Luận văn differentiation and catering for differing intelligences of students in the classroom an experimental research at a primary school in ha noi

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY GF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES LƯU THỊ MAI THANH DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION FOR STUDENTS: OF DIF

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY GF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

LƯU THỊ MAI THANH

DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION FOR STUDENTS:

OF DIFFERENT INTELLIGENCES— AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY

AT A PRIMARY SCHOOL IN HANOL (Phương pháp dạy học phân loại học sinh theo những kiểu trí thông mình khác nhau — một nghiền cửu thực nghiệm tại một

trường tiểu học ở Hà Nội.}

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01

HANOI, 2018

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY GF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

LƯU THỊ MAI THANH

DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION FOR STUDENTS:

OF DIFFERENT INTELLIGENCES— AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY

AT A PRIMARY SCHOOL IN HANOL (Phương pháp dạy học phân loại học sinh theo những kiểu trí thông mình khác nhau — một nghiền cửu thực nghiệm tại một

trường tiểu học ở Hà Nội.}

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01

Supervisor: Dr Nguyén Thi Ngoc Quynh,

HANOI, 2018

TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION

2.1.2, A description of the leachers eeeeeeeerirriirrrrriee 19

3.3 The result 0f ÌNferVi€ĐS +seeerrrrerrrirrrrerre ~-38

3.4 Implications

PART HI: CONCLUSION nen oie BE

Lass"

I certify that the thesis is the result of my own research and the

substance of the thesis has not, wholly or in part, been submitted for a degree

to any other university or institution Where other sources of information have

been used, they have been indentified and acknowledged

Hanoi, December 2018 (Femawsd:tngehunwdsuea `

Luu Thi Mai Thanh

ACKNOWLEDGEMEXTS

First and foremast, T would like to send my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Nenyen Thi Ngoc Quynh for her helpful suggestions, comments and continuous support of my study T am also gratefial to her for reading my manuscript and helping me make necessary changes,

I would also like to all of the members in Post-graduate Department of

‘University of Languages and futernatioual Studies (Hanoi) for designing a very useful eyllabus of my Master program,

Finally, L would ike lo express my gralilude wo my parents and my husband for (heir continuous support and encouragement throughout my

study time

Henwi, December 2018

Law Thi Mai Thanh

ABSTRACT

According ta Rilis (1985) second language leamers are different in speed and results So the purpose of this study was to find the best way for teachers to cater much better for every single student The research investigated Gardner’s “Theory of multiple intelligences” in a sample of forty cight students and they were all in grade four at a primary school in Hanoi This research is an experimental study with the target group The instruments included mulhple inlelhgence survey Cor, typical activities for different muluple intelligence types, one pre-Lest and one post-test; interviews and observations ‘the one experiment group design was used wilh subjecl

‘Meamwhile, percentage and index were used to analyze the collected data

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

Mi: Malliple intelligence(s}

SPSS: Statistical Package for Social Science

iti

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Figure 1 Multiple intelligence domains by McKenzie (2002, p 156)

‘Table 1 Rehability Statistics of Multiple Intelligence survey

Figure 2 Distributions of Multiple Intelligences

Figure 3 Mean scores of MI preferences

Figure 4 Mean seares and Standard deviatinn of MI frequencics

Figure 5: Paired samples statistics of Class 1

Figure 6 A score comparison between pre-test and post-test of Class 1 Figure 7 Paired samples statistics of Class 2

Figure 8, A score comparison between pre-test and post-test of Class 2

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PART 1: INTRODUCTION

‘This chapter intracnces the ressarch area and outlines the background and rationale for the present study Il also provides @ chapter by chapler overview of the thesis

1 Rationale

Differentiation scems to have become a very familiar term that many leachers have ficard However, il can be difficull (o define, The concept comes from the idea that thete are a large mumber of children with mixed abilities in classes, and those activities are needed to be varied based on student's levels af understanding, readiness to lear, leaming needs, or inlerest

According to BBC active (2010}, differentiation is defined by the Training and Development Agency (TDA) for schools as “the process by which differences between leamers are accommodated so that all students in a group have the est possible chance of teaming” In recent decades, it has been considered as a key skill for any teacher, especially those wilh mixed ability classes

However, according to Stradling and Saunders (1993), differeutiation is

a pedagogical, rather than an arganizational approach Tifferentiation shapes

an approach to teaching in which teachers proactively modify curricula, teaching methods, resources, fearing activities, and student products This is done to address the diverse needs of individual students and small gronps of students, and to maximize the learning opportunity for each student in a

classroom (Beme, 1999: Tomtinson, 1999)

When teachers follow differentiated instruction, they become instructors not speakers in the class ‘Therefore they give their students a higher chance of practicing and sharing their ideas in every lesson Thus,

there is a close relationship between the differentiation approach and the leaner centred class theory

Jean Jacque Rousseau (1712-1778), a Swiss born French theorist confirmed

thal Leachers should begin an instruction by considering what (he leaner is capable of learning, and what he is interested in leaning ‘The leamet-centred approach is therefore strongly advocated, based on the conviction that all are capable of learning and enhancing self-development to their highest potential There exists a very popular saying: “Lverybody is a genius But if you indye a fish by ils ability to climb a iree, if will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” This saying is frequently misquoted as Albert Einstein, however, believe it isa great quote In fact, there are 2 Int of teachers who

Mixed ability classes arc widespread among schools, cven though studeuts in Vietnam are tested, and organised and prouped on academic

ability However, this is based oa their first language, rather than ia English

‘Therefore, a wide range of shilifies is a common occurrence in many classrooms, and onc thal many (cachors arc struggling with io our own

staffroom This has enhanced my own reflections: “How do I meet the needs

of all my students?” Teachers are aware, more than ever, that a one-size-fits-

all lesson plan will not meet the needs of all their learners

In the papor named “caching English in Primary Schools in Victram” (2007), Dr Nguyen Mai Hoa introduced Moon's (2005) finding of the teaching methodolo

schools the teaching methods are “adult-oriented” In my experience, one of

Moon (2005) pointed out that in many primary

the most dominant features of teaching methodology used in ESL is repetition This is done through drills and whole class choralling This is meant to help children to learn vocabulary and grammar word perfectly And this conlext is not fair to all of students In fact, students come with varied backgrounds, home life, experiences, motivation and sbilities, not to mention different learning styles While teachers are aware of this phenomenen, they

are often unsire how to deal with it (Tobin & McInnes, 2008) If educational

practice is to progress teachers need to find a way to deal with diversity and the needs of individuals, while teaching a group of students (Visser, 1998)

In my personal experience, the greatest satisfaction that an instructor can have each time students come ont of their class is that they pain an understanding of the lesson and an appreciation of their (cacher, Llowever, in

a classroom with many students of different levels of knowledge, skill and attitude, this is quite difficult How do we ensure that we are applying 2 shittable teaching strategy and a proper assessment methed to detect learning?

To answer this question, we should build an ideal learning environment where students are cagtr lo fcarn and express Ihcir ideas confidently

Thave taught Englist to primary students at a big school in Hanoi for nine years This is a private school where students have seven English classes per week During this time, T worked very hard and tried my best ta update useful [caching methods I have noticed a wemtondous difference in ability in each of groups of students This diversity, added to the amount of exposure to English via multimedia outlets, interests, and leaming styles, all play a cole in the vast ability gap in Rnglish among students T quickly came to realize that it

is better (o have a varicly of ext levels available, as well as assigruncnts

As a way to differentiated instruction, a teacher may implement the theory of multiple intelligences (MI) The theory was developed by Howard Gardner ia the early 1980s and states that each person has several distinct

intelligences correlating with a specific pat of the brain, Utilizing the MI theory, teachers can organize leamiag activities to be relevant each of the intelligences in their classrooms This means that sindents will have targeted Jeammg cxpcricaces, resulting in higher levels of achicvement The theory of

MI recommended that teaching strategies for a group of children may not be suitable for another group

2 Objectives

This rescarch presents the clfecl of a new teaching stralegy

“Differentiated instruction for students of different intelligences” with the

hope of caring for every student in a class So it will hefp tenchers o organize

class activities in a more effective way and improve the present situation by

unleashing students’ sleeping potentials This experimental study also gives a meaningful answer to the question “Mow do T meer the needs of all my studeats?* The objective totally matches one of the prrposes of teaching

English as an clective subject in primary schools: “Ruilding positive attimdes

to English, and better understanding and love for Vietnamese through leaning English, Furthermore, students’ intelligence, personality, and leaning method will have also heen gradually formed’ (Ministry of Education and Training, 2003),

‘The research aims to build wp morivations for the students in their leatning progress So that a variety of activities designed for different groups will be organized in every Lesson

All of the students whe took part in the study can be informed about what their dominant intelligence(s) are sv that they can adjust their learning

strategies (o get improvement Hence, this research one more time confirms

the statement: “Everybody is a gemins.”

3

jpcts

The research was conducted on two Grade 4 classes in a primary school in

Ha Noi, ‘The participants were an English teacher who had more than nine

4

years of teaching experience and bwenty four students from Class 1, twenty

rybody up 4” (second edilion) published by Oxford University Press (2016) was used as the textbook

‘The (eacher first had the students do a multiple intelligence survey (o identify their intelligence types, and then designed lesson plans which

inchided different activities for different groups of students to cater their nocds effectively A pre test and post, test will alsa be given to campare the sludenls” performances of these two classes

4 Research questions

In order to find out the impact of multiple intelligence theory on student's achievement, this study was designed to answer two questions:

a What are students’ types of intelligences?

b To whal extent does the differentiated lessons based on the application of the MI theory lead to better learning by the students?

5 Methodology

The sey consists of thrac phases The first phase focuses on MT survey and answers Research question 1 The second phase mainly carries out differentiated lessons, And in the third phase, the research aims to judge students’ achievement and analyze data This is an experimental study with the use of the following, instruments:

« Acmubtiple intelligence survey for students

© A pre-test and post-test

«Interviews for students

«Differentiated activities based on the theory of multiple intelligences

A printed MI survey created by Laura Candler (2011) was used in the study because most other MI surveys are too long or complex for kids It was then translated inta Vietnamese so that students could read and answer easily

‘The teacher delivered the survey during the teaching time and had the

studeuts finish it in one period The ext day, gathered data were analyzed with the software named Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) to ensure the validity and reliability

In this case, Class 1 was the experimental group, and Class 2 was the control group A list of varied activities was designed in every lesson to enhance the potential of each child After analyzing data, interviewing students and observing lessons, the researcher made any adjustments to the instruments and the melhod of caching if necded, A pre-lest and post-test were also conducted to find out how the students in each of the group had made improvements in English subject

6 Organization of the thesis

This study covers three main parts as follows:

Part 1: Introduction

This part consists of rationale, objectives, scope, research questions, methodolosy and organization of the sindy

Part 2: Development

Chapler 1 covers the (hcorclical background relevant to Lhe study

Chapter 2 presents experimental research and also describes the current situation of teaching and learning at this school, subjects of the study, data collection instruments, data collection and analysis procedures

Chaplœ 3 shows the analyzed findings and answers for two rescarch questions

Part 3: Conclusion

‘This part is considered as a brief summary of the main content including

in the study 11 is also a rccapilulaiơn of findings, and it discusses on some limitations of the study as well as gives out suggestions for further study

PART 2: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

‘This chapter aims to establish the significance of the general field of the sindy, then identify a place where a new contribution of MI could be

‘made The bulk of the chapter was on critically evaluating the different views

of

research questions,

11 Intelligence

LLL Different views of intelligence

‘The term “intelligence” has many definitions, laking inlo account is

intelligence” so as to identify the appropriate approach to investigate the

complexity The notion of general intelligence (Spearman, 1927) had long

been

ly accepted by psychalogists Historically, for a long time, intelligence quotient (1Q) test had been used as an effective instrument to identify the intellectual ability of someone The abbreviation “IQ” was invented by the psychologist William Stem in 1912 Many different kinds of

1 tests included varied items Some test items are visual, while some are verbal In 1904, Charles Spearman made the fust formal factor analysis correlations among the less, He named “g” [or “general factor”, and il was an important tool of an 1Q test However, Howard Gardner noted in his book

“Drame of mind” thal the 1Q teste fad prediclive power for success in schooling but little predictive power when it came ontside the school context Recase of the important role in language Ieaming, a lot of researchers have aiven different definitions for intelligence

According to Wagner and Stemberg (1985), there were three conceptions of intelligence These views were reviewed by Chastain in a book

wiitten in 1988, Firstly, from the psychometric view, intelligence is defined as

mental capacity, and prepared tests can be used carefully to measure thet mental ability After measuring, the lest resulls can help in ranking leamers according to their abili

ý Secondly, from the Piagetian view, he believes thal intelligence is composed of stages af development hascd on maturity, experiences in the physical caviranment, and it is the product of maividnal sclf-regulator processes ‘Thirdly, the information processing view points out that intelligence comes fram the way the brain represents and processes information

Ih Moaafian’s point of view (2008, cited in Hemandez et al., 2010), intelligence is a person's ability to reason, plan, solve problems, understand complex ideas, learn quickfy and leam from experience In shott, intelligence

in this view is considered as a very general mental capacity, il is like some of personal competences in both schooling and non-schooling environments Iillis (2008) confirmed that there was a close link among mtelligence,

‘working memory and language aptimdc With this view, Lillis also mencinned cognitive capacitics and the difference between their concepmalizations and terms (p.649)

Howard Gardner (2011, p.63) appreciated that his review of earlier studies of intelligence suggested him the existence of different intellectual strengths/competences Gardner (1983,p.81) defined “intelligence asthe abilily Lo sulve problem or to creale fashion producis that are valued wilhin one or more cultural sellings” This definition showed the difference between his idea, and the traditional psvcholagy view of intelligence urthermore, Gardner (1993) described intelligence as a bio-psychological potontial that could be changed by motivarional, experience and culmre factors And in the book entitled “Multiple intelligences around the world” ¢(p.323), he pointed

out that intelligence was “a set of skills of problem-solving” helping a person

deal with his? her problems or difficulties Also, intelligence was “the potential for finding or creating problems — thereby laying the groundwork [or the acquisition of new knowledge”

Tooking back at the above definitions of intelligence, T find thar

Spearman, Piaget, Maaafian and Tillis just fimited intelligence in one or some

of the agpects and “intelligence” is uncountable Meanwhile, Gardnor made the term “intelligence” hecame a countable noun, and he haz professed to be quite willing to refer to his eight intelligences as talents or abilities He

claimed that there was no hierarchy of ability, and Linguistic and Logical’ Mathematical abilities are not more important than any of the other

“intelligences” in real-life

11.2 TRe theory of Multiple Intelligences

L221 Dypes of muluiple inteltigences

‘The theary of multiple inreltigences was coined by Howard Gardner in his

baok named “Frames of mind” (1983) Gardner uses the term MI te explain

the different ways in which people are intelligent Ie proposes that learners have seven types of intelligences Bach of ns has these intelligences, but there are come intelligences that are much more dominant than others This view an intelligence differs from the before views which based on only two intelligences: Linguistic and Mathematical intelligence The theory helps Leachers comprefiend better how individual strengths can be understood

Gardner (1983) identified seven calegories of skills and abilities which he considered as individual intelligences: linguistic, Ingical-mathematical,

spatial, bodily-kinesthetie, musical, interpersonal and intrapersonal Tater he added two more types: naturalistic intelligence (1995) and existential intelligence (1999) Educational researchers has made further studies on the hypothesis of existential intelligence for years, so that the teacher did not put

this type in practice Gardner (1993) claims that all intelligences are needed in society, and seven Lypes of intelligences could be used together in a learning environment 1 Lolally appreciates this idea and plans to give students chances

of using their pecferred inrelligences in their classroom

‘The theory of MI had been proposed, discussed and developed in four baoks: “lames of mind: The theory af multiple intelligences” (1983),

“Multiple intelligences” (1993), “Intelligence reframed: Multiple intelligences for the 21" century” (1999) and “Multiple intelligences around the world” (2009) Parviz Mattoon exploited these ideas in the series and made very clear descriptions for all intelligences in an article named “The Realization of Gardnet’s Multiple Intelligences (MI) Theory in Second Language Acquisition (SLA)" (pp 1235-1236) Furlhermore, his review tamed to be very helpful for language instructors since il provided some suggested activities which were suitable for studonts of specific rypes of intelligences What follows is a brief introduction of intelligence types sharrca from Maftoon’s article

a Verbal! Linguistic Intelligence

A person who owns this intelligence has the ability of applying linguistic rules effectively He or she is very sensitive to language and able to deal with problems by using language Gardner (1993) pointed out that poets, linguists, language teachers, Jawyers are the one who possess verbal! linguistic intelligence A student who has this type of intelligence might be eager to do the following activitics:

+ Visiting libraries ar bankstorcs

+ Writing diaries

- Playing word games

= Memerizing songs, poems or stories

lô

b Logical’ Mathematical intelligence

According to Gardner (1993), students with logicalmathematical intelligence are keen on the processes of categorization, classification, inference, generalization, calculation and hypathesis testing They arc good at

đaing comprchension/ written fangnage tests Sugacsted activitics for these students might be:

= Watching videos about scicnec

- Finding out information about famous scientists” inventions

= Visiting science musenms

= Arranging things into story line or time line

c Visual/ Spatial intelligence

This type of intelligence refers to the sensitivity to colors, shapes, lines, Tonmns and space A person who has spatial intelligence is good al visualizing models in detail 1c or she is interested én the following things while learning,

a language:

= Working on puzzles with words

= Making a collage by cutting out images from newspapers magazines Making films

‘Watching advertisements/films! videos

4 Musical intelligence

Musical intelligence can help studeuts to adjusl accent! and pitch within language learning They like to listen (o music or sing and chant If students have this type of intelligence, they sccm to foons on doing the following

e Bodily/ Kinestheic intelligenee:

Bodily! Kinesthelic intelligence is the abilily of using body for expression, It also refers wo the use of body in dealing with problems or making products People having this type of intelligence might choose jobs sich as athletes, dancers, mechanics, and physical ceucation teachers A student with bodily intelligences likes daing the following activitics

+ Tavolving in sports,

= Signing up for drama or dancing class

- Miming or acting out a story

- Gardening, cooking, learning car mechanics

£ Interpersonal intelligence

This type of intelligence expresses the abilily lo gelling on well with numan relationships People that possess inlerpersonal intelligence are

teachers, salesperson, or politicians In ‘Tecle’s (2000) view, interpersonal

intelligence mdividnals are very friendly and cager ta participate in social activities They prefer daing the following activitics

- Interacting with other people

- _ Being a people watcher and looking for chances of practicing English

- Taking part in some clubs, parties and talking to people that they do

ot know well

g Intrapersonal intelligence:

Intrapersonal intelligence inakes a person independent, appreciate time alone and be self-reflective 1c or she can dofine interests, fcars and abilitics Sclf-monitoring becomes the most dominant characteristics of these individuals Students who own this type of intelligence may like doing the following activities:

= Thinking their goals and their hopes for the future

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+ Using a diary to write about their thoughts and feelings,

+ Making « lis! of strengths and weaknesses of their language learning

h Naturalistic intelligence

Gardner added this intelligence as the cighth one after the first publication

af the madel in 1995 Gardner (1999) pointed out that a naturalist is the one who

is good at identifying and classifying abjcets Peaple whe own this type of intelligence ahvays focus an “observing, classifying and understanding the parts

of the physical environment as well as showing understanding of natural phenomena” (Parviz Maftoon, p.1236) A student who has naturalistic intelligence is usually concemed with the following activities:

~ Discovering environment, animals, nature and plants

+ Talking about favourile peis or natural places to classnales, friends,

parents

With the hape of cater for all of students’ needs, it is imparrant when

looking at haw students possess different kinds of minds, and therefore learn,

remember, perform, and understand in different ways Gardner argued that students would be better served if teachers could teach in a number of ways and leaming could be assessed through a variety of means In term of teaching, this theory makes wonderful changes for teachers’ method A teacher-centred class really shifted to a leamer-centred class by various aclivilies in the lessons The researcher highly apprecisles lists of suggested

for students given by Howard Gardner The theory of Multiple

Intelligences (MI) brings a magic daar for differentiated instruction, and tt is

aclivili

also the reasan why this paper mentioned the ferm M1

1.1.2.2 Three domains of multiple intelligences

McKenzie (2002) categorized three domains of muttiple intelligences:

the analytical, introspective and interactive domains (Figure 1)

13

Figure 1 Multiple intelligence domains by McKenzie (2002, p 156) McKenzie grouped logical, musical and naturalist intelligence into the

analytic domain because they include the processes of analyzing and

incorporating data into existing schema The interactive domain consists of linguistic, interpersonal and kinesthetic intelligence because the students who

have these types of intelligences typically invite and encourage interaction to achieve understanding Intrapersonal, existential and visual intelligence belong to the introspective domain because they need a looking inward

leamers, an emotive connection to their own experiences and beliefs to make

sense of new leaming

These domains show the relationship among some types of

intelligences and teachers can depend on this classification to plan lessons that address all of the intelligences in a class The domain also might help teachers to minimize the number of groups in a lesson

1.1.3 Critiques of Multiple Intelligence Theory

Gardner (2011, p.293) discussed on a critique of the MI theory by

himself He pointed out that there were still numerous areas of human

psychology that the theory could not encompass Before that, some other researchers have concentrated on the problems with the theory

4

Carroll (1985) thought that Garduer might have neglected the area of

Steinberg (1988) argues that Gardner is not supporting the existing definitions of “intelligence”, and in fact he uses the word “intelligence” with

the same meaning of “ability” So that he calls MI theory as “a theory of

talents, not one of intelligences”

However, the theory is also received support from many researchers and educators MI theory is evaluated ils resulls by ils applications in educational scitings (Chen, 2004) For instance, Project Zero at Uarvard University studied forty-one schools that applied MI theory to their curriculum for three school years The results showed improvements in

students’ test scores and discipline, parents’ involvement Haley (2004) also

appreciated the effectiveness when applying MI theory to second language

and foreign language leaning and teaching,

1.2 Differentiated instiuction

12.4, Mixed abitity classrooms

Mixed ability classrooms are widespread among schools This is a common factor thar teachers have been siniggling with, and asking the question that triggered this study: “How do T meet the needs of all my students?” Teachers arc aware, more than ever, that.a onc-sizc-fits-all lesson

plan will not meet the needs of all their leamers Students come with varied

backgrounds, home life, experiences, motivation and abilities, not to mention

1s

different learning styles While teachers are zware of this phenomenon, they are often unsure how Lo deal with it (Tobin & McInnes, 2008)

The greatest satisfaction that a lecturer can have is that each lime sfudents come out of class they strongly impress on thcir lesson and appeceiate the Icoturer as the best onc they have got in their life [Towever, in

a classroom with many students of difforcnt knowledge backgrounds, skills and attimde, this value is quite ifficntt ta got Tlow do teachers ensure thar they are applying suitable teaching strategies and a proper assessment method

to detect leaning? To answer this question, educators should build an ideal leaming environment where students are eager to lear and express their ideas confidently

12.2 Differentiated instruction

Differentiated instruction and assessment (also known as differentiated leammg or, in cdncatisn, simply, differentiation) 1s a famework or philosophy for cffective teaching that involves providmg different students with different avernics to learning (often in the same classroom) in terms of acquiring content, processing, constructing, or making sense of ideas, and developing teaching materials and assessment measures so that all students within a classroom can leam effectively, regardless of differences in ability

(Tomlinson, Carol 2001)

Students vary in cullure, socioeconomic stalus, Íanguage, gender, mblivation, ability/ disability, personal interests and more, and Weachers must be aware of these varieties as they plan curriculum By considering varied learning needs, teachers can develop personalized mstruction so that all children in the classroom can learn cffectively (Tomlinson and Carol Ann, 1999)

Theisen (2002) also pointed out that our students come to us with

varied abilities, diverse languages and cultural backgrounds, different

16

interests and learning profiles Students need to have variety, choices, challenges, and opportunities (o demonstrate their capabilities and help them

reach their highest potentials Differentiated instruction can play a vilal role in students” achievement and students’ satisfaction in learning and offers a patenrial taal ta dealing with a mixed ability classroom,

‘Visser (1998) emphasizes the importance of teachers nnderstanding the

significance of differentiation since rescarch confirms that differentiation allows all students to achieve at their maximum ability Therefore if teachers understand the concept of differentiation they would have a simpler time implementing it into their lessons and be able (o help students meet the requirements of the National Curriculum (Langley, 2015)

In faci, implementing differentiation can help leachers build up a leamer-centred class However, there is liltle research related to differentiated instmnction, so this is the rcason why T chose this topic to focus on teachers’

perceptions of differentiated instruction

13 Experimental research

Experimental research is carried out to explore the strength of the

relationship between variables

“Ary et al (1979) defined that “experimental design refers to the conceptual framework within which experimental is conducted’ And on this view, the experimental study concludes the following functions:

Establish the conditions for the comparisons required by hypotheses of

the experiment research

Tinables the experimenter throngh statistical analysis of the data to

make a meaningful interpretation af the results of the study

The two groups were given a pre-test on the dependent variable After

treatment, both groups were measured on the dependent variable

17

The average difference between the pre-test and post-test was found for each group

conducted ta carry out their functions

Tn conclusion, the chapter provides the readers different, views of

“intelligence”, but it emphasizes on the theory of MI and appreciates to build

a wonderful class with differentiated instruction to cater for all of students,

18

CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

‘This chapter explains the setting of the study and describes all of the instruments used to explore and evaluate the effectiveness of the method Tt also points ont the process of the smudy

2.1 The setting of the study:

3.1.1.1 description of the students and their learning program:

The study was conducted at a primary school ia Hanoi The students of this school slart learning English as one of the inain subjects since they are in Grade 1 classes Before going (o primary school, mos of them know the Englist alpbabel and many of them can understand some common topics such

as weather, toys, numbers, colowrs However, many students just starr Ieaming English when they are in grade one, and Finglish is considered as a strange subject to them Resides, they also have one Maths and one Science lesson pet week with the textbooks which are imported from Oxford University Press It is the fact that if students are not interested in leaning English, this subject will be a stress for them because there are many new: words and structures requires then to remember and apply Students in one class are in different levels and interests, so a similar way of Leaching or leammg seems to be not appropriate because il cannot molivale all of the sludeuls

2.1.2 A description of the teachers:

At this primary school, Rnglish teachers have chances of taking part in yearly training programs which focus on the methodology and knowledge All

af the teachers have their bachelor degrees and got the teaching expericnes ar least seven years There are six foreign teachers in Euglish Staff, and twenty

Victnamcsc tcachcrs can cơrnmumicalc with them flucnily and share lhc

19

teaching methods together The teachers have to teach English, Math and

Science in English, and they prepare carefully to make meaningful lessons

Since most of them are enthusiastic teachers, they have been trying to find

various ways to update new trends of teaching and leaming in the world and

make those trends really proper in their classes

2.2 Research methodology:

‘The study was conducted into three phases Jn the first phase, the

students did a pre-test to place students’ level They had to take part in an MI

survey to identify their most dominant intelligences Different activities were

designed for students of different intelligence groups based on suggested

ideas presented by Gardner (1993) This phase aimed to answer the first

research question as well as made a firm prerequisite to continue the next

phases and answered Research question two Jn the second phase, interviews

and observations were carried out to check if the students were in their

preferred intelligences or not Additionally, these instruments helped the

author tests the effectiveness of her method to make any changes if necessary

In the last phase, the researcher used a post-test, interviews, and then

analyzed the statistics collected during the three phases

2.2.1 Participants:

‘The participants were all in grade four of a primary school in Nam Tu

Liem District, Hanoi The study investigated multiple intelligences on twenty

four students of Class 1 (experimental group) Twenty four students of Class

2 were chosen as the control group The number of male and female students

were equal These two classes were chosen as the participants of the study

since the students were in the same grade and the pre-test with different

scores shows that they are mixed ability classes

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ad answered Research question three

Em đã thên pÌần mô là này gay cu ph

kt vie “the frat phase”

The MI survey consisted of twenty - four items (See Appendix 1) Each type of intelligences was evaluated from three descriptive statements To help students give their correct responses, the author used Likert-scale ranging from zero (Not at all) to five (Very true) The highest possible score for a column was fifleen Scores above Len represented sirengitis The students had

to count Lolal scores for every lypes of intelligences, then the teacher checked

the cesnlts twice Appendix 2 shows the survey scores of 24 students in Class

1 [based on this table to identify the most and second demmant intelligence types of every students,

The reliability of the survey was checked carefully before performing the main study The teacher gave the students of Class one a multiple

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intelligence survey and bad them do the survey in the class After collecting the sudents” survey scores, Stalistical Package for Social Science (SPSS)

softwear 20 was used lo check the validily of the survey Table one below: presents the result of the analysis

Table 7 Reltabiltty Statistics of Multiple tnteliigences survey

After identifying students’ types of intelligences, the teacher had the

students in two classes do pre-test which contained four parts: Reading — Listening — Speaking — Writing All of the items in the test were based an the

topics, the structures and vocabalary af Unit 1

A post-test was given to the stndents at the end of Semester one

(December, 2017) Like the format of the pre-test, the post-test also included Reading- Writing Listening and Speaking test But the topics, forms and vocabulary were much wider because the students needed to review the

contents of Unit 1 to Unit 4 In comparison with the pre-test, the post-test had

the same form bul it was upgraded in amount of words and structures The teacher dic not use specialized tests for students of different MI groups sitice the purposes of this study arc to cncaurage students and improve stunts’

lcaming scores

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After each of the tests, the teacher recorded students’ results in two tables saved as Excel files Then, the function “ Analyze” of SPSS was chosen

to run paired-sumple T-lests of Class 1 and Class 2 The results of these lests showed the teacher how effectively she helped her students improve their achievements by applying the new method of teaching Appendix 3 provided

the test scores ‘The instnictor used this table to find out the students who had

the highest and lowest improvements and interviewed them to get more findings for the study

2.2.2.3 Designing and organizing learning activities

Distinct activities were designed for students of varied intelligence groups, The students in Class 1 were divided in groups of the same multiple intelligence types There were some troubles in organizing sludenls’ group work because lie number of students for each of the groups was nol evenly,

‘the process of categorizing students into their MI groups met two main constraints ‘The first one came from the uneven number of students for cach

af MT groups The second derived from the changes in students’ type of intelligences By observations the teacher realized these changes In this circumstance, she had to see the table of survey scores to consider using the second dominant intelligence types in the step of grouping students

With Class 2 — the control group, the teacher used traditional method to apply in her real teaching, The students had chances of discussing in groups, but they did the same activ

for every part during a lesson

Tn Class T, the teacher spent time making twelve differentiated Icsson

plans Activities that promoted the development of multiple intelligence theary allows every student the opportunity to develop their own side and promote talent or the ability to learn the identity of the self The differentiated activities were partially performed in Production part

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There were seven English periods pet week for Grade 4 students: one for Maths in English, one for Science in English, and five for English Íessons that followed the schednle of the text hook “Everybody Up 4° To cover the

leaching contents and objectives, the leacher docided lo make one

differentiated lesson plan for two continuons periods per week There was a total of twelve lesson plans that applied the theory of multiple intelligences Lists of specialized activities sugested by Howard Gardner and the teacher's Leaching experience were considered as Unc enain resourccs to design caching plans In this study, Appendix 6 to 12 would show the readers typical activities applied for eight different intelligence groups The lesson contents

‘were taken out from the text book “Everybody Up 4”

14, Interviews

To make sure that the differentiation instruction depending on students’ innltiple intelligences was really meaningful, the researcher organized some

interviews with students Students were chosen randomly for all of the

interviews to ensure the subjectivity of the smdy They were informed the purposes and conlent of lic interviews ‘Ihe teachers look nolcs during and after the conversations All of the questions were given with the following purposes:

+ making sure that the class activities were really suitable for

students

+ checking if the students liked their groups

and revising lhe Leaching inelitod if necessary

Basing on the interview findings, the teacher found the way to

organize the class activities more effectively At the end of Week 14, after the

past-test, the last interview was conducted decply with students who got highest and lowes! improvements in Class 1 (v make sure the effectiveness of the new teaching method Appendix 13 shows the interview form

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