The standardized reading comprehension tests from retrieved paper-based TOEFL® tests were selected. The tests consisted of five short passages, each followed by 9 to 11 multiple-choice questions and 50 in total. It was piloted to 20 EFL students who were same as the main participants of the study regarding proficiency level. The result of the pilot study showed that the test was reliable enough (r=.89). Data collection Procedure
The participants of this study were selected from bilingual and multilingual EFL learners. They were selected from Shokoh language institute in Tehran, Enghelab branch. The native language of the most of multilingual learners was Azari and the native language of bilingual learners was Persian. The initial sample
There was a positive correlation between the two variables, r =.363, n = 30, p < .05. Thus, the hypothesis is confirmed and there is a significant relationship between multilingual EFL learners’ interpersonal intelligence and their reading comprehension performance, i.e., higher interpersonal intelligence is associated with higher levels of reading comprehension performance among multilingual EFL learners.
Discussion and Conclusion
It was revealed that there was a positive correlation between the interpersonal intelligence of both groups of bilinguals and multilinguals and their performance on the reading comprehension test. This finding supports Richards and Rodgers’s (2001) arguments that “language learning and use are obviously closely linked with what MI theorists label Linguistic Intelligence” (p. 117). This finding is indirectly
Human beings are born with an established set of genetically predisposed intelligences, which could be developed later in life, conditional on familial, social, cultural, and educational practices and experiences (Stanciu, Orban, & Bocos, 2011). Hence, the teaching-learning process plays a substantial role in developing, cultivating, and optimizing L2 learners’ MI profiles. Every single learner is capable of displaying all the intelligences with different levels, and “the challenge in education is for teachers to create learning environments that foster the development of all the intelligences” (Haley, 2004, p. 163). Actually, on the one hand, the findings of this study could discrepantly contribute to the current body of literature on the MI theory and reading, and on the other it could bold the interrelationships of MI, as psychological constructs, and EFL education. Approaching L2 instruction with MI deliberations paves the way for more fruitful