Learning Styles and Vocabulary Acquisition in Second Language: How the Brain Learns

In recent years, foreign language education has been focussing on learning styles. However, despite the quantity of articles and practice books, websites on the topic, and investment in teacher training, there is no empirical evidence for the existence of learning styles. Furthermore, if one agrees that it is the brain that learns, there should be indicators in the brain for the existence of learning styles, anatomically, and/or functionally. This is not the case. In this paper, the validity and reliability of tests assessing learning styles are questioned. Thereafter, following on basics of cognitive neuroscience and experimental evidence it is argued that the natural way for the brain to learn words is by collecting multiple sensory and sensorimotor experiences. In fact, evidence-based literature in the domain of vocabulary acquisition demonstrates that the inclusion of multiple modalities leads to best results. Impoverished linguistic input by allowing only one modality, for example only acoustic or visual input—the so called learning style (Pashler et al., 2008) of the student—reduces the chances of acquiring words. Also, the article briefly outlines brain related factors that lead to high performance in vocabulary learning. A closer look at the literature on learning styles shows a multitude of models that classify learners in different types. Despite differences (for reviews see Pashler et al., 2008; Romanelli et al., 2009; Kaminska, 2014), learning style models have a common base: they sustain that not all individuals learn the same way. One of them, the VARK model (Fleming, 2001), categorizes learners as aural, visual, kinaesthetic, haptic, and learners who prefer to read and write. In second language instruction, this view implicates that a person classified as aural should learn vocabulary items by means of acoustic training, whereas a visual learner would optimize the learning outcome by reading and/or using flash cards that illustrate the word's semantics. However, despite being very popular, this position is not evidence-based. It is simply taken for granted with the intention to promote the learners' capacities. Also, it is not proven that assessments administered to determine the learning style to which a person belongs are valid and reliable. Nobody has proven that they measure what they claim. One major issue connected to these tests is that they are based on self-report. It has been suggested that in self-reports, subjects might lack introspection and that yes or no answers on personal experiences may not mirror reality (Paulhus and Vazire, 2007; …