Gardner's Multiple Intelligences

    Howard Gardner (Gardner 1993) suggests that there are eight different types of intelligences or "frames of mind" that each has their own strengths and weaknesses. It is important to recognize each student’s diverse characteristics and different needs so that we as teachers can help develop our students’ critical and creative thinking skills (Standard 2.2). By understanding how each student has different types of intelligences we can understand how it affects their ability to learn and grow. Gardner's eight different intelligences are each individual and different, however, according to Gardner, every single person has all of these intelligences but to varying degrees. As a result, students prefer to learn and process information is different ways.

    The first of Gardner's eight intelligences is verbal intelligence. A person who is verbally intelligent has the ability to think in words and use language to express meaning. These students would do better at a spoken or written assignment such as a speech or paper. For these types of learners, having them take notes and listening to lectures would be most beneficial to them. They usually learn best from debating and discussing what they have learned in the classroom. These types of students learn foreign languages well because they have a very good verbal memory. To help these students develop their skills further, I would give them an opportunity to do a verbal assignment such as a speech in French to the class.

    According to Gardner, mathematical intelligence is the ability to carry out mathematical operations. However, I believe that mathematical intelligence is not restricted to numbers only. This area has to do with logic and critical thinking. In a foreign language class there are not a whole lot of mathematical equations to solve but that doesn’t mean that people with a mathematical intelligence would not excel in this area. I could possibly have a handout for the class that shows them that formulating a French sentence is similar to a math equation. A student with logical thinking would be good at following rules such like rules in math. Creating a French sentence is like following a math equation in that it also has rules that you must follow. By showing the students this, it allows them an opportunity to look at a foreign language in a different way. Some students may feel that they are not very good at verbal skills and are not able to think as creatively as others and by showing that foreign language can be seen in a different way may give them the confidence that they need to excel in the subject area.

    Spatial intelligence is the ability to think three-dimensionally. For these students they may not be able to memorize a foreign language as well as the other types of learners such as the verbal learners or mathematical learners. However, as a teacher we can use this knowledge to help the student to become more motivated to learn something, and retain the information. For this type of learner I could give an assignment that gives the student an opportunity to create or design a structure while incorporating the French language in it. For example, taking the word aller which means to go and create something that involves movement to symbolize what the word means. By doing this it allows the student to organize and create something that he or she will enjoy and also learn from. This strategy also gives the student a sense of responsibility for their own learning (Standard 2.7). They are using a strategy to complete an assignment that will help him or herself learn the best way for themselves individually.

    Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence is the ability to manipulate objects and be physically adept. These students learn best by doing something physically rather than reading or hearing things. An assignment that would go well with these students is acting out a scene from a French story or play. By doing this, it helps them to understand and remember the things that they have learned. It is important that students learn the subject matter but it is important (especially in foreign languages) to remember and retain that knowledge. A student could think back to a word such as aller and remember that in the scene that they acted out, when they spoke the word aller, they were running or jogging therefore aller means to go.

   Musical intelligence is sensitivity to pitch, melody, rhythm and tone. It may seem obvious that to keep these types of students’ attention is to show them and have them listen to French music, but there is another way to get musically intelligent people interested in a foreign language. As a teacher I can give a lecture or an assignment on how the French people speak. Not many people know and understand how French people speak and just how different it actually is from English. A musically intelligent person would find these things interesting and this knowledge would help them learn and retain valuable information. For example, these students can easily pick up verbal queues. In the French language, there are many differences that musically intelligent people would pick up on that others would not.

   Interpersonal intelligence is the ability to understand and effectively interact with others. Intrapersonal intelligence is the ability to understand oneself. The reason why these two intelligences are grouped together here is because I believe that to understand others (interpersonal intelligence) one has to first understand his or herself (intrapersonal intelligence). Both of these types of students are great to have in class. The students, who are very self-aware and understand themselves well, know how they learn best. This can help a teacher out tremendously. Also these students know and understand their peers as well and can help them in different situations. Assigning a group project would be beneficial to those students. Not only can they help out their peers with different topics, but they are also learning and retaining information as well by helping and teaching others.

    Lastly, naturalistic intelligence is the ability to observe patterns in nature and understand natural and human-made systems. These students might be more interested in the culture of France or French speaking countries. By introducing them to the different parts of French culture it may interest them and encourage them to learn the language and one day possibly visit. By assigning different culture projects such as the similarities and differences between agriculture in France and America, it will help the student become more interested in the subject matter.

    It is important as a teacher to understand these different intelligences and to teach each student accordingly. It is also important to emphasize that all different types of learners are intelligent. Classrooms are diverse places filled with many different types of students with different abilities and needs.