The Relationship between English Ability and Linguistic Intelligence

among Math Pre-Service Teachers

T.Tutut Widiastuti. A.

1,*)

, Riva Lesta Ariany

, Tika Karlina Rachmawati

, Ehda Farlina

, Rikrik

Nurdiansyah

Mathematic Education Department, UIN Sunan Gunung Djati Jl. AH. Nasution No. 105, Bandung 40614, Indonesia

Keywords: English Language Ability, Linguistic Intelligence

Abstract: The purpose of this study to determine the correlation of English language learning results with linguistic

intelligence in order to improve the academic competence of Mathematics pre-service teachers. This

research is a quantitative descriptive research with sampling through purposive sampling technique. Data

were collected by using questionnaire concerning linguistic intelligence and English learning result test. The

results showed that there was positive correlation between English ability and linguistic intelligence among

Math pre-service teachers. the statistical result shows low correlation coefficient(0.07). The findings were

supported by the questionnaire result which revealed that they had limited amount of vocabulary, weak

English speaking and writing skill. Overall, it can be concluded that their English-language ability did not

meet the requirement of math study program academic standard. There is a need to improve their English

language ability.

1 INTRODUCTION

There are two different views on the relationship

between language learning and cognitive ability. the

first group believes that special talents are needed in

language learning, on the other hand, the other group

believe that learning language is the same as

learning to drive and others, skills that do not require

natural talent (Hemmati and Sadeghi, 2015). English

language skill is one of the important aspects for

students to master in order to deal with the

challenges of globalization era. With this in mind,

prospective math teachers need to equip themselves

with English ability. To meet this need, English

language is delivered as an obligatory course for

students in Mathematics Education Department.

Prospective math teachers are required to learn

English and achieve ability in several skills namely

listening speaking reading and writing. They usually

find problems in learning English. This problem can

be in many forms for example, their low interest and

their talent to learn foreign language especially in

English. Many studies have been conducted

previously to find the relationship between

intelligence and foreign language learning in

general. Intelligence variables were strong predictors

of learning intelligence and it has been found to be

strong predictors of learning (Hemmati and Sadeghi,

2015).

Several researchers investigated the types of

intelligence that students use in relation to their

foreign languages ability including (Shahrabi and

Alavi, 2017), (Hemmati and Sadeghi, 2015),

(Razmjoo, 2008), (Derakhshan and Faribi, 2015).

Similar research in various countries was done to

determine the relationship of multiple intelligences

with foreign language skills. There is a little

literature concerning English ability and linguistic

intelligence in Indonesia. This research tries to fill

the gap.

2 LITERATURE REVIEW

Multiple intelligence Theory (MIT) was

developed in 1983 by Gardner. It can be classified

into three major groups: analytical, introspective and

interactive (Derakhshan and Faribi, 2015). The

first, analytic domain includes: musical, logical, and

naturalist. Second, Introspective domain covers:

Intrapersonal, visual, and existential. Last,

interactive domain includes: linguistic,

A., T., Ariany, R., Rachmawati, T., Farlina, E. and Nurdiansyah, R.

The Relationship between English Ability and Linguistic Intelligence among Math Pre-Service Teachers.

DOI: 10.5220/0008219800002284

In Proceedings of the 1st Bandung English Language Teaching International Conference (BELTIC 2018) - Developing ELT in the 21st Century, pages 445-447

ISBN: 978-989-758-416-9

445

interpersonal, and kinaesthetic. For two decades,

MIT also influences foreign language learning. It

goes without saying that MIT has changed the way

educators see teaching and learning foreign

languages (Shahrabi and Alavi, 2017).

Linguistic intelligence is defined as proficiency

in using words both in writing and speaking. People

who have this intelligence are good at speaking,

reading and understand books and memorizing

words. Gardner and Chapman and Freeman (1996)

believe that people whose linguistic intelligence is

stronger have good vocabulary knowledge that

equipped them for reading and understanding

books. In addition they performed well in English

classes (Hemmati and Sadeghi, 2015).

Furthermore Gardner explains that linguistic

intelligence has something to do with sensitivity

towards language both in speaking and writing. In

other words, this intelligence focuses on language

use to achieve educational goals as well as

objectives in learning a new language. It is also

defined as human capacity to use words effectively,

either in speaking or writing. This implies the skill

to manipulate syntax, phonology, semantics and

pragmatic dimensions or the use of practical

language for daily live (Armstrong, 2009)According

to Gardner (1993), lawyers, public speakers, writers,

and poets all have excellent linguistic intelligence

(Razmjoo, 2008).

3 METHOD

This research method is descriptive quantitative.

The main purpose of this study was to investigate

the relationship between English language ability

and linguistic intelligence of the students.

Mathematics Education Program students in UIN

Sunan Gunung Djati Bandung were the population

of the study. The samples in this study were 33

students. They had taken the English language

courses and their number were 22 students from 5th

semesters and 11 students from 7th semester.

Sampling was done using purposive sampling

technique. The research instrument used in this

research was test and questionnaire. The test in

question is a test of English learning result which

included mid-test, Quiz, Task and final test. While

the questionnaire used was a questionnaire of

linguistic intelligence consisting of 10 statements

with four options were available namely: strongly

agree, agree, disagree, and strongly disagree.

4 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

The purpose of this study is to determine the

correlation of English language learning results with

linguistic intelligence in order to improve the

academic competence of Mathematics pre-service

teachers. Prior to conducting correlation test

between English learning results with linguistic

intelligence, this study first tested the assumptions

by measuring data normality test. Lilliefors method

was used and it revealed a significance level of 5%.

The result of normality test can be seen in Table 1.

Table 1: Summary of Data Normality Test

Data

Observasi

Kritik

Decision

Distri-

bution

English

Learning

0.1463

0.1542

Accepted

Normal

From Table 1, it is found that English learning

result and linguistic intelligence result belonged to

normal distribution, then correlation test was done

by using Product Moment correlation.

The correlation test used was Product Moment

correlation test because both data were normally

distributed. The result of correlation test analysis

between English learning results with linguistic

intelligence has positive correlation. A summary of

the correlation test using SPSS software is presented

in the following table:

Table 2: Summary of Correlation Test

English Score

Questionnaire

Score

English

Score

Pearson

Correlation

0,071

Sig. (2-tailed)

0,693

Question-

naire Score

Pearson

Correlation

0,071

Sig. (2-tailed)

0,693

The data in table 2 is obtained from the

correlation coefficient is 0.071, which means the

results of English learning is positively correlated

with linguistic intelligence with very low correlation

coefficient interpretation. This was supported by the

findings from questionnaire.

It was found that the average student of

Mathematics Education Program has a limited size

of vocabulary, low speaking and writing skill.

Razmjoo's study showed that there was

no significant relationship between language skills

BELTIC 2018 - 1st Bandung English Language Teaching International Conference

446

and multiple intelligences, and language skills with

the nine types of intelligence, including linguistic

intelligence (Razmjoo, 2008). Other studies

concluded that no significant differences were found

between Multiple Intelligences and successful

teaching activity (Pishghadam, R; Moafiun, 2008).

The linguistic intelligence of the students of

Mathematics Education Program was investigated

using questionnaire which was adapted from

Howard Gardner’s MI Model. The result of

questionnaire can be seen in the following table:

Table 3: Questionnaire result on Students’ Linguistic

Intelligence

No.

Indicator

Mean

I love reading books

3.64

I have a good memory for names,

places, lyrics, and other things

3.39

I love to listen to stories on the radio

or discuss books

3.79

I love word play and crosswords

3.76

I have a good vocabulary for my age

2.82

I say the words accurately

3.03

I love telling stories, jokes, or other

stories

3.91

I love going to libraries and

bookstores

3.18

I am a good liar (if I want to be)

1.91

10.

I'm a good writer

2.55

Average Linguistic Intelligence

3.20

Based on the above table, it is known that their

average score is 3.52, meaning they fall within good

category. Overall it can be concluded that their

English ability can be categorized enough. Their

English ability average is 68 and this can be

classified enough category. However, this condition

has not fulfilled the academic standard of Math

study program, and they need to be further

improved.

Efforts to improve their English ability can be

tried by increasing their activity that involves

linguistic intelligence in learning. The activities to

stimulate their English can be in forms of reading

activities, writing important terms and vocabularies

what they are reading; expressing orally their

understanding on topic they are learning and writing

resumes.

Linguistic intelligence can be boosted by

providing several activities like: exercises to acquire

and uses the pedagogical and methodological

vocabulary; debate activity; oral and written

communication; essay writing about the teaching

experience; and literary works reading. These

activities may illustrate the relationship between

student and teacher (Constantinescu, 2014).

5 CONCLUSIONS

Based on the findings and discussion above, it can

be concluded that there is a positive correlation

between linguistic intelligence and students' English

proficiency. This shows that the linguistic

intelligence strongly correlates with English

language ability. It is suggested that students’

linguistic intelligence needs to be upgraded in order

to improve their English ability. Possible program

and activities need to be offered to boost their

linguistic intelligence.

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