The Relationship between Multiple Intelligences and Performance of EFL Students in Different Forms of Reading Comprehension Tests

Abstract

The major aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between Multiple Intelligences (MI) scores and the performance of Iranian EFL students on different forms of reading comprehension tests. To this aim, 90 learners of English from Parax Institute of Science and Technology (Mashhad Branch) were selected. They were asked to complete MIDAS multiple intelligences questionnaire and a reading test, which included two tests formats (multiple-choice and cloze test). The result of the correlational study indicated that the total MI score correlated positively with performance on multiple-choice and cloze test. Out of its 8 sub-intelligences linguistic, intrapersonal, spatial, and mathematical intelligence correlated positively with multiple-choice test of reading. Performance on cloze test correlated positively with linguistic, spatial, and mathematical intelligence.  The results of regression equations also showed that MI scores predict both the performance on multiple-choice and cloze test. Out of its sub-intelligences, linguistic intelligence and musical intelligence predict performance on multiple-choice questions and linguistic intelligence predicts performance on cloze test.