READING TWO
Cognitive Style and Learning Strategies
Read "Cognitive Style and Learning Strategies"
Could you be able to teach a second language without learning strategies? Explain your answer.
Your response should be 100-150 words.
Remember your answer must be one complete paragraph, use complete sentences, correct punctuation, spelling and grammar. Proofread before posting!!
After you answer one of the questions, make a comment to one of your classmates´ response.
Remember to write your name at the end of your post. This way I can keep track of who completes the assignment. You have until Friday July 20th to read and make your comments.
I think it would be very difficult to teach a second language without learning strategies. The article mentions that people learn in different ways and it even mentions that the learner could even choose the best strategy to learn. We should always keep in mind that not everyone learns in the same way, and we should keep in mind that there are a number of factors that influence and affects the way the second language learners learn. Age, gender, motivation, beliefs and attitude are just some examples of those factors. So I think we really need the learning strategies to teach a second language, for example, strategy training should be individualized and should provide sufficient practice for the learner involving sufficient material as well. It’s important as well to include in the strategies brainstorming, explanations, puzzles and comprehension activities. Using this and many more strategies will help the learners gain motivation and feel positive towards the idea of learning a second language, and of course, if they feel ok with this strategies it will be easier for us to teach them, so at the end it’s a win-win situation.
ResponderEliminarSara Rodriguez
. Therefore it is important, that once you have acquired the most fundamental vocabulary in the language, you can help your brain and your memory a lot by activating different ways of remembering the foreign words. The most important one is the use of spaced repetition (for example by using our software Flashcard Learner). This makes sure that you won’t forget any of the words and example sentences any more. However, additionally to that, you should be reading a lot of native texts. The Internet is your friend. Find newspapers, blogs, and chat rooms in your target language. Reading provides you with context.
EliminarBy Mercy Cortés
I agree with you Sara, if students feel good with the strategies it will be easier for us to teach. That is why we have to choose the best strategies for teaching our students. As you mention it is important to include brainstorming, puzzles, comprehensions activities but as well it is important to include listening and communicative activities.
EliminarKarla Amaya
Great response to the article, I definitely agree with your stance. It is very important to grab all of those factors that do affect the learning and utilize them in a positive way. All of the strategies mentioned would support different students and their kind of learning style, using different ones will build on their skills. In some of these strategies they will do better than others, and as you mentioned will improve their motivation. Of course, all of the strategies are being adapted to their kind of style. I could not agree with you more about the importance of them feeling positive and motivating them to achieve that new language, and one of the ways to do this is of course taking into consideration their learning style.
Eliminar- Daniela Gomez
I agree with you, everyone has different learning styles, so as teachers we have to look for strategies adapted to their needs. If they feel motivated, their learning will be faster and significantly.
EliminarSindy Amaya
No, is impossible to learn a language without strategies because learning a language requires a huge effort. But there are ways, how you can speed up your progress. Effective learning strategies of learning a language can give you a head start and will prevent you from taking unnecessary detours. If you decide to embark on such a journey of expanding your mind, trying to understand another language and culture and people, make it as effective and efficient as possible. As with every big venture you have to be very clear that it is really what you want. If you don’t have a clear motivation then the chance of you abandoning your language learning efforts is very high. Most people drop out of language learning classes or their self-learning before reaching even an intermediate level. Don’t be one of them. Be smarter! Use your brain first to determine if at all you are willing and able to commit to learning another language. If you determine that you are – congratulations! The more points of interest you have to a language and the culture of the people who speak it the easier you will find the motivation to keep learning. The more you want to know what people say, how they say things and what kind of views they have the more you will be driven to keep learning the language. The best way, of course, to learn a language is to be totally immersed in it by actually living in a country where they speak only that language. But this is not enough. Language is by definition first a spoken medium. It therefore is absolutely important that you keep listening to the foreign language as much as possible. This will form your ear so that you slowly start understanding what is being said. Try to find as many radio programs, broadcasts, podcasts, TV programs, audio books, songs, music or what have you in the foreign language. The more you listen to the language the more your brain will start picking up words from the context and start making connections. Learn vocabulary in a smart way: Not all words of a language are equal. Some occur much more frequently than others. Therefore it proves beneficial if you focus your attention on the more frequently occurring words first. You will save yourself countless hours by structuring you learning efforts such that you select the important words first. Think in the foreign language: While reading and listening to a foreign language helps you tremendously in your efforts to actually understand the language, it does not teach you how to speak, left alone to speak fluently and understandably. While you listen or read you are forced to wait until a certain word shows up to recognize it although you might prefer to see it more often or use it more frequently. You don’t always have direct access to native speakers. Maybe they need a break, too. But you can always talk to yourself.
ResponderEliminarBy Mercy Cortés.
I totally agree with you Mercy. You mention "If you don’t have a clear motivation then the chance of you abandoning your language learning efforts is very high." this is why we (teachers) should really need to have clear what the learners motivation is and how to get to that motivation. So again, we will be needing the strategies we've been talking before to teach a second language.
EliminarMercy's response is mine (Sara Rodriguez) :)
EliminarI totally agree with you Mercy. You mention "If you don’t have a clear motivation then the chance of you abandoning your language learning efforts is very high." this is why we (teachers) should really need to have clear what the learners motivation is and how to get to that motivation. So again, we will be needing the strategies we've been talking before to teach a second language.
EliminarI agree with Mercy. As teachers, we must develop different activities to maintain dynamism in our classrooms, since the effective learning of our students depends on us, using ignovative strategies for the different types of students we find in our classrooms.
By Olga Pineda
Mercy is on point here, that's why learning strategies are so important to help students find their own and comfortable way of learning and only by doing this we can keep our students motivated as well in learning a second language and their proficiency and expectations can be more efficient in acquiring a second language.
EliminarI agree with Mercy kids need a motivational way of learning that is why the learner needs to know how he or she learns things easy , that how we are going to make activities depending on how they learn , and startegies make learning more fun , we can learn having fun .
Eliminarby Kimberly Gutierrez
As we can see the earning strategies
ResponderEliminarare one of the aspects that have been more profusely treated within the field of second
language acquisition. From our study, we can deduce that learning strategies may be
effective for learning English as a second language; they may be effective for both
explicit linguistic knowledge and implicit linguistic knowledge.
The study of learning strategies has been applied to every aspect of L2 Their utility with respect to the development of the four skills: listening,
speaking, reading and writing has been demonstrated.
these strategies have been studied individually and their validity has been verified.
One of the most important aspects to take into account nowadays is the
necessity both on the part of the teacher and on the part of the learner of being aware
of the fact that these strategies are real processes common to human beings, and that
they are used by the student in order to improve his/her learning.
Learning strategies
have an intentional character and they imply a plan of action and a selective use of the
proper resources and available capacities; their application is controlled. For all these
reasons there is a strong necessity to create a coherent syllabus in our schools where
the instruction of these kinds of strategies should occupy an important place. In this
way, the possibilities of achieving autonomous learners will increase to a greater
extent. Not in vain one of the purposes of the Educative Reform is the achievement of
an autonomous learner in order to foster permanent education in our students.
The key is to create meaningful learning situations. The teacher must ensure that students are active and confident in themselves and ensure that they acquire work habits. (learn to learn)
since children learn in a holistic way. If this coordination did not exist, or hobbled at some point, the result would not be as expected.
By.silbia Garcia
For me is necessary a method to learn another language. You might worry that you won’t speak correctly and maybe even start ingraining bad speaking habits. Forget about that. The purpose of this exercise is not to speak correctly – the purpose is to activate the foreign words – even if you make the sentences wrong. The spaced repetition method is the scientifically proven single most important step to make sure that you do not forget and loose again what you have acquired and learned. It makes sure that you invest as little time as possible to get the optimum profits from your learning efforts. Language communication consists of sentences and phrases, inflection of words and conjugation of verbs. The specific combinations and sequences are the carrier of information and meaning, not only the individual words. Therefore it is important, that once you have acquired the most fundamental vocabulary in the language, you can help your brain and your memory a lot by activating different ways of remembering the foreign words. The most important one is the use of spaced repetition (for example by using our software Flashcard Learner). This makes sure that you won’t forget any of the words and example sentences any more. However, additionally to that, you should be reading a lot of native texts. The Internet is your friend. Find newspapers, blogs, and chat rooms in your target language. Reading provides you with context. While spaced repetition makes sure that your learned words won’t disappear, it is through reading and listening that your learned words and sentences will be placed in an appropriate context, which will enable you to build correct memory traces. Also activating your motor memory by learning how to write in the foreign language will greatly intensify your ability to remember words correctly.
ResponderEliminarBy Olga Pineda
Yes, I think that they should be used because it is necessary and you can not teach L2 without learning strategies. It is a difficult path in which
Eliminarfactors of various types influence: psychological, sociological, academic,
etc., to this is added the tradition that in schools each teacher makes his
Work as you understand it.
NO, I can´t teach a second language without learning strategies. Why? Well I believe learning strategies are important because they help language learners become more independent in the process of learning a second language. Using different type of learning strategies can help students enhance their own learning. This are tools that can help a second language learner to have self directed involvement, which is important for developing communicative competence, students can also improve proficiency and have more self confidence. This can help even studetns learn faster when apply in class. We are helping students how to use the different learning strategies which better fits there profile or the easiest way for them to learn, the understanding also in how learning strategies can make students more self reliant, and truly be in charge of their own learning style in learning a second language.
ResponderEliminarBy: Sylvia Castro
As the article states, research demonstrates that learning strategies do affect the process of learning a second language. I agree with the article, because learning styles are important in the process of teaching a new language, therefore I don´t think that you could teach a second language without them. Understanding how students process information makes teaching a new language much easier, since you can incorporate students’ preferences into their way of learning. As teachers we cannot forget that our responsibility is to facilitate student´s learning; finding the best way for them to learn. With the combination of different strategies, different learning styles, and individual learning goals we are able to transform student´s learning and make the process easier. In conclusion, learning styles are a necessity in the process of teaching a new language.
ResponderEliminar- Daniela Gomez
No, I couldn't teach without using learning strategies. Using different strategies students will improve their learning and will learn fast. Learning styles are important in the process of teaching. It is so important we as teachers help students to find their way of learning. Some students learn by doing and touching, others by listening or just seeing things. We have to remember that students learn in different ways so we have to choose the best strategy according to the needs of our students so they can give the best in the class. If we want to our students to engage in the learning process we have to make activities that they will enjoy(fun activities).
ResponderEliminarKarla Amaya
Its kind of difficult teaching without learning strategies , i think that if we teach without learning strategies kids have to learn only by memoy in a traditional way . People learn in many ways, that is why we need learning strategies to involve people in learning in the easiest way they understand . Not everybody understand in the same way if we only teach the second language in one way or in a traditional way maybe the process of learning will be slowly or dificult or maybe the kid will understand but not everything only few things. Learning strategies are such powerful tools they are very essential for developing comunicative competence , they improve self-confident . Strategies play a cognitive role in learning , because they facilitate and optimize processess , especially in new task , strategies play an affective motivational role people feel secure about what they are doing making them solve their problems in an easiest way.
ResponderEliminarby Kimberly Gutierrez
this is according to you Kimberly, because learning strategies are the tools with which we achieve that all students learn, because they allow us to take our teaching to each of the learning styles and thus achieve the acquisition of knowledge of each and every one of our students.
Eliminarby . Teresa Zelaya
It would be very difficult to teach without using learning strategies. One way or another we implement learning strategies to make learning easier. Learning strategies influence in a positive way in the process of learning a second language. According to the students´ needs and learning abilities we try to include these strategies for them to learn. We need to understand how the students process the information to plan the class. People learn in various ways, have different abilities and needs, a way to help them learn is including different teaching styles, methods, strategies facilitating their learning. Learning strategies and cognitive styles are very important, I could not teach without them.
ResponderEliminarSindy Amaya
I completly agree with your comment. That using diferent styles, methods and strategies in class allow students to feel better. Allowing them the opportunity to have the information processed in an easier and interesting form. This leads the student not only to see or learn but actually comprehend what is being taught to them.
EliminarDetermining if you need strategies in order to teach a second language should not be even questioned. Every person has a diferent way of learning or acquiring information. Some may have similar ways of learning but teachers should be able to adapt their teaching towards the goal that the students will actually be able to understand, what she or he is trying to comunicate. A second language must be acquired based on the cultural and global elements that may affect how the student may react to what he or she is learning. Specifically as it is mentioned in the article, that adults may have much more trouble adapting to the second language based on the idea and how they are determined to learn the grammar rules in order to apply them. Instead of learning like children do, in an automotized form, without paying attention to the actual rules in grammar.
ResponderEliminarTotally agree, students must be able to unconsciously call upon the knowledge they've acquired and to just apply it, it certainly is so beneficial that the environment is nurturing enough as to promote the usage of the language and the culture in the most possible amounts.
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ResponderEliminarNo, I can not teach a second language without a learning strategy. because each and every student is different even in the type of learning, therefore I must respect the type of learning and adapt my strategy to each of the learning styles. Each teacher must work in such a way that the slowest of the students reaches an acceptable level of learning for which I must apply several strategies to find the ideal for each and every one of my students. learning strategies are extremely important and useful tools in addition to facilitating our work at the time of teaching as well as making the teaching process more user-friendly for the student.
By: Teresa Zelaya.
Regarding this aspect of learning styles and its strategies, I think that there is always space for creativity and innovation. True, some strategies have already been developed but that is the beauty of humanity and diversity, there is not only one way to teach. When taking in consideration aspects of learning styles, I believe that teaching must be inclusive try to target all styles in all available sessions, stimulate your students beyond what they would expect every day. The was something mentioned that the learning must be oriented towards the kids' beliefs, but I believe it shouldn't and even more so not oriented to one's beliefs as a teacher. The idea of teaching is showing new stuff to the students we've been entrusted with. This teaching should be made with different ideas and beliefs, because after all you're learning and being included into a culture which is not your own, so the belief system here really shouldn't matter. What really matters is that the student feels part of the culture of whatever language he/she is learning. It may be hard to apply, but you can only learn things that you don't already know, thus it is imperative to make sure your ideas are fresh! Strategies work because they've been tried before, but then again, it doesn't you can't give them that touch that will make them yours.
ResponderEliminarTotally agree with you Daniel, when you said: "there is always space for creativity and innovation" Today, it's easier than ever before to learn about teaching. There are lots of books, training courses, online courses, online resources, that can help us develop as teachers. Learning about other things is important too. Creative teachers bring more to class than just a knowledge of teaching. But, I think we should respect the Kids' beliefs even if we are not agree, I think, what the article meant, is that, we should foster a Positive Classroom Climate. :) Julia Drechsel.
Eliminar“The challenge for the teacher is to discover each student’s general inclination, and encourage them to be flexible in selecting the style which is most appropriate for a particular context” and to answer the question: no, we cannot teach a second language without learning strategies, the learner’s motivation is mostly regarded as a central condition for successful learning. I loved when I read the we (The teachers) have a challenge to get to know our students, it is not easy, but it can be done, that’s why, we are always looking for new strategies to teach in our classrooms, we the teachers, we are always studying, new strategies, old strategies, in order to strengthen a learner’s confidence, teachers can make use of extrinsic motivation tools like learning styles/strategies, the promotion of active participation and applications close to everyday life, a clearly structured learning content as well as social support by setting appropriate tasks. For example: Students with problems in reading and spelling may improve their skills by using reading and highlighting learning strategies. Material that has been systematized by highlighting, for example, is easier for students to understand and to retrieve later. So, all the weaknesses that our students might have, can be improved by acquiring learning strategies.
ResponderEliminarBy: Julia Drechsel
ResponderEliminarPeople learn and process new information in different ways. Learning style, which refers to an individual’s cognitive style within an educational context, indicates the preferred way he/she approaches new
information. Researchers have discovered that both field
independence (FI) and field dependence (FD) are linked to SLA. FI is believed to involve ‘analysis,
attention to details, and mastering of exercises, drills, and other focused activities’. FD learners, who are usually more social, empathetic and perceptive of others, are better at
acquiring communicative skills.
Learners learn dependending on their different circumstances, and employ different learning strategies depending on their situations. Good L2 learners, according to
Rubin, are willing and accurate guessers; have a strong drive to communicate; are often
uninhibited; are willing to make mistakes; focus on
form by looking for patterns and analyzing. Teaching learners how to learn, it is believed, will better equip the learners in their SLA quest.
Hello Teresa
ResponderEliminarHello estefania
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