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that required the research participants to select one topic related to the previous theme, read the text thoroughly, and make a synthesis composition combined with
their own opinion. Usually, I find some sources at one time, and then I can choose one source
to be used for the first assignments. The other sources can be used for the next assignments so I can save my time. But sometimes I also feel
confused about the assignments. So, I sometimes work with my friends. RB3:I
When the researcher asked the research participants whether the given classroom assignments burdened them or not, most of the research participants
answered yes. Research participants assumed that the given classroom assignments as well as homework assignments burdened them so much because of
the very limited availability of time. Moreover, the very limited time for consultation with the lecturer also frustrated them. They obviously needed more
guidance since the class greatly demanded independent work and critical thinking. At this point, there were several aspects that could hinder research
participants’ intrinsic motivation to learn. They were the subject matter or the topics available for discussion, repetitive classroom activities, and the
unavailability of time for consultation with the lecturer. These aspects greatly discouraged research participants to learn more seriously. It explained why
sometimes research participants skipped the course objectives and did other activities irrelevant to the lessons. Nonetheless, research participants also had
ways to keep themselves on task. Some of research participants formed study groups in which each member became a proofreader for the other member. Some
other research participants were encouraged to undergo trial and error strategy in
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doing their projects and make some improvements based on the feedbacks from the lecturer. The rest of research participants sometimes were not enthusiastic
about doing the tasks and relied on their peers’ help in completing the assignments.
2. Research Participants’ Method in Overcoming Learning Styles
Drawbacks
Learning styles preference would influence the way learners learn, organize new information, implement meaningful information, and interact with
other pupils Riding, 2002: 23. In theory, wholistic learners would tend to see a situation as a whole and are able to have a general perspective. This means that
wholistic learners could have a broad view about the given material and, thus, their argument might seem shallow. The positive strength of wholistic learners is
that they can see the whole picture by the time they are aware of a particular situation or information. Consequently, they can have a balanced view and see
situations in their general perspective. The negative aspect of wholistic learners is that they find difficulties in separating out a situation into its smaller parts or
subsystems. In conclusion, wholistic learners are good at grabbing the general point of view from a particular task. Nevertheless, they might find difficulties in
working on the details of each segment which makes up a general perspective. I usually do not write every instruction or explanation that is given by the
lecturer. I usually listen to direction and explanation first and I write things that are important later on. If I think that there is nothing important to
write or I can really understand the direction without writing it, I will continue listening to the lecturer’s explanation. RA1:I
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I sometimes take notes on the lecturer’s explanation but mostly I don’t write all of the things. If I forobtain what to do, then I will just ask my
friend to re-explain what to do. I usually borrow my friend’s notes about the recent lesson. RA2:I
Research participants A1 and A2 were considered wholistic learners in the
research. There were several indicators that characterised research participants A1 and A2. They were particularly able to grab the overall context for example the
lecturer’s explanation and instructions without frequent note taking activity. As a result, they avoided taking notes while listening to the lecturer’s explanations and
directions. They preferred to listen to the whole explanations and, afterwards, summarized the information based on their own understanding.
However, they displayed significantly discrepant behaviours in relevance to their learning styles. As wholistic learners, research participants A1 and A2
naturally had tendency to learn independently than cooperatively. Based on the findings, research participant A1 made use of her capability effectively by
summarizing all the necessary information from the lesson without relying on her peers. At this point, the researcher considered her an independent learner. On the
contrary, research participant A2 whose learning style was wholistic, demonstrated certain opposite behaviour to research participant A1. Naturally,
wholistic learners mostly had tendency to work independently but she frequently relied on her peers to obtain information about course objectives or instructions
for the assignments. As a result, research participant A2, who perceived that most of the topics did not interest her much, demonstrated an action that did not suit her
nature as wholistic learner. This could be inferred from her statement below.
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I think the materials are quite boring because we ever found some of the supplied topics in Reading I and Reading II courses. The difference is that
we have to work harder in Extensive Reading II since we not only have to read thoroughly but also to make an argumentative composition about it.
Therefore, I sometimes do not really keen on the given topics in the classroom. RA2:I
Instead of carrying out the assigned tasks independently and confidently, she turned up to mostly work cooperatively with her peers in the given tasks.
Moreover, she occasionally forgot the course objectives because she was unable to concentrate due to the available distraction that interested her more. In
conclusion, research participants who generally perceived the course negatively, such as considering the topics available for discussion and classroom activities
boring, and viewing the topics available for discussion impractical, frequently exhibited ineffective emotional, conduct, and learning behaviours.
On the other hand, analytic learners would discern a situation as a collection of parts and will often focus on one or two aspects of the situation at a
time. Since analytic learners had tendency to focus on just one aspect of the whole at a time, this may have the effect of distorting, exaggerating, or making the
details more prominent than the rest segments of a general point of view. Thus, there is a possibility that the information is out of proportion to the total situation.
For the analytics, the positive aspect is that they can analyze a situation into parts and this allows them to come quickly to the heart of any problems. Besides, they
may also focus merely on one aspect of a situation excluding the others and broaden it out of its proper proportion. This was evidently perceptible from
research participant B2.
