Multiple Intelligences in English Classroom - Essay Example

Multiple Intelligences in English room Introduction Through the assistance of Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences,educators recognize and appreciate the learners’ diversity in the styles they use for learning and their learning potentials among other issues. This helps them to appreciate how these learners employ development of learning strategies. From my experience in teaching, I realized that majority of parents or students don’t have the required concepts that are applicable to learning of English and therefore are negatively predisposed towards liking the language. This creates a frustration in their learning of the English language. The hands-on experience is gained as a teacher heightened my interest in the acquisition of language, the development of learning modes and revolution of teaching methodology. Thus stated, this paper purposes to discuss the Gardner’s multiple intelligent theory and explore its applications in the classroom environment as well as out of class in a general bid to assist students acquire effective learning strategies and implement them effectively for the achievement of lifelong learning. Vocational students have been observed to have a lower motivation for learning the language. This has resulted into them being less prepared and competent in learning the English language. Even though the author observed that some of her students had inherent and different talents in other various fields for example story- telling, singing or painting, these students were considered to be dumb because of their failure in academics. As a way of encouragement, the author invented and incorporated numerous different methods which included the attempt to incorporate the learning styles of these children into the study curriculum From the author’s view derived from the teaching experience, she identified a linkage between the basic concepts stipulated in the multiple intelligence theory and the needs of her students’. In addition, these strategies were instrumental in the boosting of the confidence and self-esteem as well as the interest in language learning amongst these students. In his theory, Gardner stipulated that there exists a minimum of seven basic intelligences. These intelligences are named below as Verbal/Linguistic Intelligence, Musical Intelligence, Visual/Spatial Intelligence, Intrapersonal Intelligence, Logical/Mathematical Intelligence, Interpersonal Intelligence, and lastly Bodily/Kinaesthetic Intelligence. Gardner came up with an eighth intelligence in the year 1996 and labelled it the naturalist intelligence. In developing this eighth intelligence, in his own words, he stated that “it is not if you are smart, but how you are smart” (Gardner, 1983). A criterion has been developed by Gardner in his MIT to identify intelligence. This criteria follows that it “entails the ability to solve problems, through a process of “biological proclivity,” and has “an identifiable neurological core operation or set of operations” being susceptible a particular encoding in a systematic symbol system which inadvertently results in the capture and conveyance of crucial information bits and forms” (Gardner 1999, 15). These intelligences in MIT constitute a reflection of the learners’ innumerable ways of co-relating with the world. Some people have a stronger form of intelligence in comparison to others even though it is observed that to a certain degree, each person possess all these intelligences. The motivation factor, or stimuli, per say, determines whether these MIT is a person can be strengthened or even in some cases, weakened or outright ignored. The multiple intelligences according to Gardner The breakdown of the various intelligence levels and their reaction under the MIT influence are highlighted in the following discourse; Linguistic Intelligence explores the ability of an individual to utilize language in an effective and creative manner whether in oral communication or writing. Linguists utilize the concept of language diversity to express their ideologies, relay information and in trying to comprehend other people through interaction. They are excellent in the memorization of names, places, or even other detailed statistics. Logical-mathematical involves the capability to utilize numbers in an effective manner as well as engaging oneself in realms of higher thinking capacity. People equipped with this intelligence analytical in nature with an appetite for reasoning out and analyzing problems, and challenges, they are comfortable with numbers and tend to explore patterns and relationships in mathematical capacities. They have the capability to control their visuals and mental pictures from different perspectives. People who possess spatial intelligence have the capability to perceive, manipulate and structure various objects or forms in their mentality and then transfer them. These persons love to learn and reflect by stimuli of vision and their organization of things is spatial. Technically implied, they learn best through visualization of graphic images. Bodily-Kinaesthetic intelligence like the name suggests, involves using the whole body or parts of the body. The body is used in the solution of problems, expression of ideologies as well as emotions. Bodily-Kinaesthetic persons unconsciously love to touch, talk, create things and are always in motion. They excel at physical activities including dance, constructing models, and other forms of movement that require the application of physical motion. People who have musical intelligence are equipped with the capacity to think and express their ideas in form of musicals. People having this intelligence are indifferent to melody, sound, tone or even pitch. The best way in which they learn is by the participation into projects that involve transformation and expression though use of sounds. Interpersonal intelligence involves the capacity to have a perception of feelings, motivations and intentions. Learners having this intelligence are capable of discriminating cues from gestures, facial expressions, intonations and they respond effectively. They are fond of groupings, communication with others and are generally very social and love leadership positions. Their way of learning is through the interaction with other people. Intrapersonal intelligence is actually the opposite of the interpersonal intelligence and it implies that learners have the capacity to have an intrinsic understanding of their own selves. These people have a clear reflection of their being, their potential, and their objectives are clearly set. They work best alone by application of the touch with their inner selves, intentions, and self motivations. The last one, the Naturalist intelligence equips the learners with the capacity to have a better relationship between themselves and the environment in which they live in. They have a strong affiliation to nature as well as in animals. They learn better when they are out there in the field interacting with flora and fauna. The distribution of these intelligences in different people The distributions of the different intelligences under MIT are as outlined in the following paragraphs; Each person is said to possess capacities in all intelligences but with a varying capacity. Some people exhibit a profound level of functioning in all intelligences while others discriminate as has been observed, many of the people tend to have possessions and strengths in some intelligences and weaknesses in others. Secondly, it is said that most people are capable of developing the intelligences that they possess to an adequate competency level. The environmental conditions and factors and influences for example parents, teachers, and school curriculums can either strengthen or weaken these intelligences. The intelligences have been observed to have a tendency of harmonizing themselves in a complex structure. None of these works as a single unit, rather, they rely on the interaction of each other. A typical example could be given in the case of baking a cake. One reads the receipt, weighs out the flour to use, decides the flavour of the cake and then conducts the actual baking. This process requires a combination of intelligences such as logical-mathematical, linguistic, intrapersonal, interpersonal intelligences. Lastly there are a number of ways for one to be intelligent within the boundaries of a particular category. This means that one is at liberty to perform a particular intelligent in a different manner. As an example, you might find that maybe a person in possession of a bodily-kinaesthetic intelligence may not know how to dance well but he or she may be very handy in the construction of manual products. Each individual has his or her own unique learning methodology and styles that are different from the other persons. It is the onus of the teachers to identify these preferences and assist the pupils to develop their learning styles and capabilities by adding more concrete to the strengthened intelligences that they possess over the dominant ones. The presentation of information to these students should be done in a different style. This enable the students to grasp and synthesis better what they are taught especially if the teaching methodologies are in co-relation with their particular intelligences. Students can also be introduced to other learning styles that are not in line with their preferences. A number of methods are applied for the discrimination of the learning styles. Kanar (1995) stipulates in her book, The Confident Student that the most common styles of learning are visual, audio, and kinaesthetic. Teachers are at liberty to conduct an integration of the three styles to create a better understanding of the concepts taught. Visual style involves learning through taking a look at images for example reading or writing tasks. These students have a better comprehension by writing information down, reading and watching. They have a photographic memory and tend to recall most of what they learn by easily taking a glance at the context. Strategies applied in teaching Visual students 1. use of various visual materials such as pictures, charts, cards, videos, and maps among other visual aids 2. Use of bright colours to highlight a point on the board 3. issuing handouts 4. Draw the picture on the board or allow the students to do it themselves 5. Give assignment in forms of both writing and reading. The Auditory style involves implanting information into the learners’ minds through listening. Learning is done by talking to people and hearing what is said Strategies applied in teaching Auditory students 1. offering a brief elucidation about the lesson content in the beginning and summarize at the end. 2. ask students to read loud the questions 3. involve the students in group discussions, brainstorming and presentations 4. ask students to take notes using tape recorders for review later 5. Encourage students to speak by asking questions The last style, the Kinaesthetic styles encompasses learning via motion or touch. learners express themselves in a physical manner. This involves physical attribute of touch, holding, or other hands-on chores. Strategies applied in teaching Kinaesthetic students 1. Ask students to take notes in lectures 2. Introduce activities for example role-plays, project work, and games 3.Take frequent stand up and stretch breaks. 4. Ask students to type or write what they learn from text books. 5. Allow for provision of objects of learning that these students can touch, feel or operate. Assessment of Authenticity in the MI Classroom Gardner (1999) believed that the tests of MI in classroom ignored capabilities in other intelligences and concentrated on the measure of linguistic and logical/mathematical intelligences only. He suggested that since the main aim of the assessment is to measure the learning processes of the students’ so that information about their comprehension of diverse skills or knowledge was fulfilled, it was not fair to lock out the other intelligences as they also played a role in this development structure. He offered a number of examples that are important components in the implementation of this authentic assessment and some of these examples are highlighted in the following discourse. Observation The learning process of the students are observed and analyzed. As an example, the teacher can observe how these students solve their problems or the interaction they have with other group members. A checklist is then created to record the performance of these students. Portfolio Here, students’ products are collected and their accomplishments acknowledged. The teacher may put the students works, be it videos, reports, photos, essays or even drawings into this portfolio. Performance In this part, the students are supposed to offer a demonstration of their skills or talents to the others in the class. Tasks are done as in groups or as an individual initiative. These could be oratory tasks, role plays or even playing of a musical instrument. They used to observe and record the level of skills or understanding of the different students. Teacher-made tests or response Teacher prompts questions and allows the students to display their understanding in response to this work. These questions allow students to reflect more on their opinion, and culminate into the development of insightful thinking. Conclusion In conclusion, from the discussion above, it has been observed that the teachers play a vital role in the identification of the possibility that all students in this class may be in possession of the eight MIs as stipulated by Gardner and discussed in this paper. They are also supposed to accept that these MIs differ in strengths from one student to the other. But since these MIs are not fixed in nature, it is possible to nurture them and mould them into the desired system. The teaching methods exercised by the teachers are very instrumental in the enhancement of these MIs. The learning capacities of students should be understood and developed through the provision of an opportunity for authenticity of learning based on the interests as well as talents of these students. Thus stated, it is vital for the development of a curriculum that is possible to nurture the weaker intelligences and at the same time strengthen the developed ones. References Gardner, H. (1993) Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligences. New York: Basic Books. Smith, M. K. (2002) Howard Gardner and multiple intelligences, the encyclopaedia of Informal education, Available Retrieved November 27, 2007 from, http://www.infed.org/thinkers/gardner.htm Thomas, A. 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