SPATIAL-VISUAL INTELLIGENCE IN TEACHING STUDENTS OF ENGINEERING

The paper deals with the impact of teaching activities that cater for spatial-visual intelligence on students´ achievements in English for Specific Purposes (ESP). The objective of this research was to determine whether the application of a variety of language activities that encourage spatial-visual intelligence result in the improvement in learning English. The research was carried out on two groups of students (58) attending an ESP course. The first group was taught on teaching activities based on visual presentation, creating charts and bulletin boards, mind-mapping, imagination and visualization tasks. The second group was taught according to conventional language teaching practice. Students' language knowledge was tested at the beginning and the end of the course which lasted over the period of one semester. The data analysis was carried out through quantitative analysis which included descriptive analysis and using a series of repeated measures analyses of variance (ANOVA) in Statistica statistical software. Post-hoc Scheffe tests were also employed to see if there was any significant difference among the variables. The results show better achievements at the end of semester for the group which was exposed to teaching activities suited to learners with strong spatial-visual intelligence. When students are aware of their strong and weak intelligences, this knowledge may be utilized in their future learning. Teachers may design a syllabus taking advantage of a variety of teaching activities and use different tools and materials intended to cater for certain intelligences. It also helps strengthen creativity in teaching activity, and advances interaction with students.