Exposing Neuromyths and Evidence-Based Training TESOL 2017

Carol Lethaby clethaby@clethaby.com
Website: http://clethaby.com
Patricia Harries patti.harries@gmail.com
Exposing neuromyths and
empowering teachers with
evidence-based teacher
education

1 “Neuromyths”
2 Neuromyths and practice
3 Evidence-based practice
4 Conclusions for teacher educ.
Carol Lethaby and Patricia Harries, 2017

An example of a neuromyth is that
learning is enhanced if people are
classified and taught according to
their preferred learning style.

Left – right brain
Another neuromyth is that learners
are left-brain or right-brain
dominant

Where do these ideas come from?

“Thus, it is incorrect to assume that only one sensory
modality is involved with information processing.”
(Dekker et al, 2012)

Problems with learning styles:
There is no evidence that
teaching to preferred learning
styles enhances learning.
(the meshing hypothesis)

Rogowsky et al (2015)
• Attempts to test the ‘meshing hypothesis’ directly
• First ….
• Auditory and visual learning preferences determined through a standardized
questionnaire
• Verbal comprehension aptitude test in both oral and written forms
• No relationship
• Second ….
• Participants randomly assigned to one of two groups – information through e-text
or audiobook
• Tested immediately and after two weeks
• NO significant relationship between preferred mode of learning, teaching mode
and results of the tests

“In the current study, we failed to find
any statistically significant, empirical
support for tailoring instructional
methods to an individual’s learning style.”
Rogowsky et al, 2015: 77

• Coffield, F., Moseley, D., Hall, E., and Ecclestone, K. (2004). Learning Styles and
Pedagogy in Post-16 Learning. A Systematic and Critical Review. London: Learning
and Skills Research Centre.
• Krätzig, G.P. and Arbuthnott, K.D. (2006). Perceptual learning style and learning
proficiency: A test of the hypothesis. Journal of Educational Psychology, 98, 238-
246.
• Pashler, H., McDaniel, M., Rohrer, D., & Bjork, R. (2009). Learning styles: Concepts
and evidence. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 9(3), 105-119.
• Riener, C., & Willingham, D. (2010). The myth of learning styles. Change,
Sept/Oct, 32-36.
• Rogowsky, B. A., Calhoun, B. M., & Tallal, P. (2015). Matching learning style to
instructional method: Effects on comprehension. Journal of Educational
Psychology, 107(1), 64.

Problems with learning styles:
Both hemispheres are used
for processing both logical
and creative tasks

"The pop culture idea (creative vs. logical traits)
has no support in the neuroscience community
and flies in the face of decades of research about
brain organization, the functional roles of the two
brain hemispheres and evidence from patients
with lesions in one or the other hemisphere in the
brain,” Anderson, 2017
http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-35640368

•Categorising learners as either left or right
brained, and focusing teaching on developing
one hemisphere over another are not
considered to be useful educational methods.
(Holmes, 2016)

So, how do misconceptions
translate to classroom practices?

•Teacher education and professional
development
•Methodology books and materials
•Student materials
•Teachers’ beliefs

Adaptive learning “is also premised on
the idea that learners have particular
learning styles… that these can be
identified…and that actionable insights
can be gained” Kerr, 2014

Resources
• Tasks for Teacher Education: A Reflective Approach Rosie Tanner & Catherine Green (Longman, 1998)
• The Developing Teacher: Practical Activities for Professional Development Duncan Foord (Delta Publishing, 2009)
• English Teaching Professional Issue 73 (March 2011) & Issue 86 (May 2013)
• https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/learning-styles-teaching Cheron Verster
• Learning Styles and Second Language Education Patrycja Kamińska (Cambridge Scholars, 2014)
• Spotlight on Learning Styles Marjorie Rosenberg (Delta Publishing, 2013)
• Voices IATEFL Newsletter Issue 253 (Nov-Dec 2016)
• Capitalizing on Language Learners’ Individuality Tammy Gregerson and Peter D. MacIntyre (Multilingual Matters,
2014)
• World English 3 (2nd Edition) Kristin L. Johannsen & Rebecca Tarver Chase (National Geographic Learning &
Cengage, 2015)
• Language Leader Advanced David Cotton, David Falvey, Simon Kent, Ian Lebeau, & Gareth Rees (Pearson Longman,
2010)
• Open Mind Elementary (2nd edition) Mickey Rogers, Joanne Taylor-Knowles & Steve Taylor-Knowles (Macmillan,
2014)
• New Cutting Edge Upper Intermediate Sarah Cunningham & Peter Moor (Longman, 2005)
• Move it! Carolyn Barraclough, Fiona Beddall, Katherine Stannet, & Jayne Wildman (Pearson, 2015)
• Today! David Todd, Tamzin Thompson, Erika Stiles, & Sandy Zervas (Pearson, 2014)

Teachers’ beliefs
Our surveys (2015 - 2016) - 332 English language
teachers from the US, Canada, Mexico and Brazil
Nine statements about brain-based learning

Original study
•Lethaby, C. and Harries, P (2016)
Learning styles and teacher training:
are we perpetuating neuromyths?
•ELTJ 70/1 (Jan 2016)

Statements about brain-based learning
5. Differences in hemispheric dominance (left brain, right
brain) can help explain individual differences amongst
learners.
7. Individuals learn better when they receive information in
their preferred learning style (e.g. visual, auditory,
kinaesthetic).
8. Teaching to learning styles is more important in language
learning than in other types of learning.

30.12%
90.36%
60.24%
8. Learning styles in language learning
7. VAK
5. Left brain, right brain
Lethaby and Harries (2015-2016)
% English language teachers who agree with
neuromyths
n = 332

So, what does this mean for teacher
education?

Evidence-based Teacher Education
Why not focus on evidence-based ways
that we know are more helpful to
learners?

•Instead of focusing on sensory modality learning
styles that have no evidence that they enhance
learning (see eg Kratzig and Arbuthnott,
Rogowsky et al) let’s focus on interventions that
do have a research base.
http://nyphotographic.com/

Examples of aspects of teaching that do have
a research base:
•prior knowledge
•cognitive overload
•vocabulary learning
http://nyphotographic.com/

“the single most widely
demonstrated difference [in
learning outcomes] is prior
knowledge.”
Clark, 2014: 335

Reading and prior knowledge
• “The most important factor in determining how much
readers will comprehend and how well writers will be
able to communicate about a given topic is their level
of knowledge about that topic”
• (interest in the topic is also important but often is
related to prior knowledge).”
• (Allington and Cunningham, 2010)

•“The importance of prior knowledge to
comprehension and communication is
included in virtually all modern theories
of reading” (Anderson & Pearson, 1984; Pressley, Wood, &
Woloshyn, 1992; Spivey, 1996)
• (Allington and Cunningham, 2010)

•“.. what students already know about
the content is one of the strongest
indicators of how well they will learn
new information relative to the
content.”
• Marzano, 2004

• Building on prior knowledge: How does the student brain learn?
• May 12, 2014 Marlieke van Kesteren
• http://www.neuwritewest.org/blog/2014/5/12/building-on-prior-
knowledge-how-does-the-student-brain-learn

Van Kesteren et al, 2014
• How does our brain remember new, study-related
information?
• Two groups of students – biology / education
• - ss given sentences with new information in the
primary field and in the non-primary field
• - brain activity measured using MRI scanner
• - next day ss tested on the information they learned

Medial prefrontal cortex

Building on prior knowledge: How does the
student brain learn?
May 12, 2014 Marlieke van Kesteren

How can we use what students know to help
them to learn more easily?
•Use pre-tasks
• activate background knowledge
• build background knowledge

What prior knowledge do L2 students have?
•Content
•L1
•L2

Using L1 and L2 prior knowledge
• How can we use L1 prior knowledge?
• How can we use L2 prior knowledge?

How can we use what students know to help
them to learn better?
•Re-cycle and build on what learners
know / use a spiral curriculum

•“It is very important in education that
courses build on each other as much as
possible, because knowledge builds from its
antecedents.”
• Van Kersteren, 2014

From: Just Right Pre-Intermediate by Jeremy Harmer, Ana Acevedo and Carol Lethaby Cengage 2006

Know about learners’ interests
• We are most interested in / motivated by the things
we already know something about
• (“interest in the topic is also important but often is
related to prior knowledge.”)
• Therefore … we need to make connections between
what we do in class and students’ real lives.

And ….
•Constantly be aware of prior knowledge –
don’t assume that learners know something
– check it.
•“faulty background knowledge”
•Eg basic vocabulary, parts of speech, names
of tenses
•Find out what the learners know.Carol Lethaby and Patricia Harries, 2017

Cognitive Load

“Visual representations appear to be
most effective when they are designed to
support the cognitive processes
necessary for deep comprehension.”
Butcher, 2006

•If we present learners with too much
information – text and complex visuals that
don’t support comprehension of the text
this will be too hard for learners.
•Text and visuals need to support each other.

•Learning from Text with Diagrams:
Promoting Mental Model Development
and Inference Generation
•Butcher, Kirsten R.
•Journal of Educational Psychology, v98 n1
p182-197 Feb 2006

•Wouters, P., F. Paas, and J. J. G. van Merrienboer.
2008. ‘How to optimize learning from animated
models: a review of guidelines based on
cognitive load’. Review of Educational Research
78/3: 645–75.

Vocabulary learning
“Research consistently shows that more new words can
be learned using L1 translations than with L2-based
definitions (Laufer and Shmueli, 1997; Ramachandran
and Rahim, 2004).” In Schmitt, 2008
German.aiflc

Ramachandran, S.D. and Rahim, H.A. (2004). Meaning recall and
retention: The impact of the translation method on elementary level
learners’ vocabulary learning. RELC Journal 35, 2: 161-178.
• Subjects in two groups given 20 words to learn over a period of four
weeks.
• Group 1 – direct translation
• Group 2 – English only
• Group 1 outperformed group 2 significantly
“In addition, Corder (1990) notes that the reliance on the L1 knowledge is
basically relying on prior knowledge to facilitate new learning.” (2004: 174)
German.aiflc

Other papers that look at evidence for good
teaching
• Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K.A., Marsh, E.J., Nathan, M.J. & Willingham,
D.T. (2013). Improving students learning with effective learning
techniques promising directions from cognitive and educational
psychology. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14/1, 4-58.
doi: 10.1177/1529100612453266
•Looks at TEN specific teaching techniques
and the research done to support the use of
them.

• Roediger, H. L., & Pyc, M. A. (2012). Inexpensive techniques to
improve education: Applying cognitive psychology to enhance
educational practice Journal of Applied Research in Memory and
Cognition, 1/4, 242-248. Doi: 10.1016/j.jarmac.2012.09.002
• Three general principles for improving learning based
on research evidence.
•Distribution of practice
•Retrieval practice
•Explanatory questioning

•Why aren’t we focusing on educational
research and evidence for enhanced
learning in teacher education in TESOL?

Recommendations
Conclusions for
teacher education?

1 Stop perpetuating practices that don’t
hold up to scrutiny.

“Thus, although interesting,
identifying learning preferences does
not further the goal of increasing
student learning.”
Arbuthnott and Kratzig, 2015: 7: 7

2 Look for evidence-based ways to help
teachers understand the learning process.
Evaluate these critically.

• Arbuthnott and Kratzig, 2015: 7
“The goals of education, like those of
other professions, are best served by
evidence-based practice.”
Arbuthnott and Kratzig, 2015: 7: 7

3 Call for better communication and
collaboration between scientists/researchers
and educational practitioners.

Carol Lethaby and Patricia Harries: TESOL 2015
“the importance of a dialog between
teachers and neuroscience experts
in order to establish effective
collaborations between the two
fields” Dekker et al, 2012

4 Include neuroscience and other broader
research on teacher education courses.

•Include neuroscience and psychology in
initial teacher training
•Help teachers to read / evaluate and take
advantage of scientific research
•Involve teachers in research
Carol Lethaby and Patricia Harries: TESOL 2015

• References
• Arbuthnott, K.D. and Krätzig, G.P. (2015) Effective teaching: Sensory learning styles versus general memory processes. Innovative
Teaching Vol 4, Article 2
• Butcher, K.R. (2006). Learning from text with diagrams: Promoting mental model development and inference generation. Journal
of Educational Psychology, 98, 182-197
• Clark, R.C (2015) Evidence-based Training Methods ASTD
• Coffield, F., Moseley, D., Hall, E., and Ecclestone, K. (2004). Learning Styles and Pedagogy in Post-16 Learning. A Systematic and
Critical Review. London: Learning and Skills Research Centre.
• Dekker,S., Lee, N.C., Howard-Jones, P., and Jolles, J. (2012). Neuromyths in education: Prevalence and predictors of misconceptions
among teachers. Frontiers in Psychology 3/429 1 - 8
• Howard-Jones, P (2014) Neuroscience and education: myths and messages. Nature Reviews Neuroscience Volume 15 December
2014 817-824
• Kerr, P (2014) A short guide to adaptive learning in English language teaching www.the-round.com
• Kerr, P (2017) https://adaptivelearninginelt.wordpress.com/2017/02/13/learning-styles-the-emperor-with-no-clothes/
• Krätzig, G.P. and Arbuthnott, K.D. (2006). Perceptual learning style and learning proficiency: A test of the hypothesis. Journal of
Educational Psychology, 98, 238-246.
• Lethaby, C. and Harries, P (2016) Learning styles and teacher training: are we perpetuating neuromyths? ELTJ 70/1
• Pashler, H., McDaniel, M., Rohrer, D., & Bjork, R. (2009). Learning styles: Concepts and evidence. Psychological Science in the Public
Interest, 9(3), 105-119.
• Pickering, S. J., and Howard-Jones, P. (2007). Educators’ views on the role of neuroscience in education: findings from a study of UK
and international perspectives. Mind Brain Educ. 1, 109–113.
• Riener, C., & Willingham, D. (2010). The myth of learning styles. Change, Sept/Oct, 32-36.
• Rogowsky, B. A., Calhoun, B. M., & Tallal, P. (2015). Matching learning style to instructional method: Effects on comprehension.
Journal of Educational Psychology, 107(1), 64.
• Wouters, P., Paas, F. & van Merrienboer, J.J.G. (2008). How to optimize learning from animated models: A review of guidelines
based on cognitive load. Review of Educational Research, 78, 645-675.

Exposing Neuromyths and Evidence-Based Training TESOL 2017

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