Implications of Ml theory for foreign language education

The theory of multiple intelligences was developed first as an account of human cognition that could be subjected to empirical tests. When Gardner wrote Frames of Mind, he believed that his work would be of interest chiefly to persons trained in his discipline of developmental psychology. Yet Frames of Mind did not arouse much interest within the discipline of developmental psychology; most developmental psychologists ignored it. The reception among educators, however, was quite different. The theory of multiple intelligences seems to harbor a number of educational implications that are worthy of consideration. These ideas have been synthesized into four key points that educators find attractive about the theory.

1. Each person possesses all eight intelligences. In each person the eight intelligences function together in unique ways. Some people have high levels of functioning in all or most of the eight intelligences; a few people lack most of the rudimentary aspects of intelligence. Most people are somewhere in the middle, with a few intelligences highly developed. Most modestly developed, and one or two underdeveloped.

2. Intelligences can be developed. Gardner suggests that everyone has the capacity to develop all eight intelligences to a reasonably high level of performance with appropriate encouragement, enrichment, and instruction.

3. Intelligences work together in complex ways. No intelligence really exists by itself in life. Intelligences are always interacting with each other. For example, to cook a meal, one must read a recipe (linguistic), perhaps double it (logical-mathematical), and prepare a menu that satisfies others you may cook for (interpersonal) and yourself (intrapersonal).

4. There are many different ways to be intelligent. There is no standard set of attributes that one must have in order to be considered intelligent. I remember a friend in high school who was completely awkward in the dance class and yet a marvel in building construction. Both activities required bodily-kinesthetic intelligence.

Howard Gardner was not designing a curriculum or preparing a model to be used in schools with his multiple intelligence theory. Educators have taken the theory, put it together in different ways, and applied it to their lesson planning and program and curriculum development. The key points given above are all useful to the English language teaching profession. They help us understand the diversity we observe in our students and provide a framework for addressing these differences in our teaching.