning style which is
kinesthetic learner has a strong drive to explore material through doing and to move
periodically in class.

REFERENCES
Definisi Bahasa Menurut Ahli dalam Bahasa Inggris dan Terjemahannya. (2016).
Downloaded at November 27th, 2016, from
http://nurindahrahman.blogspot.co.id/2016/04/definisi-bahasa-menurut-ahli-dalam.html.
Oxford, R..L. 2003. Language Learning Style and Strategies: An Overview. Oxford: Oxford
University.
Saville-Troike, M. 2006. Introducing Second Language Acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press. (pp. 91-93)