Activities to foster students’ individual cognitive abilities in the foreign language classroom

The paper considers possibilities of applying the learner-centred approach in the foreign language classroom using activities based on individual, psychological and cognitive peculiarities of students. The educational principles of the theory of multiple intelligences by Dr. H. Gardner are relevant to those of the learner-centred. Dr. H. Gardner (2007) classified intelligence into seven types, namely linguistic intelligence (“word smart”), logical-mathematical intelligence (“number/reasoning smart”), spatial intelligence (“picture smart”), bodily-kinesthetic intelligence (“body smart”), musical intelligence (“music smart”), interpersonal intelligence (“people smart”), intrapersonal intelligence (“self smart”), naturalist intelligence (“nature smart”). According to his philosophy, each person possesses own intelligence profile, i.e. individual combination of different intelligence types. If to transfer his theory to the educational foreign language learning process in institutions of higher education, we can state that it is efficient to create educational situations when the acquisition of professional foreign language competencies occurs simultaneously with the realisation of students’ natural gifts and cognitive abilities. Therefore, the author suggests several activities to reinforce different types of student intelligence to use in the foreign language classroom. To optimise the learning process, it is recommended that students should analyse the methods they applied to complete the tasks in the suggested activities, and the abilities which helped them accomplish these tasks successfully. Such reflection gives students an opportunity to recognise their gifts and abilities, so that they can use the most effective learning strategies henceforward. The author suggests some additional ways of applying the promise of learner centered approach in the foreign language classroom, such as (a) to design language tasks which would activate different types of students’ intelligence and foster development of students’ personal cognitive abilities, and (b) to promote students’ reflection and awareness of learning styles to be able to apply them while doing self-study activities.