Application Of Multiple Intelligences Theory In English Teaching Of Preschool Education Major In Secondary Vocational Schools

Multiple Intelligences theory was brought forward by Howard Gardner, who is an American psychologist. The theory put forward breaks concept of traditional intelligence and considers that human intelligence is multiple and each person has the advantage of his unique intelligence. No difference lies between ―students of high achievements‖ and ―students of low achievements‖, while the difference lies in the different direction in the development of intelligences. So, In the course of school education, it is important to teach students according to his natural ability in order to enable students to do better in their talent. MI theory was introduced to China in 1990 s and lots of researchers began to study the MI theory‘s effect on education. Although fruitful achievements have been made in this field, the study of the application of MI theory in secondary vocational school, in particular, the study on the curriculum of preschool education is inadequate. A new approach to English Teaching in the secondary vocational school education in the use of Multiple Intelligences theory was the aim of the research.Preschool education major in secondary vocational school has its own special characteristics: value professional skills but neglect cultural knowledge. As a foreign language there are serious problems in English learning, many students are weak in English basis, no interest in English, no motivation, and unsatisfactory results. What‘s more, a lot of students cannot see the usefulness of English in employment in the future, so they have no interest and motivation in English at all.Under this background and requirement, in secondary vocational schools many English teachers began seeking new methods to change the current situation. Therefore, the writer attempts to do research on the positive effect of English teaching based on MI theory on the students‘ interest in English learning and the improvement of the students‘ English level in secondary vocational school, compared with the traditional model. This is an experimental study, in which the author used questionnaires, language tests and interviews as instruments combining qualitative and quantitative research. The author chose two parallel classes taught by her from Yantai Advanced Normal School in Shandong Province to take part in the study for one school year. One is the experimental class with teaching model based on MI theory; the other is the controlled class with traditional teaching model and several students are interviewed. Compared to the traditional teaching model, the teaching model based on MI theory can more effectively stimulate students‘ interest and increase the level of their English. Meanwhile, by a year‘s teaching experiment, in the paired sample T-test P<0.05 means there was a significant difference between the achievements of the experimental class before and after the experiment and in the independent sample T-test P<0.05 means there was a significant difference between the achievements of the two classes. As a result, we might say that the teaching model based on MI theory is more effective than the traditional teaching model in improving students‘ English interest and achievements.The conclusion is the summing-up and theoretical promotion of the research. MI theory is a leap in the development of human intelligence theory and can provide a new theoretical reference for English teaching for preschool education major in secondary vocational school, which helps to develop new teaching concepts, teaching goal s, teaching methods and teaching models.In a word, from the result of the study, we can find in the range of preschool education in secondary vocational education, English teaching model based on MI theory can help students develop their interest in learning English and promote their English level. This is verification for the effectiveness of English teaching on the basis of Multiple Intelligences theory. This can provide some models and inspire the English teaching for preschool education major in the secondary vocational schools in the future.