Develonping the speaking skills trough multiple intellingence-based activities with fourth graders at verbo elementary school

Abstract

The theory of Multiple Intelligences proposed by Howard Gardner in 1983 suggests that each person has more than one intelligence. Some intelligences are more developed than others. Therefore, every student has strengths and weaknesses. Teachers have to take advantage of their students’ strengths and design appropriate materials to motivate pupils to learn. In this research paper, the use of the theory of the Multiple Intelligences as another method to teach speaking is analyzed. The main purpose of this work is to demonstrate that the Multiple Intelligence theory could be an excellent tool to be used in the EFL classroom. A set of materials and activities based on the MI theory were created and applied during two weeks with EFL fourth-grade students from “Verbo” elementary school, in Cuenca, Ecuador. The sample of this study involves 16 students. An interview, questionnaire, pretest, and a posttest were used in order to collect data which served as the basis for this study. The results of this investigation show that the application of activities based on the MI theory helped these students with their speaking skills. It also shows that some students were more willing to participate than before.