Understanding Verbal Learning Style: Characteristics and Strategies for Success
Homeschooling parents have the unique opportunity to tailor their children's education to suit their individual needs and learning styles. One such learning style is the verbal learning style, also known as the linguistic or read/write learning style. This article delves into the characteristics of verbal learners and provides strategies to maximize their learning potential.
What is Verbal Learning?
Verbal learning revolves around how individuals interact with words-spoken, written, or read. Verbal learners process and retain information most effectively through language. Neil Fleming, who developed the VARK classification system for learning styles, introduced the read/write learning style as the style that preferred the printed word for learning and conveying information. Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences includes linguistic-verbal or verbal-linguistic intelligence, which describes people who can use words well when writing and speaking. Over the years, these two terms have morphed and combined. In general, they refer to the same type of learner: someone who prefers learning through reading, writing, and spoken communication.
Verbal vs. Auditory Learning
While verbal and auditory learning styles share similarities, they are not identical. An auditory learner tends to have high auditory memory that is not confined to the spoken word. Auditory learners may demonstrate strong recall for spoken instructions, musical notes, and other sounds that help them associate information together. Verbal learners, on the other hand, learn best through the words they hear and see. Verbal-linguistic learners love what they hear and see.
Characteristics of Verbal Learners
People with a verbal learning style typically exhibit the following characteristics:
- Love of Language: Verbal learners have a natural affinity for language, enjoying reading, writing, and speaking.
- Rich Vocabulary: They often possess a rich vocabulary and are adept at using words effectively.
- Enjoyment of Wordplay: Word games, crossword puzzles, and other language-based activities appeal to them. Linguistic learners love the challenge of word games.
- Aptitude for Languages: They are often gifted at learning new languages. As they often have an affinity for learning languages, electives in world languages are a common choice.
- Strong Comprehension Skills: Linguistic learners understand and retain information through language use. They also have innate comprehension skills, making them good test-takers.
- Preference for Written and Spoken Directions: Provide written or verbal directions, as many linguistic learners often find pictures or diagrams challenging.
- Tendency to Dislike Silence: They may dislike silence and enjoy participating in study groups.
- Excellent communicators: Linguistic learners are excellent communicators, so talk to your child about their coursework.
- Easily Remembers Information: Easily remembers quotes, puns, and rhymes.
Advantages of Verbal Learning
Verbal learning is often the default learning style in virtual and in-person settings, which gives linguistic learners several advantages. Because the verbal learning style is often the default for teaching methods, verbal learners rarely experience significant disadvantages.
Read also: Cognitive Function and Verbal Learning
- Success in Lecture-Style Environments: They usually do well in lecture-style environments, especially when they have opportunities to take notes. The linguistic learner thrives in environments that focus on lectures and discussions.
- Accessibility of Core Subjects: In many ways, their natural affinity for communication makes core subjects more accessible.
Strategies for Homeschooling Verbal Learners
Homeschooling provides an ideal setting to cater to the specific needs of verbal learners. Here are some effective strategies:
- Tailor Instruction: Provide written or verbal directions, as many linguistic learners often find pictures or diagrams challenging.
- Read Aloud: Read books aloud or have your child read them to you. Converting written words to spoken words will often help you to remember it. Reading your textbooks or notes aloud to yourself or to someone else can be a great way to study.
- Integrate Variety: Look for learning materials that use colorful tones, stories, and voices.
- Use Mnemonics: Mnemonics are an excellent strategy for memorizing information. A typical example is ROY G. Encourage storytelling: Encourage your child to write stories about what they learn. Create mnemonic devices. Mnemonic devices mix similar sounding words or words that begin with a certain letter to help you remember information.
- Encourage Storytelling: Encourage your child to write stories about what they learn.
- Incorporate Interactive Techniques: Linguistic learners often benefit from discussing or debating concepts with their peers. Linguistic learners enjoy role-playing, debating and talking through problems.
- Create Word Walls: Encourage your child to write new vocabulary words and definitions on a wall near their desk.
- Build a Library: A small home library invites your child to find and interact with different types of literature.
- Encourage Wordplay: Linguistic learners love the challenge of word games.
- Monitor Progress: Linguistic learners are excellent communicators, so talk to your child about their coursework. Give them regular feedback and encourage them to work through their learning materials.
- Assign Reading or Extra Reading: Verbal learners tend to excel with the written word. Give them more reading material that helps them process what they’re learning about. You might do this by assigning living books along with textbook material or by giving them a short biography to read alongside their lessons.
- Have Them Teach a Sibling: Reteaching the material or teaching material from last year to a sibling is a great way for a verbal learner to review information they’ll need for their own learning. This approach requires them to read and repeat information and often paraphrase it so their sibling can understand better.
- Have Them Take Notes in Their Books: Book lovers often have contradictory opinions about writing in books, but read/write learners often benefit from taking notes right on the pages that they’re reading. This gives them a direct connection between what they read and what they learned.
- Have Them Practice Memorization with Rewriting: Take notes. Whether typing or writing things out by hand, you’ll often remember information better simply by taking notes on it, even if you don’t review those notes.
- Rewrite and Paraphrase: Rewriting can be a powerful tool for learning information, but paraphrasing is also helpful for recall. When you put information into your own words, you’re showing yourself that you understand it and can use it when you need to.
- Summarize: Practice writing summaries of general information or background information that you’re learning about.
- Writing Projects: Writing assignments take time, but they are one of the most helpful activities for your read/write learner.
- Lab Reports: Verbal learners may not always benefit from a hands-on activity, but adding a lab report or quick written component to their lab activity gives them a place to summarize and explain what they learned, how they can improve, and what they’d like to try next.
- Role Play: Role activities give kids a chance to act out information and talk about it in new and different ways. These activities often make them put it into their own words as they pretend to be a soldier giving commands for the next phase of the war or act out being a news reporter going over current events.
- Participate in a Writing Challenge: You may have local opportunities for writing competitions that your student could participate in. Or participate in a national activity, like NaNoWriMo.
- Presented Reports: Does your homeschool curriculum choice matter for your verbal learner? It may depend on your child. Because verbal learners may excel at reading and writing and have strong reading comprehension skills, a homeschool curriculum that uses simple sentences might not work well. The writing may not be challenging enough for them. Alternatively, even a strong reader may feel overwhelmed by a curriculum that is heavily reading intensive and doesn’t have many pictures to break up the text. Choosing a curriculum that is on your student’s reading level and includes an appropriate amount of visual appeal will help your student learn better and more consistently.
- Assign book reports, word problems in math, and other presentations: Assign book reports, word problems in math, and other presentations to get your verbal-linguistic learner to engage. Speaking, writing, reading, and languages are all keys to engaging and teaching the verbal-linguistic learner.
Subject-Specific Strategies
- Language Arts: Language arts is a crucial subject for elevating your child’s communication skills, creativity, and critical thinking.
- Social Studies: Social studies is another fundamental subject in which linguistic learners excel. Their natural affinity for storytelling helps them learn about their home country and worldwide cultures.
- Science and Math: As these subjects are visual and numerical, many linguistic learners find them more challenging. Look for courses that allow your child to progress at their pace, emphasizing language-based methods in their learning. Video lessons in these subjects are especially valuable for verbal learners.
Potential Challenges and How to Overcome Them
Some may say that verbal learners don’t do well with visual learning tools or may struggle to understand infographics. While people who prefer verbal learning may be predisposed toward certain learning methods-such as listening to a lecture, reading information, taking notes on information, or discussing information out loud-that does not mean they can’t or won’t succeed at another type of learning method. Just because a verbal learner may prefer learning in a read-and-lecture style doesn’t mean they’re automatically engaged in a lecture. Lecture-style teaching can become boring, especially if the subject matter lacks variety, isn’t engaging, or doesn’t interest your child. Use minimal PowerPoint slides. Note-taking is an important learning strategy for verbal learners, and they will benefit more from a PowerPoint presentation that doesn’t include everything the teacher is saying. It’s tedious and pointless to write a long slide down word-for-word. When taking notes, give your verbal learners opportunities to put the information they’re learning down in their own words.
Read also: Understanding PLCs
Read also: Learning Resources Near You
tags: #verbal #learning #style #characteristics
