Multiple Intelligences: A Complex Method of Language Teaching

The complex method of language teaching has been applied with great effectiveness in our educational complex for many years. It is used not only during native language alphabet instruction but also for foreign languages, and as a final result, at the end of the year, our complex's young students present Areg Lusinyan's "Musical Alphabet."

The founder of the theory of multiple intelligences is Howard Gardner. He was educated first as a psychologist and then as a neuropsychologist.

H. Gardner worked on this theory for many years. It came to life in the early 1980s and is already being applied, developed, and substantiated in various countries around the world, ensuring a high level of thinking.

The essence of H. Gardner's theory is:

• Diversity in the acquisition of knowledge

• Acceptance of differences between people

• Preservation of individuality and independence

• Adapting teaching to human cognitive abilities

• Ease and comfort of learning

H. Gardner suggests adapting teaching to human cognitive abilities and utilizing them to the maximum during knowledge acquisition, making learning more effective, comfortable, and aligned with the child's perceptions.

This theory is based on human senses and temperament.

According to Gardner, people possess 7 forms of intelligence, which manifest differently in different individuals. The important thing is that each child will have the opportunity to perceive the taught material in a way that is easiest for them, while simultaneously developing their other abilities, i.e., other forms of thinking.

Thus, based on human senses and temperament, H. Gardner identified the following 7 forms of intelligence:

• Mathematical-logical

• Linguistic

• Spatial

• Bodily-kinesthetic

• Musical

• Interpersonal

• Intrapersonal

The simultaneous activation of different aspects of perception, thinking, and manifestation allows for the formation of an accurate, objective mental image that corresponds to reality.

One of the pioneers of this theory, American educator and psychologist Thomas Armstrong, is guided by the conviction that all children are inherently gifted. Every child comes into the world with their unique potential, which, if well developed, can serve the well-being of the whole world. It is the great role of parents and teachers to discover the child's hidden talent, bring it forth, educate, nurture, and crown it with success.

Based on H. Gardner's theory, the well-known psychologist Kate Rogers formulated that:

• Thinking is not singular; it is manifold.

• Each form of intelligence is a unique, exceptional structure.

• All types of intelligence have a dynamic nature.

• Any single type of intelligence rarely appears in isolation.

• The manifestation of one form of intelligence contributes to the development of other forms of intelligence.

• Every individual can discover and develop their diverse intelligences.

This is the realization of the fact that every individual can manifest themselves in completely different fields, and abilities demonstrated in one field do not at all preclude being strong or weak in another. He also rejects the opinion that a person is born "smart" or "stupid."

However, there are people who disagree with this theory, emphasizing that the forms of intelligence are few, and the theory does not include cognitive theory, which explains how people acquire information about the world, how that information is represented, how it is stored in memory and converted into knowledge, and finally, how that knowledge affects our attention and behavior. The deeper we understand the complex method, the more clearly we see the interconnectedness of the seven proposed components that integrate the learner's accumulated experience.

The complex method of language teaching used during alphabet instruction allows us to identify a person's special perception and thinking styles and to build the learning process accordingly.

Thus, our educational complex's students learn letters thanks to the complex method of multiple intelligences theory. The child learns the sound-letter by visualizing that letter with imagination, assembling the letter and getting geometric shapes, molding it with plasticine, learning the song of that sound-letter, and staging it with appropriate dance movements with a dance instructor. I emphasize that parallel to all this, our educational complex's students activate and develop all their senses through clay, and all this is carried out in parallel with native language instruction.

Author of the material: First Grade Teacher of "The Little Prince" Educational Complex - Yelena Grigoryan