Auditory+Learners


 * Auditory Learners

By: Krista Liedstrand**

Understanding different learning styles helps a teacher know best how to teach their students and apply differentiated teaching skills to their curriculum. A teacher must always remember that there is a vast amount of students who posses different learning styles. There are three main categories of leaning modalities: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. Auditory learners are going to be the main topic of this paper. Auditory learners are people who learn mainly through auditory or verbal instruction. Around 20-30% of the population are auditory learners where as only 10% are kinesthetic and 60% are visual. So most of your students will most likely be visual learners, yet it is still important to cater to all of your students’ needs. In order to know whether a person is auditory, a teacher must know what are the characteristics or signs of an auditory learner. These are some of the signs of an auditory learner. They are usually social or outgoing and extremely talkative. An auditory learner usually needs to here information rather than read information in order to understand what is being asked of them. They also tend to be slower readers. It usually helps an auditory learner to use their finger to point when they read. An auditory learner also tends to talk to themselves when they are alone and even when they are in public; they also tend to read out loud. They will usually appreciate and enjoy music much more than a visual or kinesthetic learner. An auditory learner will usually remember people’s names, but forget what face they go with. A teacher may notice that their student rarely ever looks at them when they are talking, this is also a sign of an auditory learner; they use their ears, but do not need to use their eyes to understand what is being said. An auditory learner will usually turn their ear towards the person who is talking to them or tilt their head slightly and look down to the corner of their eye. Phonics are usually required to help an auditory learner learn to read. An auditory learner also greatly enjoys being read to. Now, that most of the characteristics of an auditory learner are understood, a teacher must understand how they are to teach a student with this specific learning style. In order to help their student excel, a teacher should tell their auditory learner instructions to an assignment verbally rather than having them read them. The teacher should also encourage their student to read out loud to themselves. This helps the student grasp the information much more quickly and understand what they are reading then if they were reading silently. It will also help if an auditory learner will listen to a tape or recording of the book they are reading while they read it. Sometimes even written exams or tests might be difficult for an auditory learner. In this case, it helps if an auditory learner will be given an oral exam rather than a written one; they will usually do much better. Background noises can also be extremely distracting to an auditory learner; they either require complete silence or music playing in the background. Sometimes it may help with concentration, if the student would be allowed to listen to music while they do their school work. Usually, if a student who is an auditory learner verbally explains what they have learned, then they will understand it a whole lot more. Therefore, a teacher should encourage an auditory learner to participate in class discussions. The teacher should also encourage a student to even lead a discussion or explain their answer to the teacher or the class. A teacher should also have their student or help their student create mnemonics and, or acronyms to help them memorize information they are trying to learn. Some examples of this are, “ROYGBIV”, which stands to for the colors of the color spectrum (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet), and “Go Eat Pop Corn” which stands for Galatians Ephesians Philippians and Colossians. Since they can here themselves saying this and tend to hear what they are saying in their head, this helps a great amount. A teacher should also have their auditory learner repeat what they are trying to memorize out loud over and over again and have them listen to someone else repeat the information as well. There are many positive aspects of an auditory leaner. They usually tend to achieve well in a traditional classroom setting because they grasp information through what the teacher is saying. An auditory learner tends to memorize better than a visual or kinesthetic learner because they can recall information they heard rather easily. They usually articulate well and will usually make good speakers in the future. An auditory learner is usually very good at telling stories and explaining themselves. They also usually interact well with other people or students. An Auditory learner, like any other student also has negative aspects to them. They usually struggle to keep quiet for a long period of time and always what to be the center of attention. As was stated earlier, they tend to be a slower than average reader. They usually require a lot of attention. An auditory learner will usually talk excessively and they also enjoy hearing themselves talk. They usually struggle to follow written instructions. They often have a hard time understanding graphs, maps, and pictures. They prefer having something explained to them rather then viewing a visual aid. One other negative aspect of auditory learners is that they are Easily distracted. In a differentiated classroom full or students that all learn a different way, teaching can often be a great challenge. For this very reason, it is important to understand how each student learns best and equally cater to their specific needs. This makes it mandatory for a teacher to understand all the differentiated learning that a person might have.

**References** // Auditory learners //. (2008). Retrieved from http://www.studyingstyle.com/auditorylearners.html

Burbine., M. (2010, March 9). // Characteristics of auditory learners //. Retrieved from http://www.trcc.commnet.edu/Ed_Resources/TASC/Training/Audity_Learng.ht

Fliess., S.D. (2006 - 2010). What it Means to be an auditory learner. // Education.com //, Retrieved from http://www.education.com/magazine/article/Ed_Please_Look_Me_hen_I/

Hutton., S. (2006 - 2010). Helping auditory learners succeed. // Education.com //, Retrieved from http://www.education.com/magazine/article/auditory_learners

Mixon, K. (2004). Three Learning Styles... Four Steps to Reach Them. Teaching Music, 11(4), 48-52. Retrieved from Education Research Complete database. // Overview of learning styles //. (2003-2007). Retrieved from http://www.learningstyles-online.com-overview/

Tinnish., S. (2007). Learning styles. //PMM5 Postscript//, //24//. Retrieved from http://www.pcma.org/Documents/adultlearningstyles.pdf

//Your learning style preferences. http://www.howtolearn.com/cgi-bin/score.pl


 * Final Exam Questions:

1) What percentage of people are auditory learners? a. 20%-30% b. 60%-70% c. 10%-20% 2) True or False: An auditory learner is not distracted by background noise. 3) Which of the following is not a characteristic of an auditory learner? a. They visualize what they are learning in their mind b. They tend to talk to themselves c. They are easily distracted 4) True or False: An auditory learner tends to do well in a traditional classroom setting 5) Auditory learners: a. Are very social b. do not articulate well c. tend to be good with directions ** //