Theconcept of individual differences was developed in the second half of the 20thcentury,individualvalues and differences were recognized and welcomed .
A shift of attention took place from long held preoccupation of physicalaspects of man, to human being as atotality of physical, cognitive and affective variables . Following this shiftof attention, the way education is perceived and practiced has been affected..
Individualdifferences have beenthe center of any debate regarding learning and teaching. Also, research studies focused on terms attempting to capture the concepts that discern one individual from another (Fontana, 1988;Lefrancios,1991; Crozier, 1997). A gradualChange of emphasis inlanguage methodology from a teachercentred approach and teaching towards learner centred approach and learning process (Lessard-Clouston, 1997). At the same time, A considearable amount of attention in second language acquisition research wasdirected from the products of language learning towards the processes through which learning takesplace (Oxford, 1990)).As a result of this change, anincreasing interest has been growing to the concept of strategies, particularlylearning strategies and language learning strategies that derived from information-processing model of cognitivepsychology has led L2researchers to shift their focus to the role that strategies playin faciliting of L2 learning process.
Languagelearning strategies (LLS) are defined as “specific actions taken by the learnerto make learning easier, faster, more enjoyable, more self directed , moreeffective, and more transferable to new situations” (Oxford,1990, p. 8). Learningstrategies are relevant for both languagelearners and teachers.They can lightenthe second language teachers burden as strategies consciousness can helplearners to organize and monitor their own learning process and assist “shift the responsibility for learning offthe shoulders of the teachers onto those of the learners”(Cohen, 1998, p. 21).Learnerscan perform better by using certain strategies (O’Mally & Chamot, 1990).yetThe big question that still accompanies individual differences is whether they influencelanguage learning strategies ‘efficieny in foreignteaching and learning.
In a similar vein , growinginterest in L2 learning has been given to another learner variable that is intelligence. Till 1980s, among the researchstudies that have been conducted toaddress individual differences in L2 learners , little research has been done onintelligence . As Akbari and Hosseini (2008) claim “if intelligence wasmentioned, it was, in the majority of cases to refute its existence and argue againstits importance” (pp. 142-143). Intelligence wastraditionally described in terms of asingle unique factor (i.e. general or g factor)that takes merely the ,verbaland logical capacities of individuals into consideration This resulted infailing to count for language learners’ potentials for further growth.
Hence, inrecent decades, Gardner (1983, 1999) has developed a broader model/theory ofintelligence, labeled as Multiple Intelligence(s) (MI) which regards intelligence as a set of abilities. Within this regard , Intelligenceis defined as “the ability to solve problems, or to create products, that arevalued within one or more cultural settings”(Gardner, 2011, p.28). Armstrong (2009, p. 120) stated that applying multiple intelligence (MI) can beinfluential as it may remarkably “affect students’behavior in the classroomsimply by creating an environment where individual needs are recognized and attendedto throughout the school day.” The present study, thus, aims at investigatingthe relationship between multiple intelligence, language learning strategy useand achievement among MA first year English students at ISLT.1.3.
Rationale With the emergence of learner-centred theories about languageinstruction that wereprimarily concerned with the active involvement of the learner inlearning process and put a greater emphasis on the communicative needs of thelearner as an independent individual (Johnson,1982; Breen, 2001; Savignon, 2002 Kumaravadivelu,2006). multiple intelligencetheory(MIT) was given a great deal of attention among researchers giving credits to its learner-centered philosophy and focus(Richards & Rodgers, 2001).Intelligenceis defined as the “biopsychologicalpotential to process information that can be activated in a cultural setting tosolve problems”(Gardner, 1999, pp.
33–34). According to Brown (2007, p.119), strategies are “specific methodsof approaching a problem or task, modes of operation for achieving a particularend, planned designs for controlling and manipulating certain information”. Ascan be noticed , both of these definitions deal with the concepts ofproblem-solving and individual differences. Second studies on individualdifferences have particularly concluded that individual differences are “consistentpredictors of L2 learning success” (Dörnyei, 2005, p. 6) A large body of research probed therelationship between multiple intelligence (MI) and variables related to foreignlanguage learning ( Christison, 1996; Haley, 2001, Smith, 2001; Arnold , 2004, Saricao?lu & Arikan,2009), learning strategies (Akbari , 2007), language proficiency (Razmjoo, 2008), reading comprehension(Hashemi, 2010), and listening proficiency (Naeini & Pandian, 2010).
Withregard to the Tunisian context, numerous studies investigated learningstrategy use in relation to students’ achievement , performance and motivation.yet , few, if any, studies paid attention to the relationship between multipleintelligence and language learning strategies. Hence, The present study aims atfilling the gap in the existing literature .It is designed to investigate therelationship between multiple intelligence language learning strategy use and achievement among MA first year Englishstudents
