Learning Strategy Training, Cooperative Learning and Multiple Intellegences

LEARNING STRATEGY TRAINING, COOPERATIVE LEARNING, AND MULTIPLE INTELEGENCES

Being Created to Fulfill the Task of TEFL Lesson

The lecturer of TEFL

Muntaha, M.Pd.

Written by:

1.      Medy Erawati                                     153221116

2.      Dyana Setya P.                                   153221118

3.      Adzanningsih Emi P.                          153221127

ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

ISLAMIC EDUCATION AND TEACHER TRAINING FACULTY

THE STATE ISLAMIC INSTITUTE OF SURAKARTA

SURAKARTA

2017

INTRODUCTION

Language is one of the instruments to communicate by the people. Beside of use their own language, people in the world use English as an International Language. According to Elizabeth (2006:4), English is the major language which is used by people in some sectors. English is a major language of International Business, Science, Technology, Diplomatic, and profession. In specific area is about education. Therefore many people learn about English, start from elementary school until high education.

But in our country, English is just as a second language. Because, 

DISCUSSION

A.    Learning Strategy Training

In keeping with this perception, in 1975 Rubin investigated what ‘good language learners’ did to facilitate their learning. From this investigation, she identified some of their learning strategies, ‘the techniques or devices which a learner may use to acquire knowledge’ (p. 43). Good language learners, according to Rubin, are willing and accurate guessers who have a strong desire to communicate, and will attempt to do so event at the risk of their message. They also practice and monitor their own speech as well as the speech of others.

While early research went toward identifying just these kinds of learning strategies, it was long before language educators realized that simply recognizing learners’ contributions to the process was not sufficient. In order to maximize their potential and contribute to their autonomy, language learners- and especially those not among the group of so-called ‘good’ learners-needed training in learning strategies.

1.      Definition of Learning Strategy Training

Bialystok (In O’Malley & Chamot, 1990:10), states that “…optimal means for exploiting available information to improve competence in a second language…” (1978:71). This early definition refers although O’Malley & Chamot did not discuss the actual definition of ‘competence’. Rubin (In Stern, 1990:10), states that “what learners do to learn and do to regulate their learning” (1987: 19). This s broadly encompassing definition of learning strategies implies both cognitive and metacognitive processes are included. O’Malley & Chamot (1990), state that “…the special thoughts or behaviours that individuals use to help them comprehend, learn or retain new information” (1990: 1). A slightly more specific definition is now offered which accounts for the need to understand new information in order to learn. However, like Bialystok, there is no explicit reference to managing or monitoring the learning process.

Oxford (1990) (In Richards and Lockhart, 1996: 63), states that “Specific actions taken by the learner to make learning easier, faster, more enjoyable, more self-directed, and more transferable to new situations” (1990: 8). The significance of enjoyment and increased transferability, in addition to learner autonomy is appreciated in Oxford’s concise definition. A given strategy is neither good nor bad; it is essentially neutral until the context of its use is thoroughly considered. What makes a strategy positive and helpful for a given learner? A strategy is useful if the following conditions are present: (a) the strategy relates well to the L2 task at hand, (b) the strategy fits the particular student’s learning style preferences to one degree or another, and (c) the student employs the strategy effectively and links it with other relevant strategies. Strategies that fulfill these conditions “make learning easier, faster, more enjoyable, more self-directed, more effective, and more transferable to new situations” (Oxford, 1990, p. 8).

Wenden (1991) states that, “learning strategy specific mental steps or operations learners implement to learn” (1991: 163). They also “… regulate [learners’] efforts to [learn]…” [and] “They are one type of learner training content that should be included in plans to promote learner autonomy” (1991: 18). The initial glossary definition is briefer but tantamount to the same interpretation as O’Malley & Chamot. However, Wenden specifies a metacognitive function and notably points out the notion of promoting learner autonomy. Anna Uhl Chamot (1987, p.71) came out with the term “learning strategies” and defined it as “techniques, approaches or actions that learners take deliberately in order to facilitate the learning and recall of both linguistic and content area information”. Learning strategies can also enable students to become more independent, autonomous, lifelong learners (Allwright, 1990; Little, 1991).

Stern (1992), states that “The concept of learning strategy is based on the assumption that learners consciously engage in activities to achieve certain goals, that they exercise a choice of procedure, and that they undertake some form of long-term planning” (1992: 261). This narrower definition is based on the ‘intentionality of language learning’ (1992: 261) and includes the concept of managing the learning process. Nunan (1999), states that “Language Learning Strategies The mental and communicative processes that learners deploy to learn a second language” (1999: 55). Nunan offers a broad, yet concise definition, which includes communicative strategies. Carter & Nunan (2001), state that “Learning strategies: techniques used by learners to help make their learning be more effective and to increase their independence and autonomy as learners. Strategies can be employed by learners to assist with the storage of information, to help with the construction of language rules and to help with an appropriate attitude towards the learning situation” (2001: 223). This definition also highlights learner independence and autonomy, and provides further details with respect to cognitive and affective strategies, including a reference to ‘attitude’, not previously encountered.

In summary, learning strategies have been defined as: Mental and/or communicative processes; Subconscious or conscious actions and techniques for learning: they assist with storing information, forming language rules, and understanding; making learning easier, faster, more enjoyable, and more transferable to new situations; Applicable to both simple and complex tasks; Teachable; and Helpful in developing ‘appropriate attitudes’ towards the learning situation, and increasing learner independence and autonomy. Learning strategy is the technique or the teaching method that teach how the students can understand and apply the method or the appropriate learning strategy. The learner may use acquire knowledge and improve the learning and with the teacher you will improve. Learning strategy training is a training the students in the use of learning strategies in order to improve their learning effectiveness.

2.      Types of Learning Strategy Training

There are some types of learning by some expert:

a.       Wenden (1991: 25) points out that they may also be referred to as metacognitive strategies, regulatory skills or skills of self-directed learning. These strategies can be divided into three categories: (1) planning; (2) monitoring; and (3) evaluating (O’Malley & Chamot, 1990; Wenden, 1991; and Stern, 1992). According to Wenden (1991), there are two main kinds of learning strategies:

1)      Cognitive strategies; and

2)      Self management strategies.

b.      O’Malley and Chamot. In a classification system comparable to Oxford’s, O’Malley and Chamot (1990) distinguish the following three language learning strategy groups:

1)      Cognitive strategies: which refer to the processes and behavior that learners use to help them improve their ability to learn aspects of the language.

2)      Metacognitive strategies: which refer to the awareness of the mental processes used in the learning process, planning, monitoring, and evaluating learning after it has taken place.

3)      Social/affective strategies: which includes diverse behaviors such as cooperation, questioning and clarification, self-talk, and seeking out practice opportunities.

c.       Dornyei (2005) takes issue with both of the above-mentioned LLS systems for three distinct reasons. With regards to Oxford’s taxonomy, Dornyei argues that a) compensatory strategies are related to language use as opposed to language learning, and b) memory strategies constitute a subclass of cognitive strategies and should therefore not be treated independently (2005). In the case of O’Malley and Chamot, Dornyei sees their social/affective strategies as unrelated to the cognitive theoretical basis outlined by the authors and serves more as a miscellaneous category designed to accommodate strategies that did not fit into the first two types but could not be left out either (2005: 168-169). He therefore proposes a new compounded typology comprised of both taxonomies resulting in the following four main components (Dornyei 2005: 169):

1)      Cognitive strategies: the manipulation or transformation of the learning materials/input.

2)      Metacognitive strategies: higher-order strategies aimed at analyzing, monitoring, evaluating, planning and organizing one’s own learning process.

3)      Social strategies: interpersonal behaviors aimed at increasing the amount of L2 communication and practice the learner undertakes.

4)      Affective strategies: taking control of the emotional (affective) conditions and experiences that shape one’s subjective involvement in learning.

OPTIONS	Strategies/Skills for LLS training	Advantages	Disadvantages
OPTION 1	Metacognitive, Social and Affective learning strategies only	Easier for learner to articulate the strategies	Cover only indirect strategies
OPTION 2	Cognitive Strategies only	Has direct encounter with the foreign language learned	Difficult for learner to explain
OPTION 3	One process or skill such as reading or writing	Combine direct and indirect strategies. Awareness raising become tightly channeled	None

3.      The Principles of Learning Strategy Training

There are some principles of learning strategy training:

a.       The students’ prior knowledge and learning experiences should be valued and built upon. Prior to the lesson the teacher has been reading the students’ learning journals, where the students regularly write about what and how they are learning. The teacher has also been interviewing the students.

b.      Studying certain learning strategies will contribute to academic success. The teacher decides to have the students worn on strategy of advance organization.

c.       The teacher’s job is not only to teach language, but to teach learning. The teacher models use of the strategy using a think-aloud demonstration.

d.      For many students, strategies have to be learned. The best way to do this is with ‘hands-on’ experience. The students practice new learning strategy.

e.       Students need to become independent, self-regulated learners. Self-assessment contributes to learn autonomy. The students evaluate their own success in learning the strategy. They modify the strategy to meet their own learning needs. They share their innovations with their classmates.

f.       An important part of learning a strategy is being able to transfer it, i.e. use it in a different situation. The teacher asks the students to try out the new strategy on a different reading they choose for homework that night.

It was pointed out at the beginning of this chapter that the methodological trends in this chapter complement the ones presented in the previous chapter. It is easy to see how learning strategy training would fit content-based instruction, for example. Indeed, research has shown that to be effective, strategies should not be taught in isolation, but rather than as part of the content-area or language curriculum (Grabe &Stoller 1997).

4.      The Advantages and Disadvantages of Learning Strategy Training

a.       The advantages of learning strategy training

1)      It can help learners to continue to learn after they have completed their formal study to be more effective in learning target language.

2)      Teachers, students and parents discover how to organize a stimulating environment for learning

3)      Motivation increases and concentration improves

4)      Learners discover a wide range of interesting and effective approaches to learning

5)      Students learn coping strategies for handling a mismatch of teaching and learning styles

6)      New and difficult work is completed more confidently and enthusiastically

7)      Time management and self-discipline improve

8)      Learners enjoy the feeling of success: the quality of work is raised, results improve and homework stress is reduced

b.      The disadvantages of learning strategy training

The disadvantage of learning strategy training is the students confused to choose the good strategy for them. If the teacher doesn’t give the strategy with the clear explanation, the student will use the several strategies when they study in the home or in the class.

B.     Cooperative Learning

1.      Definition of Cooperative Learning

Cooperative or collaborative learning essentially involves students learning from each other in groups. Cooperative learning  is a student-centered, instructor-facilitated instructional strategy in which a small group of students is responsible for its own learning and the learning of all group members. Students interact with each other in the same group to acquire and practice the elements of a subject matter in order to solve a problem, complete a task or achieve a goal.

Kagan (1989) contributes that in cooperative learning the teacher designs the social interaction structures as well as learning activities. Slavin (1996) argues that a critical element of cooperative learning is group team work and team goals. The authority of setting goals, assessing learning, and facilitating learning is shared by all. Students have more opportunities to actively participate in their learning, question and challenge each other, share and discuss their ideas, and internalize their learning. Cooperative learning helps students engage in thoughtful discourse and examine different perspectives, and it has been proven to increase students’ self-esteem, motivation, and empathy.

When implemented well, cooperative learning encourages achievement, student discussion, active learning, student confidence, and motivation. Cooperative learning can be used in any class at any level with any subject area.

2.      Cooperative Learning Practice

In order to construct a lesson in cooperative learning model, the following 5 principles and elements should be included:

Principles according (Diane & Freeman, 2003) :

a.       Students are encouraged to think in terms of “positive interpendence”, which means that the students are  not thinking competitively and individualistically, but rather cooperatively and in terms of the group.

b.      In cooperative learning, sudents often stay together in the same groups for a period of time so they can learn how to work better together. The teacher usually assigns students to the groups are mixed-males and females, different ethnic groups, different proficiency levels,etc. This allow students to learn from each other and also gives them practice in how to get along with people different from themselves.

c.       The efforts of an individual help not only the individual to be rewarded, but also others in the class.

d.      Social skills such as acknowledging another’s contribution, asking others to contribute, and keeping the conversation calm need to be explicitly taught.

e.       Language acquisition is facilitated by students interacting in the target language.

f.       Although students work together, each students is individually accountable.

g.      Responsibility and accountability for each other’s learning is shared.

h.      Each group member should be encouraged to feel responsible for participating and for learning. Leadership is ‘distributed’.

i.        Teachers not only teach language; they teach cooperation as well. Of course, since social skills involve the use of language, cooperative learning teaches language for both academic and social purposes.

The Principles according by (Johnson & Johnson, 1999; Johnson, Johnson & Holubec, 1991; Kagan, 1994) :

a.      Positive interdependence

Each student in the same group has a unique contribution to make to the joint effort. Team members depend and rely on one another to achieve the goal. Each group member’s effort is required and indispensable for group success.

b.      Individual accountability

All students in a group must be accountable for contributing their own share of the work and mastering all of the material to be learned to the group’s success.

c.       Face-to-face promotive interaction

Although some of the group work may be parcelled out and done individually, some must be done interactively, with group members providing one another with feedback, challenging reasoning and conclusions, and perhaps most importantly, teaching, helping, supporting, applauding and encouraging one another in order to reach the group’s goals.

d.      Appropriate use of social, interpersonal, collaborative and small-group skills

Students are encouraged and helped to develop and practice trust-building, leadership, decision-making, communication, and conflict management skills.

e.       Group processing

Team members set group goals, describe what member actions are helpful or not, periodically assess what they are doing well as a team, and identify changes they will make to function more effectively in the future.

3.      Cooperative Learning Teaching Strategies

Here  are three that can be used across subject areas and grades levels:

a.       Numbered Heads Together: divided students ino groups of four or five students each. Within each group, students should count off. The teacher then poses a question for the groups to discuss together. However, the teacher calls a spesific number from each group to respond, and that student is responsible for sharing the answer with the class.

b.      Jigsaw: divided students into groups of three to five students each. Label these groups as students’ home groups. Within these home groups, give students a selection of text for example a portion of a chapter) that they are responsible for reading and learning. After students individually read their assigned selection, they meet with students in the other groupz that were assigned the same material (called expert groups). During this meeting, students can help each other understand the reading or clarify the most important points. Finally, students return to their home groups to teach each other what they have learned.

c.       Pair Checks: divided students into groups of four. Within these groups, students pair off. The teacher poses a question or problem, and students work in their pairs to find the answer. After each pair has an answer, the group of four must work together to make sure they all understand and have the correct answer.

4.      Advantages of using cooperative learning

The result, in general, suggest that cooperative learning develops high-order thinking skills, enhances motivation and improve interpersonal relations as well as enhancing motivation and peer relations (Slavin, 1985). Students can be learning-independent, who can learn how to learn by their own in groups.

Most important is that cooperative learning exploits the diversified abilities of students to increase their cognitive, psychological and social performance, and as such, it is an effective way to address the problem of individual differences.

The following aspects are the expected benefits of adopting cooperative learning:

a.      Learning for all

Cooperative learning makes sense in inclusive classrooms because it builds upon heterogeneity and formalizes and encourages peer support and connection.

b.      Academic achievement

Group goals and individual accountability had to be present for these academic gains to be present. Critical thinking is stimulated and students clarify ideas through discussion and debate. The level of discussion and debate within groups of three or more and between pairs is substantially greater than when an entire class participates in a teacher led discussion. Students receive immediate feedback or questions about their ideas and formulate responses without having to wait for long intervals to participate in the discussion. Using cooperative learning, students are continuously discussing, debating and clarifying their understanding of the concepts and materials being considered during the class. They are constructing their own knowledge base. The emphasis is on understanding the material as evidenced by the student's ability to explain ideas to their peers.

c.       Skilled communication

Developed friends from other cultures and kept these friends outside of class. They had positive expectations toward future interactions. They had more accurate understanding of others’ perspectives. In conflict situations, they were more able to negotiate and solve conflicts in a win-win manner.

d.      Psychological health

Learners who were in classrooms with a significant amount of cooperative learning were psychologically healthier than learners who were not. They had higher self-esteem. Learners In cooperative learning classes have more positive feelings about themselves than do learners in traditional classes.

e.       Students may explain things better to another student than a teacher to a class. Students learn how to teach one another and explain material in their own words.

f.        Higher ability students are in a position to be expert, leaders, models and teachers. Lower ability students get benefits of having higher ability students in their group.

5.      Disadvantages of Cooperative Learning

a.       A burden is making the students responsible for each other’s learning apart from themselves.

b.      One study showed that in groups of mixed ability, low-achieving students become passive and do not focus on the task.

c.       High stakes create increased chances for conflict and therefore need for conflict resolution skills.

d.      It is difficult for the teacher to be sure that the groups are discussing the academic content rather than something else.

e.       Higher ability students may not experience the stimulation or challenge that they would with other higher ability students.

f.       Lower ability students may feel perpetually in need of help rather than experiencing the role of leader or expert relative to the others in their group.

C.    Multiple Intelligences

1.      Definition of Multiple Intelligences

Multiple Intelligences defines intelligence as referring to a bio psychological potential of our species to process certain kinds of information in certain kinds of way (Gardner, 2006, p. 76). Although intended for psychology, the Theory of Multiple Intelligences has been widely used in education too, as a teacher from all over the world use it in their classes. The Theory of Multiple Intelligences is usually perceived as having educational applications especially for pupils.

Related work by psychologist Howard Gardner (1983) on multiple intelligences has been influential in language teaching circles. Teachers who recognize the multiple intelligences of their students acknowledge that students bring with them specific and unique strengths, which are often not taken into account in classroom situations.

Gardner provided a means of mapping the board range of ability that humans possess by grouping their capabilities into the following eight comprehensive categories or “intelligences” :

Linguistics: The capacity to use words effectively, whether orally (e.g., as a storyteller, orator, or politicians) or in writing (e.g., as a poet, playwright, aditor, or journalist). This intelligence includes the ability to manipulate the syntax or structure of language, the phonology or sounds of language, the semantics or meanings of language, and pragmatic dimensions or practical uses of language. Some of these uses include rhetoric, mnemonics, explanation and metalanguage.

Logical-mathematical: The capacity to use numbers effectively (e.g., as a mathematician, tax accountant, or statistician) and to reason well (e.d., as a scientist, computer programmer, or logician). This intelligence includes sensitivity to logical patterns and relationships, statements and propositions (if-then, cause-effect), functions, and other related abstractions. The kinds of processes used in the service logical-mathematical intelligence include categorization, classification, inference, generalization, calculation, and hypothesis testing.

Spatial: The ability to perceive the visual-spatial world accurately (e.g., as a hunter, scout, or guide) and to perform transformations upon those perceptions (e.g., as an interior decorator, architect, artist, or inventor). This intelligence involves sensitivity to color, line, shape, form, space, and the relationships that exist between elements. It includes the capacity to visualize, to graphically represent visual or spatial ideas, and to orient oneself appropriately in a spatial matrix.

Bodily-kinesthetic: Expertise in using one’s whole body to express ideas and feelings (e.g., as actor, a mime, an athlete, or a dancer) and facility in using one’s hands to produce or transform things (e.g., as a craftsperson, sculptor, mechanic, or surgeon). This intelligence includes specific physical skills such as coordination, balance, dexterity, strength, flexibility, and speed, as well as proprioceptive, tactile, and haptic capacities.

Musical: The capacity to perceive (e.g., as a music aficionado), discriminate (e.g., as a music critic), transform (e.g., as a composer), and express (e.g., as a performer) musical forms. This intelligence includes sensitivity to the rhythm, pitch or melody, and timbre or tone color of a musical piece.

Interpersonal: The ability to perceive and make distinction in the moods, intentions, motivations, and feeling of other people. This can include sensitivity to facial expressions, voice, and gesture; the capacity for discriminating among many different kinds of interpersonal cues; and the ability to respond effectively to those cues in some pragmatic way.

Intrapersonal: Self-knowledge and the ability to act adapting on the basis of that knowledge. This intelligence includes having an accurate picture of oneself (one’s strengths and limitations); awareness of inner moods, intentions, motivations, temperaments, and desires; and the capacity for self-discipline, self-understanding, and self-esteem.

Naturalist: Expertise in the recognition and classification of the number-ous species –the flora and fauna---of an individual’s environment. This also includes sensitivity to other natural phenomenon (e.g., cloud formations, mountains, ets.) and, in the case of those growing up in an urban environment, the capacity to discriminate among inanimate objects such as cars, sneakers, and CD covers.

2.      Developing Multiple Intelligences

Whether intelligence can develop depends upon three main factors:

a.       Biological endowment à including hereditary or genetic factors and insults or injuries to the brain before, during, and after birth

b.      Personal life history à including experiences with parents, teacher, peers, friends, and others who awaken intelligences, keep them from developing, or actively repress them

c.       Cultural and historical background à including the time and place in which you were born and raised and the nature and state of cultural or historical or historical developments in different domains

3.      Advantages of Multiple Intelligences

a.       Each student is seen as an individual with his or her own strengths and weakness.

b.      The teacher learns how each student may learn best and may give suitable task to teach the content demanded by the curriculum.

c.       Students may be motivated and confident when using an intelligence they know is one of their strengths.

d.      Due to many different task the students are more intrinsically motivated

4.      Disadvantages of Multiple Intelligences

It may be difficult and impractical to tailor lessons to students various individual intelligences, especially within large classes.

CONCLUSION

Learning strategy is the technique or the teaching method that teach how the students can understand and apply the method or the appropriate learning strategy. The learner may use acquire knowledge and improve the learning and with the teacher you will improve. Learning strategy training is a training the students in the use of learning strategies in order to improve their learning effectiveness. Types of learning strategy training, 1)  Cognitive strategies, 2) Metacognitive strategies, and 3) Social/affective strategies. The principle is The students’ prior knowledge and learning experiences should be valued and built upon. Prior to the lesson the teacher has been reading the students’ learning journals, where the students regularly write about what and how they are learning. The teacher has also been interviewing the students. The benefit is it can help learners to continue to learn after they have completed their formal study to be more effective in learning target language. The disadvantage is the students confused to choose the good strategy for them.

Cooperative or collaborative learning essentially involves students learning from each other in groups. The Principles according by (Johnson & Johnson, 1999; Johnson, Johnson & Holubec, 1991; Kagan, 1994) : Positive interdependence, Individual accountability, Face-to-face promotive interaction, Appropriate use of social, interpersonal, collaborative and small-group skills and Group processing. The advantage is e.         Students may explain things better to another student than a teacher to a class. Students learn how to teach one another and explain material in their own words. The disadvantage is A burden is making the students responsible for each other’s learning apart from themselves.

Multiple Intelligences defines intelligence as referring to a bio psychological potential of our species to process certain kinds of information in certain kinds of way (Gardner, 2006, p. 76). Although intended for psychology, the Theory of Multiple Intelligences has been widely used in education too, as a teacher from all over the world use it in their classes. The Theory of Multiple Intelligences is usually perceived as having educational applications especially for pupils. The advantage is each student is seen as an individual with his or her own strengths and weakness. The disadvantage is it may be difficult and impractical to tailor lessons to students various individual intelligences, especially within large classes.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Amstrong, Thomas. 2009. Multiple Intelligences in The Classroom 3^rd Edition.

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