Multiple Intelligences

Multiple Intelligences (MI) refers to a learner-based philosophy that characterizes human

intelligence as having multiple dimensions that must be acknowledged and developed in
education. Traditional IQ or intelligence tests are based on a test called the Stanford-Binet,
founded on the idea that intelligence is a single, unchanged, inborn capacity. However,
traditional IQ tests, while still given to most schoolchildren, are increasingly being challenged
by the MI movement. MI is based on the work of Howard Gardner of the Harvard Graduate
School of Education (Gardner 1993). Gardner notes that traditional IQ tests measure only
logic and language, yet the brain has other equally important types of intelligence.

Gardner argues that all humans have these intelligences, but people differ in the strengths and
combinations of intelligences. He believes that all of them can be enhanced through training
and practice. MI thus belongs to a group of instructional perspectives that focus on differences
between learners and the need to recognize learner differences in teaching. Learners are
viewed as possessing individual learning styles, preferences, or intelligences. Pedagogy is
most successful when these learner differences are acknowledged, analyzed for particular
groups of learners, and accommodated in teaching. In both general education and language
teaching, a focus on individual differences has been a recurring theme in the last 30 or so
years, as seen in such movements or approaches as Individualized Instruction, Autonomous
Learning, Learner Training, and Learner Strategies. The Multiple Intelligences model shares a
number of commonalities with these earlier proposals.

Gardner (1993) proposed a view of natural human talents that is labeled the “Multiple
Intelligences Model.” This model is one of a variety of learning style models that have been
proposed in general education and have subsequently been applied to language education.
Gardner claims that his view of intelligence(s) is culture-free and avoids the conceptual
narrowness usually associated with traditional models of intelligence (e.g., the Intelligent
Quotient [IQ] testing model). Gardner posits eight native “intelligences,” which are described
as follows:

1. Linguistic: the ability to use language in special and creative ways, which is something
lawyers, writers, editors, and interpreters are strong in.

2. Logical/mathematical: the ability to think rationally, often found with doctors, engineers,
programmers, and scientists.

3. Spatial: the ability to form mental models of the world, something architects, decorators,
sculptors, and painters are good at.

4. Musical: having a good car for music, as is strong in singers and composers.

5. Bodily/kinesthetic: having a well-coordinated body, something found in athletes and

craftspersons.

6. Interpersonal: the ability to be able to work well with people, which is strong in
salespeople, politicians, and teachers.
7. Intrapersonal: the ability to understand oneself and apply ones talent successfully, which
leads to happy and well-adjusted people in all areas of life.

8. Naturalist: the ability to understand and organize the patterns of nature.

He later suggested a ninth intelligence - existential intelligence -“ a concern with

philosophical issues such as the status of mankind in relation to universal existence. In
learning situations, the need to see ‘the big picture in order to understand minor learning
points and details”.

Armstrong (1999) introduced the following convenient memory tags for each intelligence: •
Linguistic intelligence: “ word smart” • Logical/mathematical intelligence: “
number/reasoning smart” • Visual/spatial intelligence: “ picture smart” • Bodily/ kinesthetic
intelligence: “ body smart” • Musical intelligence: “ music smart” • Interpersonal intelligence:
“ people smart” • Intrapersonal intelligence: “self smart” • Naturalist intelligence: “ nature
smart” • Existentialist intelligence: “existence smart”

All learners are believed to have personal intelligence profiles - so-called “ MI profiles” that
consist of combinations of different intelligence types and for some intelligences to be more
highly developed than others, hence favoring a particular approach to learning.

When it was first proposed, the idea of Multiple Intelligences attracted the interest of many
educators as well as the general public. Schools began to use MI theory to encourage learning
that goes beyond traditional books, pens, and pencils. Teachers and parents were encouraged
to recognize their learners’/children’s particular gifts and talents and to provide learning
activities that build on those inherent gifts. As a result of strengthening such differences,
individuals would be free to be intelligence.

Other “intelligences” have been proposed, such as Emotional Intelligence, Mechanical

Intelligence, and Practical Intelligence, but Gardner defends his eight-dimensional model of
intelligence by claiming that the particular intelligences he has nominated are verified by
eight data based “signs.” Detailed discussion of the signs is beyond the range of this chapter.
However, signs include such clues as an intelligence having a distinct developmental and a
distinct evolutionary history; that is, within individuals there is a similar sequence of
development of an intelligence beginning in early childhood and continuing into maturity.
This sequence will be universal for individuals but unique to each intelligence. Similarly, each
intelligence is deeply embedded in evolutionary history. Human tool using, for example, has
such an evidential evolutionary history and is an example, Gardner says, of bodily/kinesthetic
intelligence.

Approach: Theory of language and language learning

Applications of MI in language teaching have been more recent, so it is not surprising that MI
theory lacks some of the basic elements that might link it more directly to language education.
One issue is the lack of a concrete view of how MI theory relates to any existing language
and/or language learning theories, though attempts have been made to establish such links. It
certainly is fair to say that MI proposals look at the language of an individual, including one
or more second languages, not as an “ added on” and somewhat peripheral skill but as central
to the whole life of the language learner and user. In this sense, language is held to be
integrated with music, bodily activity, interpersonal relationships, and so on. Language is not
seen as limited to a “ linguistics” perspective but encompasses all aspects of communication.

Language learning and use are obviously closely linked to what MI theorists label “Linguistic
Intelligence.” However, MI proponents believe there is more to language than what is usually
subsumed under the rubric linguistics. There are aspects of language such as rhythm, tone,
volume, and pitch that are more closely linked, say, to a theory of music than to a theory of
linguistics. Other intelligences enrich the tapestry of communication we call “language.” In
addition, language has its ties to life through the senses. The senses provide the
accompaniment and context for the linguistic message that give it meaning and purpose. A
multisensory view of language is necessary, it seems, to construct an adequate theory of
language as well as an effective design for language learning.

A widely accepted view of intelligence is that intelligence – however measured and in

whatever circumstance – comprises a single factor, usually called the “g” factor. From this
point of view, “Intelligence (g) can be described as the ability to deal with cognitive
complexity. . . . The vast majority of intelligence researchers take these findings for granted”.
One popular explication of this view sees intelligence as a hierarchy with g at the apex of the
hierarchy: more specific aptitudes are arrayed at successively lower levels: the so-called
group factors, such as verbal ability, mathematical reasoning, spatial visualization and
memory, are just below g, and below these are skills that are more dependent on knowledge
or experience, such as the principles and practices of a particular job or profession.

The view of Gardner (and some other cognitive scientists) “contrasts markedly with the view
that intelligence is based on a unitary or ‘general’ ability for problem solving”. In the Gardner
view, there exists a cluster of mental abilities that are separate but equal and that share the
pinnacle at the top of the hierarchy called intelligence – thus, the eight Multiple Intelligences
that Gardner has described. One way of looking at the learning theoretical argument is to
apply the logic of the single factor (g) model to the Multiple Intelligences model. The single
factor model correlates higher intelligence (+g) with greater speed and efficiency of neural
processing; that is, the higher the g factor in the individual, the greater the speed and
efficiency of that individual’s brain in performing cognitive operations. If there is not one I
but several I’s, then one can assume that the speed and efficiency of neural processing will be
greatest when a particular I is most fully exercised; that is, if a language learner has a high
musical intelligence, that person will learn most quickly (e.g., a new language) when that
content is embedded in a musical frame.

Design: Objectives, syllabus, learning activities, roles of learners, teachers, and materials

There are no goals stated for MI instruction in linguistic terms. MI pedagogy focuses on the
language class as the setting for a series of educational support systems aimed at making the
language learner a better designer of his/her own learning experiences. Such a learner is both
better empowered and more fulfilled than a learner in traditional classrooms. A more goal-
directed learner and happier person is held to be a likely candidate for being a better second
language learner and user.

Also, there is no syllabus as such, either prescribed or recommended, in respect to MI-based

language teaching. However, there is a basic develop- mental sequence that has been
proposed as an alternative to what we have elsewhere considered as a type of “syllabus”
design. The sequence consists of four stages:

– Stage 1: Awaken the Intelligence. Through multisensory experiences – touching, smelling,

tasting, seeing, and so on – learners can be sensitized to the many-faceted properties of
objects and events in the world that surrounds them.

– Stage 2: Amplify the Intelligence. Students strengthen and improve the intelligence by
volunteering objects and events of their own choosing and defining with others the properties
and contexts of experience of these objects and events.

– Stage 3: Teach with/for the Intelligence. At this stage the intelligence is linked to the focus
of the class, that is, to some aspect of language learning. This is done via worksheets and
small-group projects and discussion.

– Stage 4: Transfer of the Intelligence. Students reflect on the learning experiences of the
previous three stages and relate these to issues and challenges in the out-of-class world.

MI has been applied in many different types of classrooms. In some, there are eight self-
access activity corners, each corner built around one of the eight intelligences. Students work
alone or in pairs on intelligence foci of their own choosing. Nicholson-Nelson (1998: 73)
describes how MI can be used to individualize learning through project work. She lists five
types of projects:

1. Multiple intelligence projects: These are based on one or more of the intelligences and are
designed to stimulate particular intelligences.

2. Curriculum-based projects: These are based on curriculum content areas but are categorized
according to the particular intelligences they make use of.

3. Thematic-based projects: These are based on a theme from the curriculum or classroom but
are divided into different intelligences.

4. Resource-based projects: These are designed to provide students with opportunities to

research a topic using multiple intelligences.

5. Student-choice projects: These are designed by students and draw on particular

intelligences.

In other, more fully teacher-fronted classrooms, the students move through a cycle of
activities highlighting use of different intelligences in the activities that the teacher has chosen
and orchestrated.
The following list summarizes several of the alternative views as to how the MI model can be
used to serve the needs of language learners within a classroom setting:

• Play to strength. If you want an athlete or a musician (or a student having some of these
talents) to be an involved and successful language learner, structure the learning material for
each individual (or similar group of individuals) around these strengths.

• Variety is the spice. Providing a teacher-directed rich mix of learning activities variously
calling upon the eight different intelligences makes for an interesting, lively, and effective
classroom for all students.

• Pick a tool to suit the job. Language has a variety of dimensions, levels, and functions.
These different facets of language are best served instructionally by linking their learning to
the most appropriate kind of MI activity.

• All sizes fit one. Every individual exercises all intelligences even though some of these may
be out of awareness or undervalued. Pedagogy that appeals to all the intelligences speaks to
the “ whole person” in ways that more unifaceted approaches do not. An MI approach helps to
develop the Whole Person within each learner, which best serves the persons language
learning requirements as well.

• Me and my people. IQ testing is held to be badly biased in favor of Western views of

intelligence. Other cultures may value other intelligences more than the one measured in IQ
testing. Since language learning involves culture learning as well, it is useful for the language
learner to study language in a context that recognizes and honors a range of diversely valued
intelligences.

Each of these views has strengths and weaknesses, some of a theoretical, some of a
pedagogical, and some of a practical nature. It seems that potential MI teachers need to
consider each of these possible applications of MI theory in light of their individual teaching
situations.

Learner roles

Learners need to see themselves engaged in a process of personality development above and
beyond that of being successful language learners. The MI classroom is one designed to
support development of the “ whole person,” and the environment and its activities are
intended to enable students to become more well-rounded individuals and more successful
learners in general. Learners are encouraged to see their goals in these broader terms.
Learners are typically expected to take an MI inventory and to develop their own MI profiles
based on the inventory. “ The more awareness students have of their own intelligences and
how they work, the more they will know how to use that intelligence [sic] to access the
necessary information and knowledge from a lesson”. All of this is to enable learners to
benefit from instructional approaches by reflecting on their own learning.

Teacher roles
 Campbell (1997: 19) notes that MI theory “ is not prescriptive. Rather, it gives teachers a
complex mental model from which to construct curriculum and improve themselves as
educators.” In this view, teachers are expected to understand, master, and be committed to the
Ml model. Teachers are encouraged to administer an Ml inventory on themselves and thereby
be able to “connect your life’s experiences to your concept of Multiple Intelligences”.
Teachers then become curriculum developers, lesson designers and analysts, activity finders
or inventors, and, most critically, orchestrators of a rich array of multisensory activities within
the realistic constraints of time, space, and resources of the classroom. Teachers are
encouraged not to think of themselves merely as language teachers. They have a role that is
not only to improve the second language abilities of their students but also to become major
“contributors to the overall development of students’ intelligences”.

The role of instructional materials

Where MI is richest is in proposals for lesson organization, multisensory activity planning,

and in using realia. There are also now a number of reports of actual teaching experiences
from an MI perspective that are both teacher-friendly and candid in their reportage. Activities
and the materials that support them resemble the taxonomy from Christison shown in Table
12.1 above. Because MI requires significant creativity on the part of the teacher, it may not
always be possible to find appropriate activities in published materials. Thus, one of the
challenges of MI is extensive planning and the time necessary to prepare appropriate
classroom activities.

Procedure

Christison (1997: 6) describes a low-level language lesson dealing with description of

physical objects. As explained below, the lesson plan recapitulates the sequence described
earlier in the “syllabus” section. This particular lesson is seen as giving students opportunities
to ‘‘develop their linguistic intelligence (for example, describing objects), logical intelligence
(for example, determining which object is being described), visual/spatial intelligence (for
example, determining how to describe things), interpersonal intelligence (for example,
working in groups), and intrapersonal intelligence (for example, reflecting on ones own
involvement in the lesson).”

• Stage 1: Awaken the Intelligence. The teacher brings many different objects to class.
Students experience feeling things that are soft, rough, cold, smooth, and so on. They might
taste things that are sweet, salty, sour, spicy, and so on. Experiences like this help activate and
make learners aware of the sensory bases of experience.

• Stage 2: Amplify the Intelligence. Students are asked to bring objects to class or to use
something in their possession. Teams of students describe each object attending to the five
physical senses. They complete a worksheet including the information they have observed and
discussed (Table 12.2).

• Stage 3: Teach with/for the Intelligence. At this stage, the teacher structures larger sections
of lesson(s) so as to reinforce and emphasize sensory experiences and the language that
accompanies these experiences. Students work in groups, perhaps completing a worksheet
such as that shown in Fable 12.3.

• Stage 4: Transfer of the Intelligence. This stage is concerned with application of the
intelligence to daily living. Students are asked to reflect on both the content of the lesson and
its operational procedures (working in groups, completing tables, etc.).

Table 1. Taxonomy of language-learning activities for multiple intelligences

Linguistic Intelligence

lectures student speeches

small- and large-group discussions storytelling

books debates

worksheets journal keeping

word games memorizing

listening to cassettes or talking books using word processors

publishing (creating class newspapers or

collections of writing)

Logical/Mathematical Intelligence

scientific demonstrations creating codes

logic problems and puzzles story problems

science thinking calculations

logical-sequential presentation of subject matter

Spatial Intelligence

charts, maps, diagrams visualization

videos, slides, movies photography

art and other pictures using mind maps

imaginative storytelling painting or collage

graphic organizers optical illusions

telescopes, microscopes student drawings

visual awareness activities

Bodily/Kinesthetic Intelligence

creative movement hands-on activities

Mother-may-I? field trips

cooking and other “mess” activities mime

role plays

Musical Intelligence

playing recorded music singing

playing live music (piano, guitar) group singing

music appreciation mood music

student-made instruments Jazz Chants

Interpersonal Intelligence

cooperative groups conflict mediation

peer teaching board games

group brainstorming pair work

Intrapersonal Intelligence

independent student work reflective learning

individualized projects journal keeping

options for homework interest centers

inventories and checklists self-esteem journals

personal journal keeping goal setting

self-teaching/programmed instruction
Conclusion

Multiple Intelligences was one of a number of learner-centered initiatives which attracted

considerable interest from educators as well as language teachers when it wasfirst proposed in
the early 1990s. It was seen as an approach to characterizing the ways in which learners are
unique and to developing instruction to respond to this uniqueness. MI is one of a set of such
perspectives dealing with learner differences and borrows heavily from these in its
recommendations and designs for lesson planning. It offers a new rationale both for the
selection of existing language teaching activities and for the design of activities to reflect
particular intelligences in the MI inventory. The literature on MI provides a rich source of
classroom ideas regardless of ones theoretical perspective and can help teachers think about
instruction in their classes in unique ways. Some teachers may see the assumptions of
identifying and responding to the variety of ways in which students differ to be unrealistic in
their own settings and antithetical to the expectations of their students and administrators.
There have been, however, entire schools as well as language programs that were restructured
around the MI perspective. In order to justify the claims of MI in education and in second
language teaching, the success of these innovations will need to be more fully evaluated.

Multiple Intelligences theory is a cognitive model that seeks to describe how individuals use
their intelligences to solve problems and fashion products. Multiple Intelligences (MI) refers
to a learner-based philosophy that characterizes human intelligence as having multiple
dimensions that must be acknowledge and developed in education. MI is based on the work of
Howard Gardner of the Harvard Graduate School of education (Gardner,1993). Gardner notes
that traditional IQ test, based on test called the Stanford-Binet, measure only logic and
language, yet the brain has other equally types of intelligence. Gardner argues that all human
have these intelligences, but people differ in the strengths and combinations of intelligences.
He believes that all of them can be enhanced through training and practice. MI thus belongs to
a group of instructional perspective that focus on differences between learners and the need to
recognize learners’ differences in teaching. Learners are viewed as possessing individual
learning style, preferences, or intelligences. Pedagogy is most successful when these learners’
differences are acknowledged, analysed for particular group of learners and accommodated in
both general education and language teaching.

1. Linguistic Intelligence

The capacity to use words effectively, whether orally (e.g., as a storyteller,orator, or

politician) or in writing (e.g., as a poet, playwright, editor, or journalist). Thisintelligence
includes the ability to manipulate the syntax or structure of language, the phonology or sounds
of language, the semantics or meanings of language, and the pragmaticdimensions or practical
uses of language. Some of these uses include rhetoric (usinglanguage to convince others to
take a specific course of action), mnemonics (using
languageto remember information), explanation (using language to inform), and meta-
language(using language to talk about itself).
2. Logical-mathematical Intelligence

The capacity to use numbers effectively (e.g., as a mathematician, tax

accountant, or statistician) and to reason well (e.g., as a scientist, computer programmer, or
logician). This intelligence includes sensitivity to logical patterns and
relationships,statements and propositions (if-then, cause-effect), functions, and other relatedab
stractions. The kinds of processes used in the service of logical-mathematical intelligence
include categorization, classification, inference, generalization, calculation, and hypothesis
testing.

3. Spatial Intelligence

The ability to perceive the visual-spatial world accurately (e.g., as a hunter,scout, or guide)
and to perform transformations upon those perceptions (e.g., as
aninterior decorator, architect, artist, or inventor). This intelligence involves sensitivity tocolo
r, line, shape, form, space, and the relationships that exist between these elements. Itincludes
the capacity to visualize, to graphically represent visual or spatial ideas, and toorient oneself
appropriately in a spatial matrix.

4. Bodily-kinesthetic Intelligence

Expertise in using one’s whole body to express ideas and feelings (e.g., as an actor, a mime,
an athlete, or a dancer) and facility in using one’s hands to produce or transform things (e.g.,
as a craftsperson, sculptor, mechanic, or surgeon). This intelligence includes specific physical
skills such as coordination, balance, dexterity, strength, flexibility, and speed, as well as
proprioceptive, tactile, and haptic capacities.

5. Musical Intelligence

The capacity to perceive (e.g., as a music aficionado), discriminate (e.g., as a music critic),
transform (e.g., as a composer), and express (e.g., as a performer) musical forms. This
intelligence includes sensitivity to the rhythm, pitch or melody, and timbre or tone color of a
musical piece. One can have a figural or ―top-down‖ understanding of music (global,
intuitive), a formal or ―bottom-up understanding (analytic, technical), or both.

6. Interpersonal Intelligence

The ability to perceive and make distinctions in the moods,

intentions,motivations, and feelings of other people. This can include sensitivity to facialexpre
ssions, voice, and gestures; the capacity for discriminating among many differentkinds of inte
rpersonal cues; and the ability to respond effectively to those cues in some pragmatic way
(e.g., to influence a group of people to follow a certain line of action).

7. Intrapersonal Intelligence

Self-knowledge and the ability to act adaptively on the basis of that knowledge. This
intelligence includes having an accurate picture of oneself (one’s strengths
and limitations); awareness
of inner moods, intentions, motivations, temperaments, anddesires; and the capacity for self-
discipline, self-understanding, and self-esteem.

8. Naturalist Intelligence

Expertise in the recognition and classification of the numerous species — the flora and fauna
of an individual’s
environment. This also includes sensitivity to othernatural phenomena (e.g., cloud formations,
mountains, etc.) and, in the case of thosegrowing up in an urban environment, the capacity to
discriminate among inanimate objects such as cars, sneakers, and CD covers.

There are eight different types of intelligence, as put forth by Howard Gardner. People can
have varying levels of intelligence, and they can change over time. Teachers can use multiple
intelligences in the classroom for the benefit of their students by customizing lessons,
classroom layouts, and assignments for these multiple intelligences.

The Multiple Intelligences Theory throws away the idea that intelligence is one sort of general
ability and argues that there are actually eight types of intelligence. One is not more important
than the other, but some may help people succeed at different things.

For example, a person with high musical intelligence and low visual-spatial intelligence may
succeed in music class but may struggle in art class.

Howard Gardner of Harvard University first came up with the theory of multiple intelligences
in 1983. Gardner argues that there are eight types of intelligence, far more than the standard
I.Q. test can account for.

He goes on to say that these multiple intelligences “challenge an educational system that
assumes that everyone can learn the same materials in the same way and that a uniform,
universal measure suffices to test student learning.”

Gardner argues that schools and teachers should teach in a way that supports all types of
intelligence, not just the traditional ones such as linguistic and logical intelligence.

Linguistic intelligence, also called verbal-linguistic intelligence, is about knowledge of

language use, production, and possibilities.

Those with this type of intelligence have the ability to use language to express themselves and
assign meaning by way of poetry, humor, stories, and metaphors. It is common for comedians,
public speakers, and writers to be high in linguistic intelligence.

Use the following activities and techniques for students and groups with high linguistic
intelligence:
Use creative writing activities such as poetry or scriptwriting

Set up class debates

Allow for formal speaking opportunities

Use humor, such as joke writing or telling

Make sure there are plenty of reading opportunities

Learn your best by writing, practicing speeches, creating jokes, journaling, and reading.

Logical-mathematical intelligence is commonly thought of as “scientific thinking,” or the

ability to reason, work with abstract symbols, recognize patterns, and see connections
between separate pieces of information. It makes it possible to go through the scientific
process of calculating, quantifying, hypothesizing, and concluding.

This type of intelligence is high in scientists, mathematicians, computer programmers,

lawyers, and accountants.

Use the following activities and techniques for students and groups with high logical-
mathematical intelligence:

Provide opportunities for problem-solving

Involve calculations

Create activities that involve deciphering a code

Use pattern or logic games

Organize new information in an outline format

Learn your best by creating information outlines with points, and making patterns of the
information.

Visual-spatial intelligence is all about the visual arts, graphics, and architecture. This type of
intelligence allows people to visualize objects from different perspectives and in different
ways, use objects within space, form mental images, and think in three-dimensions.

People high in visual-spatial intelligence include painters, architects, graphic designers, pilots,
and sailors.

Use the following activities and techniques for students and groups with high visual-spatial
intelligence:
Use mind mapping techniques

Use guided visualizations or verbal imagery

Provide opportunities for artistic expression using a variety of mediums (paint, clay, etc.)

Allow for make-believe or fantasy

Create collages for visual representations

Learn your best by creating something visual using space such as a collage, art piece, or
written map of the information.

Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence is the ability to use the body to express emotion, play games,
or create new products. It is commonly referred to as “learning by doing.” This type of
intelligence enables people to manipulate objects and the body.

High bodily-kinesthetic intelligence is common in dancers, athletes, surgeons and artisans.

Use the following activities and techniques for students and groups with high bodily-
kinesthetic intelligence:

Use body sculpture

Use of role-playing, miming, or charade games

Allow for physical exercise, dance, or martial arts

Create opportunities for dramatic arts such as skits

Use human graphs

To learn at your best, try creating a movement routine or role-play to learn a concept or
remember information.

Musical intelligence is all about music. Individuals with high musical intelligence have a
greater knowledge of and sensitivity to tone, rhythm, pitch, and melody. But this type of
intelligence isn’t just about music — it’s also about sensitivity to the human voice, audio
patterns, and sounds in the environment.

Composers, musicians, conductors, and sound directors all have high musical intelligence.

Use the following activities and techniques for students and groups with high musical
intelligence:
Use instruments and instrument sounds

Use environmental sounds to illustrate a concept

Allow for musical composition and performance

Allow students to create songs about a topic

To learn best with your musical intelligence, try making a song with content you need to
know.

Interpersonal intelligence is all about working with others and communicating effectively
with others both verbally and nonverbally. It involves the ability to notice distinctions in
others’ moods, temperaments, intentions, and motivations.

High interpersonal intelligence is often found in teachers, counselors, politicians, and

religious leaders.

Use the following activities and techniques for students and groups with high interpersonal
intelligence:

Teach collaborative skills

Provide plenty of group work opportunities

Use person-person communication

Use empathy

To learn best with high interpersonal intelligence, try doing most of your work in a group or
with another person. Try to put yourself in the shoes of people or situations you are learning
about.

Intrapersonal intelligence involves knowledge of the self in ways such as feelings, a range of
emotional responses, and intuition about spirituality. This type of intelligence allows people
to be conscious of the unconscious and to discern higher patterns of connection between
things in our world.

Psychologists, philosophers, and theologists have high intrapersonal intelligence.

Use the following activities and techniques for students and groups with high intrapersonal
intelligence:

Practice meditation

Allow for plenty of self-reflection

Use mindfulness

Practice reaching altered states of consciousness

To learn best with intrapersonal intelligence, try using mindful walks, meditation, and
metacognition.

Naturalist intelligence is about discerning, comprehending, and appreciating plants, animals,

the atmosphere, and the earth. It involves knowing how to care for animals, live off the land,
classify species, and understand systems in nature.

High naturalist intelligence is seen in farmers, zookeepers, botanists, nature guides,

veterinarians, cooks, and landscapers/gardeners.

Use the following activities and techniques for students and groups with high naturalist
intelligence:

Practice conservation

Have a classroom plant or animals to care of

Observe nature, go on nature walks

Use species classification

Provide hands-on labs of natural materials

To learn at your best, do your learning outdoors. Work with natural materials or animals as
much as possible to work through concepts.

The benefits of this theory are many, and they can be applied across all ages and in all
subjects. Students who are given ways to learn and perform at their best are more likely to
enjoy school and are more likely to succeed academically.

Teacher’s Role: The teacher’s role is extremely important in making sure students get the
most out of multiple intelligences theory in the classroom. Teachers should work with the
students, rather than for the students, to develop the best activities, projects, and layouts.
Teachers should continuously observe students’ interests and successes in different areas and
continually change the classroom layout and plan accordingly.

Teaching using the multiple intelligence theory is essentially teaching in the way the child
learns. It involves giving up long-held traditional beliefs about how to teach and instead puts
the child first at the center of the planning.
Gardner argues that in addition to using multiple intelligences, educational reform should
occur within the following:

Assessment: Children should be assessed according to their learning styles and intelligence,
and traditional forms of assessment should not be used to drive instruction.

Curriculum: Curriculum has traditionally been unchanged, and no one seems to know why.
Curriculums should shift to focus on skill development and knowledge formation.

Teacher Education: There must be a way to attract more talented teachers into the profession,
keep them there, and incentivize them to use research-backed methods.

Community Participation: Children and adolescents don’t stop learning at 3:00 pm. The entire
community must be committed and involved in the education of young society members.

The learner role. One major aspect of the learner role is that every learner is unique. The focus
is on the learner and his or her different abilities to learn things. The learners develop their
own personality within the frame of the foreign language classroom. Learners may take an
intelligence inventory to create their own multiple intelligences profiles to answer, “What
type of learner am I?" They are an active part in the classroom and they are aware of aims and
achievements and reflect on their own learning.

The teacher role. The teacher may introduce his students to the existence of multiple
intelligences and guide them in identifying, celebrating and making use of all their
intelligences through language learning activities that exercise the students' multiple
intelligences.

Linguistic. All task types that deal with reading, writing, listening and speaking are part of
this intelligence. Since this is the most important aspect for TEFL please see below for further
information.

Logical/Mathematical. Tasks for this aspect can be scientific thinking, solving logic
problems or puzzles or playing board and computer games that require planning ahead and
strategic decisions.

Spatial. This intelligence can be brought into the classroom by adding material such as charts,
diagrams, videos, photography. Such tasks like drawing or painting, using mind maps and
imaginative storytelling can be used.

Bodily/Kinesthetic. Activities for this intelligence often require a lot of time such as cooking
or field trips but there are other activities such as small creative movements, small classroom
games (like Simon says) or role playing. For good additional ideas the Total Physical
Response approach could be implemented.

Musical. Group singing, making instruments & playing instruments as well as listening to
music are among the suitable activities especially designed for this intelligence. Especially
implementing modern pop songs into the classroom can be a very successful activity since it
is often correlated with a high amount of intrinsic motivation.

Interpersonal. One of the easiest to implement is the Interpersonal intelligence. It is already

activated by simple lectures of the teacher but it is even more enhanced by activities like
group work. For further idea’s check the Communicative approach and the Cooperative
approach.

Intrapersonal. Tasks trying to implement this intelligence aim at the student’s ability to
organize themselves and also to be aware of their own merits and flaws. Tasks that can help
students to achieve such a state can be independent work, reflective learning, journals, self-
image evaluation or help in finding & creating goals.

Naturalist There are no specific tasks for this in the literature but this intelligence can be
enhanced by showing connections between different topics to create a broader image of the
world within the students. This can be done by using bilingual teaching, implementing topics
such as culture, ethics, biology or everyday life within the language classroom.

The hypotheses of multiple intelligences is mainly intended to inform and influence

teachers' teaching styles. Although some schools embrace the concept, no multiple
intelligences syllabus has been created. Nevertheless, Lazear (1991) created a so-called basic
developmental sequence that can be considered an alternative to the general syllabus. It
contains four stages:

 Stage 1: Awaken the Intelligence. A broad variety of sensory input should

create students who are ready for the following lessons

 Stage 2: Amplify the Intelligence. Students are supposed to tell, share and bring their
own experiences and objects into class and discuss them

 Stage 3: teach with/for the Intelligence. This stage is the general “traditional" teaching
phase with work done in group project worksheets and the amplified intelligence is
used to solve the tasks and therefore enhance the learning

 Stage 4: Transfer of the Intelligence. Students reflect on their previous experiences

and try to relate these tasks to other school or real life problems.

In 1998 Nicholsen–Nelson suggested another approach to applying multiple intelligences in

language teaching in which they gave more direct suggestions about how one might work
with perceived multiple intelligences in a language classroom.

 Play to your student’s strengths. If your student is good a specific intelligence then
you should structure the learning material to this strength.

 Variety is the spice of life. Try to let every student participate in as many different
intelligences during the lesson as possible and also try to find as many variations as
you can to already known task types to make them more effective.
  Pick a tool suited for the job. Language has many different dimensions, aspects or
functions. These different facets should always be linked to the most appropriate
intelligence.

 One size fits all. Everyone has to participate in all the exercises to make sure that their
use all their Intelligences . The multiple intelligences approach aims to develop the
whole person and not just enhance already high intelligences.

 Me and my people. Be aware that different cultures value different intelligences.

Western culture with its IQ test has a biased view on the intelligences. Language
learning in particular needs to increase more than the the students' IQ and is also a
progress of understanding, communication and culture.

Advantages

Each student is seen as an individual with his or her own strengths and weaknesses.

The teacher learns how each student may learn best and may give suitable tasks to teach the
content demanded by the curriculum.

Students may be motivated and confident when using an intelligence they know is one of their
strengths.

Due to many different tasks the students are more intrinsical motivated

Disadvantages

It may be difficult and impractical to tailor lessons to students various individual

intelligences, especially within large classes.

To engage multiple intelligences in the classroom, it is essential to create an environment that

fosters and develops all forms of intelligence. Some strategies that can be used in schools
include:

Diversifying activities. Design activities and tasks that target different types of intelligence.
For example, include reading and writing activities for verbal-linguistic intelligence, logical-
mathematical challenges, art projects, or creative movement activities.

Encouraging collaboration. Providing opportunities for children to work together on group

projects promotes interpersonal intelligence. Teamwork and effective communication abilities
developed in these activities are fundamental life skills.

Using visual and manipulatable resources. Provide visual materials, such as graphs, pictures,
and diagrams, to stimulate spatial-visual intelligence. In addition, the classroom environment
can be arranged so that children have opportunities to explore and manipulate objects.
Integrating music and movement. Include musical and creative movement activities to
stimulate musical intelligence and bodily-kinesthetic intelligence. Children can learn through
songs, rhythms, and dances, which facilitates comprehension and retention of information.

Promoting reflection and self-awareness. Include moments of individual reflection and

journaling activities to foster intrapersonal intelligence. It is important for teachers to help
students identify and regulate their emotions, set personal goals, and develop greater
understanding of themselves.

Connecting learning with nature. Organize outdoor activities, gardening projects, or nature
observation activities to develop naturalistic intelligence. In this way, children can learn about
the environment and develop a greater appreciation for the diversity of life on the planet.

It is important to remember that all children have their strengths in different areas and can
build up other skills with time and practice. By promoting multiple intelligences, we create an
inclusive learning environment that values diversity of abilities and promotes growth and
development of each student as a whole. Furthermore, supporting different forms of
intelligence not only enriches the teaching-learning process, but also prepares students to face
the challenges of a diverse and ever-changing world.