On Applying Learning Styles Into English Teaching And Learning In High School

Traditionally, students were always required to adapt to a teacher’s teaching methods, because it was believed impossible for a teacher to satisfy every student’s needs. Classroom teaching was often centered on teachers and students did what they were told to. This teaching method totally ignored the differences among students, which do exist whether we notice them or not. To center on learners, teachers should identify all the factors related to students, including their specific learning styles. Learning style, as one of the main learner’s factors, has also become more and more conspicuous among researchers in and out of China. By carrying out research on the learning style of students, it is of great benefit for teachers to organize their classroom teaching effectively according to students’different learning preferences, and it is also favorable for students to be aware of and expand their learning style to accustom themselves to different teaching methods and finally be successful language learners.Since American scholar, Herbert Thelen, first put forward his concept of learning style, researchers have achieved a lot and by now, there are over30relative theories. Regarded as the real foundation of modern teaching, learning style has been an important project among researchers from all over the world. Western researchers have been studying learning styles of learners at different ages and different learning stages, while researchers in China began the research a little later and they mainly study learning styles of college students and there is not much research on high school students. To know more about learning styles of high school students, the paper makes an investigation of high school students’learning styles, using Perceptual Learning Style Preference Questionnaire designed by Joy Reid and at the same time offers some specific suggestions for practice.The paper consists of6chapters. The writer offers a brief introduction to theories related to learning style. As the research of learning style is rather complicated, different researchers have different opinions on it. This paper introduces the division of learning style according to three major categories:sensory learning styles, cognitive learning styles and personality learning styles and it introduces the definition and characteristics of learning styles.After the discussion of learning styles, the author makes an investigation of the senior2students in Zhongshan Overseas Chinese Middle School and puts forward some teaching strategies based on different learning styles. After an experiment, the author analyzes the results and draws a conclusion. Based on the analysis, the author provides some suggestions for class teaching in high school.