Catering to Multiple Intelligences

Catering to Multiple Intelligences

A foreign-language lesson plan involving houses

By Rolf Palmberg
Department of Teacher Education, Abo Akademi University, Vaasa, Finland

Introduction

In 1983, Howard Gardner, the creator of the Multiple Intelligences (MI) Theory, suggested that all individuals have personal intelligence profiles that consist of combinations of seven different intelligence types. These intelligences were (Gardner 1983):

• verbal-linguistic
• mathematical-logical
• visual-spatial
• bodily-kinaesthetic
• musical-rhythmic
• interpersonal
• intrapersonal

In 1997 Gardner added an eighth intelligence type to the list, that of naturalist intelligence, and two years later a ninth type, that of existentialist intelligence (Gardner 1999). To the best of my knowledge, Michael Berman was the first to extensively apply Gardner's MI Theory to foreign-language teaching (Berman 1998/2002).

The purpose of the paper is twofold: first, to demonstrate how teachers can cater optimally for learners with different intelligence profiles during a foreign-language lesson, and second, to show that this can be easily achieved using everyday classroom activities and techniques.

A proposed foreign-language lesson

Phase 1: Share the goals of the lesson with the learners. Tell them that after the lesson, they will be able to recognise the names of common rooms and other words related to houses. Furthermore, they will be able to use most of the vocabulary items productively or, more precisely, to be able to describe houses and name the various rooms that houses may hold, to ask questions about houses, and to argue in favour of their own as well as against other people's opinions.

Next, invite them to suggest real-life situations in which they may have to discuss or describe houses in a foreign language.

Phase 2: Read out the text entitled "Our House" to the learners. Ask them to listen carefully and to pay special attention to the various types of rooms mentioned in the text. You could also invite one of the learners to do the reading.

Our House

I live in a big yellow house near the main road. Our house has eight windows and two balconies that overlook a big garden. On the ground floor there are a kitchen, a hall, a living-room with many paintings on the walls, a dining-room where we have all our meals, a bathroom, a toilet, a computer room with lots of books in a giant bookcase that fills the whole wall, and a garage. In front of the house there are a garden, a swimming-pool, and a large, green fountain with fish.

On the first floor there are three bedrooms, a bathroom, and a small toilet. On the second floor there is an attic which has all kinds of old furniture. Behind the house there is a vegetable garden. We have a large basement too, with a cosy sitting-room and an open fireplace.

Phase 3: Divide the learners into pairs and ask them to list the different rooms mentioned in the text and to provide answers to the following questions:

• How many floors were mentioned in the text?
• Which rooms were on which floors?
• Was there something in the house or the garden that you do not normally find in an ordinary house or its garden?

Phase 4: Ask the learners to make individual lists of all the rooms they wish they had in their dream house. Also, ask them to specify whether their dream house is new or old, a single-family house or in a block of flats, located in a city or in the countryside, etc.

Play the song "Our House" (performed by Crosby, Stills and Nash) at a low volume in the background while the learners are working.

Phase 5: Divide the learners into groups of three and give each group a copy of the house plan shown below. Ask each group to agree among themselves as to which rooms there are in the house plan, and at the same time try to include as many elements as possible from every group member's individual dream house.

Phase 6: When the learners are finished, invite them to walk around in the classroom, discussing and comparing house plans. Ask them to make notes of the types of houses included in everybody else's individual house plans while walking around, and also of the rooms found in the house plans agreed upon within the groups.

Phase 7: Divide the learners into new groups of three and ask each group:

a.  to decide among themselves which rooms were the most popular ones, and

b.  to categorise the existing house types into whatever number and kind of categories that they find appropriate

Phase 8: Play the background song "Our House" one more time (at a higher volume) and ask the learners to concentrate specifically on the lyrics¹. Next, ask them to decide what the text is all about and then share their thoughts with the learners sitting next to them.

Phase 9: As the final phase of the lesson, ask your learners to work with a computer program entitled "Our House". [You’ll find an alternative lesson plan involving this program here². The program is downloadable free of charge from the author's CALL site³.] The program opens with a blank screen and the learners' task is to complete the program text by suggesting words to it. Each accepted word will appear on its correct line(s) and in its correct place(s) in relation to all visible words, but without any indication as to the number or place(s) of the missing words. Invite the learners to help one another but challenge them to complete the program text [which is in fact identical with the original text] without using the "Help" function of the program. Since the purpose of this phase is repetition, it could be a good idea to postpone this phase until the following English lesson.

Characteristics of learners representing different intelligence types

According to Gardner (1983, 1993, 1999) and Berman (1998/2002), verbal-linguistic learners enjoy expressing themselves orally and in writing, and love wordplay, riddles and listening to stories. Mathematical-logical learners display an aptitude for numbers, reasoning and problem solving, whereas visual-spatial learners tend to think in pictures and mental images, and enjoy illustrations, charts, tables and maps. Bodily-kinaesthetic learners experience learning best through various kinds of movement, while musical-rhythmic learners learn best through songs, patterns, rhythms and musical expression. Intrapersonal learners are reflective and intuitive about how and what they learn, whereas interpersonal learners like to interact with others and learn best in groups or with a partner. Naturalist learners love the outdoors and enjoy classifying and categorising activities. Existentialist learners, finally, are concerned with philosophical issues such as the status of mankind in relation to universal existence.

Catering for the various intelligence types

The various intelligence types are catered for in particularly during the following phases of the proposed foreign-language lesson:

• verbal-linguistic learners: all phases
• mathematical-logical learners: phases 3, 5, 7 & 9
• visual-spatial learners: phases 5, 6 & 9
• bodily-kinaesthetic learners: phase 6
• musical-rhythmic learners: phases 4 & 8
• interpersonal learners: phases 5, 6, 7, 8 & 9
• intrapersonal learners: phases 4, 8 & 9
• naturalist learners: phase 7
• existentialist learners: phases 1 & 8

Conclusion

From a teaching point of view, the important thing is not whether teachers elect to base their teaching on specific coursebooks or whether they reserve the right to interpret, select and use the types of classroom activities that can cater for (or be designed to cater for) the intelligence profiles of their particular learner group. It is far more important for teachers to recognise the fact that learners are in fact different and therefore may need different types of classroom activities and techniques in order to learn. Only in doing so can teachers fully encourage their learners to try harder and at the same time make the learning environment as meaningful and enjoyable as possible for all parties involved.

References

• Berman, Michael. 2002 [1998]. A Multiple Intelligences Road to an ELT Classroom. Carmarthen: Crown House Publishing. Second edition.
• Gardner, Howard. 1983. Frames of mind. The theory of multiple intelligences. New York: Basic Books.
• Gardner, Howard. 1993. Multiple intelligences. The theory in practice. New York: Basic Books.
• Gardner, Howard. 1999. Intelligence Reframed. Multiple Intelligences for the 21st Century. New York: Basic Books.

1 Lyrics: http://www.niehs.nih.gov/kids/lyrics/ourhouse.htm
2 Alternative lesson plan: http://www.tefl.net/esl-articles/call-lesson.htm
3 CALL site: http://www.vasa.abo.fi/users/rpalmber/download.htm

Lesson plan ebooks by the same author:
Developing EFL Learners' Vocabulary Awareness
CALL for You

1 Lyrics: http://www.niehs.nih.gov/kids/lyrics/ourhouse.htm

Contact NIEHS, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health & Human Services
Children's Privacy and Other Disclaimers
Can't Hear the Music?

Our House

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CROSBY, STILLS and NASH

I'll light the fire, while you place the flowers 
In the vase that you bought today. 
Staring at the fire for hours and hours, 
While I listen to you play your love songs 
All night long for me, only for me. 

Our house, is a very, very, very fine house. 
With two cats in the yard, 
Life used to be so hard, 
Now everything is easy 'cause of you. 

Come to me now, and rest your head for just five minutes, 
Everything is done. 
Such a cozy room, the windows are illuminated 
By the evening sunshine through them, 
Fiery gems for you, only for you. 

Our house, is a very, very, very fine house. 
With two cats in the yard, 
Life used to be so hard, 
Now everything is easy 'cause of you. 

Contact NIEHS (NIH, DHHS)
Children's Privacy and Other Disclaimers
NIEHS Sing-Along Index
NIEHS Kids Page Main Index

http://kids.niehs.nih.gov/lyrics/ourhouse.htm

2 Alternative lesson plan: http://www.tefl.net/esl-articles/call-lesson.htm

Our House

Suggestions for a text-based CALL lesson
by Rolf Palmberg
The lesson plan outlined below is based on a computer program entitled Our House (which can be downloaded free of charge from the author’s CALL site). The program opens with a blank screen, and the students’ task is to complete the text by suggesting words to it. Each accepted word will appear on its correct line(s) and in its correct place(s) in relation to all visible words, but without any indication as to the number or place(s) of the missing words. By typing “help” instead of suggesting a new word, students get different types of clues. The higher their score, the more specific the clues.

Pre-computer work

Tell the students that they are going to work on a text entitled “Our House”. Invite them to think individually about the topic for a short while and to prepare a list of all content words that they think will appear in the text.
After a minute or two, ask them to compare their lists in pairs or in groups of three.
Read out the text “Our House” to the students (twice, if needed). Next, ask them to tick all those content words on their lists that were in fact included in the text and to compare the lists with their classmates.

Computer work

Ask the students to work in pairs with the program Our House and to type in the words. Every three minutes or so, ask them to walk around in the computer class for one minute and take a look at the words their classmates have got on their screens.
When the students have completed the text, invite them to prepare a number of questions about its content. The questions could be either Yes/No questions (“Is there an attic in the house?”), alternative questions (“Is the house blue or yellow?”), or open questions (“How many bedrooms are there in the house?”).

Post-computer work

Arrange a competition where students ask each other questions about the text (with or without the texts still displayed on the computer screens). This can be done in pairs or in groups of three or four.
Invite the students to work in pairs, with one student retelling as much as possible of the content of the text without looking at the computer screen, and his or her friend listening and matching the retold version against the original text (which is still displayed on the screen for the listener’s eyes only).
Ask the students to prepare individual lists of content words (a) that they expected to find in the text (but were in fact missing), or (b) that they did not expect to find in the text (but were in fact there). After a couple of minutes, ask them to compare their lists in pairs or in groups of three.
Ask the students to prepare (and present) short oral summaries about their own houses.

Our House (the text)

I live in a big yellow house near the main road. Our house has eight windows and two balconies that overlook a big garden. On the ground floor there are a kitchen, a hall, a living-room with many paintings on the walls, a dining-room where we have all our meals, a bathroom, a toilet, a computer room with lots of books in a giant bookcase that fills the whole wall, and a garage. In front of the house there are a garden, a swimming-pool, and a large, green fountain with fish.
On the first floor there are three bedrooms, a bathroom, and a small toilet. On the second floor there is an attic which has all kinds of old furniture. Behind the house there is a vegetable garden. We have a large basement too, with a cosy sitting-room and an open fireplace.

3 CALL site: http://www.vasa.abo.fi/users/rpalmber/download.htm

Downloadable computer programs for EFL
(for Windows only)

To download: click on the wanted CALL program below.
For Finnish versions of some of these programs: [click here].
Feedback and comments appreciated: [e-mail].

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• My Town (Palmsoft 1993). The program practises learners' text-reconstruction skills.
• In the West (Palmsoft 1993). The program practises learners' speed-reading skills.
• Wordwork 2 (Palmsoft 2000). The program practises learners' receptive and productive vocabulary knowledge.
• More Numbers (Palmsoft 2000). The program practises learners' ability to spell numbers (0-10000) correctly.
• Word Intake (Palmsoft 2002). The program tests learners' ability to learn foreign words.
• The Missing Word (Palmsoft 2002). The program practises learners' ability to remember foreign words.
• Our House (Palmsoft 2003). The program practises learners' text-reconstruction skills.
• Odd Man Out (Palmsoft 2004). A playful program that develops learners' vocabulary awareness.
• Never Going Home Again (Palmsoft 2004). The program practises learners' ability to learn a text by heart.
• Tripoint Guru 2008 (Palmsoft 2008). The program tests learners' knowledge of European tripoints.
• Wordwork 3: At school (Palmsoft 2008). The program practises learners' receptive and productive knowledge of school-related words.
• Wordwork 4: Dolch Sight Words (Palmsoft 2008). The program practises learners' receptive and productive knowledge of select 'sight words'.
• Random Reading with Little Red Riding Hood (Palmsoft 2009). The program tests learners' ability to understand a text where words are missing.
• The Greek T-shirt (Palmsoft 2009). The program develops learners' ability to read between (and beyond) the lines.