Non english majors’ multiple intelligences a study at quy nhon university

Trang 1 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING QUY NHON UNIVERSITY NGUYỄN HIỀN THANH NON-ENGLISH MAJORS’ MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES: A STUDY AT QUY NHON UNIVERSITY Field: Theory and Methodology

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING QUY NHON UNIVERSITY NGUYỄN HIỀN THANH NON-ENGLISH MAJORS’ MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES: A STUDY AT QUY NHON UNIVERSITY Field: Theory and Methodology of English Language Teaching Code: 8140111 Supervisor: Dr Hà Thanh Hải Binh Dinh - 2023 BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC QUY NHƠN NGUYỄN HIỀN THANH HỒ SƠ ĐA TRÍ TUỆ CỦA SINH VIÊN KHÔNG CHUYÊN NGỮ: NGHIÊN CỨU TẠI ĐẠI HỌC QUY NHƠN Ngành: Lý luận và Phương pháp dạy học bộ môn Tiếng Anh Mã số: 8140111 Người hướng dẫn: TS Hà Thanh Hải i DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP I, the undersigned Nguyễn Hiền Thanh hereby declare that I am the sole author of this thesis “Non-English Majors’ Multiple Intelligences: A Study at Quy Nhon University” To the best of my knowledge this thesis contains no material previously published by any other person except where due acknowledgement has been made This thesis contains no material which has been accepted as part of the requirements of any other academic degree or non-degree program, in English or in any other language Binh Dinh, 2023 Nguyễn Hiền Thanh ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to all those who have contributed to the completion of this master's thesis Their support, guidance, and encouragement have been invaluable throughout this academic journey First and foremost, words cannot express my gratitude togratitude to my thesis supervisor, Dr Hà Thanh Hải This endeavor would not have been possible without his unwavering support, patience, and expertise His guidance and insightful feedback have been instrumental in shaping the direction and quality of this research I am truly fortunate to have had the opportunity to work under his supervision Second, I would like to acknowledge and extend my thanks to the lecturers and professors who have imparted their knowledge and expertise during my Master course Specifically, I would like to send my thankfulness to Assoc.Prof.Dr Nguyễn Thị Thu Hiền for her dedication to teaching and generosity in sharing knowledge in the course Academic Writing This course has shaped my intellectual growth and laid a solid foundation in this research endeavor Third, I would like to express gratitude to the lecturers teaching the English 2 course in the academic year 2022 - 2023 and 203 first-year non-English majored students who enthusiastically supported me in the data collection process Additionally, I could not have undertaken this journey without the tremendous support from Ms Đoàn Thị An Hiên, who has been my lecturer and mentor since 2017 Her wholehearted encouragement and advice have provided me with strength during the challenging moments of this research journey iii I would also like to extend my heartfelt appreciation to my parents and beloved friends for their constant love, understanding, and encouragement Their unconditional support and belief in my abilities have been a constant source of motivation throughout my academic pursuits Lastly, I would like to thank myself for having courage to embark on this academic journey Despite my initial lack of research knowledge, I was not disheartened and strive to bridge the gaps in my understanding iv ABSTRACT The research aim was to investigate the Multiple Intelligence (MI) profiles of EFL learners in a tertiary setting in Vietnam It also aimed to identify the alignment level between the learners’ MI profiles and the available MI-based activities in the currently used textbook To fulfill the aims, the study was carried out at Quy Nhon University with the enthusiastic participation of 203 first-year non-English majors as respondents The data for the study was collected through a 5-Likert scale MI Inventory for students and content analysis of MI activities available in the currently used textbook - Voices The data were analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively, using descriptive statistics and independent samples t-test analysis in SPSS software The findings revealed that among participants, the most prominent intelligences were Intrapersonal, Visual/Spatial, and Bodily-Kinesthetic, while the Verbal/Linguistic and Logical-Mathematical intelligences ranked the lowest However, the dominant MI activities in the textbook Voices were Verbal/Linguistic and Logical-Mathematical intelligence, thereby considerably misaligning with the dominant intelligences of the learners Gender differences were observed in Verbal/Linguistic, Musical, and Intrapersonal domains, but no significant differences were found in relation to age On that basis, some supplementing activities based on MI theory was proposed to bridge the disparity between students’ MI profiles and the textbook’s MI profiles and to enhance students’ English learning as well This study also highlights the importance of considering learners' individual MI profiles and applications of MI theory in EFL teaching and learning Keywords: Multiple Intelligences Theory, Multiple Intelligences (MI) Profile, Voices textbook, EFL learners, MI-based activities v TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP i ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ii ABSTRACT iv TABLE OF CONTENTS v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS viii LIST OF TABLES ix LIST OF FIGURES x Chapter 1 1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Rationale 1 1.2 Aim and objectives 3 1.2.1 Aim of the research 3 1.2.2 Objectives of the research 4 1.3 Research questions 4 1.4 Scope of the study 4 1.5 Significance of the study 4 1.6 Organization of the study 5 Chapter 2 6 LITERATURE REVIEW 6 2.1 Concepts of intelligence 6 2.2 The Theory of Multiple Intelligences by Howard Gardner 8 2.2.1 Verbal Linguistics Intelligence 9 2.2.2 Logical/Mathematical Intelligence 9 2.2.3 Visual/Spatial Intelligence 9 2.2.4 Musical Intelligence 10 2.2.5 Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence 10 2.2.6 Interpersonal Intelligence 10 2.2.7 Intrapersonal Intelligence 10 vi 2.2.8 Naturalistic Intelligence 11 2.3 Multiple Intelligences and Learning Styles 11 2.4 Application of MI theory in ELT 13 2.5 MI theory and English textbooks 14 2.6 Previous related studies on EFL learners’ MI profiles 16 Chapter 3 19 METHODOLOGY 19 3.1 Research design 19 3.2 Research setting 19 3.3 Research participants 20 3.4 Research instruments 22 3.4.1 Questionnaire 23 3.4.2 Content Analysis 24 3.5 Data collection 25 3.6 Data analysis 25 3.7 Research reliability and validity 26 Chapter 4 28 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 28 4.1 Multiple Intelligences profiles of first-year non-English majors at Quy Nhon University 28 4.1.1 Overview of MI profiles among students 28 4.1.1.1 Verbal/Linguistic Intelligence 30 4.1.1.2 Logical-Mathematical Intelligence .32 4.1.1.3 Visual/Spatial Intelligence 33 4.1.1.4 Body-Kinesthetic Intelligence 35 4.1.1.5 Musical Intelligence .36 4.1.1.6 Interpersonal Intelligence .37 4.1.1.7 Intrapersonal Intelligence .39 4.1.1.8 Naturalistic Intelligence 40 4.1.2 Differences in multiple intelligences between male and female groups 42 vii 4.1.3 Differences in multiple intelligences between age groups 44 4.2 MI profiles of the textbook “Voices” 45 4.2.1 Content Analysis of Activities in the Textbook “Voices” in light of MI Theory 46 4.2.2 Distribution of activities incorporating Multiple Intelligences Theory in the textbook Voices 55 4.3 A comparison of Students’ MI profiles and Textbook’s MI profiles 56 4.4 Discussion of the findings 58 4.4.1 Students’ MI profiles 58 4.4.2 MI profiles of the textbook Voices 61 4.4.3 Students’ MI profiles and Textbook’s MI profiles 63 CHAPTER 5 64 CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS 64 5.1 Conclusion 64 5.2 Pedagogical Implications 65 5.3 Limitations 68 5.4 Recommendations for further work 68 REFERENCES 69 APPENDICES viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ELT - English Language Teaching EFL - English as a Foreign Language ESL - English as a Second Language MI - Multiple Intelligences