Significance of Study INTRODUCTION
Meanwhile, Hilliard stated “Learning styles are the characteristic ways in which an individual acquires, perceives and processes information.”
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Then, based on Dunn and Dunn statement, “Learning style is the wayin which each learner
begins to concentrate on, process,, absorb and retain new and difficult information.”
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In addition, l earning style is students’ way of thinking, processing and
understanding information. Moreover, S. Nasution said that learning style is students’ way to give reaction and use stimulus which they get in learning
process.
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Thus, Based on the theory above, it can be concluded that learning style is students’ preference way to get, absorb and process the information about learning
material in learning process. They will enjoy and feel comfortable in absorbing the information with their own way. Moreover, each student has a different
preference learning way which used in learning process. Learning style is only a term which used to describe the attitudes and
behaviours, which determine an individual’s preferred way of learning. Every
student has all types of learning style. It does not mean they use them at the same time. Each student has a dominant learning style or their preference style. They
use different styles in different situation. Since 1997, there are many efforts to know and categorize the way of people
learning and the way to accept information to our brain. There is a great number of learning style model nowadays. Each model of learning style has strength
point. Based on Eric Jensen on his book “Super Teaching” there are five of
learning style model which is well known from VAK Bandler-Grinder, Ned Herrmanns, Rita and
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Hilliard, in Zainal Abidin Naning and Rita Hayati, The Correlation between Learning Style and Listening Achievement of English Education Study Program Students of Sriwijaya
University, Jurnal Holistics, 2011, p. 2.
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Dunn and Dunn in Zainal Abidin Naning and Rita Hayati, The Correlation between Learning Style and Listening Achievement of English Education Study Program Students of
Sriwijaya University, Jurnal Holistics, 2011, p. 4.
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Eric Jensen, Guru Super Super Teaching, Jakarta: PT Indeks, 2010, Cet. 4, p. 54.
Kenneth Dunn, Gregore Butler and 4MAT by Bernice McCarthy.
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The most famous approach and often using nowadays are cognitive input, sensory modality and multiple intelligence approach.
a. Cognitive Input It is developed by Dr. Anthony Gregorc. He divided mental ability into four
categories namely concrete-sequential, abstract-sequential, random concrete and random abstract.
b. Sensory Modality It is developed by Bandler Grinder and Messick. Sensory Modalities are
Visual, Auditoria, kinesthetic. Based on the survey result that is known that there are 29 visual person, 34 auditoria person and 37 kinesthetic person.
c. Multiple Intelligence It is developed by Howard Gardner. According to Gardner, people have eight
intelligence, namely linguistic, logic, mathematics, interpersonal, intrapersonal, music, natural, spatial and kinesthetic.