To Probe Individual-based English Teaching Based On Multiple Intelligences Theory

Teaching has no immutable or universal ways, but it must have some certain ones. It has been more than one hundred years since the first method,grammar-translation method, came into being. People have always been exploring the best ways to foreign language teaching over these years. However, the fact usually is that exploring the scientific teaching and learning methods becomes pursuing the shortcuts while pursuing the shortcuts cuts off our seeking the scientific teaching and learning methods. In fact, neither the formation nor the development of a foreign language teaching method (FLTM) can get away from the support of some related basic theories like psychology; moreover, the efficient use of teaching methods must correspond to the actual situation, and especially give much consideration to individual learner differences. In view of the above and based on combing the foreign language teaching methods of corresponding historical stages, this paper firstly examines their psychology foundation, attempts to reveal the developmental laws and tendency of FLTM, and furthermore aims at verifying the necessity and inevitability that Multiple Intelligences Theory (MI) develops into an important theoretical foundation of the contemporary FLTM. Secondly, it clarifies the concept and the structure of MI, and sums up its essence and characteristics; and then some implications of MI to FLT are discussed from the different perspectives, such as intelligences view, teaching view, evaluation view, language view, students view and teachers view. Finally, the paper mainly analyses some foreign language teaching ways depending on MI------to carry out "English teaching by virtue of pre-eminent intelligences", to integrate MI with foreign language teaching and learning strategies, to integrate MI with foreign language learning styles, and to probe into "theme teaching"in the frame of MI and the multiple ways of presentation. The inspiration that FLT can draw from MI is by no means simple or superficial like that, and foreign language teaching methods relying on MI are still ever changing. The writer has no intention to create a certain method of his own. Actually, the purpose is only to argue for some ideas on individual-based English teaching on the basis of MI.