Part 3 What Makes a Person Intelligent?

More of the Multiple Intelligences

Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence: Consists of expertise in using one’s whole body to express ideas and feelings, and facility in using ones hands to produce or transform things. A highly developed intelligence in actors, mimes, athletes, dancers, sculptors, mechanics, and surgeons. Students with a high degree of bodily-kinesthetic intelligence process knowledge through bodily sensations; move, twitch, tap, or fidget while sitting in a chair or at a desk and learn by touching, manipulating, and moving. They typically like role playing and creative movement and generally like physical games of all kinds and demonstrating how to do something. They communicate well through body language and other physical gestures. They can often perform a task only after seeing someone else do it. They find it difficult to sit still for a long time and are easily bored if they are not actively involved in what is going on around them. Michael Jordan is strong in this intelligence.

Interpersonal Intelligence:

The ability to perceive and make distinctions in the moods, intentions, motivations, and feelings of other people. This Intelligence can include sensitivity to facial expressions, voice, and gestures, as well as the ability to respond effectively to such cues. Students with a high degree of interpersonal intelligence understand and care about people; like to socialize; learn more easily by relating and cooperating and are good at teaching other students. These people learn through person-to-person interaction. They generally have lots of friends; show a great deal of empathy for other people and understanding of different points of view. They are skilled at drawing others out in a discussion, conflict resolution and mediation when people are in radical opposition to each other. Mother Teresa and Mahatma Ghandi were strong in this intelligence.

Intra-personal Intelligence:

Self-knowledge and the ability to act adaptively on the basis of that knowledge define this group. This is an intelligence which can include having an accurate picture of one’s strengths and limitations, awareness of one’s moods and motivations, and the capacity for self-discipline. Students with a high degree of this intelligence seem to be self-motivating; need their own quiet space; may march to the beat of a different drummer and tend to learn more easily with independent study, self-paced instruction, individualized projects and games.

These people like to work alone and sometimes shy away from others. They are self-reflective and self-aware and thus tend to be in tune with their inner feelings, values, beliefs, and thinking processes. They are frequently bearers of creative wisdom and insight, are highly intuitive, and are inwardly motivated rather than needing external rewards to keep them going. They are often strong-willed, self-confident, and definite, well-thought-out opinions on almost any issue (although they are sometimes off-the-wall). Other people will often come to them for advice and counsel, but others will sometimes view them as distant or weird. Emily Dickinson and Stephen King (pictured above)are examples of this intelligence.

Our final installment of "What Makes a Person Intelligent?" will be coming up shortly. I hope you've found this information to be helpful and interesting in getting insight into your English as a foreign language learners - or yourself.
Stay tuned ...


Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an EFL Teacher Trainer, Intellectual Development Specialist, prolific writer, author and public speaker. He has written ESP, foreign language learning, English language teaching texts and hundreds of articles used in more than 100 countries. Get your FREE E-book, "If you Want to Teach English Abroad, Here's What You Need to Know" by requesting the title at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com Need a blogger or copywriter to promote your school, institution, service or business or an experienced writer and vibrant SEO content for your website, blog or newsletter? Then E-mail me for further information.

What Makes a Person Intelligent?

Traditional Theories of Intelligence

In traditional intelligence theories when one is asked the question “What makes a person intelligent?” the most common responses will often note a person’s ability to solve problems, utilize logic, and think critically. These typical traits of intelligence are sometimes grouped together under the heading “raw intelligence”. A person’s intelligence, traditionally speaking, is contained in their intellect. In other words, how we each understand, evaluate or respond to external stimuli, regardless as to whether it is a mathematical problem or anticipation of an opponent’s next move in a game, is our collective intelligence. Our intelligence therefore, is our individual, collective ability to act or react in a continually changing environment.

The Problem with Traditional Intelligence Theories

The principal problem in traditional intelligence theories is that they promote “fractured learning”. Many educational reformers have clearly stated that “taking tests merely shows that a student is skilled at taking tests”. At best, traditional tests focus on only about one tenth of an individual’s intellect.

Note that Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison, two of history’s most famous examples of brilliant minds, were terrible at taking traditional tests, therefore terrible at “school” in general. The Multiple Intelligences theory then, demonstrates that the ability to take traditional tests is almost entirely in the realm of the Logical – Mathematical intelligence. This intelligence will be detailed later along with the Interpersonal intelligence, which imparts in some students the ability to second guess a teacher’s structuring of a test. Traditional IQ tests predict school performance with considerable accuracy, but they are only an indifferent predictor of performance in a profession after formal schooling.

Dr. Marion Diamond-University of California at Berkeley

In an interesting but controversial study conducted during the 1960’s by Biologist Marion Diamond, (pictured above) of the University of California at Berkeley, two sets of rats were raised in different environments; One set had toys to play with, playmates to romp with and a roomy box that was kept clean and fresh. The second set was put in solitary confinement; all alone in a much smaller cage with no toys to enjoy. After several weeks, Dr. Diamond measured the size of each rat’s cerebral cortex, the brain area which is responsible for higher nerve functions. The rats in the sociable, clean and stimulating environment grew brains bigger than the rats with the impoverished surroundings.

“Does the enriched environment increase the dimensions of the brain, and does the impoverished environment decrease the dimensions of the brain?”, asked Diamond.

“The answer, very clearly, is YES.”

Similar results were replicated with cats, monkeys and later with humans. So a stimulating, enriched learning environment is crucial to mental development. If we likewise incorporate the varying student intelligences in our teaching activities, our success as well as our students success, will be markedly improved. That each of us possess all the intelligences, that they can each be developed further, that these "multiple intelligences" work together in a complex manner, and that there are, in fact, many different ways to be “intelligent” are inclusive in a study by Armstrong.

In the next part of this article post, we'll review, in retrospect, the major intelligences of Prof. Howard Gardener’s theory of Multiple Intelligences and their relative traits. See you then.


Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an EFL Teacher Trainer, Intellectual Development Specialist, prolific writer, author and public speaker. He has written ESP, foreign language learning, English language teaching texts and hundreds of articles used in more than 100 countries. Get your FREE E-book, "If you Want to Teach English Abroad, Here's What You Need to Know" by requesting the title at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com Need a blogger or copywriter to promote your school, institution, service or business or an experienced writer and vibrant SEO content for your website, blog or newsletter? Then E-mail me for further information.

Why Grammar teaching Should Be Explicit

Implicit Grammar Teaching
Implicit grammar teaching should not be excluded for explicit grammar teaching entirely, however. Some basic features of English language grammar structure are illogical or dissimilar to speakers of other languages and do not readily lend themselves to being well understood, even in context. In cases where features of English grammar are diametrically opposed or in some other way radically different from the manner of expression in the student’s L1, explicit teaching may be required.

Photo: The author making a point in a university EFL class

Aspects of English language grammar that may offer exceptional challenge to EFL students include use of word order, determiners (this, that, these, those, a, an, the), prepositions (in, on, at, by, for, from, of), auxiliaries (do, be, have), conjunctions (but, so, however, therefore, though, although), interrogatives, intensifiers (some, any, few, more, too) and distinctions between modal verbs (can, could, would, should, may, might, must). Phrasal verbs also present considerable difficulty to Spanish speakers learning communicative English.

Student Responses
Some students also are logical or linguistically-biased thinkers who respond well to structured presentation of new material. Logical-Mathematical and Verbal-Linguistic intelligence learners are prime examples of those that would respond well to explicit grammar teaching in many cases.

Based on my English language teaching and on my personal second and third foreign language learning (L2, L3) experience, an exclusive approach using either implicit or explicit methodologies is not as effective as utilizing one or the other of these approaches as required. Although it is essential to teach elements of language and develop communicative abilities in our students, there is no one best way to introduce and provide practice in them. Young learners have more natural facility in acquisition, while adults may benefit substantially from more “formal” language learning. Learning styles and intelligence strengths are also a significant factor.

Sounds and Structure Introduction
There are many generally accepted ways of introducing the sounds, structure and vocabulary of English, including colloquial forms of conversation and the four basic communication skills. Grammar provides for “communicative economy”. Grammar teaching should be implicit, or explicit, as teaching / learning conditions may dictate helping to minimize the student response teachers fear most, “Teacher, I don’t understand.”

Larry M. Lynch is an English language teaching and learning expert author and university professor in Cali, Colombia. Now YOU too can live your dreams in paradise, find romance, high adventure and get paid while travelling for free. For more information on the lucrative, fascinating field of teaching English as a Foreign Language, get your copy of his no-cost, full multi-media, hypertext-linked pdf ebook, “If You Want to Teach English Abroad, Here’s What You Need to Know” by sending an e-mail to lynchlarrym@gmail.com with "free ELT Ebook" in the subject line. Need professional, original content and photos or images for your blog, newsletter, e-zine or website? Want more information, have a comment or special request? E-mail the author for a prompt response.

Grammar Teaching Should Be Implicit

Strictly Explicit Grammar Study
Strictly explicit grammar study however, and even grammar-focused lessons are often not communicatively based. They can therefore be boring, cumbersome and difficult for students to assimilate. The strict teaching of grammar / structure, except with students of the Logical – Mathematical or Verbal – Linguistic intelligences (H.Gardner, 1988), can be frustrating and highly ineffective. Thus enters Implicit grammar teaching methodologies.

In the early 20th century, Jespersen, like Boas, thought grammar should be studied by examining living speech rather than by analyzing written documents. By providing grammar in context, in an implicit manner, we can expose students to substantial doses of grammar study without alienating them to the learning of English or other foreign language. I also agree with this implicit approach of teaching grammar. The principal manner in which I accomplish this is by teaching short grammar-based sessions immediately followed by additional function-based lessons in which the new grammar / structure is applied in context.

Acquisition vs. Learning
The hypothesis of language-learning researcher Stephen Krashen, pictured above, is that adult language students have two distinct ways of developing skills and knowledge in a second language, acquisition and learning. Acquiring a language is “picking it up”, i.e., developing ability in a language by using it in natural, communicative situations. Learning language differs in that it is “knowing the rules” and having a conscious knowledge of grammar / structure. Adults acquire language, although usually not as easily or as well as children. (Krashen – Terrell, 1984)

Acquisition, however, is the most important means for gaining linguistic skills. A person’s first language (L1) is primarily learned in this way. This manner of developing language skills typically employs implicit grammar teaching and learning.

This does not exclude explicit grammar-teaching entirely, however. Some basic features of English language grammar structure are illogical or highly dissimilar to speakers of other languages and do not readily lend themselves to being well understood, even when presented in context. In cases where features of English grammar are diametrically opposed or in some other way radically different from the manner of expression in the student’s L1, explicit teaching may be required as will be considered further in the following article post of this series.

Larry M. Lynch is an English language teaching and learning expert author and university professor in Cali, Colombia. Now YOU too can live your dreams in paradise, find romance, high adventure and get paid while travelling for free. For more information on the lucrative, fascinating field of teaching English as a Foreign Language, get your copy of his no-cost, full multi-media, hypertext-linked pdf ebook, “If You Want to Teach English Abroad, Here’s What You Need to Know” by sending an e-mail to lynchlarrym@gmail.com with "free ELT Ebook" in the subject line. Need professional, original content and photos or images for your blog, newsletter, e-zine or website? Want more information, have a comment or special request? E-mail the author for a prompt response.

How Should Grammar Be Taught?

Based on my 20 years of EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teaching experience, the statement “grammar teaching should be implicit, not explicit” could be argued both for and against. Whether to teach grammar as an extracted focus of ELT (English Language Teaching) or more passively as an inductive, integral topic has been the theme of countless debates on the part of institutions, professors, grammarians and language researchers for decades. Grammar is the branch of linguistics dealing with the form and structure of words or morphology, and their interrelation in sentences, called syntax. The study of grammar reveals how language works, an important aspect in both English acquisition and learning.

The Early 20th Century
In the early 20th century grammarians like the German-American anthropologist Franz Boas and the Danish linguist Otto Jespersen began to describe languages and Boas' work formed the basis of various types of American descriptive grammar study. Jespersen's work was the fore-runner of such current approaches to linguistic theory such as Noam Chomsky’s Transformational Generative Grammar.

Chomsky, pictured above, who studied structural linguistics, sought to analyze the syntax of English in a structural grammar. This led him to view grammar as a theory of language structure rather than a description of actual sentences. His idea of grammar is that it is a device for producing the structure, not of a particular language, but of the ability to produce and understand sentences in any and all languages. Since grammar is the means by which we can understand how a language “works”, a definitive study of language grammar is essential to language study.

Strictly Explicit Grammar Teaching
Strictly explicit grammar study however, and even grammar-focused lessons are often not communicatively based. They can therefore be boring, cumbersome and difficult for students to assimilate. The strict teaching of grammar / structure, except with students of the Logical – Mathematical or Verbal – Linguistic multiple intelligences, can be frustrating and highly ineffective.

There are many generally accepted ways of introducing the sounds, structure and vocabulary of English, including colloquial forms of conversation and the four basic communication skills. Grammar provides for “communicative economy”. Grammar teaching should be implicit, or explicit, as teaching / learning conditions may dictate.


Larry M. Lynch is an English language teaching and learning expert author and university professor in Cali, Colombia. Now YOU too can live your dreams in paradise, find romance, high adventure and get paid while travelling for free. For more information on the lucrative, fascinating field of teaching English as a Foreign Language, get your copy of his no-cost, full multi-media, hypertext-linked pdf ebook, “If You Want to Teach English Abroad, Here’s What You Need to Know” by sending an e-mail to lynchlarrym@gmail.com with "free ELT Ebook" in the subject line. Need professional, original content and photos or images for your blog, newsletter, e-zine or website? Want more information, have a comment or special request? E-mail the author for a prompt response.

Are You an Earthworm or an Octopus?

English as a Foreign Language Teachers:

Are You an Earthworm or an Octopus?

Scott Ginsberg asks a Question
When Scot Ginsberg of “My name is Scott” name tag fame asked this question he originally referred to an online web presence. In the teaching of English as a foreign language or in foreign language teaching and learning I’d like to apply the question in a different venue.

“Are you an earthworm or an octopus?"

That is, do you expand and develop your teaching approaches to reach the different learning styles and intelligences of your students? Or does your teaching style merely mimic your own personal learning strengths and your strongest intelligences? This could happen far more easily than you might realize. Noted EFL researcher and EFL text author Jack C. Richards (2004) reinforces this notion when he says, “Student learning styles may be an important factor in the success of teaching and may not necessarily reflect those that teachers recommend."

The Earthworm
Like an earthworm, according to Scott, do you reach out in only one direction at a time, progressing and teaching only on one track? If your EFL or foreign language classes favor one particular type of learner you may inadvertently handicapping the other learners in your class groups. But an opposite effect may be difficult to achieve as noted by Spratt, Pulverness, and Williams (2005) stating, “It is not possible for the teacher of a big class to meet the learner characteristics of each learner all the time. Over a number of lessons teachers can try to vary how they teach so that they can meet the needs of a range of learners.”

The Octopus
Have you ever seen a live octopus? Tried to hold or catch one? You can hardly tell which way is up and where it’s headed. It seems to be going in several different directions at once and be able to change directions or forms instantly. When you teach to multiple learning styles and multiple intelligences, you’re not being flaky, indecisive or unstable, but flexible, like an octopus, to the point of reaching out to your learners in several different directions at once from a single, central core – the theme of your teaching – to address the varied needs of your distinctly different learners.

Reading competency researcher Mary Spratt (2005) said, “EFL learners are not all the same. They do not all learn the same way” and that “We must not limit EFL learners by thinking they can only learn in a particular way.”

The Multiple Intelligences
Multiple Intelligences theory developer Dr. Howard Gardner (pictured above) identified nine distinct areas or “intelligences” in which each person has decidedly different levels of development. These are:

Verbal – Linguistic
Visual – Spatial
Bodily – Kinesthetic
Logical – Mathematical
Musical – Rhythmic
Naturalist
Inter-personal
Intra-personal
Spiritual

Becoming an Octopus
If this is so, then as English or other foreign language teaching professionals, we must direct our efforts to discover ways of truly reaching out to all our learners, recognizing and teaching to their diversity. We cannot be like the earthworm, continually striking out in only one direction at a time. Our approach then, must be more like that of an octopus, stretching out in multiple directions from a central teaching and learning theme at the same time. Only then can we be assured that we are truly reaching and teaching all of our learners in the best possible ways.

Larry M. Lynch is an English language teaching and learning expert author and university professor in Cali, Colombia. Now YOU too can live your dreams in paradise, find romance, high adventure and get paid while travelling for free. For more information on the lucrative, fascinating field of teaching English as a Foreign Language, get your copy of his no-cost, full multi-media, hypertext-linked pdf ebook, “If You Want to Teach English Abroad, Here’s What You Need to Know” by sending an e-mail with "free ELT Ebook" in the subject line. Need professional, original content for your blog, newsletter, e-zine or website? Want more information, have a comment or special request? Contact the author at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com

Do You or Your English Language Learners Believe in Ghosts?

It’s That Time Again

One object of the English language teacher should be to convert and present existing available materials in different ways as an aid for foreign language learners to assimilate and internalize themes using a variety of learning styles and multiple intelligences.

It’s the fall of the year. Now I don’t believe in ghosts, spooks, witches, black magic, goblins, monsters (except the two-legged kind) or any of that sort of thing, but the students’ thoughts tend towards that direction during this time of year, so I “take advantage” of it.

How?

Try Out an Example or Two

Do You or Your English Language Learners Believe in Ghosts? Take an interesting season-related movie or video. Show it and prepare pre-viewing, while-viewing and post-viewing activities based on the video. Have a relevant discussion, composition or oral report as a product for each learner. “It’s difficult to read in English”, one EFL language learner relates, “but I understand better when we finish all the activities with the teacher”. One film I like for this is the Walt Disney animated version of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” as detailed in the article, “The Headless Horseman Rides Again” (posted online).

Another expanded lesson series the learners also like is based on the “Goosebumps” readings series by R.L. Stine (Scholastic Press). Use one of the books (or even an individual chapter) to generate role plays, dialogues and vocabulary-based exercises so that learners interact to a much greater degree with the book or chapter material and themes. “Sometimes I wish for more pictures”, another English language learner comments, “so I was glad to see the art work that we created as homework”.

Additional Activities

Some easily-prepared additional activities and exercises which can be generated from such a text include:

Role plays
Dialogues
Vocabulary matching
Word search and crossword puzzles
Fill-in-the-blanks
True – false exercises
Error correction
A combination of any of the above-mentioned exercises and activities

There are many other interesting possibilities.

“Having different activities with the readings works better for me”, a learner with reading comprehension difficulties says.

Whether you believe in ghosts, spooks, monsters and such or not, many learners are superstitious based on cultural and regional or ethnic beliefs. Take advantage of this time of year to expand on that theme to generate greater depth in your English as a foreign language and EFL classroom reading comprehension activities. Try out the “Goosebumps”, “Fear Street” and other series by R.L. Stine or many additional fall holiday-themed books, videos and movies to help boost your learners’ motivation and language skills. The Headless Horseman rides again.

Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an English language teaching and learning expert author and university professor in Cali, Colombia. Now YOU too can live your dreams in paradise, find romance, high adventure and get paid while travelling for free. For more information on entering or advancing in the fascinating field of teaching English as a Foreign or Second Language send for his no-cost pdf Ebook, “If You Want to Teach English Abroad, Here’s What You Need to Know”, by sending an e-mail with "free ELT Ebook" in the subject line. For comments, questions, requests, to receive more information or to be added to his free TESOL articles and teaching materials mailing list, e-mail: lynchlarrym@gmail.com