15
In general, there are two major dimensions in learners’ learning preferences: they are wholistic view and analytic view Riding, 2002: 23. The
first dimension affects the way in which people think about, view, and respond to information and situations. This affects the way they learn, organize information,
apply the information, and interact with other pupils. Wholists tend to see a situation as a whole and are able to have an overall perspective to appreciate its
total context. For wholists, there is a possible danger that the distinction among parts in
the total context is blurred so that it is very difficult to distinguish the issues that make up the whole of a situation. The positive strength of wholistic learners is that
they can see the whole picture by the time they consider a particular situation or information. Consequently, they can have a balanced view and see situations in
their overall context. 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 overall context from a particular task. Yet, they may find difficulties in working on the details of each
segment which makes up a particular context. The latter learning styles dimension in learners’ learning preferences,
which is analytic view, sees a situation as a collection of parts and often focus on one or two aspects of the situation at a time. Since analytic learners tend to focus
on just one aspect of the whole at a time, this may have the effect of distorting, exaggerating, or making it more prominent than the remaining segments of a
16
system. Thus, there is a possibility that the information is out of proportion to the total situation.
For the analytics, the positive ability is that they can analyze a situation into parts and this allows them to come quickly to the heart of any problem. They
are good at seeing similarities and detecting differences. Nevertheless, their negative aspect is that they may not be able to obtain a balanced view of the
whole. Besides, they may also focus merely on one aspect of a situation excluding the others and broaden it out of its proper proportion.
4. Classroom Behaviours
This consideration begins with what is generally known as observable behaviours to the teacher in the classroom. Teachers could notice that some pupils
appear more confident than others, some behave in a cooperative way while others are disruptive, some attend to the learning tasks while others are not motivated and
poorly organized, and some do well in assessments while others do not. Riding 2002: 3 classified observable behaviours into three major categories; they are
emotional behaviour, conduct behaviour, and learning behaviour.
a. Emotional Behaviour
Emotional behaviour can be defined as how a student feels about himselfherself Riding, 2002: 3. The level of emotional behaviour is apparently
observable in terms of the degree of self-assurance, a quiet self confidence, an ease in associating with other pupils and environment, and not appearing very nervous
17
or anxious in delivering presentations. In this study, emotional behaviour is one means to assess the students’ intrinsic motivation and learning styles.
b. Conduct Behaviour
Conduct behaviour can be perceived as students’ attitude in interacting with others Riding, 2002: 4. Conduct behaviour can be disruptiveactive
misbehaviour, such as verbal interruption, distracting other pupils, inappropriate moving, physical aggression, or non-disruptivepassive misbehaviour such as
inattention, daydreaming, and not completing work. Disruptiveactive misbehaviour usually reduces the pupils’ performance.
Moreover, this impact is also seen not only on the pupils who are misbehaving but also of other pupils in the group who are distracted. On the other hand, passive
misbehaviour is less likely to be seen as conduct disorder since it is not disruptive. It is considerably referred to as learning disorder. Like emotional behaviour,
conduct behaviour is also one means to assess students’ intrinsic motivation and learning styles.
c. Learning Behaviour
Learning behaviour refers to the individuals’ attention to the lessons, learners’ interest in the available topics and classroom activities, and learners’
effective organization, perserverance, and communication Riding, 2002: 5. The way pupils feel and behave later on determine individuals classroom performance
and, therefore, it influences their learning behaviour. In this study, learning behaviour is also one way to assess students’ intrinsic motivation and learning
styles.
18
B. Theoretical Framework
There are obviously many factors that could influence learner’s individual performance. In this research, the researcher intends to seek the impact of the two
referred to variables by monitoring individual’s observable classroom behaviours and performance. Thereby, this research focuses its investigation on the factors
within the readers, which are intrinsic motivation and learning styles, and their effects on individual’s performance.
At this point, it is clear that this research involves intrinsic motivation and learning styles as its primary discussion. The researcher is aware that both intrinsic
motivation and learning styles are abstract domains; they are not subject to direct observation but they can be inferred and indicated from several sources namely
continuous observations, inquiry, and clarification through interview. It is also clear enough that both factors intensely affect individual’s classroom performance.
The researcher attempts to seek the influence of intrinsic motivation and learning styles on each learner’s performance through particular criteria. In order
to assess the learner’s classroom performance, the researcher observes the research participants’ classroom behaviours. The intended classroom behaviours covers
emotional behaviour, conduct behaviour, and learning behaviour. Each research participant is observed during the course. Their observed classroom behaviours
such as being confident or nervous while delivering their personal opinions, being physically and verbally disruptive to other pupils, being interested in and engaged
in tasks effectively, and so forth are recorded and classified on the observation sheets.
