1. Individual Differences
Chapter 5

2. Individual Differences everywhere…
We are all different in…
Personality
Emotional intelligence
Learning styles (learning modalities)
Tastes and preferences
Etc.
When you go to E-Mart, how many different kinds of people do you see?
Impulsive
Planner
Motivated
Walks slowly

4. Individual Differences everywhere…
If you were trying to teach an English classroom with these shoppers as students…
Which would be afraid to make mistakes?
Which would be talkative?
Which would take charge of their learning?
We all have different styles…
The successful language learner:
Takes charge of learning
Unafraid to make mistakes
Learn language in chunks to perform better
Use various memorization strategies
Monitor themselves for errors

5. Learning styles
Learning styles are like the shoppers – there is no one right way to shop, but all have their own way to shop.
Every student has a different style of learning.
How can we as teachers address learning styles in our classroom?

6. Cognitive Differences
Field Independence
Can focus on one item in a field of items
Field Dependence (Field Sensitivity)
Focuses on the whole field of items at one time
Left-Brain versus Right-Brain
Ambiguity Tolerant
Open-minded about new ideas
Ambiguity Intolerant
Close-minded about new ideas

7. Brain Dominance Left-Brain Right-Brain Intellect Emotions
Responds to verbal instructions
Responds to demonstrations
Experiments systematically
Experiments randomly
Planned and structured
Fluid and spontaneous
Prefers multiple-choice tests
Prefers open-ended questions
Interprets language
Interprets body language

8. Reflectivity versus Impulsivity
Reflective Style
A student whose style of learning is reflective
Example: Instead of speaking a sentence in English right away, the student considers how to form the sentence in his head before speaking.
Impulsive Style
When a student has an impulsive personality
Example: A student just says a sentence first without trying to think if the grammar is ok.

9. Learning Modalities The three learning modalities… Visual Auditory
Kinesthetic
How can you plan a lesson with all of these?
Is it beneficial to have all of these in every lesson?

10. Review

11. Metacognition Metacognition Autonomy Awareness Self-Regulation
Thinking about the way we think
Autonomy
Learner-centered teaching
Awareness
When students are aware of their own style of learning
Awareness-Raising – strategy of building awareness for L2 learners
Self-Regulation
The process of developing goals and awareness to bring progress without the help of a teacher

12. Cognitive Strategies Strategy Example of Strategy Planning Organizing
Planning on focusing on one aspect of language study to carry out language student
Example: A student is struggling with pronunciation, so you as the teacher postpone sentence formation until pronunciation can be fixed.
Organizing
Reordering or reclassifying to keep retention higher
Example: Teaching grammar through sentence trees.
Monitoring
Self-checking and rehearsal
Example: A student practices a sentence he learned in class at home.
Evaluating
Grading one’s language production
Example: A student grades his own writing.
Using Senses
Using the learning modalities
Example: Drawing a picture or acting out a word
Activating Knowledge
Using first language and translation
Example: Noticing the similarities between Chinese and Korean words
Contextualization
Giving meaning to language learning
Example: Putting learning in a sequence
Going beyond the data
Guessing and predicting
Example: Guess the meanings of new words

13. Affective Strategies Strategy Example of Strategy
Activating supportive emotions
Encouragement, positive reflection, self-confidence building
Minimizing negative emotions
Relaxation, stress reduction, lower boredom
Generating motivation
Find aspects of language that are appealing
Building positive attitudes
Give the students a reason to be happy about language learning

14. Sociocultural-Interactive Strategies
Strategy
Example of Strategy
Interacting to learn
Using interaction to learn language
Overcoming knowledge gaps
Repetition, explanation, questions of clarification
Guessing intelligently
Using clues in grammar and phonology
Generating conversation
Starting conversation with familiar cues
Activating sociocultural schemata
Talking about culture or interesting aspects of a country and its people

15. Compensatory Strategies
Strategy
Example of Strategy
Avoidance
Avoiding an idea that is unfamiliar so communication can continue
Circumlocution
Describing an object using a definition
Approximation
Using alternative words
Word coinage
Making up fake words
Nonverbal signals
Gestures
Prefabricated patterns
Memorized patterns
Code switching
Switching between two languages
Appeal to authority
Asking for help (…뭐지?)
Keeping the floor
Filling pauses with sounds or words that mean nothing

16. Group Work Present your findings to the class.
Create an activity using a strategy listed in the book.
You can choose from:
Cognitive Strategies
Affective Strategies
Sociocultural-interactive Strategies
Compensatory Strategies
Present your findings to the class.