Using Music and Bodily Kinesthetic as an Instructional method for English Language Learning

This study attempted to investigate the influences of two intelligences from Gardner’s MI Theory, music and bodily kinesthetic, that should be reinforced to acquire the knowledge, and to invest more efficiently in the EFL teaching-learning process. This study was carried out in Kuwait during the spring semester 2009/2010. The researcher applied a questionnaire (Mckenzie, 1999) which was distributed to the fourth and fifth graders. The questionnaire was handed out by ten English language teacher trainees who have to attend these elementary public schools as part of a practicum course they have enrolled in. The target population for this research consisted of 65 elementary fourth and fifth grade students randomly selected from all Kuwaiti public schools. The reason for selecting students only from these two grades is because they have been exposed to the English language for three to four years, unlike students enrolled in first, second and third grades which are exposed to only listening, speaking, and small amount of reading and writing. The questionnaire used in this research paper was made of 16 statements related to each of the eight intelligences proposed by Gardner. The data obtained from the returned questionnaire were computed and coded numerically. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was employed to generate a scheme to analyze the data (Creswell, 2003). The analysis of the data was performed through the use of both descriptive and inferential statistics. The main findings of this paper have shown that grades 4 and 5 are significantly different with regard to what were their preferences when we talk about multi-intelligences.  These preferences are associated with individuals’ long-lasting personalities, cultural associated customs, or inborn abilities, rather than with phases that children tend to go through at different ages.