Application Of Multiple Intelligences Theory In Transforming Senior School Students With Learning Difficulties In English

This paper, based on Gardner's theory and cognitive psychology, tries to reveal intelligence preferences of the students with English learning difficulties in English teaching and aims to explore some learning styles in accordance to their students'multiple intelligences (MI) so as to study the use of multiple intelligences theory in transforming senior school students with learning difficulties in English.To understand the MI theory, the author makes a brief description about Gardner's MI theory, including its history, definition, basic elements, and theoretical perspectives. He also makes comparisons between traditional views of "intelligence" and the MI theory, and points out shortages of traditional academic intelligence. Any normal individual possesses all intelligences, however, individuals vary greatly in the ways they learn a foreign language. After giving the definition of students with learning difficulties in English, the author analyzes the features of students with learning difficulties in English as well as the cause of learning difficulties, and elaborates on the logic of relations between the theory of multiple intelligences and learning difficulties, which points out that it is a good idea to find a balance between using MI theory and satisfying the need of different students. The teacher using MI in teaching should understand how their students learned, and be clear about the course and teaching method which is accessible to these students. All students will benefit much from this method, especially the students who were trying to use Linguistic intelligence and Logical-mathematic intelligence but failed, they will obtain the greatest benefit from this method. Quantitative and qualitative analyses were adopted in the present thesis, covering experiment design, observation, questionnaires, interviews and follow-up case analysis. The findings show that the experiment has achieved the expected aims. Introduced MI theory, the students get greater freedom in learning and become more aware of their intelligence strength and weakness, which enhance motivation and the quality of learning. Their English learning interest was aroused, and most of the students made progress in learning English. The whole class had a completed change in their English learning habit:from passive to active and they were willing to use English after class.