The Application Of Multiple Intelligences Theory To College English Teaching

Since 1983, when Howard Gardner published the book, Frames of Mind, multiple intelligences theory has been embraced by educators as a tool for understanding and effectively meeting the learning needs of their students. Till now, western educators have done a lot of studies about this theory. And recently, more and more Chinese educators have also shown interest in this theory, but few college English teachers have tried to apply this theory to their teaching practice. Inspired by this, the present researcher intends to explore the implications of MI theory to college English education in China and then offers some suggestions for its application.The thesis provides some background knowledge about the development of MI theory and reviews the studies on the implications and application of this theory. Then, the researcher starts the exploration of its implications to college English education from three aspects: its implications for college English teaching practice, for curriculum design and for assessment. On the basis of theoretical analysis, the researcher offers some tentative suggestions for its application.The researcher made a survey to find out Chinese university students' intelligence profiles. The subjects involved in this survey were 120 non-English majors from two universities in Shandong Province. The questionnaire was self-designed with reference to Armstrong's (1994) multiple intelligences inventory. The data was analyzed with qualitative approach. The results of this survey reveal that there are indeed differences existed in university students' intelligences and the development of students' multiple intelligences is unbalanced. Since students' intelligences can be developed with appropriate instruction, teachers should employ various teaching methods to activate students' multiple intelligences and help them have a balanced development of intelligences.