ALIGNMENT BETWEEN ‘LIFE’ TEXTBOOK ACTIVITIES AND MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCE PROFILES OF VIETNAMESE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Abstract

This study aims to identify the multiple intelligence (MI) profiles of EFL students at a Vietnamese university with Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence Theory. It also analyzed MIs manifested in activities in Life textbook being used in English courses for university students to determine how well they align with the students’ profiles. The study employed three main instruments: 1) an MI inventory addressed to 300 Vietnamese university students; 2) The menus of MI activities by Botelho (2003) for analyzing Life textbook; and 3) interviews with EFL teachers who are teaching English to those students. The findings revealed a mismatch between the informants’ MI profiles and the dominant intelligences manifested in the textbook. The study found that intrapersonal intelligence was those informants’ strongest intelligence, followed by logical-mathematical, and naturalistic intelligences. However, Life textbook heavily relies on verbal-linguistic intelligence, followed by logical-mathematical and intrapersonal intelligences. The study suggested enhancing the language competence of students by developing their MIs and supplementing activities designed from the MI theory perspective.