Introduction - IS MU - Masarykova univerzita

MASARYK UNIVERSITY BRNO FACULTY OF EDUCATION Department of English Language and Literature Analysing and Supplementing an ELT Course Book in the Light of
Howard Gardner´s Theory of Multiple Intelligences Diploma Thesis
Brno 2008 Author: Roman Krej?í
Supervisor: Rita Chalmers Collins, EdD Bibliografický záznam KREJ?Í, Roman. Analysing and Supplementing an ELT Course Book in the Light
of Howard Gardner´s Theory of Multiple Intelligences: magisterská práce,
Brno: Masarykova univerzita, Fakulta pedagogická, Katedra anglického jazyka
a literatury, 2008. 59 l., 12 l. p?íl.
Vedoucí diplomové práce: Rita Chalmers Collins, EdD Anotace Magisterská práce Analysing and Supplementing an ELT Course Book in the
Light of Howard Gardner´s Theory of Multiple Intelligences si klade za cíl
zefektivnit výuku anglického jazyka, a to zohledn?ním individuality ?ák? ve
smyslu teorie amerického psychologa Howarda Gardnera.
Stru?n? uvádí do Gardnerovy teorie mnoha?etných inteligencí a zam??uje se
na její mo?né aplikace ve ?kolním vzd?lávání. Zahrnuje zji?t?ní forem
inteligence u st?edo?kolák? dvou t?íd, analýzu studijního materiálu zvolené
u?ebnice anglického jazyka ve smyslu záv?r? teorie mnoha?etných inteligencí
a dopln?ní obsahu této u?ebnice výukovými aktivitami, které stimulují
u?ebnicí mén? zohledn?né formy inteligence. Annotation
The thesis Analysing and Supplementing an ELT Course Book in the Light of
Howard Gardner´s Theory of Multiple Intelligences is aimed to enhance the
teaching of English by raising learners´ motivation through acknowledging
their specific forms of intelligence as they are defined by the American
cognitive-psychologist Howard Gardner. It provides a brief insight into the
theory of multiple intelligences and examines possible ways of its
exploitation in education. It includes mapping the eight forms of
intelligence in two classes of secondary students and a multiple-
intelligence analysis of the teaching material of a selected ELT course
book. In accord with the findings, eighteen supplementary learning
activities are presented to stimulate the forms of intelligence
unsufficiently catered for by the course book. Klí?ová slova
Mnoha?etné inteligence, formy inteligence, motivace, výukové ?innosti
Keywords
Multiple intelligences, forms of intelligence, motivation, learning
activities Prohlá?ení Prohla?uji, ?e jsem diplomovou práci zpracoval samostatn? a pou?ité prameny
jsem uvedl v seznamu literatury. Souhlasím, aby práce byla ulo?ena na Masarykov? univerzit? v Brn?
v knihovn? Pedagogické fakulty a zp?ístupn?na ke studijním ú?el?m. V Brn? 14. prosince 2007
Roman Krej?í Pod?kování D?kuji paní Rit? Collins, EdD za její trp?livou pomoc a cenné p?ipomínky
p?i tvorb? této magisterské práce. I would like to express my thanks to Ms. Rita Collins, EdD, for all the
help and valuable comments she provided me with while I was writing this
thesis. Contents
Introduction
............................................................................
1
Theoretical part 1. Howard Gardner´s theory of multiple intelligences
........................ 3
1.1 Introduction to the theory ..
................................................... 3
1.2 The seven intelligences
........................................................ 6 2. Application of MI theory in foreign language teaching
....................12
2.1 Possible adaptations of Gardner´s theory in education
....................12
2.2 Finding your strengths (multiple intelligence profiles)
....................18 Practical part 3. Analysis of an ELT course book in the light of Gardner´s theory ........
22 4. Discovering students´ intelligence profiles
................................... 30 5. Complementing the New Headway course book in the light of the MI
theory
..............................................................................
.. 33
5.1 Eighteen multiple-intelligence based lesson designs
complementing
the New Headway course book
.............................................. 33
2. Summary
.......................................................................
54
6. Conclusion
................................................................ ..........
54
Resume
..............................................................................
. . 58 Bibliography
...........................................................................
60 Appendix
..............................................................................
. 62
Introduction Although being an English language teacher for twelve years, I still feel
disappointed at the slow learning progress many of my students make despite
all the time and effort put into developing the syllabus and designing the
school lessons to be both appealing and rich. In order to reach a turning
point, my thoughts have been fixed on the role of motivation. Naturally, I
have searched new teaching methods and classroom activities in the hope
that these could raise the learners´ interest and consequently the
efficiency of education as well. Teachers of any school subject are well-aware from their own teaching
experience that the outcome of learning tends to be disappointing, both for
the teacher and the learner alike, if there is a lack in motivation
involved. Motivation is what teachers should always be concerned about to
avoid the risk of professional disillusionment as well as discipline
problems in the class. However demanding it is to keep learners interested
and focused, namely today in the information era, when distractions are
plentiful and threaten to make the teacher´s job an unwinnable battle, the
full attention paid to motivation seems the right key to success in the
classroom. One cannot anticipate attaining the above stated goal without taking
individual learner´s differences into account. Each learner is endowed with
specific psychological dispositions and is born into a certain socio-
cultural environment. Moreover, teachers should also consider the needs of
students with a variety of learning styles in order to encourage rapid
learning progress through greater students´ involvement. To start with, teachers must make a real effort to get to know their
students so they can design the syllabus and lesson plans adequately.
Knowing learners includes the discovery of their interests, values,
attitudes and learning styles. Once this information is available, it is
thinkable to tailor lessons and school activities so as everybody´s needs
are sooner or later met. Howard Gardner´s theory of Multiple Intelligences
can provide guidance to disclose and understand students learning
differences, which constitutes one of the two aims of this final thesis. The thesis Analysing and Supplementing an ELT Course Book in the Light of
Howard Gardner´s Theory of Multiple Intelligences aims to analyse and
assess a selected English language teaching course book to discover to
which extent it complies with Gardner´s theory. Based on this assessment,
supplementary teaching material is proposed in the form of class
activities.
Howard Gardner´s theory of Multiple Intelligences 1.1 Introduction to the theory "It has been claimed by some researchers that our intelligence or ability
to understand the world around us is complex. For some of us, it is
relatively easy to understand how a flower grows, but it is immensely
difficult to us to understand and use a musical instrument. For others
music might be easy, but playing football is difficult." (Maund: 2004) Professor Howard Gardner, a cognitive psychologist at the Harvard
University, USA, has undertaken research into the human intelligence
largely because of his reservations about the common practice of
intelligence testing in the US schools (Gardner:1993). His theory of
multiple intelligences disputes the capacity of the intelligence quotient
(IQ) to measure intelligence and predict success in real life. He was
worried about the prevalent state of affairs when "important decisions are
made on the basis of test scores, which are expected to measure
intelligence and cognition, and are used as a tool of selecting elites"
(Gardner, 1993:215). As we are reminded by Douglas Brown, intelligence has traditionally been
perceived and measured in terms of linguistic and logical-mathematical
abilities. The intelligence quotient (IQ) based on the research of Alfred
Binet early in the 20th century (Brown, 2000) has been expected to provide
reliable data when it comes to measuring human intelligence. "Binet´s intelligence tests were developed to identify children who
were performing poorly in school and who might benefit from special
education (...) The fact that his test results could be summarized by a
single score fostered visions of as a unitary attribute situated in the
individuals" (Gardner, 1993:237).
It was the majority of Binet´s successors who "believed that just as
individuals differ in height and weight, or in introversion or integrity,
so, too, they differ from one another in how smart they were"