Learning Theories: How do we learn?
Understanding how your students think and learn is a crucial part of teaching because, if a student does not understand what they are being taught, then they cannot learn. Over time, many linguists and psychologists have developed a range of learning theories through extensive research and experimentation. Two of these learning theories include:
THE BEHAVIOURIST THEORY:
Behaviourism is based on stimulus-response associations and focuses on observable behaviour rather than thinking (Emmitt et al., 2010). It involves motivation through positive reinforcement of the many small steps in learning and forming good habits (Pritchard, 2014). With constant motivation in the form of positive reinforcement, an individual can see what they are doing is correct and will continue to act in that manner to achieve the same reaction. With the reverse, negative reinforcement or bad behaviour, an individual can see that what they are doing is incorrect and will, hence, cease that behaviour. The key concepts of motivation, reinforcement of correct responses and repetition of associations until the conditioning is established has influenced many of the modern day teaching methods (Emmitt et al., 2010). EXAMPLES: An example of this learning theory is the scientific work completed by Russian psychologist Ivan Pavlov. Pavlov’s experiments were based on the fact that in natural circumstances a dog salivated when presented with food (Pritchard, 2014). He began by ringing a bell each time his dog was presented with food, to which the dog established an association with. From then on, the dog would begin to salivate on command when the bell was rung, even if there was no food in sight. This learning theory can be incorporated into the classroom in the following ways: - giving rewards to children for good behaviour (i.e. handing homework in on time, being polite and well mannered.) - punishing children for bad behaviour (i.e. being late for class, not handing in their homework.) Reinforcements are proven to be an effective measure in the classroom. Children respond quite well to the connotations that follow, whether they be positive or negative (Pritchard, 2014). |
THE COGNITIVIST THEORY:
The cognitivist theory, which challenges behaviourism, introduces the concept of a thinking mind (Pritchard, 2014). This theory is understood as a process of active construction whereby each individual makes sense of new information in their mind by mapping it onto their existing knowledge and understanding. In other words, they learn by relating new experiences to what they already know (Pritchard, 2014). EXAMPLES: An example of this theory is the research completed by American linguist Noam Chomsky. He was the one who suggested that the learner of any language has an inbuilt learning capacity for language that enables each learner to construct a set of rules about that language based on very limited exposure (as discussed previously). He argued that 'the language overheard by infants wouldn’t provide enough complete data for children to develop the kind of language that they soon develop.' (Emmitt et al., 2010) Chomsky openly rejected the behaviourist theory that language should be thought of as verbal behaviour, arguing that language should be thought of as knowledge held by those who use the language (Emmitt et al., 2010) This learning theory can be incorporated into the classroom when children are learning how to spell new words. As a teacher, you should first ask the students whether they have any idea how this word is spelt. Many will come close to obtaining a correct answer. You can then give the children a list for them to start practising. To memorise the definitions of the words, break the bigger words into smaller words and focus on the definition of the new word. For example, the word 'acquisition' can be broken down into the smaller word 'acquire'. Acquire means to gain or learn something which tells you that acquisition means that something is being learnt or obtained. This uses the students' prior knowledge as it forces them to think about smaller words that they already know the meaning of and then build onto that knowledge by learning the new words. Finally, be sure to incorporate many visual aids such as charts and mind maps around the classroom as these aid in the memorisation process. |
The table shows four of the main learning theories. We focused on Behaviourism and Cognitivism as they are more teacher orientated.
Helpful Videos:
Here are some videos to help you to further understand Learning Theories.
BEHAVIOURIST THEORY
COGNITIVIST THEORY