INTRODUCTION

Nowadays English has become an important language all over the world. That is way many people want to learn a second language. In order for them to learn English as a second language some important aspects have to be taken into account, such as: learning strategies, learning styles, communication strategies. Every single person has a unique style and ways for learning a second language therefore; this makes them learn a language in an easier way. However, there are others who faces some difficulties when the moment of learning this. For this reason, we wanted to interview an English learner in order to demonstrate the importance of these aspects when the moment of learning a second language.

OBJECTIVES

After finishing the examination of the English student from Cordoba University, We are expected to: 1. Recognize the most important aspects regarding to learning strategies and learning styles of this person.

2. Explain the learning strategies and learning styles of this English student. 3. Know the different learning strategies and learning styles that this person has. 4. Suggest some aspects to help the subject to overcome her difficulties

METHODOLOGY

In the following work, we are going to take into account an English student of the English Language Teaching program at Cordoba University, and in order to do it so, we are going to follow the following steps:

1. 2.

Firstly, some questions are going to be prepared. Then, those questions are going to be asked to the subject in order to know what her learning strategies, learning styles and communication strategies are. After that, the interview is going to be record with a microphone for burn it onto a cd. Finally, the collected information will be put in an analysis and some suggestions will be made to the subject.

3.

4.

Description of the subject

The subject is an English student of the English degree program at Cordoba University. Her name is Teresa Pico Alvarez, She is 21 and currently she is in sixth semester. The information of the subject will be shown in the next part.

Learning styles

According to learning styles we consider that the student is field dependence because in the information provided by her, we inferred she likes working in groups and this is one of the important aspects of this learning style, Also, we are able to confirm this when she said during the interview she likes working in groups and she answered in this way: En grupo en grupo si me gusta trabajar, pero me gusta trabajar con gente que puede tener mi nivel de Ingles si para que uno pueda hablarle y que esa persona le pueda responder en Ingles. There is another answer given by the subject during the interview where we can see that she owns a high level of this learning style and It is when we asked her if she likes working in groups when doing an speaking activity and whether she likes to be corrected or not, and she answered: A mi si me gusta que me corrijan por que claro si me corrigen como adecuadamente claro pero si me encanta no es que me encanta sino que me gusta que una persona que se le vea el nivel del speaking o tenga un vocabulario bastante bueno esa persona me corrija pero si veo que esa persona tiene un nivel mas bajo que yo ah si no le pregunto a el sino le pregunto al profesor como se dice la palabra para estar mas segura Another learning style we found in her was the reflectivity style because the reflectivity style is thinking before speaking, and this is what we could inferred when we asked her if she thinks before speaking when the teacher asks to the class a question. Also she has a little of the impulsivity style because in some cases she gives an opinion without reflecting, we witnessed this as she answered in this way:

No a veces no me sucede as de pronto la situacin si se sale del tema que es relacionado con la clase de pronto si trato de pensarla porque a veces en las clases piden opiniones personales fuera del tema que estamos hablando entonces ah uno tiene que ponerse a pensar lo que va a decir pero cuando estamos hablando del tema y uno ya ha preparado una clase o ya ha revisado lo que van a dar de pronto si soy la primera que alzo la mano y explica o expone su idea Another learning style detected in the subject was an auditory style because in this learning style the learner do not take notes, and we confirmed this when we asked to the subject if she likes taking notes, then the subject answered in this way: No, no me gusta tomar notas porque hay una cosa que si he aprendido y es a escuchar trato de ponerle bastante atencin muchsima atencin evitando notas porque yo me he dado cuenta que cuando uno toma notas se distrae mucho Also we can say that the auditory style in the subject is perceived when the subject says that she likes listening to others. For example when we asked her In what way do you learn English? She answered in this way: escuchando mis compaeros de estudio escuchando msica en Ingles de tal manera que la repito una y otra vez tratando de adivinar o de descifrar que es lo esta diciendo la cantante o el cantante Another style we could identify was visual style when we asked her if she learns better when seeing diagrams, pictures, videos, illustrations, textbooks, etc and she told us that in this way is easier for her to learn. We could notice this when she answered in this way: claro porque tengo bases tengo digamos muchas mas ideas de las cuales yo pueda hablar si entonces si tengo un video ya tengo mucha mas tela por cortar digmoslo as y si tengo una picture pues tengo alguna imagen o algo mucho mas que explicar Also when we asked her. In what way do you learn English, she said she likes watching movies without subtitles in this way confirming that she owns a visual style veo pelculas trato de quitarle los subttulos y escucho lo que dice el personaje

Learning strategies

In regard to the learning strategies in detail talking about metacognitive strategies we noticed that the subject presented these strategies: y Self-monitoring: this is because when we asked her if her first language has presented some problems to her English learning process, then she said that her first language will always be presented but she has learnt how to organize things in English. We can confirm this when she told us this:

El Ingles te ensea algo que tu tienes que pensar antes de hablar ordenar las cosas antes de decirlas y Self-evaluation: in this learning strategy the subject said she likes to record her voice when presenting a speaking, and in that way she is going to correct what she thinks is wrong. We can witness that when she gave us this comment:

para una exposicion por ejemplo uno grava su propia voz lo que esta diciendo y asi tambin me ayuda mucho a entender lo que estoy diciendo a corregirme, a autocorregirme y mejorar lo que esta mal The subject presented the following cognitive strategies: y Note taking: when we asked her how she has learn to think in English the subject said that she applies this strategy when a video or a listening activity is developed in the class

si me tomo mi tiempo en este semester me he estado tomando mucho mas el tiempo en los listening por ejemplo o en los videos que en comunicacin vemos o omos siempre tomo nota y ya despus de haber tomado las notas y haberlas ledo organizo mis ideas y puedo expresarme mejor o escribir mejor y Elaboration: The subject said, when speaking if she does not know a word and how to say it she tries to explain the word with other expressions

 si no se como explicar comfortable de pronto digo con otra frase o con otra palabra According to the socioaffective strategies the subject studied presented this aspect: y Cooperation: the subject said that she likes working in groups when we asked her about whether she likes working in groups or not, and this is with the goal of obtaining a feedback. This is noticed in the interview when she said:

en grupo si me gusta trabajar, pero me gusta trabajar con gente que puede tener mi nivel de Ingles si para que uno pueda hablarle y que esa persona le pueda responder en Ingles me gusta que me corrijan por que claro si me corrigen como adecuadamente

Communication strategies

During the interview we could identify some communication strategies in the subject, these communication strategies remain in the subject when using a communicative purpose with other classmates. These are the communication strategies the subject uses:

The subject describes the target object of action, this is called Circumlocution and non linguistic signals we confirmed this when we asked her whether she abandon a message or not, and she answered in this way: si no se como explicar comfortable de pronto digo con otra frase o con otra palabra o con una mmica

The subject also said that when speaking if the teacher asks her a question and at that precise momento of time she does not know how to answer she uses stalling or time gaining strategies because she said that it might be due to in that moment the person was not waiting for a question and uses those

time gaining strategies and then the person answers the question. We can witness this as the subject answered in this way: algunas veces si uno porque de pronto tambien depende de la pregunta si te la hacen o tu no te la esperabas tienes que pensarlo o tu tienes que utilizar ciertos ehh, ah, umm

Analysis of the learning strategies, communication strategies of the subject

learning

styles

and

In the subject several learning styles, learning strategies and communication strategies were found in her learning process. As the subject has a field dependant style this has helped this person establishing relationships with others, and also she likes working in pair or in groups which is something that benefits her when obtaining a feedback about mistakes from her classmates. This aspect also has the other part which does not benefit her because when a individual work is assigned things will be very different in her performance and by the time of grasping specific information the results will be different. Another learning style is the visual style this helps her in activities that involves images, postcards, etc. When an activity with illustrations is presented to her, she will understand easier. The problem with this style is that if she does not have an image everything will change and the results will be different. Another learning style is the auditory style with this style the subject prefers to listening others and also without taking notes, this might help her when working in pairs with a reading while the other partner reads. However, when reading for herself she might get frustrated without having good results The subject also presented the reflective and impulsive style simultaneously having these two styles might be an advantage and a disadvantage because in some cases applying one style as it is the impulsive style will get a bad result for her because in many cases we as student should think about the answer when giving an opinion. On the other hand, having the reflective style, she will produce a well planned answer. However, when in the classroom there are

impulsive students which are all the time raising their hands that will become in a disadvantage in those activities requiring quick answers. In regard to learning strategies specifically about metacognitive strategies we identified self-monitoring and self-evaluation these are very useful for her because she can correct her mistakes when practicing her assignments and also she can evaluate herself by saying what is good and what is bad. According to cognitive strategies the subject presented note taking this strategy can be helpful for her because in that way she is learning how to grasp important points of an activity Having the elaboration style the subject will not stop when speaking due to the fact she will have another word for that one she does not know very well In the socioaffective strategy we identified that she owns the cooperation strategy due to she likes working in groups and in that way she obtain feedback from the rest of the partners. During the interview we also found some communication strategies, such as: Circumlocution and non linguistic signals with these strategies the subject can try different ways for overcoming a language difficulty. For example with the circumlocution strategy she can describe a word with an example, this situation can be helpful when no dictionary is allowed. According to the non linguistic strategy it will be better for the subject to use mimics, gestures, and facial expression. In addition, this strategy can also be helpful for explaining an idea if the person does not know the appropriate word because in that way she will get involve the rest of the people in the topic. Another communication strategy detected in the subject studied was stalling or time gaining this can be used by the subject when she is hesitating for giving an answer, and also for thinking an idea.

Suggestions for the subject

The subject interviewed presented many different learning strategies, learning styles and communication strategies. The following are some suggestions for the subject

Learning styles

Every human being has his own learning style. Therefore, we can not teach a person how to own one learning style. We will make to the subject some suggestions. y Field dependence: with this learning style the subject receives feedback from her classmates when working in groups but it would be a good idea to have a feedback by working alone in that way she will get a wide idea of her learning process Visual: with this learning style the subject has learned how to work with materials containing pictures and images. It would be a good idea to work with her imagination that can take that learning style and create her own version of the material she is working with in her mind. Reflectivity and impulsivity: This subject presents the two learning styles which makes her react in different ways when a question is asked or an activity is assigned. This could be in some how confusing for her because she might get confused with both learning style when the moment of performing an activity inside or outside the classroom.

Learning strategies

Self-monitoring and self evaluation: These learning strategies will just benefit the subject because in that way the subject does not stop in her learning process Cooperation: this is a good learning strategy for using in an activity inside the classroom; it is not good to get use to it because sometimes an student needs to work in the classroom by himself or herself Note taking: with this strategy the subject will get so many benefits in her learning process because with this strategy they can get many points which are relevant in the class. Elaboration: this is a very resourceful skill when making a decision or solving problems. The suggestion for this strategy is to not always use this strategy because it shows lack of vocabulary.

Communication strategies

Circumlocution and non linguistic signals: with these communication strategies the subject can get a lot of help of them when expressing an idea, but she is better not get use to them because in that way she will not increase her vocabulary whatsoever Stalling or time-gaining: when the subject use this strategy just hesitate for expressing an idea and gain time for thinking the next thing to say. However, it is not a good strategy when communicating a topic during a presentation because it will show to the rest of the audience the lack of vocabulary this person has.

Conclusion

Every student has a learning style developed by himself or herself. However, there are many of them who has different learning styles, learning strategies and communication strategies. For this reason, a teacher can not force the students to learn in only one way because that will not bring good results, also the teacher has to try with different ways for teaching a class to his or her students. When applying different methodologies the students will learn easily and the teacher will detect how the students have different learning styles, learning strategies, and communication strategies. We can confirm this with the study developed with the subject.

APPLIED LINGUISTIC

JAVIER OROZCO ROCA VICTOR ROYO

Prof.(a) ANA MARIA SAGRED

ENGLISH DEGREE PROGRAM CORDOBA UNIVERSITY MONTERIA CORDOBA 2007