Research Into The English Homework Design For Senior Middle School Students Based On Multiple Intelligence Theory

Howard Gardner, a psychologist of Harvard University, put forward MI(Multiple Intelligences) theory in 1983. This theory lays emphasis on students’ individual characteristics and calls for students’ all-round development. Therefore, it has received a considerable attention among educators and scholars. Gardner claimed the best entry point of applying MI theory to English teaching is to design MIT-based English curriculum and teaching plans. This thesis focuses on how to apply MI theory to the design of English homework in senior middle school.Firstly, on the basis of the literature review, this research clarifies the theoretical bases by providing an introduction to the MI theory and homework at length. Secondly, by synthesizing the empirical methods of the questionnaire and interview, this research investigates into the eight intelligences of target students and finds out the problems existing in the English homework of senior middle school. From the collected data of the questionnaire, it is indicated that the students’ multiple intelligences are in medium level, and the intelligences of highest and lowest scores are respectively logical-mathematical intelligence and interpersonal intelligence. Besides, through the interview, the research has found out the English homework in senior middle school is always very monotonous but not close to students’ life. Based on the results, the author picked out two classes of Shanghai Fenghua Senior Middle school which are at the same level of English proficiency as experimental class and controlled class to carry out the experiment that lasted for two months. During the experiment, the students in experimental class did the MIT-based English homework, while the students in controlled class did the traditional one. By analyzing the data of pre-test and post-test, it is found that after doing the MIT-based homework, the score of the students in experimental class is significantly higher than that of the students in controlled class. That is to say, the MIT-based homework can help the students to improve their English proficiency.On the basis of empirical research and MI theory, this research intends to provide teachers with a model of applying MI theory to the design of English homework in senior middle school. This model consists of the principles and strategies of the application. What’s more, based on S2 A, Oxford English textbook(Shanghai Edition), this research puts forward many concrete and practical examples of MIT-based homework. Teachers can take these examples and detail of application as references when applying MI theory to their design of English homework.