Linguistic Intelligence

Have you ever been told you have a way with words? Do you enjoy writing and giving public speeches? Maybe you are good at convincing people to see your point of view? If so, you have a very well developed linguistic intelligence!

This type of intelligence is a part of Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligence Theory that deals with individuals' ability to understand both spoken and written language, as well as the ability to speak and write. It allows individuals to communicate and make sense of the world through language. Poets exemplify this intelligence in its mature form. Students who enjoy playing with rhymes, who pun, who always have a story to tell, who quickly acquire other languages—including sign language—all exhibit linguistic intelligence.

Common characteristics of people with developed linguistic intelligence are as follows:

·Noticing grammatical mistakes

·Speaking often of what they have read

·Use of "fancy" words

·„Loving“ word games

·Cherishing their book collection

·Remembering quotes and famous sayings easily

·Liking puns and rhymes

·Enjoying writing

·Enjoying foreign language

·They have always enjoyed English class

Carrier choices for people with linguistic intelligence are:

·Writer (any type)

·Editor

·Public Speaker

·Politician

·Preacher

·Teacher

·Journalist

·Broadcaster

·English / Writing Tutor

·Actor / Actress

To get more on point, here’s a summary from Gardner’s book about Multiple Intelligences: There is strong neurological evidence for citing the existence of a separate linguistic intelligence. People with brain damage to a specific location in the left hemisphere have grave difficulty in forming grammatical utterances, although other thought processes are apparently unaffected. The linguistic intelligence makes use of rhetoric, for persuasion, allows us to develop semantic storage of information, and to explain events, including its own operations. It differs from logical-mathematical intelligence in having a strong auditory/ oral component and in not being tied to the world of physical objects. (Gardner 1983:173)

The video can give you insights to interesting statistics about Linguistic Intelligence

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suajfyAhoBE

Stay curious, stay connected! #EEIY2017