To what extent are students' learning styles taken into consideration in an English language course?t : a case study

النوع : Mémoire

This is a descriptive case study which investigates to what extent students’ learning styles are taken into consideration in an English-language course in a private university in North Lebanon. The research aimed to examine students’ learning styles, the correspondence of the course activities with students’ learning styles, students’ activity preferences and teachers’ perceptions regarding whether students’ learning styles should be taken into consideration in teaching English. The data from classroom observations, questionnaires, teachers’ interviews and document analysis revealed that the ENGL 101 students’ learning styles differ. The ENGL 101 course, based on a learner-centered approach, offers a diversity of activities suited to different perceptual learning styles and social learning preferences. Students’ activity preferences varied from one to another, which reflected a diversity of students’ interests. Teachers’ perceptions for whether students’ learning styles should be considered in a language course revealed that students’ learning styles were not consciously taken into consideration when planning the course. However, the very nature of this course with its richness of activities suits different learning styles as they integrate a variety of skills that cover the four perceptual styles, visual, auditory, kinesthetic and tactile. Finally, the majority of ENGL 101 instructors believe that educational materials should be planned in relation to students’ learning styles. However, some of them also believe that learning styles should come in the second place, as the course should be the “leader” in the student development not the “follower”.