Teaching English Reading Through Multiple Intelligences Theory In Primary School

With the rapid development of economy and society, English, as an important communication tool, is receiving special attention from all over the world. In China, the National English Curriculum Standards carried out in 2001 postulates that English should be a required course in primary schools. And it is aimed at promoting students' overall quality, attributing more attention to students' comprehensive development in language skills, knowledge, affects, strategies and cultural awareness in order to lay a good foundation for their continuing development.The Multiple Intelligences theory (MI theory) put forward by Gardner in his book Frames of mind: the theory of multiple intelligences in 1983 claims that each person possesses different combinations of eight intelligences. In education, it advocates that teachers should address students' personal uniqueness and provide a wide range of intelligence-oriented activities and experiences to facilitate learning, which is consistent with the core idea of the National English Curriculum Standards, that is, English teaching is not only for knowledge, but for the all-round development and the individuality of every student as well.Actually, there is still a long way to go until putting the requirements into full practice. Problems are all around, among which pupils' indifference toward English reading and low reading proficiency as a result of inappropriate reading instruction are the most severe. Two levels' requirements as guidelines for teaching English reading as there are in the National English Curriculum Standards for primary schools, many teachers are still teaching to the textbook, let alone to say catering for the overall development of pupils. Changes should be brought into being to help teachers improve the efficiency of reading instruction for the sake of each pupil's all-round development. Bearing in mind the requirements for reading in the National English Curriculum Standards for primary schools, the author intends to integrate the application of MI theory into reading instruction.The author conducted an empirical research in Zhongshanlu Primary School in Chongqing, and two classes in Grade 5 were chosen as samples. The two classes, with equal English reading performance, were taught by the same teacher. In the experiment, the experimental class was taught with MI-based reading method, catering for individuality through MI-based activities; while the control class was taught with traditional method. 4 months later, through instruments as interviews, classroom observations and tests, the author found that pupils in the experimental class became more interested in English reading, and they outperformed pupils in the control class in the post-reading test. So MI theory contributed significantly to English reading both in arousing pupils' interest toward English reading and greatly improving pupils' reading proficiency in this experiment. This study, adoption of MI theory in English reading class in primary school, can substantively enrich the theoretical basis of MI theory in China, help primary school English teachers better aware of the diversity in the classroom and design reading activities more resourcefully.There is still room for further research, for the sample size in this research is small and training length is relatively restricted. More comprehensive gatherings of information such as MI-based assessment, reading portfolio and affect development in English reading class are needed.