Supported by: Government of Indonesia (GoI) and Islamic Development Bank (idb)

Learning styles 
Different people like to learn in different ways. You can try this by giving the same list of new 
vocabulary to two learners. Observe how they will learn the vocabulary. Munir may memorize the words 
by repeating them aloud, while Rizka may prefer to read them silently or write them out. When learning 
to use a new piece of machinery, one person may prefer to follow written instructions in a manual, while 
another might like to have a hands-on demonstration. 
Now, have a reflection of what they have done. 
a) How many of the objects were your students able to remember? 
b) When memorizing the objects, which senses did they use? Did they say the names 
of the objects aloud? Did they touch them? Did they merely sit and look? Did 
they work as a team? 

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The following is different learning styles mentioned by Pratt et.al (2005) that you might observe 
among your students: 
Visual learner:
the learner learns best through seeing 
Auditory learner:
the learner learns best through hearing 
Individual learner:
the learner learns best through working alone. 
Group learner:
the learner learns best through working with others. 
Impulsive learner:
the learner learns best when able to respond immediately. 
Reflective learner:
the learner learns best when given time to consider choices 
Kinesthetic learner:
the learner learns best through using the body. 
 
 
Implications of Learning Styles for Teachers 
What are the implications of learning styles for teachers? Many teachers believe that variety of 
activities and task types are the key to harnessing these different learning preferences. Look at the 
following table showing certain kinds of activities that are most suitable for students with certain kinds of 
learning styles.