UNIT 13 LEARNER CHARACTERISTICS

I/ FOLLOW-UP ACTIVITIES
Exercise 1
Pablo: He is a reflective learner who may be interested in the USAs culture. I think he
might learn well by learn through watching English cartoons, reading English cartoon
books, or watching TV shows about traveling in the USA. If his motivation continues
and he has right method, he could be a successful English learner.
Pelin: She seems to have a problem with her motivation, so her teacher could try and
find out why she isnt interested in learning English. I think she can learn in
communicative class or learn in group, with her friends because these things may help
her more interested in English. If improving her motivation, she might be successful
in learning English.
Chen: He seems to have a lot of motivation. He might become a good English learner
if he has right method and enough time.
Exercise 2
Activities
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H

Learning style
Reflective
Kinaesthetic, group
Group, visual
Group, reflective
Auditory
Visual, individual
Visual, individual
Impulsive, group

These activities could be useful for different kinds of learners depending on their needs,
ages, motivation and the effect of these activities in class.

I think some adults class might not like to play a team running games but the childrens
class is likely to do it in a very practical way.
II. REFLECTION
1. What is your learning style?
I think that I am a visual learner because I prefer using images, pictures to organize
information and I find that visualization may come easily to me. I learn by seeing and
looking. I had most success when reading and using written materials. I remember what I
see rather than what I hear. I also prefer to read and write rather than listen. I found that I
was able to retain knowledge, information and even pronunciation when using written
materials.
To help my learning process in class, I usually recreate the lectured material by using my
own visual tool. I make mind maps to organize information for an assignment or for
revision for an exam. I find that by this way, I remember the necessary information better
and longer. I also always have at least 4 different color pens to highlight important point
in text.
2. What strategies do you use/ have you used to help you learn English?
Vocabulary
When beginning to learn, I usually learn vocabulary in different topics. I used different
colors to draw and describe these words in mind map.
After a while, I have changed way to learn vocabulary. I write the words, its meaning and
an example which has this word into the small cards.
When reading, I highlight new words and write its meaning next to these words. I also
write these words into the small card immediately.
I also play games which are about vocabulary. It helps me more relax, fun and interested
in learning English.

Pronunciation
While reading in English, I always ask myself: Do I know how this word is
pronounced? If Im not sure, I will look it up in a dictionary. When speaking and being
not sure how to pronounce something, I dont guess the pronunciation and use the
dictionary, too.
When listening, I usually pay attention to how sounds and words are pronounced and
think about what sounds I hear.
I practice pronouncing of words and phrases many times. I spend 15 minutes a day
practicing with online pronunciation exercises. I usually repeat movie dialogue while
Im watching a movie.
Reading
Before reading the text, I review titles, section headings, and photo captions to get a sense
of the structure and content of a reading selection.
Sometime, I predict by using knowledge of the subject matter to make predictions about
content and vocabulary and check or use knowledge about the author to make predictions
about writing style, vocabulary, and content.
I use skimming and scanning skill.
When finding new words, I use prior knowledge of the subject and the ideas in the text as
clues to the meanings of unknown words, instead of stopping to look them up.
Finally, I stop at the end of a section to check comprehension by restating the information
and ideas in the text.
Speaking
When making conversation, I dont worry about little mistakes. I think that my teacher or
my friends will still understand me even if I use the wrong tense or forget how to
correctly conjugate a verb. I know that the important thing is Im communicating and
building confidence through practice.

I sometime going to karaoke and sing English songs since each song comes with written
lyrics, I will learn new words by listening, reading, and speaking all at the same time. I
also have such a great time singing. I believe that by this way I will improve my
pronunciation, fluency and comprehension skills.
I also practice speaking by imitating. I watch video of famous people such as Barack
Obama, Steve Jobs, imitating a small paragraph of their speech. I speak slowly and
carefully, and pay careful attention to new words and how to pronounce them.
Listening
Sometimes, before listening, I predict what I can hear in the tape. For example, I am
going to listen to a presentation about a journey through Africa. I will predict what
vocabulary I might hear, and also what kind of emotions the speaker might have felt.
After that, I listen to confirm their ideas.
The first time listening, I hear to understand the main idea of the text.
After listening once or twice, I summarize the content of the tape. Repeat in my own
words what was said to make sure I understand.
Writing
I try to read as much as possible. Reading the works of respected authors will open my
eyes and mind to examples of good writing. I read many different kinds of book such as
academic, humor, poetry, science fiction I think that reading good writers will expose
me to correct grammar and spelling, as well as a larger vocabulary.
I try to write every day and save them in my laptop. I believe that by practice, I will get
better.
3. What is your past experience of learning English?
When beginning to learn English, I was taught grammar most. In English class, my
teacher was mostly teach me grammatical structure and gave me assignment. I had to do
a lot of grammar exercises. At that point, I think that learning English means to know

how to do exercises. I learnt by heart a lot of the grammatical structures and tried to do
exercises as much as possible. But then I realized that learning grammar had no meaning.
I couldnt communicate or listen well. All I knew was grammar, grammar and
grammar. I wanted to change the traditional learning style. I wanted to study English
comprehensive. Besides learning English grammar, I focused more on pronunciation,
speaking, listening. I practiced these skills naturally. Now, after changing old learning
method, I think that my new learning process is effective.
IV. TKT PRACTICE TASK
1B

2A

3A

4C

5B

6D

7C