3. Learning strategies

Learner's maturity

in maturity that affect language learning.

Some students might have learnt the English language before in their lives, such as teenagers and adults for example. Sometimes, they may be used to learning in a specific way and they may have precise ideas on how they can learn best. Therefore, they may not like learning in different ways other than what they are used to. Teachers who are teaching adults and sometimes teenagers, must be aware and pay attention to their students previous learning and their learning preferences now. Some students may not mind a slight change in the method of learning. However, they may want to continue in the same way as they did previously. Therefore, teachers need to talk with the students and describe their teaching methods to them if they are unhappy with the new methods. Teachers may need to alter their teaching as well in order to make the student more comfortable and confident in learning. Nerd baby says ...​

• All students are different from each other and learn in different ways. 

• In order to teach teenagers and adults rather than children, some student characteristics like past language learning experience and learning strategies are more relevant. 

• It is best to discover our students’ characteristics by asking them or observing them. Teachers could also give them questionnaires at the end of a lesson asking whether they like the activities that were done in the class and why. They could also ask them what methods they did not like and what they did. 
• Since characteristics of learners may not be fixed, the teacher must not make the mistake of thinking that the student can learn only in a specific way. This is limiting the student. 

• It is possible to train the students to try using dissimilar learning strategies and to be aware of them. 

• A teacher who is teaching a large class cannot always meet the learner characteristics of each student. Therefore, teachers can try to change their teaching methods and vary them. In this way, they can match the learner characteristics of a range of students.