The representation of multiple intelligences in an intermediate Arabic-language textbook, and teachers’ awareness of them in Jordanian schools

Abstract

The theory of Multiple Intelligences (MI) states that human intelligence is composed of different types of intelligences and that each individual possesses all of them but to a different degree. The main objective of this research was to examine how the Theory of Multiple Intelligences was addressed in a seventh-grade Arabic-language textbook at the intermediate-level in Jordan and determine Arabic-language teachers' level of knowledge of applying the Theory of Multiple Intelligences in textbooks. The study used the survey method and analytical descriptive approach via content analysis and coding MI indicators in the textbook to examine the representation of MI in the textbook examined. The sample was composed of all units of a seventh-grade Arabic-language textbook. A questionnaire was distributed to 130 Arabic-language teachers. The study includes eight of the Intelligences from Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences (MI) Theory. The analysis found that the intelligences represented in the texts, activities, and exercises of the Arabic-language textbook were mostly Verbal/Linguistic, Visual/Spatial and Interpersonal intelligences, with a combined percentage of 73%. The other 27% was shared between the other intelligence types: Intrapersonal, Naturalist, Logical/Mathematical, Bodily/Kinesthetic, and Musical intelligences. A moderated awareness on how to incorporate the theory of MI in Arabic-language textbooks was found among Arabic-language teachers, which means that teachers' understanding of the importance of including MI theory in the textbook needs reinforcement and improvement. The study suggests that further research on incorporating the Theory of MI in textbooks is needed.

Keywords

• Multiple intelligences
• Awareness
• Arabic-language
• Textbook
• Seventh grade
• Jordan