36 TESOL Journal

PTi SIt is a fact of classroom life that what

interests one student leaves another bored, lit-erally, to distraction. It is also a fact that thestudent who is the most enthusiastic onTuesday is often the one who is the mostbored on Wednesday. This phenomenon canleave students feeling short-changed andteachers feeling frustrated and guilty for fail-ing to reach their students. The theory ofMultiple Intelligences (MI) (see Armstrong,1994, for classroom applications of MI) notonly helps explain this phenomenon, buthelps teachers find ways around the obstaclesto learning. According to this theory, everyperson possesses all seven intelligences tovarying degrees. Therefore, the ability ofteachers to present lessons that allow studentsto use their MIs greatly increases the likeli-hood of motivating each student.

I discovered a way to help my students useall seven of their intelligences through theperformance of a poem in my advanced read-ing and oral skills class, to which I teach U.S.literature. To give readers an idea of how thisexercise helps students use all seven intelli-gences, I have initially indicated in parenthe-ses which intelligence I associated with whichactivity (see the sidebar below for mydescription of the intelligences). As the exer-cise progresses, however, I have omittedthese references, as it will become clearwhich intelligences are involved and howthey interact and overlap with one another.

PreparationTo begin, choose a poem that is appropri-

ate to the students’ level of proficiency andexhibits the features being taught. I chose“Casey at the Bat” (Thayer, 1888) for itshumorous appeal,2 richness of irony, figuresof speech (linguistic), and flawed logic (logi-cal/mathematical). Then, have the class actout the poem (musical/rhythmical).

A reader’s theater approach works well,with a narrator delivering some lines and thevarious characters speaking lines describingtheir own actions, thoughts, and feelings(intrapersonal). Let the class choose (interper-sonal) who will play the various parts, includ-ing that of narrator.

Behind the ScenesWhile the students memorize and interpret

their lines (musical/rhythmical, linguistic,

intrapersonal), have them spend some timeeach day making props (bodily/kinesthetic,interpersonal, visual/spatial). Ours included ascoreboard (logical/mathematical) con-structed from blindingly bright colored paper(visual/spatial). You may have to suggestsome props to illustrate certain figures ofspeech. As the students rehearse, guide themin picking up their cues from each other(interpersonal) and in working on blocking,that is, their positioning and movement onstage (visual/spatial).

Because repetition is important to learningnew concepts, read over the poem with theclass each day, discuss the intelligences beingused, and have the students identify the lin-guistic features being taught. Exactly whospeaks which lines and performs whichactions is up to you and the class. Let the stu-dents be creative, but do not be afraid to helpthem out. Be especially careful to explain anycultural references.

The PerformanceSome of the features of our performance

included the following: The characters Flynnand Blake (both of whom were portrayed byfemale students) walked onto the stage areawith placards bearing their names. At thewords, “And the former was a puddin’,” Flynnflipped her placard to reveal the word tapioca,

and at the line, “And the latter was a fake,”Blake turned her card so that the audiencecould read cubic zirconium. When the narratorsaid, “For Casey ...,” Casey arrogantly inter-rupted with, “Mighty Casey,” and the narratorfinished with, “was advancing to the bat.” Weused real rocks to illustrate Mudville’s rockyappearance, shook a baby rattle to mimic thecrowd’s joyous shout that “rattled in the dell,”and tossed crepe-paper hearts into the air tosignify that “somewhere hearts are light.”Blake literally “tore the [paper] cover off theball,” while Cooney and Burrows enjoyeddying theatrically at second base.

This exercise employs every intelligenceto help students develop skills, motivate theirinterest, and build their self-confidence.Students who find it difficult to speak up(keep working on this; do not let them fadeout) might be more enthusiastic about design-ing artwork for props, devising creativeblocking, or demonstrating appropriate inter-pretive gestures. Thus, students will have theopportunity to strengthen their weaker intelli-gences and shine on their stronger ones,which will maintain the interest and involve-ment of the whole class.

After 2 weeks of rehearsal, our group wasready to perform in front of an audience. Wedecided to perform for the monthly depart-mental forum. I preceded the performance by

Casey Hits Home Run in ESL Classroom

Ellen Bailey

The Seven Intelligences of Multiple Intelligence Theory

1. linguistic—oral or written words, phonology, semantics

2. logical/mathematical—numbers, logical patterns, categorization

3. bodily/kinesthetic—balance, coordination, strength, speed,proprioception (physical awareness)

4. visual/spatial—colors, lines, shapes, spatial orientation

5. musical/rhythmical—use or appreciation of musical forms, poetry,1

rhythm

6. interpersonal—sensitivity to others, response and influence

7. intrapersonal—self-knowledge, self-discipline, self-esteem

introducing the theory of MI to the audienceand orally quizzing the actors, who correctlyanswered every question about the roles theywere playing and the linguistic features wewere studying.

Curtain CallThe best part of this exercise was that the

students retained the information.Throughout the rest of the semester, forinstance, every time the word hyperbolewasmentioned, someone would shout out, “Killthe umpire!” One student found the wholeclass so interesting that she decided tobecome an English major.

I have discovered that students learn bestwhen they enjoy what they are doing. Givingthem the opportunity to display their talents,learn new skills without fear of embarrass-ment or failure, and laugh in the process

makes the learning experience rewarding forboth teacher and student.

Notes1 Armstrong (1994) discusses poetry in

connection with linguistic intelligencebecause poets generally possess highly devel-oped linguistic skills. However, I want toemphasize the strong relation between poetryand rhythm in this activity.

2 According to Armstrong (1994), sometheorists have suggested that humor is aneighth intelligence.

AcknowledgmentI want to thank Beth Anderson, director of

the Center for Academic Success at AtlanticUnion College, who introduced me to MIthrough a workshop.

ReferencesArmstrong, T. (1994). Multiple intelli-

gences in the classroom. Alexandria, VA:Association for Supervision of CurriculumDevelopment.

Thayer, E. L. (1888). “Casey at the Bat.”In Best loved story poems. Compiled byWalter E. Thwing. Garden City, NY:Halcyon House, 1949.

AuthorEllen Bailey is the director of the English

Language Institute at Atlantic UnionCollege, in South Lancaster, Massachusetts,in the United States. She is also an amateuractor and freelance writer.

Spring 1999 37

College English instructors in China oftenfind it frustrating to conduct oral activities ina language class. It is often the case thatwhen encouraged to perform orally, studentsjust speak perfunctorily without getting reallyinvolved. They also tend to be poor listeners,either losing their patience quickly or simplynot listening at all. Therefore, teachers con-tinually are challenged to find interesting andintelligent ways of getting their students tolisten and speak. To capture my students’attention and encourage them to participate, Iuse two oral activities: interview and debate.

Interview and DebateIn the interview, students take turns

assuming the role of reporters and intervie-wees. The interviewees act as charactersfrom class reading material, such as an eye-witness from a detective novel, an explorerfrom an adventure story, a character from ascience fiction novel, or a famous personfrom an historical account. An interviewstrategy, however, involves more than justrole-playing; it integrates reading and speak-ing through individual and pair work.

The debate also combines reading com-prehension, listening practice, and oral per-formance. First, students read the material,then participate in an animated discussion ofa theme drawn from the reading. During thisactivity, they are encouraged to express their

different views on the theme and persuadeeach other to agree based on their knowledgeand understanding of the reading. Thus, bothinterview and debate enhance real involve-ment, enrich oral activities, and inspireEnglish use. Plus, both strategies can be usedin several ways: as a prereading warm-upexercise, as an accompanying reinforcementexercise, or as a postreading review exercise.The following two examples illustrate how Iused interview and debate with my interme-diate- to advanced-level ESL students. Theseactivities are based on a short story about aBritish explorer by the name of Sir FrancisChichester, taken from our college intensiveEnglish reading textbook.

Procedure

Interview1. Explain to the students that they will con-

duct interviews of each other at a simu-lated press conference. At the pressconference, the instructor acts as the agentof the interviewee, in this case FrancisChichester, and the students assume theroles of reporters and Chichester. Makesure the students do not read the storybeforehand.

2. The instructor, now the agent, issues thenews of Chichester’s successful voyagearound the world and then paraphrases the

story, purposely leaving out detailedinformation to force the reporters to beconcise in their interview questions. Mybrief version of the story goes like this:

Sir Francis Chichester was a Britishadventurer. In 1931, he tried to flyaround the world but failed. Years laterhe decided to sail alone around theworld instead. His friends and doctorsthought he could not do it because hehad lung cancer. Nevertheless, in 1966,at the age of nearly 65, he began hissolo voyage, following the route usedby the 19th-century clipper ships. Hearrived in Australia on December 12,1966. The second half of his journeywas far more dangerous; however, hereturned safely to England on May 28,1967. He had covered 28,000 miles in9 months by sailing around the worldalone in a small boat.

3. Divide the class into pairs. Ask one stu-dent in each pair to play the role of areporter, the other the role of Chichester.Have each Chichester read the full-lengthstory carefully. While the Chichestersread the story, have the reporters gettogether to brainstorm some questions forthe interview. Then have them interviewtheir respective Chichesters to gathermore information and details (e.g., hisphysical condition, sailing route, adven-

Integrating Reading and SpeakingWen Wei-ping