Ethiopian instructors' experience with accommodating students' learning styles at Bahir Dar University

Abstract

Scope and Method of Study: There is a trend sweeping across Ethiopia to move the method of instruction away from the traditional lecture method, which has been employed for the last half a century, toward a more student-centered approach thought to better accommodate learners with varying learning style preferences. This study looks at the experience of instructors in their efforts to accommodate the preferred learning styles of Ethiopian EFL students at Bahir Dar University. Four university instructors were followed, during the academic years 2005 to 2008 to explore how instructors first become aware of the concept of learning styles, their actual practice of implementing new methods to address their students' learning style preferences, and their beliefs about the importance (or lack thereof) of learning styles in an EFL context. In order to "set the stage" for exploration into instructors' experience, 628 university EFL students from various backgrounds completed a VAK (Visual Auditory Kinesthetic) learning style questionnaire (MoE, 2003a).

Findings and Conclusions: The survey revealed that although an auditory learning style is the most strongly preferred by students are also inclined toward visual and kinesthetic learning styles. Survey results, classroom observations, and interviews revealed a mismatch between students' learning style preferences and instructors' teaching styles when instruction is delivered solely through the traditional lecture method. This study sought to gain a clearer picture of whether instructors at Bahir Dar University find lessons taught through student centered methods more effective and in line with students' learning style preferences than lessons taught through a more traditional lecture method. The findings show a distinctly mixed array of perceptions towards the necessity and effectiveness of incorporating new methods into the classroom in order to accommodate learning style preferences. The findings also reveal that, over time, all instructors show greater determination and find greater practically in their efforts to accommodate students' learning style preferences.