Conference proposal

1. Students’ Learning Styles in Task-Based Settings
Hanwei Tan Ph.D
Abstract: Most Task-Based Teaching (TBT) research has focused on how a teacher applies the
task-based approach to teaching. The questions of how to consider a learner’s learning style
and what the relationship is between learning style and Task-Based Teaching have yet to be
sufficiently explored. This presentation approaches TBT from the learner’s perspective, as it
explores giving each learner’s learning style adequate attention when designing a TBT task.
This presentation is based on a one-semester experiment conducted on a class of 12 students
divided into two groups of six each. In the treatment group, each student was given the same
task but various approaches, suitable to their learning styles, were suggested. In the control
group TBT was also applied but the student’s learning styles were not taken into
consideration.
The presenter found that the students’ learning of Chinese was significantly greater when
the learner’s learning style was considered.
Methodology: This study utilizes these assessment tools: E & L Learning Style
Questionnaire, Barsch Learning Style Inventory, and the 16 MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type
Indicator). The degree of learning was measured by the students’ lesson and unit test grades in
Speaking, Listening and Reading.