The new millennial students and the 'multimodal' learning style: Podcasting in the ESP classroom

Perceptual learning styles are «the means by which learners extract information from their surroundings through the use of their five senses» (Davis, 2007: 46). Against the background of the technological revolution, the influx of recent learning models available and the emergence of a new generation of students (i.e. millennials), this variable is bound to evolve. Considering that learners perceive the information through different senses, educators should consider their learning preferences and regard the foreign language classroom as a multimodal environment. However, despite the numerous positive results shown by recent studies when matching learning styles and multimodality, research on perceptual learning styles is still limited. The purpose of this study is twofold: (1) to demonstrate the presence of millennial students with a multimodal (rather than multiple) learning style at University and (2) to evince the good results when considering this individual variable in the teaching methodology. The contribution addresses two research questions: (1) is the multimodal learning style present among millennials?, and (2) to what extent a multimodal learning environment contributes to effective learning? Fifty ESP students taking the course Professional English for Communicators at Universitat Jaume I, Spain, were selected as the respondents for this study. A multimodal learning style questionnaire and a podcasting activity were used to obtain relevant data. Results are expected to suggest that millennials are multimodal and that podcasting is an appropriate tool for them to make meaning of their learning environment. These findings may help to identify to what extent technology has affected preferences as to perceptual learning styles.