A³: "Whole picture" vs. "Detail-orientated" Learners²

Someone who is a whole picture learner needs to look at the subject matter holistically in order to fully understand. While this learner can understand things in context, she may not be able to see the smaller parts that make up the whole.
Someone who is detail-orientated can see what is important among distracting items. She can separate the parts from the whole. However, a learner who is "too detail-orientated" may get bogged down in the details and suffer from "tunnel vision" or the inability to see the larger picture.

How can this help me help my learner? ³

The " Whole Picture" Learner

This learner tends to see things more holistically. When the whole picture learner is reading or listening, she can still get the gist of the material but may not be able to explain or understand the smaller details within it. This learner has an easier time learning language and culture outside the classroom than one who is detail-orientated.

When learning structure and form, a whole picture learner benefits from "inductive" lessons. Using an inductive approach means that you do not have to teach this learner grammatical rules. However, this does not mean that the learner does not need structure and guidance. A general overview of a grammar lesson using an inductive approach might look like this:

An overview of an inductive grammar lesson

Warm-up questions:
Tutor: I go to school at 8:00 a.m. When do you go to school?
Learner: I go to school at 7:00 a.m.
Tutor: I go shopping on Monday. When do you go shopping?
Learner: I go shopping on Saturday.
Tutor: I go on holidays in March. When do you go on holidays?
Learner: I go on holidays in April.
Tutor: I go biking in the summer. When do you go biking?
Learner: I go biking in the summer, too.

² H. Douglas Brown, Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy. (White Plains, NY: Pearson Education, 1994), pp. 114 - 115. By permission of Pearson Education.
³ H. Douglas Brown, Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy. (White Plains, NY: Pearson Education, 1994), pp. 115 - 116. By permission of Pearson Education.