MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES ------------ TRAN LE QUY PHUONG EXPLORING THE USE OF MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES IN TEACHING ENGLISH VOCABULARY TO 6TH GRADE STUDENTS OF NGUYEN CHI DIEU SECONDARY SCHOOL, HUE CITY MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING CODE: 60.11 SUPERVISOR: TRAN QUANG NGOC THUY, Ph. D HUE - 2014 i BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ ------------ TRẦN LÊ QUÝ PHƯƠNG TÌM HIỂU VIỆC SỬ DỤNG THUYẾT ĐA TRÍ TUỆ TRONG VIỆC DẠY TỪ VỰNG TIẾNG ANH ĐỐI VỚI HỌC SINH LỚP 6 TRƯỜNG TRUNG HỌC CƠ SỞ NGUYỄN CHÍ DIỂU, TP. HUẾ LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƯƠNG PHÁP DẠY HỌC BỘ MÔN TIẾNG ANH MÃ SỐ: 60.11 NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC: TS. TRẦN QUANG NGỌC THÚY HUẾ - 2014 ii STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby acknowledge that this study is mine.
The data and findings discussed in the thesis are true and have not been published elsewhere. Tran Le Quy Phuong iii ABSTRACT This research attempts to explore the use of Multiple Intelligences (MI) theory in teaching English vocabulary at Nguyen Chi Dieu secondary school and give some suggestions on using MI activities effectively in teaching vocabulary. In this research, the reality of English vocabulary teaching and learning at Nguyen Chi Dieu secondary school was analyzed from the perspectives of MI theory, and some suggestions have been made to improve the good effects in teaching and learning English vocabulary through MI activities in classrooms. The study employs both of the qualitative and quantitative research methods.
The data used in this research are collected from 10 teachers and 102 students in 6th grade at Nguyen Chi Dieu Secondary School, Hue City via questionnaires, interviews and class observations. The findings of this study show the advantages of using MI activities in teaching vocabulary in classes. It is found that the use of MI activities attracts students‟ attention and helps them recognize the effectiveness of MI activities in classes as well as raises students‟ awareness of the importance of using MI activities in class to learn vocabulary. However, in the process of using MI activities, students also faced some difficulties.
iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my deepest thanks and gratitude to my supervisor, Tran Quang Ngoc Thuy who has provided me with the invaluable guidance, the valuable advice, reference books and materials during the time I wrote the study. I am grateful to the teachers who allowed me to observe their classes. Special thanks go to the teachers as well as all the pupils who were enthusiastic about answering the questions in the informal interviews. I am also grateful to the staff of librarians working in the College of Foreign Languages, who helped me assess the necessary and valuable materials for the fulfillment of the study.
My deepest love and grateful acknowledgement go to my family, my husband and friends for their endless support, love, encouragement and care which help me overcome all difficulties during the time I conducted this study. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Pages SUB COVER PAGES. i, ii STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP. v TABLE OF CONTENT.
vi LIST OF FIGURES. ix LIST OF TABLES. x LIST OF APPENDICES. xi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .xii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION.
Aims of the study. Scope of the study. Structure of the thesis. 4 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW.
Definitions of intelligence. The Multiple Intelligences Theory .2 Logical-mathematical Intelligence:. Bodily-kinesthetic Intelligence:. Some criticisms on MI theory.
Are the criteria Howard Gardner employs adequate? .Does Howard Gardner's conceptualization of intelligence hold together?. Is there sufficient empirical evidence to support Howard Gardner‟s conceptualization?. The Teaching Vocabulary theory. The importance of vocabulary.
Vocabulary solving problems. The necessity of recommending MI theory to classrooms. Awareness of developing students‟ growth instead of purely delivering the knowledge. Exploiting different teaching-learning material resources.
The relationship between multiple intelligences and vocabulary learning. Review of previous studies. Previous studies on Multiple Intelligences Theory. How does my work add to the researches already carried out?.
Data Collection Methods. Instruments for data collection. 25 vii CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND FINDINGS. Frequency of using multiple intelligences to 6th grade students of Nguyen Chi Dieu secondary school .1 Frequency of using multiple intelligences activities.
Frequency of using each kind of MI activity. The effects of using MI activities in teaching vocabulary. Advantages of using MI activities. Evaluation of students‟ favorite MI activities.
Awareness of developing students‟ growth through using MI activities in teaching. Some existing problems with using MI activities in classrooms. The most difficult that teachers faced in using MI activities in teaching vocabulary.5 Suggestions for improvement. 37 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS.
A summary of the major findings. Implications for teachers. Implications for students. Limitation of the study.
Suggestions for further research. 40 REFERENCES APPENDICES viii LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 4.1: Frequency of using MI activities to teach and learn vocabulary for 6th grade at Nguyen Chi Dieu Secondary School 27 ix LIST OF TABLES Page Table 2.1: Summary of different definitions on “intelligence” 6 Table 4.2: Frequency of using each kind of MI activity in classrooms 27 Table 4.1: The advantages of using MI activities in teaching vocabulary 30 Table 4.2: The percentage of student‟s favorite MI activities in classrooms 30 Table 4.3: Problems with using MI activities in classrooms 32 Table 4.4: The most difficult that teachers faced in using MI activities in teaching vocabulary 32 x LIST OF APPENDICES Page Appendix 01: Questionnaire for teachers 1 Appendix 02: Questionnaire for students 11 Appendix 03: Interview questions for teachers 14 Appendix 04: Interview questions 15 Appendix 05: Classroom observation form 16 xi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS MI : Multiple Intelligences MITA : Multiple Intelligences Teaching Approach xii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Chapter One is devoted to a general introduction of the multiple intelligences (MI) theory. From the common problems of the traditional foreign language teaching and assessing students‟ learning abilities in which the two verbal and logical skills are often paid much attention to, MI theory, which emphasizes the nature that every student is unique and every human being is intelligent, is recommended as a solution to bring about the effectiveness in learning, promoting students‟ multiple intelligences and assessing their learning abilities in a more global and appropriate way. This chapter is divided into six sections: the background of the research, the rationale of the research, the aims of the study, the research questions, the scope and the structure of the thesis.
Background Together with the country‟s industrialization and modernization trends, tremendous changes and improvement have been taking place in many fields in our country. In order to integrate well into the regional and global system, Vietnam has been undergoing many reforms in every branch, particularly in education. Up to now, the English language teaching and learning methodology in Vietnam has been moving through a lot of renovations, ranging from the traditional grammar- translation method, the audio-lingual method to the communicative approach and the learner-centered approach. The roles of teachers and students in EFL classrooms have also been changing dramatically; teachers nowadays are not the mere knowledge providers and students do not learn in the traditional passive manner by spending most of time listening to teachers‟ explanation.
Students‟ learning abilities have also been recognized in more appropriate and objective perspectives than ever before. Previously, language students‟ abilities were mainly measured on the basis of the two categories of linguistic competence and logical reasoning. The traditional intelligence quotient (IQ) test is a typical 1 example for this assessment method, the standard IQ score used to be 100 for everybody, and you used to be ranked above average, average or below it. For the students who have quite low traditional IQ scores, can we consider them “unintelligent” individuals? The problem is that IQ tests, in many researchers and educators‟ viewpoints, can measure only two types of intelligences namely, linguistic/verbal and logical/mathematical.
For this reason, IQ cannot be regarded as the most reliable criteria for measuring human intelligences. If your intelligences are assessed only based on IQ tests, you might feel very disappointed about your IQ scores, and then you may think of yourself as being inferior, or you may feel pessimistic and lose your willingness of making any progress in your learning activities as well as in your personal life. This is a very dangerous way of assessing students‟ learning abilities. Another common situation which often occurs in various socio-educational contexts is that many students, particularly the ones classified by teachers as being “weak” or „unintelligent” often feel disappointed by their lack of success in their classroom environments, in which frequently the linguistic and logical skills are paid much attention to.
However, the professional reality has proved that many of these students could be very successful in their careers that require other aptitudes, such as art, design, music and a wide range of professions that focus on interpersonal skills. Jensen (1998) proposed that for years, the official way to measure intelligence was the IQ tests, the Stanford-Binet, or the Weschler. Using these tests, individuals would be rated with various levels. Yet researchers and educators have long suspected that something is amiss in this assessment.
Often students who were assessed as “smart” or “genius” had very ordinary, if not miserable, lives. And often students who were assessed as “ordinary” or “average” had very successful and extraordinary lives. And also on that basis, Jensen expressed his doubt on the inaccurateness and incompleteness of the form of assessment. From the reality of using MI activities in class to teach vocabulary, it can be seen that MI activities are effective and in teaching and learning vocabulary.
2 However, in the process of using MI activities, students as well as teachers may encounter difficulties in teaching and leaning English vocabulary. As a result, my research has been carried out in order to explore how MI theory is used in teaching vocabulary effectively. Its specific topic is as follows: Exploring the Use of Multiple Intelligences in Teaching English Vocabulary to 6th Grade Students of Nguyen Chi Dieu Secondary School, Hue City 1. Rationale Nowadays, students‟ learning abilities can be viewed from a different perspective: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences puts a strong emphasis on students‟ differential intelligences with an assumption that all students have different characteristics, personalities, preferences and motivations.
Therefore, it is challenging for teachers to make their lessons suitable for various types of students. The use of Multiple Intelligences in teaching vocabulary is a way to make the lesson more interesting, enjoyable and effective. Students often feel bored in vocabulary lessons because they almost always follow these steps: after the teachers explain the meaning of the words, the students write on the papers and then learn the word meanings by hearts. It is so boring and easy to forget new words.
Based on the aforementioned current situations about the traditional methods of teaching in our country as well as being aware of the effectiveness of MI classroom activities, my research, therefore, focuses on exploring the using of Multiple Intelligences in teaching vocabulary and then give some suggestions to improve its effects. Aims of the study The present research aims to: Evaluate the current situation of vocabulary teaching-learning activities in English vocabulary at Nguyen Chi Dieu secondary school from the perspectives of MI theory. Clarify and highlight the effects of using multiple intelligences on teaching English vocabulary 3 Provide some practical teaching implications on how to apply MI theory effectively in teaching English vocabulary. Research Questions In order to fulfill the research aims, this study focuses on the following three research questions: 1.
How are MI theory used to teach vocabulary to 6th grade students of Nguyen Chi Dieu Secondary school? 2.