of2_ts02

7/27/2019 of2_ts02

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/of2ts02 1/1

Open Forum 2 www.oup.com/elt/openforum © Oxford University Press 2006

A = Professor

B = Student 1

C = Student 2

A: Goodmorning,everyone.Iwanttostarttodaybyaskingyouaquestion:“Howsmartareyou?”Thinkabouthowyouwouldanswerme.Youmightwanttoreplywithanumber,orsomethingwecouldmeasure.Forexample,youmighttellmeyourIQ—thatis,yourintelligencequotient.Youmightalsogiveyourgradepointaverage—yourGPA.Butnow,whatifIaskedyou,“Howareyousmart?”Whatwouldyousaytothatquestion?

B: I’dsayI’mgoodwithpeople.

C: AndI’msmartonthefootballfield.

A: Goodanswers.Youhavetwodifferenttypesofintelligence:interpersonal,whichishowyoudealwithotherpeople;andbodily,whichishowyoumove.ThisisbasicallytheideaofatheorycalledMultipleIntelligences.First,though,abitofhistory.

Aseducationmajors,youallknowabouttheIQtest—theIntelligenceQuotientTest—whichwascreatedbyAlfredBinnetin1905forthepurposesofpredictionandplacement.Binnetwantedawaytopredicthowwellstudentswoulddoinschoolandplacethemintherightclasses;however,theIQtest

wasoftenusedtoexcludestudents—tokeepthe below-averagestudentsoutofregularschools.Onepsychologist,HowardGardner,hadanotherproblemwiththeIQtest.

HowmanyofyouhavetakenanIQtest?Oh...littlelessthanhalf.Canyoutelluswhattypeofquestionswereaskedinthetest?

B: Umm...math,logic,words...

A: Good.Theseareexactlythesubjectsyoulearninschool,aren’tthey?Gardner’sargumentwasthatnoteveryoneis“booksmart,”meaninggoodatschoolsubjects.HesuggestedthattherearetypesofintelligencethattheIQtestdoesnottest.Gardnersaidtherewereeightintelligencesintotal...language,logical,visual,musical,bodily,andnatural...plustwoemotionalintelligences...interpersonal,howyouinteractwithotherpeople;andfinallyintrapersonal,howwellyouknowyourself.

So,whatisanintelligence?Gardnerdefinesanintelligence...astheabilitytosolveproblemsbyfindingorcreatingnewsolutions,andtheabilitytocreatesomethingvaluableinyourculture.Your

exampleofbeingsports-smartfitsthedefinition.Youtrytosolvetheproblemofmovingafootballinordertowingames,whichthecultureofcollegesintheU.S.thinksisagoodthing.Thesameistrueofmusicians,painters,scientists...andofcourseforthestudentswhogetanAinmyclass.

B: Ihaveaquestion,professor.HowdoesGardnerknowthereareeightintelligences?Whynotnine,orten,or25?

A: That’sagoodquestion,andit’sthebiggestproblemwithhistheory—it’shardtodecidewhatisandwhatisn’t“anintelligence.”Gardnersaysthatanintelligencemusthavestagesofdevelopment,and

aclearendstate—thatis,alevelthatmakesyouanexpert.Forexample,whenyou’relearningaforeignlanguage,youdevelopyourskills,andyourgoalistobecomefluent.Then,you’reanexpert,correct?Solanguageisanintelligence.

OK.Now,althoughthereareproblemswiththetheory,it’sstillusefulforyouasfutureteachers.Everyoneissmartindifferentways—we’reallbornwithdifferentlevelsineachintelligence...andwecanallimproveanyoftheseintelligences,eventhosewe’renaturallyweakin.So,it’saverypositivetheory.

C: So,howcanweusethetheoryofMultiple

Intelligencesinourclasses,asteachers?A: Well,myadviceistoaskyourstudentssomesimple

questions,sothatyoucanfindouttheirstrongandweakintelligences.Youcanthenusethatinformationinyourlessonpreparation.Useyourstudents’strongintelligencestohelpdeveloptheirweakerintelligences.

B: I’mnotsureIunderstand...

A: OK.Sayyou’reteachingalanguage...andyouhavecertainstudentswhohavestrongmusicalintelligence.Then,youmightusesongsaspartofthelanguagepractice.AnotheruseofMultiple

Intelligencesisjusttotalkwithyourstudentsabouttheirstrongandweakintelligences.Thisteachesthemtovaluedifferentabilities,differentintelligences.Andthatcancreateabetteratmosphereintheclassroombecausestudentswillhavemorerespectforeachother.Anyotherquestionssofar?

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Chapter 2