Most Common Learning Style Used By the Students of English Department of Tidar University

Abstract

To make a good classroom environment as students' stimulation, that will make the students active in the teaching and learning process. Understanding the students' learning styles helps the teacher to teach about the student's specific favorites. Understand the kind of learning styles can help the teacher developing and also delivering the educational programs. It also will motivate and stimulate students' in gaining the knowledge. This research pursues to answer two research questions; (1) To know the kind of learning styles used by the students of English Department of Tidar University. (2) To know about the most common learning style used by the students of English Department of Tidar University. Qualitative research is used in this research. This research aims to distinguish the most common used of learning style and used the questionnaire reproduced by O'Brien (1985). The population of this research was the English Department students of Tidar University. However, the researcher used 70 samples from all of the students of English Department of Tidar University.

https://publikasiilmiah.ums.ac.id/handle/11617/11830

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International Summit on Science Technology and Humanity (ISETH2019)
Advancing Scientic Thought for Future Sustainable Development
p-ISSN: 2477-3328
e-ISSN: 2615-1588
International Summit on Science Technology and Humanity 667 ISETH
Most Common Learning Style Used By the Students of English
Department of Tidar University
Ikrar Genidal Riadil1 Muhammad Rauuf Oktavian Nur2
Faculty of Education, Universitas Tidar, Magelang, Indonesia
Abstract
To make a good classroom environment as students’ stimulation, that will make the students active
in the teaching and learning process. Understanding the students’ learning styles helps the teacher to
teach about the student’s specic favorites. Understand the kind of learning styles can help the teacher
developing and also delivering the educational programs. It also will motivate and stimulate students’
in gaining the knowledge. is research pursues to answer two research questions; (1) To know the
kind of learning styles used by the students of English Department of Tidar University. (2) To know
about the most common learning style used by the students of English Department of Tidar University.
Qualitative research is used in this research. is research aims to distinguish the most common used
of learning style and used the questionnaire reproduced by O’Brien (1985). e population of this
research was the English Department students of Tidar University. However, the researcher used 70
samples from all of the students of English Department of Tidar University.
Keywords: learning, style, kinesthetic, auditory, visual
INTRODUCTION
Language is a sign, symbol, or tool used to exchange the information through spoken or written. Language
has a close connection to a daily conversation. Conversation can be easily recognized if they use a language that they
understand. For some students will be easy to learn a language and the rest of them will feel dicult in learn the
language. Students learn well by seeing and practicing the important information given in the classroom. Students will
enjoy and do something that they like. However, they will not do or even enjoy something that they are not interest in.
It is also happening in learning process. When the teachers give the material that the students do not like,
or the teaching process is not suitable with what they usually do, they will be dicult to follow or understand the
material which is being taught. In order to make the teaching-learning process successfully, it is necessary to use a good
combination of teaching methods and what the students want. To make a good classroom environment as students’
stimulation, that will make the students active in the teaching and learning process. Identifying what students need and
what students want is same as understanding their learning style.
Students’ learning style plays the crucial part in educational consequences and these favorites of learning styles
are conveyed into dierent learning styles (Leung & Weng, 2007). Learning is dened as the transformation process
of knowledge. People use learning to adapt to and achieve everyday conditions, giving to increase to diverse styles of
learning. A variety of students learning style theories and frameworks have been developed together with instruments
that operationalize their learning style constructs (Dunn & Griggs, 2003; Loo, 2004). Understanding the students’
learning styles helps the teacher to teach about the student’s specic favorites. is kind of learning style understanding
can be used to develop and deliver educational programs. It also will motivate and stimulate students’ in gaining
the knowledge. “Understanding the learning styles can improve the arrangement, making, and implementing of
educational knowledge, thus they are more appropriate harmonious with the learners’ wishes, for improving their
learning, retention and retrieval” (Federico, 2000).
Learning styles which is used by students are dierent. ere are three learning styles; Visual, Auditory, and
Kinesthetic. Visual learners indicate as preferring reading and studying charts, drawings, and other graphic information.
Talk about the Auditory learners, they prefer to listen the lectures or learn something through the audiotapes. While
Kinesthetic learners will prefer for demonstration and physical activity and used their body movement.
Based on the three types of learning styles, the researcher conduct the research entitled Most Common Learning
Styles Used by e Students of English Department of Tidar University. Also, there are two research aims on doing this

International Summit on Science Technology and Humanity (ISETH2019)
Advancing Scientic Thought for Future Sustainable Development
p-ISSN: 2477-3328
e-ISSN: 2615-1588
International Summit on Science Technology and Humanity
668ISETH
research, there are: (1) To know the kind of learning styles used by the students of English Department of Tidar
University. (2) To know about the most common learning style used by the students of English Department of Tidar
University.
METHOD
Qualitative research is used in this research. is research aims to distinguish the most common used of learning
style by the students of English Department of Tidar University. e population of this research was the English
Department students of Tidar University. However, the researcher used 70 samples from all of the students of English
Department of Tidar University.
To begin this research, the researchers take some steps to answer questions in this research.
1. Looking for the suitable questionnaire about the learning styles.
2. Making the online questionnaire reproduced by O’Brien (1985)
3. Share the questionnaire to the students from English Department of Tidar University.
4. Evaluating the responses from the respondents.
5. Find out the answer about the most preference learning style used by the students from the
English Department of Tidar University.
After collecting the respondents’ answer, the data were analyzed in order to answer the research
questions.
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS
Findings
is part discusses the result of this research is to conduct this research, the researchers shared the
questionnaire through the online platform to the English Department students of Tidar University.
e object of this research are the students from English Department of Tidar University starts
from the rst, third, and fth semester. is questionnaire reproduced by O’Brien (1985) consists
of 30 questions which the researchers thought that this questionnaire becomes the nding of this
research. In total 70 respondents answered the questionnaire.
In the O’Brien (1985) it classied the learning styles in to three types. First is Visual, second
is Auditory and the last is Kinesthetic. According to Brown’s Principles of Language Learning and
Teaching (5th ed.) Visual learners indicate as preferring reading and studying charts, drawings, and
other graphic information. Talk about the Auditory learners, they prefer to listen the lectures or
learn something through the audiotapes. While Kinesthetic learners will prefer for demonstration
and physical activity and used their body movement.
e result of respondents learning styles questionnaire:
NO. LEARNING STYLES TOTAL RESPONDENTS
1. Visual 35
2. Auditory 12
3. Kinesthetic 23
TOTAL: 70
Discussion
By analyzing the data from the respondents, the researcher found out that there are students
who use the three types of learning styles. In the respondents’ answers, some respondents answer

International Summit on Science Technology and Humanity (ISETH2019)
Advancing Scientic Thought for Future Sustainable Development
p-ISSN: 2477-3328
e-ISSN: 2615-1588
International Summit on Science Technology and Humanity 669 ISETH
the questionnaire. 20 respondents were from the rst semester of the English Department of Tidar
University. 16 of the respondents from the third semester of the English Department. While the
rest of it, for about 34 respondents were from the fth semester.
Talk about the visual learning style, it deals with learns by seeing or watching demonstrations.
According to the result of the questionnaire which was responded by 70 students of the English
Department, the visual learning style got the highest respondent chosen by the respondents. 9 from
20 students from the rst semester have a visual learning style. 6 of 16 students from the third
semester also have a visual learning style. Also, it counted for about 20 of 34 students from the fth
semester has the visual learning styles. ere are so many characteristics of the visual learning style.
For example, is recognizes words by sight; relies on congurations of words. It indicates that the
students who have the visual learning style are easy to learn something just from the sight. Vivid
imagination; thinks in pictures and visualizes in detail. e distractibility from the visual learning
style is they are unaware of sounds; distracted by movement.
In the auditory learning style, it talks about learns through verbal instructions from self or
others. e auditory learning style has the lowest respondents. From 70 respondents in total, the
auditory learning style just got 12 respondents. 3 of the respondents were from the rst semester, 2
of them from the third semester, and 7 of the respondents who have auditory learning styles were
from the fth semester. e students who have the auditory learning style are easily to learn through
the audio. Because they tend to the audio, the students who have the auditory learning style are easy
to remember names, but forget faces; remembers by auditory repetition.
e kinesthetic learning style got the second place. e total respondents of the kinesthetic
learning style are 24 from the 70 respondents. 8 respondents from the rst semester, 8 respondents
from the third semester, and 7 respondents from the fth semester. e kinesthetic learning style, the
learners learn by doing and direct involvement. ey used their body movement to support them
in learning. e kinesthetic learning still also called hands-on because it uses the movements to be
their style in learning. To make their learning process succeed, the students who have the kinesthetic
learning style always try things out, like touch something or feel or manipulate something. ey
need to do something to remember what they have learned. 
CONCLUSION
is research’s purpose is to know the learning styles used by the English Department students
of Tidar University. ere are three learning styles used by the students from English Department
of Tidar University. In this research, according to the result of the questionnaire, the researcher
understand thatthe visual learning style is the most common used by the students of the English
Department of Tidar University. Even though the researcher just took 70 samples respondents of
this research, the researcher nally found out the answer to the problem.
REFERENCES
Brown, H. Douglas (2007). Principles of Language Learning and Teaching (5th ed.). New York:
Pearson Education
Dunn, R., Burke, K., and Whitley, J., (2000). What Do You Know About Learning Style? A guide
for parents of talented children. Parenting for high potential, 8-13
Federico, A. (2000). Learning style and student’s attitudes toward various aspects of network based
instruction. Computer in Human Behaviour, 16(4), 359-378. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/
S07475632(00)00021-2

International Summit on Science Technology and Humanity (ISETH2019)
Advancing Scientic Thought for Future Sustainable Development
p-ISSN: 2477-3328
e-ISSN: 2615-1588
International Summit on Science Technology and Humanity
670ISETH
Leung, K., & Weng, L. (2007). Validation of Kolb’s structural model of experiential learning using
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