Verbal Learning Styles
There was a time when many traditional educational theorists viewed students as blank slates waiting to be filled with new information and ideas. This assumption changed when Howard Gardner released the results of years of observation and research in 1983. His work, "Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences," introduced people to the notion that students come to the classroom with learning styles and preferences in place, and that educators can capitalize on their innate intelligences by tailoring curriculum and activities to meet their needs and stimulate their minds. The verbal learning style was one of the easier intelligences to accommodate, because it was already widely integrated into school curricula.
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Identification
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Verbal learning styles, sometimes called linguistic intelligence, encompass both the written and spoken word. People with a verbal intelligence have an ear for words, vocabulary, sentence structure, foreign words and wordplay. Verbal learners feel comfortable in many traditional school settings that rely on lectures, readings, discussions and essays to impart knowledge and assess comprehension.
Features
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Verbal-linguistic learners rely on descriptive language and definitions to take in new information. In settings in which words are minimal or absent, such as music or arithmetic, they may contrive words, rhymes, descriptions or other linguistic approaches to absorb information, solve problems and express themselves.
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Function
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In the classroom, students with verbal learning styles keep momentum going in discussions, debates and interviews. Verbal intelligence extends beyond the recitation of facts and information and into artistic forms of expression such as poetry readings, songs, raps, rhymes, jazz chants, theater and word games. Students with verbal-linguistic intelligence often become writers, translators, editors, poets, songwriters, lawyers and public speakers.
Considerations
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People with verbal learning styles often perform well on authentic assessments such as essay exams, interviews and portfolio work. They can quickly express themselves through speech as well as writing, so they answer questions with nuanced observations. The may feel constrained by rote learning settings that expect more repetition and recitation than actual expression.
Misconceptions
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Educators sometimes mistakenly label verbal learners as good in language arts and poor at math and science. However, students can possess multiple intelligences simultaneously. In addition, an integrated curriculum that features mathematical or scientific projects, reports, keeping journals, surveys, observation records and group work appeals to the strengths of verbal-linguistic learners.
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