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As far as possible, make sure that your
learners have some specific thing to do, whatever the stage of the lesson. Traditional lesson planning has tended to see the lesson as a series of things that teacher does. By turning it round and focusing much more on what the students do, we are likely to think more about the actual learning that might arise and create a lesson that is more genuinely useful. |
Multiple Intelligences is a theory advanced by the cognitive psychologist Howard Gardner in his popular book Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences . Gardner argues that human possess different kinds of minds and therefore learn, remember, perform, and understand in different ways. According to this theory, "we are all able to know the world through language, logical-mathematical analysis, spatial representation, musical thinking, the use of the body to solve problems or to make things, an understanding of other individuals, and an understanding of ourselves. Where individuals differ is in the strength of these intelligences - the so-called profile of intelligences -and in the ways in which such intelligences are invoked and combined to carry out different tasks, solve diverse problems, and progress in various domains."
Important as it is for us in education, I deemed it important to provide you with these awesome posters featuring in a visually attractive way the 7 intelligences Gardener postulated in his theory of 1983. Knowing that our students have different strengths and weaknesses can help us better meet their learning needs. .They say diversity is the spice of life but in schools diversity is the backbone of learning. Have a look at your classroom, you will see a wide range of varying learning styles. But , as a teacher, do you tend to these learning styles ? Have you ever questioned whether your teaching method(s) really meet the learning needs of all your students or just a select few ? Answering these questions requires a little insight from both cognitive psychology and learning pedagogy.
A mixture of these two fields of study results in a direct application of Howard Gardner Multiple Intelligences ( cognitive psychology ) within a classroom context ( learning styles ). |
Person-Centred Approach:
Any approach that places learners and their
needs at the heart of what is done. Syllabus
and working methods will not be decided by
the teacher in advance of the course, but
agreed between learner and teacher.
Any approach that places learners and their
needs at the heart of what is done. Syllabus
and working methods will not be decided by
the teacher in advance of the course, but
agreed between learner and teacher.
The Silent Way Method;
Devised by Caleb Gattengno, this method
requires the learner to take active ownership
of their language learning and to pay great
attention to what they say. Distinctive
features include the relative restraint of the
teacher (who is not completely silent!) and
the use of specially designed wallcharts. The
use of Cuisenaire rods in mainstream ELT
arose from this method.
Devised by Caleb Gattengno, this method
requires the learner to take active ownership
of their language learning and to pay great
attention to what they say. Distinctive
features include the relative restraint of the
teacher (who is not completely silent!) and
the use of specially designed wallcharts. The
use of Cuisenaire rods in mainstream ELT
arose from this method.
THE NATURAL APPROACH;
Devised by Steven Krashen, this is a
collection of methods
and techniques from many sources, all
intended to provide
the learner with natural comprehensible
language so that
the learner can pick up language in ways
similar to a child
learning their first language.
Devised by Steven Krashen, this is a
collection of methods
and techniques from many sources, all
intended to provide
the learner with natural comprehensible
language so that
the learner can pick up language in ways
similar to a child
learning their first language.
Communicative Language
Teaching (CLT) or
Communicative Approach (CA);
,This is perhaps the method or approach that
most contemporary teachers would
subscribe to, despite that fact that it is widely
misunderstood and misapplied. CLT is based
on beliefs that learners will learn best if they
participate in meaningful communication. It
may help if we distinguish between a
stronger and a weaker version of CLT:
Strong CLT: students learn by
communicating, i.e. doing communication
tasks with a limited role for explicit teaching
and traditional practice exercises.
Teaching (CLT) or
Communicative Approach (CA);
,This is perhaps the method or approach that
most contemporary teachers would
subscribe to, despite that fact that it is widely
misunderstood and misapplied. CLT is based
on beliefs that learners will learn best if they
participate in meaningful communication. It
may help if we distinguish between a
stronger and a weaker version of CLT:
Strong CLT: students learn by
communicating, i.e. doing communication
tasks with a limited role for explicit teaching
and traditional practice exercises.
The Audio-Lingual Method:
,,Although based on largely discredited
theory, the techniques and activities
continue to have a strong influence over
many classrooms. It aims to form good
habits through STUDENTS LISTENING to
model dialogues with repetition and drilling
but with LITTLE OR NO TEACHER
EXPLANATION.
,,Although based on largely discredited
theory, the techniques and activities
continue to have a strong influence over
many classrooms. It aims to form good
habits through STUDENTS LISTENING to
model dialogues with repetition and drilling
but with LITTLE OR NO TEACHER
EXPLANATION.