In this blog, we have previously discussed Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences, which states that there are different types of intelligences that can be developed independently.

Each person has certain intelligences more developed than others, and that’s why it is important for schools to work on enhancing students’ different intelligences.

A few months ago, we talked about how to enhance students’ logical-mathematical intelligence, and today it’s time to explore innovative ideas to develop linguistic intelligence. Let’s continue with the post!

What is linguistic intelligence?

Linguistic intelligence, also known as verbal intelligence or verbal-linguistic intelligence, is one of the intelligences proposed by Howard Gardner in his theory of multiple intelligences.

It refers to the ability to use language effectively to express and comprehend concepts and ideas, use vocabulary and grammar appropriately, and communicate both verbally and in writing.

Individuals with enhanced linguistic intelligence have a knack for reading, writing, speaking, or interpreting language. Additionally, they have an aptitude for learning languages, appreciate literature, and are skilled communicators.

It is important to work on enhancing linguistic intelligence in the educational context as it helps students develop critical thinking, improve their ability to express their thoughts, and enhance their overall communication skills.

What are the benefits of working on linguistic intelligence in the classroom?

Working on the development of linguistic intelligence in the classroom has numerous benefits for students, which include the following:

• Reading comprehension: By developing linguistic intelligence, students acquire skills to improve their ability to comprehend texts and analyze presented information.
• Expanded vocabulary: Working with verbal intelligence helps students acquire a richer and more varied vocabulary, which enhances their communication skills and enables them to express themselves more precisely and appropriately.
• Critical thinking: Improving reading comprehension and communication skills helps students develop critical thinking. By learning to analyze and synthesize information, they acquire skills to formulate logical arguments characteristic of reflective thinking.
• Effective communication: Students gain skills to communicate clearly, coherently, and persuasively, both verbally and in writing.
• Improvement in other academic areas: The development of linguistic intelligence positively impacts other academic areas and subjects, such as literature, philosophy, social sciences, among others. This is because students acquire the ability to comprehend, analyze, and create complex texts of different nature.

Idea 1: Virtual Book Club

One initial idea to develop the linguistic intelligence of your students is to create a virtual book club. With the functionality of creating groups in Additio App, you can establish a group to form a virtual book club.

In this book club, students can read different books and types of texts, promoting reading beyond traditional literature. This can include newspaper articles, essays, biographies, popular science books, history books, poetry, etc. The interesting part is to expose students to different literary styles and genres, with texts of various kinds and complexities.

Based on these readings, establish different types of activities (they can even be self-assessment and peer-assessment) that allow discussion of the readings and sharing of perspectives. This will promote critical thinking and the ability to express oneself orally on different topics.

Idea 2: Writing challenge

A second idea for working on linguistic intelligence in class is to promote writing challenges among students. Periodically (you can choose whether it’s weekly, biweekly, or monthly), you can provide interesting topics and ask students to write different types of texts based on these topics. For example, essays, poems, newspaper articles, short stories, etc.

With this type of activity, you will stimulate the creativity and writing skills of your students. Additionally, they will acquire the necessary communicative tools to develop different types of texts, adapting to different communicative contexts. Furthermore, if you encourage them to share their texts with each other, you will enhance collaborative work and cooperative learning.

Utilize the communication features of Additio App to provide feedback to your students on their performance in writing the texts, offering guidance on their strengths and areas for improvement.

Idea 3: School Podcast 

One last idea for working on linguistic intelligence in class is to encourage your students to create their own school podcast. To create it, they will have to research a topic and be able to synthesize all the information to develop the podcast, creating a script. In the podcast recording, they should discuss relevant topics or even conduct interviews. As you can see, it involves a variety of tasks related to the development of linguistic intelligence.

This will test their communication skills, creativity, and ability to express themselves orally. Additionally, promoting various topics will allow your students to foster their interests and strengthen their linguistic intelligence in different contexts.

Don’t forget to use Additio App’s assessment tools to evaluate the task and provide feedback on its development. This will help your students become aware of their strengths and areas for improvement.

What other ideas would you give us?

These are just some of the ideas you can use in class to work on your students’ linguistic intelligence. However, there are surely many more, so share them with us on our social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Youtube.

And don’t forget that you can try out many features for free with the Additio App Starter plan! 😉

Bye!