Depending on their personality, everyone has their own learning style, which determines how they perceive, conceptualise, organise and recall information. Learning styles can be influenced by genetics, previous learning experiences and the culture and society in which we live. No one style is superior to another and they can evolve over the course of a lifetime.
According to the neurolinguistic model, we can be partly :
- visual, i.e. needing to see diagrams, drawings, texts, etc. to help them learn language;
- auditory, needing to hear and repeat;
- kinaesthetic: needing to be physically active, to imitate, to feel information.
According to the neurolinguistic model, we can be partly :
- activists are open-minded and always ready to try things out;
- theorists need to analyse a language before they can use it;
- the reflective person needs to have a global view of language, to reflect on it and distance him/herself from it, before trying something new;
- pragmatists take a practical approach, picking up new words and structures and trying to use them straight away.
Other personality traits can also affect language learning. Extroverts and introverts will interact differently in communicative situations, but this does not mean that one trait is better than another. Levels of self-esteem, anxiety, inhibition and risk-taking ability also influence communication performance.
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