The Impact of Using Multiple Intelligences Activities for Teaching Reading Skills for 11th Grade EFL Students at Public Schools in Jordan

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of the use of a teaching strategy based on the theory of multiple intelligences to teach reading skills to 11th grade students by answering two main questions:

1.             Does the achievement of 11^th grade students in reading skill differ according to the strategy (the teaching strategy based on multiple intelligences theory, the ordinary strategy)?

2.             Is there an impact on the reading skill of 11^th grade students due to the interaction between the teaching strategy based on multiple intelligences theory and gender?

The study population was composed of all the students of the 11^th grade in the schools of Amman city 2013/2014. The sample of the study was deliberately chosen from two schools (254) divided into four groups; experimental males, experimental females, control males, and control females. In order to carry out this study, the researcher prepared a reading test and verified the validity of its content by arbitration and its reliability by calculating the coefficient of internal consistency of its paragraphs using the equation Kronbach Alpha (0.81). The results of the study showed the following:

• The presence of a statistically significant difference (α = 0.05) in reading among 11^th grade students is due to the teaching strategy and in favor of the teaching strategy based on the theory of multiple intelligences.
• The absence of an effect on reading skills among 11^th grade students is due to the interaction between the teaching strategy based on the theory of multiple intelligences and gender.

In the light of the results, the study recommended the training of teachers on the strategies of teaching based on the theory of multiple intelligences, and include the English language programs activities that take into account multiple intelligences, and recommended further studies to examine the impact of this strategy in the ability critical thinking, and creative thinking, and problem solving of the students.

Key words: Teaching strategy based on the theory of multiple intelligences, reading skills, the prevailing pattern of intelligence, teaching English.