“Hide not your talents, they for use were made. What’s a sun-dial in the shade? Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) Different Methods for Different Pupils Have you met a pupil in your class who is not very good at English but who is excellent at drawing or creating practical things? Have you met anybody for whom languages were a nightmare but who was an excellent manager? These people are not of lower intelligence. IQ tests may discover frustrating conclusions but that is because most of the tests are math- or language-oriented. In fact these people are sometimes gifted. Just they need different approach to learning. Scientists have identified at least 7 basic intelligence types. Later the eighth - the naturalist intelligence has been added. Following is the multiple intelligences list: 1. Linguistic intelligence 2. Logical-mathematical intelligence 3. Spatial intelligence 4. Bodily-kinaesthetic intelligence 5. Musical intelligence 6. Interpersonal intelligence 7. Intrapersonal intelligence 8. Naturalist intelligence If we have not recognized the fact that children of different intelligences need different methods in our English lessons so far, now we might have discovered some of the reasons why our teaching effort was not always successful. The authors of English textbooks usually ignore the differences among pupils pretending pupils in the group are all of the same kind. Linguistic intelligence is in the centre of our attention. We would like to fill in the classroom with the pupils of this intelligence. They can remember the new words easily. They like reading and telling stories. They are successful in word games. They love tongue-twisters. Most of the textbooks are prepared for these pupils. They will successfully go through the exercises which want them to transfer the sentence from one tense to the other, to write comparatives, to fill in the gap, to complete the word or the sentence. Logical-mathematical intelligence needs a varied care. These pupils often do calculations in their heads. They like to put things into categories. They like to work with the computers. They love number games and they often ask about the reasons, about how things work. For these pupils filling in various charts, crosswords can be pleasure. CALL (computer-assisted language learning) seems to be invented for them. Spatial intelligence Pupils with this type of intelligence are not happy just with words in one line. Two or better three dimensions are more enjoyable. These pupils love pictures. They can draw well. They enjoy art activities. Their world is full of shapes and colours. These pupils will enjoy putting puzzles together, drawing while learning English. They will love posters, maps and objects used in the lesson. Bodily-kinaesthetic intelligence does not like calm and quiet surroundings. It is difficult for these pupils to sit quietly for a long time. They are good at sports and they like working with their hands. For these pupils different activities should be prepared: dancing, moving around, imitating, drama and role-playing, creating material things, building and constructing. Musical intelligence Pupils of this type appreciate the sounds of language, intonation and rhythm. These pupils often tap rhythmically on the desk. They often hum the melody of a song. Songs and rhymes in English will be ideal materials for these pupils. Activities with clapping hands or rhythmical gesturing will make them happy. Interpersonal intelligence These people love socializing. They naturally organize parties, become leaders of groups. They are talkative and helpful. They are far from being introverts. These pupils are good at role-playing, dramatizations. They are good at various projects where group-work is required. They even do not refuse longer monologues when asked to talk. Intrapersonal intelligence These pupils are not unhappy when they have to be alone or they have to work on their own. Their inner world is usually very rich and colourful. They like silent reading, listening to their favourite music. They are mostly introverts. At school they prefer individual activities. Team-work is not their favourite. Self-correction should be used rather than peer-correction. They are usually focused on what they are doing and having accepted their mistakes they do their best to avoid them next time. Naturalist intelligence These pupils would like to live close to the nature. Sitting at school does not bring them much pleasure. It is difficult to make them concentrated on learning verb tenses when they would like to listen to the sounds of nature. Just talking about animals will change them into enthusiasts. Topics concerning nature will open a small door to English for them. But you will never persuade them that English is necessary for their communication with birds or beetles. What has been mentioned above doesn’t mean that a pupil with logical-mathematical intelligence will not be successful at songs and rhymes. There are more intelligences hidden in our personalities. Just one or two of them are dominant. The teacher’s task is to find suitable activities to cover all types of intelligences.