A study on perceptions and out of classroom activities for fostering multiple intelligences by first years english majors at hue university college of foreign languages

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES --- PHAN THI MINH THUONG A STUDY ON PERCEPTIONS AND OUT-OF-CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES FOR FOSTERING MULTIPLE I

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HUE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

-

PHAN THI MINH THUONG

A STUDY ON PERCEPTIONS AND OUT-OF-CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES FOR FOSTERING MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES

BY FIRST YEAR ENGLISH MAJORS

AT HUE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY

OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING

HUE, 2013

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HUE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

- PHAN THI MINH THUONG

A STUDY ON PERCEPTIONS AND OUT-OF-CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES FOR FOSTERING MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES

BY FIRST YEAR ENGLISH MAJORS

AT HUE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY

OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING

CODE: 60140111

SUPERVISOR: PHAM HOA HIEP, D.Ed

HUE, 2013

BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO

ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ

Questionnaire and interview were two main data collection tools One hundred questionnaires were delivered to first year English majors and in-depth interviews were also conducted with 10 students, who had score from 3.2 and higher in the first semester of the school year 2012-2013 or who were the most active students recommended by their teachers Finally, SPSS 17.0 was used for data analysis to ensure that the results are reliable

The findings show that students were open-minded to accept the new concepts of MIT Moreover, they had applied some out-of-classroom activities and recognized the effectiveness of those activities In specific, some typical out-of-class learning activities such as pair works, group works, and self-studying were preferred Especially, “listening to music” and “watching films” seemed to be the most advantageous activities Conversely, some difficulties faced by students in recognizing and fostering their MI were revealed

I would also like to show my gratitude to Associate Prof.Dr Le Pham Hoai Huong for her willingness to help enthusiastically and her encouragement during the research time

My sincere words of thanks also go to Ms Nguyen Ngoc Bao Chau, Ms Tran Hoang Lien Thi, Ms Cao Thi Xuan Lien, who have supported in questionnaires delivery Other deeply thanks I want to send to first year English students in Hue University College of Foreign Languages, who were very enthusiastic to answer questionnaires and interview

Finally, I am grateful to my family and my friends who have their own ways for supporting me during the process of conducting this paper

Hue City, October 2013

Phan Thi Minh Thuong

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Pages Contents

SUB COVER PAGE i

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP .iii

ABSTRACT .iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .v

TABLE OF CONTENTS .i

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ix

LIST OF TABLES x

LIST OF FIGURES xi

LIST OF APPENDICES xii

CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION .1

1.1 Background of the study 1

1.2 Rationale of the study 2

1.3 Aims of the study .2

1.4 Significance of the study .3

1.5 Scope of the study .3

1.6 Structure of the study .3

CHAPTER 2 - LITERATURE REVIEW 4

2.1 Introduction .4

2.2 Definitions of Multiple Intelligences Theory .4

2.3 Multiple Intelligences and English language learning .6

2.4 Multiple intelligences and out-of-class learning activities 8

2.5 Studies on Multiple Intelligences and language learning .9

2.6 The importance of applying MIT to EFL learners by using out-of-class activities in Vietnam 2

2.7 The areas of MIT that needs further exploration 14

2.8 Summary .15

CHAPTER 3 - METHODOLOGY 16

3.1 Introduction .16

3.2 Research approach 16

3.3 Research site .16

3.4 Participants .16

3.5 Data collection tools .17

3.5.1 The questionnaires 17

3.5.2 The interview 18

3.6 Procedure of data collection .18

3.7 Data analysis 19

3.8 Summary .19

CHAPTER 4 - FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 20

4.1 Introduction .20

4.2 Findings and discussions .20

4.2.1 Students‟ perceptions about Multiple Intelligences Theory 20

4.2.1.1 Students‟ perceptions about the opposite ideas between Gardner‟s MIT and the traditional concepts of intelligence 20

4.2.1.2 Students‟ perceptions about the MI‟s view in pedagogy .26

4.2.2 Students‟ use of MI through out-of-classroom activities .29

4.2.3 Difficulties faced by students in recognizing and fostering their MI 32

4.2.3.1 Difficulties faced by students in recognizing their MI 32

4.2.3.2 Difficulties faced by students in fostering their MI .34

4.2.3.2.1 Effectiveness of using the out-of-classroom activities 34

4.2.3.2.2 Difficulties and solutions in using out-of-classroom activities .36

4.2.3.2.2.1 Difficulties with out-of-classroom activities 36

4.2.3.2.2.2 Solutions .37

4.3 Conclusion .38

CHAPTER 5 - CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS 39

5.1 Introduction .39

5.2 Summary of the research .39

5.2.1 Students‟ perceptions about Multiple Intelligences Theory 39

5.2.2 Students‟ use of MI through out-of-classroom activities .40

5.2.3 Difficulties faced by students in recognizing and fostering their MI 41

5.3 Implications .42

5.3.1 For English majored students .42

5.3.2 For EFL teachers .44

5.3.3 For the university 45

5.4 Contribution of the research .45

5.5 Limitations 46

5.6 Suggestions for further research 46

5.7 Conclusion .47

REFERENCES .48

APPENDICES .53

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

English as a Foreign Language: EFL Hue University College of Foreign Languages: HUCFL

LIST OF TABLES

Pages

Table 4.1: “Human beings have all of the intelligences, but each person has a

unique combination, or profile.” 21

Table 4.2: “People are born with a fixed amount of intelligence.” 21 Table 4.3: “Virtually, everyone has the capacity to develop all eight intelligences to

a reasonably high level of performance if given the appropriate encouragement, enrichment, and instruction.” 22

Table 4.4: “Intelligence level does not change over a lifetime.” 23 Table 4.5: “There are many different ways to be intelligent There is no standard set

of attributes that one must have in order to be considered intelligent.” 24

Table 4.6: “Intelligence consists of ability in logic and language.” 25 Table 4.7: “Intelligences usually interact together in complex ways.” 26 Table 4.8: “Multiple Intelligences pedagogy implies that teachers teach and assess

differently based on individual intellectual strengths and weaknesses.” 27

Table 4.9: Difficulties in applying out-of-classroom activities 36

LIST OF FIGURES

Pages

Figure 4.1: Mean of frequencies among the clusters 31 Figure 4.2: I think it is easy to recognize your intelligences 33 Figure 4.3: Using out-of-classroom learning activities to foster my Multiple

Intelligences is very effective 35

Figure 4.4: Time to pilot an out-of-classroom activity 37

LIST OF APPENDICES

1 APPENDIX 1: QUESTIONNAIRE (English version for students)

2 APPENDIX 2: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS (English version for students)

3 APPENDIX 3: QUESTIONNAIRE (Vietnamese version for students)

4 APPENDIX 4: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS (Vietnamese version for students)

5 APPENDIX 5: RELIABILITY STATISTICS

6 APPENDIX 6: FREQUENCY OF USING MI OUT-OF-CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES

CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the study

Credit-based training system has been gradually adopted in many universities and colleges throughout Vietnam According to Ho and Zjhra (2008), Vietnam‟s higher education transition to a credit-based system is a tremendous challenge involving cultural and organizational transformations that drastically reorganize and redefine the context of the educational process It means that the teaching and learning process must be changed completely to adapt the new educational environment For example, in the credit-based transformation program, it is necessary to make some changes in curriculums, teaching methods, learning process, materials, assessments, and even roles of teachers and learners Because of these changes, the transformations and innovations are critical in the effort to modernize the educational system in Vietnam

Particularly, in the field of English language teaching, innovations and changes are imperative In the past decades, language teachers and educators have made their best efforts to find out the more effective methods to teach English and help their students learn English successfully Especially, teaching methods which are more appropriate to learners‟ needs and nature can enhance the learning process Because every student has his/her own unique set of intellectual strengths and weaknesses (Brualdi, 1996)

From that, it is necessary to provide the diversities of activities and methods for students in order to promote students‟ potential ability in language learning In my opinion, studying learners‟ perceptions of Multiple Intelligences Theory (MIT) and identifying out-of-classroom activities for EFL learners are the solutions to improve the effectiveness of self-study skill of learners as well as their potential intelligences However, during my learning and researching process in Master of Arts course at HUCFL, I recognized that MIT is an interesting issue and it has not

1.2 Rationale of the study

Applying MIT in language teaching and learning is a quite fresh field Hence, during the exploring this subject, I would like to conduct this research because of the following motives

The first motive comes from the problem of language classroom in practice; teachers may lack accurateness and fairness to evaluate students‟ ability if they can not complete a task given That may make students feel disappointed and discouraged Morgan and Fonseca (2004, p.130) explain:

… learners‟ belief about their ability to participate successfully in a language task can be influenced by the way, teachers present material to their students and the steps followed to involve them in language learning influence

The second motive is the changing of role of teachers and students in EFL classroom At the present, teachers work as facilitators who give instructions for students to self-study in credit-based context Hence, students have to be more active and responsible towards their learning process

The last motive is that is to offer a helpful guideline for freshmen in the new educational environment because they like fishes out of water in the first academic year In reality, teachers who are in charge of these students are willing to introduce learning styles or learning tips Nevertheless, the consultancies have not established

a helpful system that every student can access Therefore, it is essential to build guidelines as a tool, or means to support first years EFL students to overcome the differences of teaching and learning methods between high school and university, as well as to find appropriate ways for every student in learning English

1.3 Aims of the study

Based on the points of view presented above, I conduct this project which focuses

on answering the following questions

1 What are first year English majors‟ perceptions of Multiple Intelligences Theory?

2 What are the out-of-classroom activities that students can do to foster their MI?

3 What are some difficulties faced by first year English majors in recognizing and fostering their MI?

1.4 Significance of the study

The researcher hopes that this study will be considered as helpful guidelines for the first year English majors in the credit-based context at HUCFL In addition, this study will contribute to raise learners‟ awareness ability of their dominant intelligences in a new environment Furthermore, this study may offer suggestions

to improve the multiple intelligences of learners and help EFL teachers deeply understand the nature of learners and EFL learning process

1.5 Scope of the study

Only some main aspects of MIT applications, namely the study of the perceptions

of first year English majors about MIT in language teaching and learning, some of-class activities that students can do to foster their MI, and the difficulties, which students will face in recognizing and fostering their MI, are focused on this project The data for this research will collected from first year English majors at Hue University College of Foreign Languages in Vietnam

out-1.6 Structure of the study

The research paper is divided into 5 chapters (from chapter 1 to chapter 5)

Chapter 1 provides the background, the reasons, the aims, the significance, and the

scope of the study

Chapter 2 provides key definitions and concepts relating to this study Previous

research projects on the topic will be also reviewed

Chapter 3 argues for the research approach employed to carry out the study

Methods of data collection as well as data analysis are also presented

Chapter 4 reports and analyzes the results of the investigation

Chapter 5 summarizes the key findings of the study and gives some implications for

teachers, students, policy makers and future researchers

CHAPTER 2 - LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction

In this chapter, firstly, I will define some key terms of the study including Multiple Intelligences Theory and out-of-class learning activities Secondly, I will present some relationships between MIT and factors related to learn language such as English language learning and out-of-class learning activities Thirdly, I will review some previous studies throughout the world, especially in Asia and in Vietnamese context From that, the importance of applying MIT to EFL learners by using out-of-classroom activities in Vietnam will be focused, which forms the rationale for the project

2.2 Definitions of Multiple Intelligences Theory

There are several ways of defining intelligence from the past to present Traditionally, the idea and definition of intelligence was based on knowledge and skills traditionally valued in school Traditional curriculum in public schools has heavily focused on two of the nine intelligences, linguistic and logical-mathematical (Gardner, 1983) However, Gardner (ibid.) states that curriculum developers have not been cognizant of the ways in which basic inclinations of human learning turn out to be ill-matched to the agenda of the modern secular school Curriculum developers need to pay attention to the differing cognitive profiles and needs of all students (Schirduan & Case, 2004) Because, every individual has a unique profile

of intelligences that is manifested as different areas of strength (Kallenbach & Viens, 2004) On the other hand, in 1985, Sternberg, based on the contextual sub-theory, suggests that “intelligence is a reflection of people‟s ability to adapt and shape their environment to make it fit their skills, interests and values” (as cited in Smith, 2001) Sternberg (1998) argues that people possess three independent abilities: analytic, creative, and practical

Perhaps, Howard Gardner is one of the noblest researchers studying MI field In his work, Frames of Mind (1983), he states that being smart is not determined how an

individual scores on an IQ test but rather is determined by how well an individual learns in a variety of ways (Hoerr, as cited in Zapf, 2004) MI is a student-centered model in which curriculum is often modified to fit the person It allows individuals

to utilize their personal intellectual strengths to demonstrate what they have learned, instead of relying solely on the traditional linguistic intelligence for all MIT identifies that each kind of intelligence has a different developmental path and a different core processing operation (Gardner, 1983) This implies that students generally may engage higher order thinking and problem solving in an area of strength and lower order thinking in an area of weakness (Noble, 2004) In 1997, Oliver wrote that Gardner explained people are multi -intelligent, rather than singularly intelligent Gardner did not deny that genetics plays a role in intelligence, but that critical influences come from culture and family People come to know and use the skills, which are valued in their society (as cited in Zapf, 2004)

Gardner defined seven intelligences in the early 1980s, they are linguistic

intelligence, logical-mathematical intelligence, spatial intelligence, kinesthetic intelligence, musical intelligence, interpersonal intelligence, and intrapersonal intelligence In 1999, he identified an eighth intelligence type to the list, that of naturalist intelligence At the same time, he suggested the existence of a ninth intelligence type, that of existentialist intelligence (Gardner, 1999)

 Linguistic intelligence: the potential to use language, as used in reading,

writing, telling stories, memorizing dates, and thinking in words

 Logical-mathematical intelligence: the potential for understanding cause and effect and for manipulating numbers, quantities, and operations, as

used in math, reasoning, logic, problem solving, and recognizing patterns

 Spatial intelligence: the potential for representing the spatial world internally in one‟s mind as used in reading maps and charts, drawing,

solving mazes and puzzles, imagining and visualizing

 Kinesthetic intelligence: the potential for using one‟s whole body or parts

of the body, as used in athletics, dancing, acting, crafting, and using tools

 Musical intelligence: the potential for thinking in music; for hearing,

recognizing, and remembering melodies and rhythms

 Interpersonal intelligence: the potential for working with others, as used in understanding people, leading and organizing others, communicating,

resolving conflicts, and selling

 Intrapersonal intelligence: the potential for understanding ourselves, as used in understanding self, recognizing one‟s own strengths and

weaknesses, and setting personal goals

 Naturalistic intelligence: the potential for discriminating among plants, animals, rocks, and the world around us, as used in understanding nature,

making distinctions, identifying flora and fauna

(as cited in Denig, 2004)

There may be an existential intelligence that refers to the human inclination to ask very basic questions about existence Who are we? Where do we come from? What

is it all about? Why do we die? We might say that existential intelligence allows us

to understand the invisible, outside world The only reason I have not given a seal of approval to the existential intelligence is that I do not think we have good brain evidence yet on its existence in the nervous system, one of the criteria for intelligence (as cited in Checkley, 1997)

2.3 Multiple Intelligences and English language learning

Christison (1998) agrees that Gardner‟s MIT is very relevant to ESL/EFL teachers given they have to work with very different groups Through MIT, educators can nurture intelligences in different ways in order to help themselves to create an individualized learning environment In fact, MIT strengthens the learning process

in several ways It serves as motivation of reform in schools to develop evaluation

of traditional school subjects and increase emphasis on the arts, nature, physical culture and other topics (Denig, 2004) MI allows students to grow and develop their potential It also challenges educators to find and use appropriate methods of teaching individuals a particular topic (Gardner, 1983)

In this chapter, MIT in the EFL classroom will be considered as a framework that

can help language teachers to give recognition to the holistic nature of learners and

to address student diversity It enables teachers to organize a variety of contexts that offer learners a variety of ways to engage meaning and strengthen memory pathways; it is a teacher-friendly tool for lesson planning that can increase the attractiveness of language learning tasks and therefore produce favorable motivational conditions

The MIT instructional view proposes that language learning or developing learners‟ verbal linguistic intelligence in a foreign/ second language can be favored by using

a variety of learning tasks that call upon diverse intelligences The teacher offers a choice of assignments, not to teach to specific intelligences but to give learners the opportunity of apprehending information in their preferred way, as well as to promote the development of their other intelligences We will now consider briefly how the verbal linguistic intelligence involved in foreign/ second language learning can be supported by the other intelligence frameworks developed by Gardner

Verbal/linguistic intelligence: the production of language, abstract reasoning,

symbolic thinking, conceptual patterning, reading, and writing

Logical/mathematical intelligence: the capacity to recognize patterns, work with

abstract symbols (e.g., numbers, geometric shapes), and discern relationships or see connections between separate and distinct pieces of information

Visual/spatial intelligence: visual arts, navigation, mapmaking, architecture, and

games requiring the ability to visualize objects from different perspectives and angles

Bodily/kinesthetic intelligence: the ability to use the body to express emotion, to

play a game, and to create a new product

Musical/rhythmic intelligence: capacities such as the recognition and use of

rhythmic and tonal patterns and sensitivity to sounds from the environment, the human voice, and musical instruments

Interpersonal intelligence: the ability to work cooperatively with others in a small

group, as well as the ability to communicate verbally and nonverbally with other people

Intrapersonal intelligence: the internal aspects of the self, such as knowledge of

feelings, range of emotional responses, thinking processes, self-reflection, and a sense of intuition about spiritual realities

(Stanford, as cited in Merrill, n.d, ¶6)

The naturalist intelligence is the ability to discriminate among numerous species

of flora and fauna, enjoyment of the natural world and ecological sensitivity are characteristics of the naturalist intelligence but which have not yet been developed extensively in the classroom

(Morgan and Fonseca, 2004)

2.4 Multiple intelligences and out-of-class learning activities

In the field of second language acquisition, several terms are used to refer to second language learning outside of school, for instance unintentional learning, out-of-class learning, and spare time learning The second term listed above, out-of-class learning, is defined in Benson (2001, p.62) as “any kind of learning that takes place outside the classroom and involves self-instruction, naturalistic learning or self-directed naturalistic learning” Another term expresses that learner comes in contact with outside of the classroom, namely extramural English The term is explained more deeply in Sundqvist‟s thesis: “Basically, extramural English allows for any type of situation in which learners come in contact with or are involved in English outside the walls of the English classroom” (Sundqvist, 2009, p.66)

Hyland agrees: “Language learning can take place at any time and in any place, including the home and the community” (2004, p.180) In a study by Nunan (1989), a majority of students found classroom instruction itself to be insufficient for the development of English competence; on the other hand, engagement in outside classroom learning enhanced their language development, demonstrated the need to incorporate activities outside the classroom for greater learning success Besides, Pickard (1996) also reported that useful typologies of strategy use have been formulated by Rubin (1975), Naiman et al (1978), O‟Malley and Chamot (1990), and Oxford (1990); all highlight the importance of the out-of-class strategies employed voluntarily by learners outside the language classroom

Additionally, Hyland (2004) noted that the activities students do in English were

talking with family members, talking to people in the stores, talking on the phone, talking with friends, listening to the radio, attending meetings, reading novels, speaking with colleagues, listening to songs, reading newspapers and magazines, watching TV programs, watching videos, surfing the internet, reading academic books, and writing e-mails in ranking order Obviously, out-of-class activities may address multiple needs and interests of students and create a variety of authentic English language inputs (Bas, 2008; Hillyard, Reppen, & Vasquez, 2007) (as cited

in Guo, 2011) Furthermore, out-of-class activities can bring some benefits such as

“encourages students to move out of the classroom and into the world” and “helps

to bridge the gap between language study and language use” (Fried-Booth, 2002, p.7) In other words, out-of-class activities can expand the student learning environment and offer meaningful opportunities to learn English in order to provoke interest and increase motivation to learn Out-of-class activities are also linked with real life applications; this connection is a key to fostering more authentic language usage and autonomy (Pearson, 2004)

2.5 Studies on Multiple Intelligences and language learning

Since MIT was discovered, it has attracted the attention of many researchers, educators, and teachers Moreover, it has examined, discussed, and implemented to promote the qualities of educational systems in general, and produce effective results for EFL teachers and learners in specific The following is a brief summary

of some works relating to my thesis

One of the first attempts considering the application of MIT in foreign language teaching and learning belongs to Christison (1996) In her paper, she emphasized the importance of applying the MIT in ELT classrooms in order to create an individualized learning setting and support the students with diverse abilities to develop their multiple intelligences According to Christison (1996), the theory of

MI gives EFL teachers opportunity to look at their teaching practices from individual differences perspective Furthermore, instruction directed by the MIT can create learner-centered environment in which learners exhibit their strengths and

potentials (Christison, 1996) Christison (1996) also suggests teachers identify and categorize activities in their classes, and presents four stages of how MI-based lesson can be reinforced: arouse the intelligence, improve and support it, organize lessons according to different intelligence types and integrate intelligences into solving problems As indicated by Christison (1996), the schools should function on the basis of the principles of MIT to identify and foster the students‟ intelligence profiles, needs and interests and match them to a particular curricula and styles of learning

Brougher (1997) focused on the advantages of the theory in graduate education classes The results showed students enthusiasm and increased ability to engage in problem solving tasks; students experienced the meaning from a different perspective, stayed active during the discussions, and had memorable experiences working with partners and a sense of happy learning environment

On the other hand, Haley (2001) aimed to analyze applications of MIT to create and update teaching methods and instructional strategies The focus of this study was to discover and encourage successful real-world applications of MIT in foreign and second language classrooms The findings revealed that there was a significant change in terms of pedagogy, teaching, students, and teachers‟ attitudes, classroom and instruction Specifically, application of MIT promoted learner-centeredness, student involvement and interest in the lessons and teacher eagerness in teaching According to Richards and Rodgers (2001), language learning and use are obviously closely linked to what MI theorists label “Linguistic Intelligence” However, MI proponents believe there is more to language than what is usually subsumed under the rubric linguistics There are aspects of language such as rhythm, tone, volume, and pitch that are more closely linked, say, to a theory of music than to a theory of linguistics In additions, language has its ties to life through the senses The senses provide the accompaniment and context for the linguistics message that give it meaning and purpose A multi-sensory aspect of language is necessary; it seems, to construct and adequate theory of language as well as an efficient design for language learning

In the study that involved the evaluation of activities in a textbook according to the MIT, Ferro (2004) argues that MIT is very practical in encouraging the creation of activities according to the different intelligence types and enhancing the learning experience of students In the same 2004, Halley had done the action research with the title “Learner – Centered Instruction and the Theory of Multiple Intelligences with Second Language Learners”, which was published in Teachers College Record, Columbia University The purpose of this study was to further investigate the use of MIT in shaping and informing instructional strategies, curricula development, and alternative forms of assessment with second language learners Her result indicated that students achieved greater success rates when MIT was implemented

In 2012, Hou Yi-an researched a study named “Multiple Intelligences and Foreign

Language Learning- A Case Study in Taiwan” This study of 2545 Taiwanese

college students intends to provide the answers Participants are 2545 Taiwanese EFL college students, including 975 boys and 1570 girls They take an English proficiency test of listening and reading (A2), and fill out a series of questionnaires dealing with multiple intelligences (Gardner, 1993), motivation/attitude (Gardner, 1985), anxiety (Horwitz, et.al, 1986), language learning strategy (Oxford, 1990), and perceptual learning style preference (Reid, 1984) Data available from the questionnaires are analyzed by using descriptive and inferential statistics with SPSS

15, including item means and standard deviations, t-test, and regression analysis Findings show that MI do relate to students‟ learning behavior and affect their English performance to some extent

In 2005, Shu-Fen Chen had researched about the implementation of the Cooperative Learning (CL) activities, incorporating the insights given by Howard Gardner‟s (1993) theory of Multiple Intelligences (MI) and the notion of the Whole Language Approach (WLA) in college language classrooms will have a positive effect on students‟ language proficiency and attitude The site of this study was in an EFL classroom in a Taiwanese college Many learning activities based on Gardner‟s

theory of MI were used while CL approach was practiced The results of the study showed that the experimental group that was taught using the opinions based on CL and MI outperformed the group based on CL, and the control group based on Simulate English General Proficiency tests for the four language skills Through there were no significant differences among them within this short-time study, the motivation in learning English was enhanced a great deal for the experimental group that was taught using the CL and MI views

In Vietnam, Nguyen (2007) conducted a project at the B.A level and found that there were 12 activities relating to MIT were adapted as additional activities for some units in English 10, the current textbook used at Vietnamese high schools

In the same year, Chau (2007) studied the realities of language teaching and learning at Phu Yen University from the perspectives of MIT and then suggested some activities to improve the situations His research focused on two areas of MIT application: exploring and identifying students‟ learning styles, and creating effective classroom activities for learners of different intelligences and learning styles within one language classroom context In addition, he recommended some implications for using MI activities more effectively in EFL classroom

Hoang Thi Khanh Tam (2011) adopted Howard Gardner‟s (1983) MIT to address Vast number of students, Various capabilities, and Verbally-based medium of instruction in an attempt university students‟ motivation in an English Phonetics and Phonology Course” She presented the intelligences profile of a large class of English majors learning Phonetics and Phonology Course at a College in Vietnam and the designing tasks to accommodate students‟ intelligences types Finally, she offered some suggestions from her colleagues via email interviews

2.6 The importance of applying MIT to EFL learners by using out-of-class activities in Vietnam

Based on Gardner‟s theory, Chapman and Freeman (1996) draw three implications that can be apply in English language teaching and learning Firstly, intelligence can

be taught or at least enhance through teaching Secondly, intelligences are changing

throughout life Finally, the existence of different learners possesses results in different learning styles and different needs Those implications had created the stable foundation for applying MIT in English language learning

There has been quite a lot of discussion about the effectiveness of using multiple intelligences to teach The essential theory of multiple intelligences is that there are

a number of different types of intelligences Traditionally, schools use logical and verbal intelligences to teach languages - English in this case However, it is also possible to teach English through the use of other types of intelligences Some students excel in logical exercises such as learning through analysis using grammar charts, conjugation tables, etc Others learners who excel in linguistic learning styles may profit from exercises focusing on word forms such as prefix, suffix activities, etymology research, etc While these English teaching exercises prove helpful to many students, they may come up short when working with students who

do not do well with these types of exercises Obviously, how should teachers face such diversity in the classroom? According to Richards and Rodgers, “language is not seen as limited to a „linguistics‟ perspective but encompasses all aspects of communication” (Richards & Rodgers, 2001, p.117) MIT is an excellent tool to enable teachers to plan attractive ways to provide learners with language learning practice The MIT instructional perspective proposes that language learning can be favored by using a variety of learning tasks which call upon diverse intelligences The teacher gives a choice of tasks, not to teach to specific intelligences but to give learners the chance of apprehending information in their preferred way, as well as to promote the development of their other intelligences MIT strives to serve all students by reaching out to their respective strengths (as cited in Ahmed, 2012)

Moreover, the dominant characteristics of Asia learners in general and Vietnamese learners such as impassiveness, shyness and quietness have been recognized (Exley, 2005) Although these features are common for quality of Asian learners, they are influenced by cultural norms, life styles in Asian area In reality, educators and teachers are changing in various aspects to get the better results in methodologies

Given that diversity of learners and learning process are considered, and teachers have every effort to change their methods to find out students‟ strengths and weakness In addition, students who deeply understand MIT will explore themselves and find out the most appropriate methods to help students

Furthermore, the Vietnamese classroom is still “traditional” which tends to treat students as a homogeneous group, with the teacher presenting the same exercise to all students at the same time, and expecting the same answers to be produced within similar time limits Students are expected to absorb the knowledge presented by the teacher with a strong emphasis on the use of language and logical-mathematical analysis In addition, second language learners believe that their language learning

is highly influenced by opportunities to interact with members of the target language community (as cited in Bunts-Anderson, 2004) The large numbers of students who choose to attend educational institutions in countries where the target language is spoken illustrates this belief Therefore, MI should be performed in Vietnamese classroom to reduce limitations of those traditional classes

2.7 The areas of MIT that needs further exploration

MIT offers teachers a way of organizing and categorizing the many instructional strategies and methods for teaching all students (Kornhaber, 2004) Knowing about

MI helps teachers and students understand how they learn best and see that each person has a unique set of strengths and abilities There is no right way to apply the theory; however, with new understandings and applications, multiple intelligences will continue to offer students with opportunities and experiences which match their unique dominant intelligences and therefore help them to be more successful

On the other hand, most previous studies tend to focus on the awareness of teachers and how to develop teaching methods In addition, they also discuss how to apply MIT in developing curriculum, using instructions, improving English proficiency and skills It seems that how this theory can benefit students' learning outside the classroom has not been discussed In this line, I set out to consider how a particular group of students perceives MIT, how they can identify their strengths and

difficulties in their learning process outside the classroom These will form the recommendations for appropriate out-of-classroom activities that may enhance students‟ learning process

2.8 Summary

This chapter has presented some definitions and some key issues related to the research Firstly, it presents the definitions of Multiple Intelligences Theory Secondly, it points out clearly the relationships between MI and English language learning, and MI and out-of-class learning activities Thirdly, some previous studies related to the research are mentioned Next, the most crucial part in this chapter discusses the importance of applying MIT to EFL learners by using out-of-class learning activities in Vietnamese context Finally, it mentions some areas of MIT that need further exploration

CHAPTER 3 - METHODOLOGY 3.1 Introduction

Chapter 3 will present the research methodology employed for this project Six sections will be presented in this chapter, namely research approach, participants, data collections tools, research site, procedures of data collections and data analysis

3.2 Research approach

This research project employed both quantitative and qualitative approaches to collect data in order to combine advantages and to limit disadvantages of the two approaches However, the quantitative approach played an important role by means

of the questionnaires delivered to first year EFL students at HUCFL in the academic year 2012- 2013 In addition, the qualitative approach was also applied by means of in-depth interviews to gather specific ideas, different opinions, or subjective comments from students It was expected that a mixed method - the combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches would support the research with useful and practical ideas As Spratt, Walker and Robinson (2004) point out:

Mixed method studies attempt to bring together methods from different paradigms In a mixed method study, you might conduct a series of semi-structured interviews with a small number of students and also carry out a large-scale survey

(Spratt, Walker & Robinson, 2004, p.7)

3.3 Research site

This research was carried out at Hue University College of Foreign Languages This research site was chosen for these reasons Firstly, students at HUCFL tended to be active and responsible for their learning process in credit-based context because of the changing of role of teachers and students in EFL classroom Secondly, the site was convenient for the researcher to gain access

3.4 Participants

The participants of this study consisted of 100 first year English major students who are studying at HUCFL

- 100 first year English majors were selected randomly to answer the questionnaires

- Within that 100 students, the researcher invited 10 students, who had score from 3.2 and higher in the first semester of the school year 2012-2013 or who were recommended as active students by their teachers, to have an in-depth interview

These students were chosen because they were the main source that the study focused on Furthermore, they had a certain time to adapt to the new environment and utilize their own learning methods In the reality, after completing one semester, they could realize clearly their weak points, strong points, and their difficulties in self-studying This time might considerably influence on their perceptions, motivations towards learning English Therefore, the researcher would like to focus

on specific participants – first year English majors – who have particular needs and character, in order to get objective and accurate results and suggest some feasible solutions In addition, 10 students, who were qualified, would help the researcher analyze further the differences of perceptions and out-of-classroom activities carried out Although this topic can implement with various participants such as sophomores, juniors, and seniors or non-English major students, the researcher understands that it is difficult to find common character from different participants and discover “master-key” for all problems

3.5.Data collection tools

The research was mainly based on the mixed method Therefore, the data were obtained through the analysis of the questionnaire and the interview

3.5.1 The questionnaires

The questionnaire for students consisted of a short explanation about the purpose of the research and 4 parts Part 1 aimed to collect the basic background information of the participants such as gender, class, and name (optional) Part 2 consisted of 8 questions which were designed to evaluate students‟ perceptions on MIT Part 3

their language learning at the present Besides, part 4 aimed to explore the difficulties the students would meet in reality, and effectiveness of methods they are applying The set of questions consisted of closed-ended and open-ended questions

to ensure the subjective and objective of the questionnaires and takes advantages the participants‟ different opinions (See Appendix 1)

The questionnaires were designed in a way that could help me collect students‟ opinions in a convenient way Because of the limited time and condition I was not able to get in contact directly with every student, this tool had helped me get their ideas collectively and conveniently The questionnaire was designed to investigate the following issues: perceptions of MIT of first year English majors, out-of-classroom activities that students do to foster their MI at present, necessaries of applying MIT, and difficulties faced by first year English majors in recognizing and fostering their MI

3.5.2 The interview

Additionally, to get more worthy and specific opinions, the interview was implemented, which aimed to discuss deeply this issue with the 10 students, who had score from 3.2 and higher in the first semester or who were the most active students recommended by their teachers An interview focused on the method that each student used to achieve success Besides, the researcher would like to find out the difficulties and solutions in applying out-of-classroom activities to foster their multiple intelligences The interview checklist of questions was used to confirm the validity of information collected from the questionnaires (See Appendix 2)

3.6 Procedure of data collection

The procedure of data collection was as the following steps

- Step 1: The questionnaires and the questions of interview were designed for first year English majors

- Step 2: The questionnaires were distributed to 100 first year English majors

at HUCFL during break-intervals at school

- Step 3: The in-depth interviews lasted from 15 to 20 minutes in arranged meetings

- Step 4: After collecting all the data, the researcher started to check the reliability statistics (See Appendix 5) and analyze them thanks to SPSS Statistics 17.0, and then showed the results in tables, figures, and percentages The interview also handled with qualitative support

- Step 5: The data will be presented clearly in chapter 4 in tables, figures, and percentages with the necessary explanations and comments

3.7 Data analysis

The data obtained from the questionnaire was mainly analyzed with the help of quantitative approach, and the interview was based on qualitative approach Particularly, after collecting all the data, the researcher used SPSS Statistics 17.0 to process the quantitative data The results were presented in tables, percentages and figures that helped the reader understand the data clearly As the information taken from the interview, main theme was analyzed and trend identified

3.8 Summary

To sum up, this chapter describes the details of research methodology Firstly, it showed the mixed method - the combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches – was used in this thesis Secondly, it explained how to select the participants of the study, included 100 first year English majors at HUCFL Thirdly, questionnaire and interview were presented as two main data collection tools Next, the research site and the procedure of data collection were also mentioned in details Finally, to make the results more reliable, the researcher used SPSS 17.0 in data analysis

CHAPTER 4 - FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS

4.1 Introduction

Chapter 4 presents the results analyzed the data from questionnaires and the interviews conducted with the students at HUCFL This chapter will be divided into three sections The first section will focus on students‟ perceptions of the Multiple Intelligences Theory The second section will discuss the realities and frequency of using MI out-of-class activities The third section will report on the difficulties faced by first year students in when recognizing and fostering their MI Especially, the data will be grouped into sub-topics for the sake of convenient and logical analysis

4.2 Findings and discussions

4 2 1 tudents’ perceptions about ultiple Intelligences Theory

In this session, the students‟ perceptions about MIT will be presented through 8 tables with the particular percentage To ensure the reliability of this part, the researcher will analyze the data of the opposite ideas between Gardner‟s MIT and the traditional concepts of intelligence After that, the researcher will examine the data of the MI‟s view in pedagogy

4 2 1 1 tudents’ perceptions about the opposite ideas between Gardner’s IT and the traditional concepts of intelligence

Table 4 1: “Human beings have all of the intelligences, but each person has a unique combination or profile ” (Detterman, as cited in Chau, 2007, p.22)

Frequency Percent Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Table 4 2: “People are born with a fixed amount of intelligence ” (Detterman, as cited in Chau, 2007, p.22)

Frequency Percent Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

On the other hand, table 4.2 presents the students‟ views towards one of the traditional views of intelligences “People are born with a fixed amount of intelligence” (Detterman, as cited in Chau, 2007, p.22) which conflicts to MIT This table shows that eight percent of the students strongly agreed with this point of view, and 35% of them agreed with the idea In spite of this, 28 % of the students and six percent of them in turn disagreed and strongly disagreed with the traditional view of intelligence Besides, nearly one fourth of the surveyed students, accounting for 23%, kept the neutral mind

In brief, 52% of the students thought that human beings had all of the intelligences

However, 43% of the students did not agree with that view, they believed that people were born with a fixed amount of intelligence The differential percentage and the neutrals indicate that some students are still undecided about these issues

Table 4 3: “Virtually, everyone has the capacity to develop all eight intelligences to a reasonably high level of performance if given the appropriate encouragement enrichment and instruction ” (Armstrong, 2009)

Frequency Percent Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Table 4.3 demonstrates that most of students (53% and 25%) agreed and strongly

agreed that intelligences could be developed, but 12% and one percent of the surveyed students respectively disagreed and strongly agreed with Armstrong‟s idea that everyone had the capacity to develop all eight intelligences to a reasonably high

level of performance if given the appropriate encouragement, enrichment, and instruction Besides, nine percent of the surveyed students had neutral view

Table 4.4: “Intelligence level does not change over a lifetime ” (Detterman, as

cited in Chau, 2007, p.22)

Percent Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

The similar results were also shown in the table 4.4 as 55% of the students and 26%

of the rest disagreed and strongly disagreed with the traditional view of intelligences – intelligence level did not change over the lifetime Only 15% of them had no idea, and the others agreed with this point of view

Basically, about 80% of the first year English majors subscribed to the view intelligences can be developed in the actively encouraging conditions For that reason, improving intelligences is a feasible scheme and an optimistic signal for studying this research Thinking that students‟ intelligences could be developed was

a very important motivation that encouraged students to find good ways for learning

Table 4 5: “There are many different ways to be intelligent There is no standard set of attributes that one must have in order to be considered intelligent ” (Armstrong, 2009)

Frequency Percent Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

14% strongly agreed that there are many different ways to be intelligent and there

is no standard set of attributes that one must have in order to be considered intelligent Moreover, 60% of the students also agreed with this opinion These figures point out the elevated support of the surveyed students to evaluate human‟s intelligences in many aspects Armstrong (2009), when proposing this key point also provides an example showing that a person may not be able to read, yet be highly linguistic because he can tell a terrific story or has a large oral vocabulary However, 20% of them still had no idea, and five percent of them disagreed and only one percent strongly disagreed with this

Table 4 6: “Intelligence consists of ability in logic and language ” (Detterman,

as cited in Chau, 2007, p.22)

Frequency Percent Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

to decide to agree or not

Ultimately, the students expressed their agreements with two conflicting views of MIT and the traditional view of intelligence noticeably 74% of the students approved the idea there are many ways to be considered intelligent In addition, the concept of the traditional view, which is “intelligence consists of ability in logic and language”, was accepted by 66 students, accounting for 66%

4 2 1 2 tudents’ perceptions about the I’s view in pedagogy

Table 4 7: “Intelligences usually interact together in complex ways ”

(Armstrong, 2009)

Frequency Percent Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Table 4 8: “ ultiple Intelligences pedagogy implies that teachers teach and assess differently based on individual intellectual strengths and weaknesses ”

(Detterman, as cited in Chau, 2007, p.22)

Frequency Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

“Multiple Intelligences pedagogy implies that teachers teach and assess differently based on individual intellectual strengths and weaknesses” (Detterman, as cited in

Chau, 2007, p.22) Nevertheless, 36% of the students again kept the neutral idea;

and the numbers of students disagreed and strongly disagreed with this opinion are very low, only seven percent and six percent

In addition, to confirm the “individual intellectual strengths and weaknesses” of each student in learning a foreign language, the researcher wanted to know whether the students thought all of them had the same way in learning English 100% of the interviewees (10 students) said “No” with the question: “Do you think all students learn English in the same way?” Their reasons are very various such as “different learning styles” (6 students), “different life styles including attitudes, personalities, and hobbies” (2 students), “different levels” (1 student), and “different strong and weak points” (1 student) Therefore, they thought that each student should have