Journal of Education & Social Policy

Using Principles of Experiential Learning to Promote Effective Learning among English Language Learners
Dr. Terry Silver

Introduction
Experiential Learning has been applied to many different subjects and disciplines and in many different forms. From the traditional show-and tell exercises in the classroom to cooperative learning (Coop) and service learning in the community to the current strategy of "WTPS" (Write, Think, Pair, Share), teachers have long been using one form or another of Experiential Learning. It is a concept that is just as effective in the online environment, as well. The area of Experiential Learning has consistently been recognized in the research as a valid method of teaching and learning, in both face-to-face and online classrooms. Kolb (1984) wrote: "another reason the theory is called experiential is its intellectual origins in the experiential works of Dewey, Lewin, and Piaget. Taken together, Dewey's philosophical pragmatism, Lewin's social psychology, and Piaget's cognitive-developmental genetic epistemology form a unique perspective on learning and development” (Kolb, 1984, in Kolb, Boyatsis, &Mainemelis, 2001).

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