Merging multiple intelligences and cooperative learning in the efl classrooms a study at vietnam usa society english center

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HO CHI MINH CITY
UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

TR

ÊU

MERGING MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES AND
COOPERATIVE LEARNING IN THE EFL CLASSROOMS:
A STUDY AT VIETNAM USA SOCIETY ENGLISH CENTER

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of Master of Arts (TESOL)

Supervisor

Ho Chi Minh City, January 2010

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STATEMENT OF AUTHORITY

I certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entiled
MERGING MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES AND
COOPERATIVE LEARNING IN THE EFL CLASSROOM:
A STUDY AT VIETNAM USA SOCIETY ENGLISH CENTER
in terms of the statement of Requirements for Theses in Master’s Program issued
by the Higher Degree Committee. The thesis has not previously been submitted
for a degree.

Ho Chi Minh City, January 2010

TR

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RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS

I hereby state that I, Tran Thi Huyen Chieu, being a candidate for the degree of
Master of TESOL, accept the requirements of the University of Social Sciences
and Humanities relating to the retention and the use of Master’s Thesis deposited
in the Library.
In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original version of my thesis
deposited in the Library should be accessible for the purposes of study and
research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Library for
care, loan, or reproduction of the thesis.

Ho Chi Minh City, January 2010

TR

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

invaluable advice and guidance without which I could not have fulfilled my work.

I would also like to thank the students in my classes for their cooperation and their
willingness to participate in the experiments and fulfill the questionnaires.

Finally, thanks go to my family and my friends for their unwavering
encouragement and support.

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ABSTRACT

The study done for this M.A. thesis is investigating whether the combination of
the MI (Multiple Intelligence Theory) and the CL (Cooperative Learning) helps to
increase students’ cognition, motivation, interaction and achievement or not.

A quasi-experimental teaching was carried out on the three different groups with
three different teaching methods. The first group was instructed in the CLT
(Communicative Language Teaching), which has been commonly used at VUS
(Vietnam USA Society English Center), the second group was taught in the light
of the MI and the third group was taught in the light of both of the MI and CL. At
the end of the course, the questionnaire survey was done on the students in the
three groups in order to identify the difference of the change in cognition,
motivation and interaction of the students in the three groups. The feedbacks then
were collected and analyzed by one-way ANOVA test. And this one-way ANOVA
was also used to analyze the final-exam scores to explore which group had the best
achievement.

The findings showed that the experimental group in the environment of the MI and
CL had the most positive attitude towards learning English as well as had the
highest achievement. From that result, the author of the thesis raised some
recommendations to English teachers and to the school management with the hope
that these remedial suggestions will be selectively applied to enhance students’
cognition, motivation, interaction and achievement.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Statement of originality ............................................................................................ i
Retention and use of the thesis ................................................................................ ii
Acknowledgements ................................................................................................ iii
Abstract .................................................................................................................. iv
Tables of contents ................................................................................................... v
List of tables ........................................................................................................ viii
Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION .............................................................................. 1
1.1.

BACKGROUND ............................................................................... 1

1.2.

PROBLEMS ...................................................................................... 2

1.3.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY ............................................................. 4

1.4.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY .................................................................. 5

1.5.

DEFINITIONS OF TERMS .............................................................. 5

1.6.

OUTLINE OF THE THESIS ............................................................. 7

Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................. 9
2.1. MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES ............................................................ 9
2.1.1. Concepts of Intelligence .............................................. ........... 9
2.1.2. The theory of Multiple Intelligences (MI) ............................. 12
2.1.2.1. Criteria for determining an intelligence ...................... 13
2.1.2.2. The eight intelligences ............................................... 15
2.1.2.2.1. Verbal Linguistic Intellgence....................... 15
2.1.2.2.2. Logical Mathematic Intelligence ................. 16
2.1.2.2.3. Visual Spatial Intelligence ........................... 17
2.1.2.2.4. Bodily Kinesthetic Intelligence.................... 17
2.1.2.2.5. Musical Intelligence .................................... 18
2.1.2.2.6. Interpersonal Intelligence ............................ 19
2.1.2.2.7. Intrapersonal Intelligence ............................ 19
2.1.2.2.8. Naturalist Intelligence ................................. 20
2.1.2.3. The implicatios of MI in teaching and learning ......... 21
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2.1.3. Benefits of multiple Intelligences theory ............................... 24
2.1.3.1. Enhancing learners’ cognitive growth ....................... 24
2.1.3.2. Enhancing learners’ motivation ................................. 27
2.1.3.3. Enhancing leanrers’ interaction ................................. 28
2.1.3.4. Enhancing learners’ achievement .............................. 29
2.2. COOPERATIVE LEARNING ............................................................... 31
2.2.1. What is “Cooperative Learning”? ............................................... 31
2.2.2. The four important element in Cooperative Learning .................. 31
2.2.2.1. Positive Interdependence .................................................. 31
2.2.2.2. Individual Accountability ................................................. 32
2.2.2.3. Group Interaction Process ................................................ 33
2.2.2.4. Social Skills ..................................................................... 33
2.2.3. Benefits of Cooperative Learning ............................................... 34
2.2.3.1. Enhancing learners’ cognitive growth .............................. 34
2.2.3.2. Enhancing learners’ motivation ........................................ 35
2.2.3.3. Enhancing learners’ interaction ........................................ 36
2.2.3.4. Enhancing learners’ achievement ..................................... 38
2.3. MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES and COOPERATIVE LEARNING ..... 39
Chapter 3: METHODOLOGY ........................................................................... 41
3.1. RESEARCH QUESTION ...................................................................... 41
3.2. RESEARCH HYPOTHESES................................................................. 41
3.3. RESEARCH DESIGN ........................................................................... 42
3.3.1. Subjects ...................................................................................... 43
3.3.2. Instruments ................................................................................. 44
3.3.2.1. The Questionnaires.......................................................... 44
3.3.2.2. Replacement Test and Final Test ..................................... 45
3.3.2.3. Teaching Strategies ......................................................... 46
3.3.2.4. Interviews ....................................................................... 48
Chapter 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS .................................................... 49
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4.1. ANALYSIS OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE ............................................. 49
4.1.1. Learners’ cognitive growth ......................................................... 49
4.1.2. Learners’ motivation................................................................... 66
4.1.3. Learners’ interaction ................................................................... 68
4.2. ANALYSES USING FINAL EXAM SCORES ..................................... 73
Enhancing learners’ achievement ........................................................ 73
4.3. SUMMARY .......................................................................................... 75
Chapter 5: LIMITATION AND RECOMMENDATIONS............................... 77
5.1. LIMITATION ........................................................................................ 77
5.2. RECOMMENDATIONS ........................................................................ 77
5.2.1. Recommendations to school administrators ................................. 77
5.2.2. Recommendations to EFL teachers .............................................. 79
5.2.2.1. Activities based on Verbal Linguistic Intelligence............ 80
5.2.2.2. Activities based on Logical Mathematic Intelligence ....... 81
5.2.2.3. Activities based on Bodily Kinesthetic Intelligence ......... 82
5.2.2.4. Activities based on Visual Spatial Intelligence ................. 84
5.2.2.5. Activities based on Musical Intelligence .......................... 85
5.2.2.6. Activities based on Interpersonal Intelligence .................. 86
5.2.2.7. Activities based on Intrapersonal Intelligence .................. 88
5.2.2.8. Activities based on Natural Intelligence ........................... 90
5.3. SUMMARY .......................................................................................... 94
CONCLUSION.................................................................................................... 95
REFERENCES ...................................................................................................... I
APPENDIX A .................................................................................................... VII
APPENDIX B ....................................................................................................... X
APPENDIX C ................................................................................................... XIX
APPENDIX D ................................................................................................ XXIII
APPENDIX E ................................................................................................ XXIX

APPENDIX F ............................................................................................. XXXIX
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LIST OF TABLES
Table 4.1 ............................................................................................................... 50
Table 4.2 ............................................................................................................... 53
Table 4.3 ............................................................................................................... 54
Table 4.4 ............................................................................................................... 55
Table 4.5 ............................................................................................................... 56
Table 4.6 ............................................................................................................... 58
Table 4.7 ............................................................................................................... 59
Table 4.8 ............................................................................................................... 60
Table 4.9 ............................................................................................................... 62
Table 4.10 ............................................................................................................. 64
Table 4.11 ............................................................................................................. 64
Table 4.12 ............................................................................................................. 65
Table 4.13 ............................................................................................................. 66
Table 4.14 ............................................................................................................. 67
Table 4.15 ............................................................................................................. 67
Table 4.16 ............................................................................................................. 69
Table 4.17 ............................................................................................................. 70
Table 4.18 ............................................................................................................. 71
Table 4.19 ............................................................................................................. 72
Table 4.20 ............................................................................................................. 72
Table 4.21 ............................................................................................................. 74

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Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1.

BACKGROUND

In the modern life, English becomes a necessary language for people in the
whole world in general and in Vietnam in particular. Since, English functions
as a bridge to link all the people in different territories, who major in different
fields such as economy, politics, culture, education, technology and tourism.
According to the survey described by Taylor (2008: 12), more than 1.1 billion
people speak English as a second or foreign language; over three quarter of the
information on the Internet is in English; and the estimated number of people
in the world who are learning English at present is over 2 billion. This
evidence shows that English becomes an essential demand of human beings
day by day. Vietnamese people can not escape from the trend. In the recent
years, Vietnamese government has promulgated different policies to reinforce
the teaching and learning of English. As a result, the textbooks are frequently
innovated. English teachers are trained to update new teaching methods on a
regular basis. English schools are built here and there. Parents willingly spend
money on their children’s learning English at very early age. English becomes
one of the compulsory subjects in national examinations and a prerequisite to
get the bachelor, master and doctor degrees. In short, it is undeniable that
English is one of the most effective tools to help people reach the success in
their life.

Understanding clearly the influence of English on the people in the modern life
has encouraged Vietnam USA Society English Center (VUS) to open a lot of
English centers as well as to cooperate with different colleges to teach English
to the students in the colleges. Sai Gon Art Culture and Tourism College (Sai

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Gon ACT) is one of them. The college’s aim is to help students to attain 300 to
400 scores in TOEIC Degree at the threshold of graduation. Hence, teaching
English should focus on not only reading and writing but also listening and
speaking. To train the students the four skills, teachers should know how to
activate the motivation in each student and to create an interactive, facilitating
and effective environment for them.

1.2.

PROBLEMS

Although at Sai Gon ACT College most of the students know that English is
indispensable in their study, there still remain some problems restraining
students’ learning process. To find out the problems, a questionnaire survey
(see appendix A) implemented on 98 students. According to the feedbacks to
the questionnaire, 82.7% of the students are from countryside and remote
regions in Vietnam. All of them had spent years studying English at lower and
upper high schools. However, after doing the placement test given by VUS,
these 98 students were placed at the beginning level. The fact showed that
there existed problems causing this unsatisfying language competence. From
the questionnaire’s feedbacks, three problems have been located.

Firstly, the learning environment was not supportive enough for the full
development of the students’ cognitive process. Particularly, they rarely had
chance to practice speaking and listening to English when Grammar
Translation and teacher-centered approaches were mainly used in most of the
classrooms. In these methods, both the students and their teacher usually used

the first language to translate all new words. Students often followed what the
teacher taught and had little critical thinking. Consequently, they became very
passive in thinking and inferring. Moreover, all the students in the class did the
same things which did not accommodate the needs, interests, learning styles or
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strength of some students. In addition, it was not easy for students to move
along and out of long benches and long tables. They were just seated at a fixed
place and worked with the same partners everyday. Therefore, they might sink
in the boredom, lose the confidence, have no empathy and grow the inhibition
in studying. In short, their cognitive process could not grow in such a condition
(Brown, 2000).

Secondly, there was a lack of the intrinsic motivation. Indeed, the responses to
the question 9 in the questionnaire indicated that 100% of the students
understand clearly that English was very useful and can help to bring them
good future opportunities. For example, they might have a good job with a
higher promotion or higher salary, read books or search for the information on
the Internet, and travel or study abroad. In other words, they had a very strong
extrinsic motivation. Nevertheless, the results to questions 10 through 13
reflected that 93% of the students were not interested in studying English at
lower and upper high schools because the lessons were not attractive. The
students had little chance to use the target language through different activities.
In addition, the poverty of the learning resources is another cause. They just
had a textbook and followed it step by step. That is the reason why the intrinsic
motivation still has been hibernating. The inactivated intrinsic motivation
entails the failure in achievement (Nunan and Lamb, 1996).

Thirdly, there was a shortage of the interactive environment. It is unbelievable

that each person’s language would develop without communicating with
people in the community. Therefore, it is necessary to create a place or a
situation where students can apply their target language in speaking. In reality,
teachers in lower and upper high schools primarily taught grammar, reading
and writing to meet the requirements of the final examinations. The students
rarely had chances to work in pairs or in groups from the responses to the
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questions 11 and 17. Consequently, the students might accumulate myriads of
structures of the target language but they did not acquainted with using them in
communication.

One way to solve the three problems discussed above may be the combination
of Cooperative Learning (CL) and Multiple Intelligences Theory (MI) in
teaching because of their following strengths. CL helps to urge students to
communicate with one another in their target language, and get them to assist
each other. Especially, it provides different effective ways to manage large
classes. Moreover, MI helps teachers develop a greater awareness of students’
specific strengths, and different learning potentials which in turn offers them
the way to examine and form the best teaching techniques and strategies
suitable for each student. In brief, the combination may create a strong
motivation, a good environment for interaction and cognitive growth for
students.

1.3.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The three problems causing the ineffectiveness in learning and teaching

English have been identified and the general solution has also been suggested.
So, the purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of CL and MI on
students’ motivation, interaction, cognitive

growth and achievement.

Particularly, it is going to identify students’ intelligence profiles, apply MI and
CL in teaching and then analyze students’ achievement. The study attempts to
answer the following research questions.
To what extent does the blend of Multiple Intelligences and Cooperative
Learning influence on learners? In particular:
1. Can the blend of MI and CL help to enhance learners’ cognition,
motivation and interaction?
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2. Can the blend of MI and CL help to enhance learners’ achievement?

1.4.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

Many teachers and educators around the world have recently built models of
classroom and school in the light of MI theory. For example, Campbell,
Campbell and Dickinson (2004) suggest creating different learning
environment or learning zones in correspondence with various kinds of
intelligences in a classroom. Gardner suggests that “in an MI school, students
might spend their morning working on traditional subjects in nontraditional
ways. Students then go into the community during the second part of the day
and further extend their understanding of the topics they are studying in school.

They could go to art or science museum or other places where hand-on
exploratory learning and plays are encouraged” (Armstrong, 2009: 125).

The study is focusing on using MI in building lesson plans adapted from the
book “First Choice” to teach students of beginning level. Moreover, the
techniques of CL are being incorporated to create lively, interactive and
motivated lessons.

1.5.

DEFINITIONS OF TERMS

1.5.1. Cooperative Learning (CL)
Cooperative Learning is defined as a system of concrete learning and
teaching techniques, rather than an approach, in which students are active
agents in the learning process through small group structures in order that
students can work together to maximize each other’s and their own learning
(Liang, 2001). In this study, CL refers to five characteristics: the positive
interdependence, the individual accountability, the quality of group
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interaction process, the interpersonal and small group skills, and the social
skills; and refers to some typical techniques such as Jigsaw Procedures,
Three-Step Interview, Inside-Outside Circle and Learning Together.

1.5.2. Multiple Intelligences Theory (MI)
In this study, MI refers to the theory written by Howard Gardner, an
American psychologist. He has proved that each person possess at least
seven intelligences and an eight later. They are Verbal-Linguistic

Intelligence,
Intelligence,

Logical-Mathematical
Bodily

Kinesthetic

Intelligence,

Intelligence,

Musical

Visual-Spatial
Intelligence,

Interpersonal Intelligence, Intrapersonal Intelligence, and Naturalist
Intelligence.

1.5.3. Communicative Language Teaching
Communicative Language Teaching is a method used popularly in VUS.
This method aims “broadly to apply the theoretical perspective of the
Communicative Approach by making communicative competence the goal
of language teaching and by acknowledging the interdependence of
language and communication” (Lasen-Freeman, 2000). In other words, it
requires students both linguistic competence and communicative
competence. Students have to know “when and how to say what to whom”.

1.5.4. Cognition

Cognition is a term referring to the mental processes involved in gaining
knowledge and comprehension, including thinking, knowing, remembering,
judging, and problem solving. These are higher-level functions of the brain
and encompass language, imagination, perception and planning (Wagner,
2007). In the study, it is focusing on the way students acquire process and

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store information; and the way to improve memory and to increase
decision-making accuracy.
1.5.5. Motivation
Motivation can be defined as an internal force that actuates a behavioral
pattern, thought process, action or reaction. There are two kinds of
motivation: extrinsic and intrinsic. The learners with extrinsic motivation
study for money, career and power possess; and the ones with intrinsic
motivation study for the desire of being identified in the culture or
community that speaks the language. The study is mainly focusing on the
latter because the stronger intrinsic motivation is; the more successful
learners are (Gardner and Lambert, 1972).

1.5.6. Interaction
Interaction can be understood as the way students communicating in the
class. There are different ways of interaction or interaction patterns such as
T-Ss (teacher to the whole class), S-S (pair-work) or Ss-Ss (Group-work).
In the study, S-S and Ss-Ss are being discussed.

1.5.7. Achievement
Achievement here refers to what students can attain after MI and CL are
applied in teaching. Particularly, that is the results that students get in the

final exam.

1.6.

OUTLINE OF THE THESIS

The study consists of 5 chapters.
Chapter1: Introduction

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Chapter 1 describes the background, problems and purpose of the study. It also
gives the brief definitions of the key words or expressions in the study. Finally,
it ends with the overview of the study.

Chapter 2: Literature Review
Chapter 2 provides a theoretical background for the study. Especially, it
reviews the concept of CL and MI and their benefits on learning and teaching
English.

Chapter 3: Methodology
The chapter deals with a number of methodological aspects including the
population, the materials and the procedure.

Chapter 4: Findings and discussions
The chapter presents the results of the questionnaire of the students’
motivation, interaction and cognition as well as the students’ result of the final
exam. The study’s findings are then raised for subsequent discussions.

Chapter 5: Recommendations
The chapter puts forwards some recommendations for the sake of accelerating
students’ learning process by applying MI and CL in teaching.

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Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

In this chapter, the theoretical background of Multiple Intelligences Theory and
Cooperative Learning are presented. Besides that, their influence on students’
cognition, motivation, interaction and achievement are also discussed.

2.1.

MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES

This part is concerned in detail with concept of intelligence in traditional view,
the theory of multiple intelligences, its application in teaching English and its
benefits to learners.

2.1.1. Concepts of Intelligence
According to Gardner (1999), each community has different ways to appraise
an ideal person. For example: the ancient Greek respected people with
‘physical ability, rational judgment and virtuous behavior’; the Roman
appreciated ‘manly courage’; the Islamite paid honor to the ‘holy soldiers’; the
Chinese traditionally attached much importance to skills of music, drawing and
archery. And the Kenes tribes of the Pueblo, Indians today, hold the people
caring for others in high regard. Over the past few years a certain ideal has
emerged commonly in Western societies. They have considered intelligent

people as their idols. In their opinion, intelligence is exposed in different
settings: “in traditional schools the intelligent person could master classical
languages and mathematics, particularly geometry. In business setting, the
intelligent person could anticipate commercial opportunities, take measured
risks, build up an organization and keep the book balanced and the
stockholders satisfied.” (Gardner, 1999: 1)

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Since then, a great number of psychologists have endeavored to define and
measure human intelligence. One of them was Francis Galton who strongly
believed that intelligence was inherited and could be measured. As a result, he
developed IQ (Intelligent Quotient) test in the early 19th century. In 1906 the
measurement was developed by a French psychologist named Alfred Binet and
it has become very famous in the world. Then The IQ test was reformed to be
suitable to American society in 1920s and 1930s and it was used for several
aims such as recruiting employees in a company or enrolling students in a
school (Gardner, 1999: 2). In short, in the traditional point of view
“intelligence is defined as the ability to answer items on tests of intelligence”
(Gardner, 1993: 15). This is the singular view of general intelligence.

However, the singular concept of intelligence has been challenged in the last
two decades of the 20th century due to the important discoveries of
anthropologists and neuroscientists. The anthropologists have criticized the
idea of general intelligence as a superficial view and pointed out the human
being’s different capacities valued in various culture groups (Greenfield, 1997,
Greenfield, Keller, Fuligni & Maynard, 2003). And the neuroscientists have
proved that the human’s brain is a highly organized organ with specific
capacities linked to particular neural networks (Pinker, 1997). Stimulating the

connections of the neural networks results in learning. The more sophisticated
the connections are, the more knowledge is absorbed. So, the brain and its
functions are formed by experiences obtained from environment exchange
(LeDoux, 2002, Siegel, 1999). It is these challenges that argue for a pluralistic
understanding of intelligence.

Thank to the above discoveries, psychologists have been suspicious about the
validity of IQ test and the notion of intelligence as a single in a static state. For
example, Professor Michael Howe of Exeter University, in a research, showed
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that “intelligence testing is so unreliable that even people recognized as
geniuses could have a low IQ score”. Sternberg, Vygotsky, Reuven Feuerstein
and Jacob Rand pointed out that “intelligence could be modified and thus
expanded and developed”. Machado of the Ministry of Intelligence, Venezuela,
proposed that “intelligence was a basic human right and can be taught” (Smith,
2003: 57).

Assuming that intelligence could be taught, the two outstanding authors in this
field, Sternberg and Gardner, began to classify human’s intelligence.
Sternberg, in his triarchic theory, claims that Intelligence is "Purposive
adaptation to, shaping of, and selection of real-world environments relevant to
one's life" (Sternberg, 1985: 271). It means intelligence is the reflection of
people’s ability to adjust to the environment. He presents three subtheories
which make up the intelligence: componential, experiential and contextual
subtheories. (Sternberg, 1985). The first is the analysis ability which presents
the relation of oneself to his/her internal world or the person’s cognitive
process, the second is the creative ability which shows the relationship between
the inner world of oneself to the outer world or the ability to deal with the

novel situation, and the third, practical ability, shows the ability to solve
everyday tasks. Gardner suggests the theory of Multiple Intelligences (1983) in
which he first identified seven intelligences: linguistic, logical-mathematical,
spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal and intrapersonal. He
recommends that intelligences can combine each other in complex ways and
provides much broader view of human intelligence.

Both of the theories are valuable because of their reasonable and meticulous
explanation of intelligence based on the environmental and cultural aspects of
people’s lives. However, Gardner’s theory strongly influences on education for
its innovative suggestion. Therefore, his theory is applied in teaching and
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learning English as foreign language. It provides a solid background to explain
that it is necessary to pluralize the materials and techniques in teaching in order
to meet students’ interests, to help them enhance their cognitive growth, to
create their motivation, to stimulate their interaction and have a better
achievement in learning English as foreign language. That is the reason why
the author of this report chooses Multiple Intelligence theory for the theoretical
background of the thesis.

2.1.2. The Theory of Multiple Intelligences (MI theory)
With the great impact on teaching and learning English, it is essential to
investigate in detail the theory to explain why it makes a big change in
teaching method as well as in learning strategies.
In order to arrive at the MI theory, Gardner has spent for twenty years studying
the organization and operation of human’s brain. The most important study that
helped him to arrive at the theory is Human Potential Project within which he
had to write a book about the discoveries made throughout history in relation

to human cognition. Writing this work, he had a close look on the studies of
psychology, anthropology, genetics and brain science to identify human
capacities. In the end, the book “Frame of mind” was born and made him
become the father of “multiple intelligences theory”. He said that “I made a
deliberate decision to write about “multiple intelligences”: “multiple” to stress
an unknown number of separate human capacities, ranging from musical
intelligence

to

the

intelligence

involved

in

understanding

oneself;

“intelligence” to underscore that these capacities were as fundamental as those
historically captured within the IQ test” (1993: xii).
In “Frame of Mind” (1983), he defined intelligence as the human ability to
solve problems or to fashion products that are valued in one or more cultural
settings. Nearly twenty years later, Gardner (1999) proposed a more precise
definition that intelligence is a biopsychological potential for information
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processing that can be activated in a cultural setting to solve problems or
fashion products valued by the culture. It means that intelligences are not
available when people were born but they are the result of stimulating the
connection of neuron network by solving problems or fashion products in a
particular culture.

2.1.2.1. Criteria for determining an intelligence
According to the second definition, the two cultural and biological elements
are considered as foundation to frame the MI theory. In the theory, he
determines the eight intelligences derived from variety of sources. At the same
time, in order to distinguish between an intelligence and a talent or skill, he
identifies the eight criteria that each intelligence must meet. Christison (1998)
describes the eight criteria as follow:
Potential withdrawal from brain damage studies: One or two intelligences are
often in trouble if a part of the brain is damaged. For instance, the damage of
the left frontal lobe will bring out the destruction of linguistic intelligence. So,
the ability of reading, writing, and speaking will be in difficulty while the
ability of doing math, dancing, and singing are still good. This criterion points
out the relationship between the each part of human’s brain and each
intelligence.

Existence of exceptional individuals: Exceptional individuals like prodigies or
savants demonstrate amazing ability in one intelligence while the other
intelligences are very low developed. For example, some people can play a
musical instrument or perform the song after looking or hearing it only one
time. In these cases, intelligences can be observed in an isolated way.

An identifiable set of core operations:

Each intelligence has a set of

subcomponents clustering together. For instance, musical intelligence includes
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the ability to discriminate rhythmic structures and be sensitive to melody or
rhythm. The linguistic intelligence entails the ability of conducting syntactic
analysis, composing the literature works or learning language by ears.

Developmental history within an individual: The developmental process of
each intelligence is different. Some intelligences arise early in childhood and
reach the peak very late while the others are earlier. Musical intelligence, for
example, peaks early, but linguistic intelligence can peak very late.

Evolutionary history: Each intelligence has origin in the evolutionary history
of human being. For example, archaeologist found out the evidence of the
presence of early musical instruments or evolutionists examined the spatial
intelligence in mammals.

Psychometric findings: Many existing standardized tests have supported for
the theory of multiple intelligences. To illustration, The Weschsler Intelligence
Scale for Children consisting of subtests has used to test different intelligences.

Psychological tasks: Many psychological tasks have been designed in order to
discover which abilities are related to each other and which are separated. For
example, an individual may be very good at math and computer while he is not
good at literacy. Or they may have an amazing memory for words but not for
faces.

Symbol system: Intelligences are coded in a symbolic system. For example,
spoken and written languages, graphic languages, computer languages, musical
notation systems, and ideographic languages.

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2.1.2.2. The eight intelligences
Using the above criteria as the backbone for his research, Gardner identified
seven different intelligences and later an eighth which were listed in three
categories as follows (Smith, 2003):

Inteligences

Personal-related

Language-related

Object-related

Intrapersonal

Linguistic

Kinesthetic

Interpersonal

Musical

Mathematical/Logical
Visual/Spatial
Naturalist

Following are the intelligences described in detail and the language teaching
activities designed based on each intelligence. They are summarized from
different sources and described separately (Christison, 1997; Chapman &
Freeman, 1996; Shaw & Hawes, 1998; Gardner, 1999; Smith, 2003). However,
Gardner suggests that it is normal for a number of intelligences to be used
together. A person can use different kinks of intelligence to solve a problem

2.1.2.2.1. Verbal-Linguistic Intelligence
Linguistic Intelligence is the ability to use words effectively both in
speaking and in writing. People who are strong in this kind of intelligence
often have a large vocabulary and enjoy reading, writing and speaking.
They are often good at language and manipulation of words; they are aware
of pattern easily and have a sense of order and ability of reason; they can
also read, write and spell easily and have a good memory for detail. People
who have strong linguistic intelligence often choose the careers like: poets,
writers, journalists, politicians, teachers, reporters, interpreter, etc.
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This intelligence can be strengthened by doing the following activities in
language classroom:
Brainstorming, debates, discussion, speaking to an audience.
Writing letters, stories, diaries, poetry, instructions, lists, book
reviews, reading, retelling stories, identifying with characters,
extracting information from text, using library.
Building vocabulary through word games and puzzles, writing

tongue twisters.
Telling jokes and riddles.

2.1.2.2.2. Logical-Mathematical Intelligence
Logical Mathematical Intelligence is the ability to recognize logical and
numerical pattern. The people with this kind of intelligence have some
characteristics like: being good at manipulating numbers, picking out
patterns and relationships, dealing in abstract symbols, enjoying problem
solving and applying logic and valuing precision and order. This kind of
intelligence can be found in mathematicians, scientists, engineers,
accountants, economists or doctors, etc.
In teaching, teachers can help students to improve or strengthen the
intelligence by organizing the activities as:
Following directions to accomplish a goal
Teach problem solving strategies
Classification, sorting
Sequencing, use of symbols
Pattern identification, code making/breaking
Hypothesizing, predicting, experimenting
Logic and reasoning puzzles

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