Learner Autonomy through the Prism of Learning Styles in the European Language Portfolio

The aim of this paper was to investigate the ways of receiving and conveying information in German classes, with regard to the types of learners found in the European Language Portfolio (ELP) for learners aged 11-15 in the Republic of Croatia - visual, auditory, and those who learn best through direct language use. The share of these types of learners was obtained during 2012 with the help of a questionnaire from the above-mentioned ELP on the sample of 147 pupils. By submitting a questionnaire to 22 teachers during 2012, the use of a certain way of conveying information in teaching was studied; by analysing 20 textbooks and 20 workbooks for German as a second foreign language during the school year 2010/2011, the way information was conveyed to a specific type of learner was studied. The research showed that the learners preferred receiving information visually, whereas the teachers said that they conveyed information appropriately to different types of learners in equal amounts. On the other hand, when conveying information, textbooks and workbooks gave precedence to the visual type. The results pointed to the importance of raising awareness of different learning styles as a part of developing learner autonomy and suggested that the ELP could have a significant role in the process.