Learning Language and Literature through the Language of the Body

Ma. Milagros C. Laurel

This paper explores the limitless possibilities of teaching language and literature using Howard Gardner’s theory of Multiple Intelligences initially articulated in his 1983 book Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intellligences (FM) and updated in Multiple Intelligences: The Theory in Practice (MI) which was published a decade after in 1993 and in Intelligence Reframed: Multiple Intelligences for the 21st Century (IR) in 1999.

This demonstration session will attempt to show how learning of language and literature can be brought about through the Multiple Intelligences approach. The presentation synthesizes results of recent classroom experiments and research into this pedagogical approach applied to the language and literature classroom. The demonstration also hopes to illustrate how various levels of competencies and interests can be addressed using this particular classroom method.

Ma. Milagros C. Laurel is a Professor at the Department of English and Comparative Literature, University of the Philippines in Diliman. She is a recipient of national and international awards for excellence in teaching and research, among them the TESOL Thomson Heinle Award for Excellence inTeaching, the UP Outstanding Teacher Award and the UP International Publication Award. She has delivered several papers on applied linguistics at international conferences.