L3 ABEF Cognitive Psychology / Learners' differences: process, style and strategy N°2
Introduction
While all human beings share in common particular traits of leaening, every individual approaches a problem or learns a set of facts or organizes a combination of feelings from a unique perspective. So humans do have cognitive variations in learning in general and in learning a second language in particular. These variations are in styles that differ across individuals and in strategies employed by individuals to attack particular problem in particular context.
Process, style and strategy
Process is the most general concept among the three. All human beings engage in certain universal processes. Just as we all need water, air and food for survival,so do we all engage in certain levels or types of learning. Human beings of normal intelligence universally engage in association, transfer, generalization and attrition. We all make stimulus-response connection and are driven by reinforcement. We all possess, in varying proportions, abilities in the seven intelligences.
Style: It refers to consistent and rather enduring tendicies or preferences way of learning within an individual .Styles are those general characteristics of intellectual functioning and personality type that belong to you as an individual and that differenciate you from someone else. Styles characterize the general pattern of your thinking. They are modes of operations
Strategies: specific methods of dealing with a problem or a task, modes of operations for achieving a particular end. They are also defined as planned designed for controlling and manipulating information. While styles are permanent, strategies are contextulized and change from situation to situation.