The Impacts of Multiple Intelligences on Tolerance of Ambiguity and English Proficiency—A Case Study of Taiwanese EFL College Students

Abstract

The study was conducted to investigate how students' multiple intelligences were related to their tolerance of ambiguity and English proficiency. Subjects were 173 English major students in a private university in northern Taiwan, including 49 males and 124 females. They helped to fill out questionnaires of Multiple Intelligences (MI) (Gardner, 1983) and Second Language Tolerance of Ambiguity Scale (SLTAS) (Ely, 1995). In addition, students' English scores and English levels of Taiwan College Entrance Exam were used as their English proficiency. All available data received from the returned questionnaires were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics de-rived from SPSS 17. The results revealed that a correlation among students' multiple intelligences, tolerance of ambiguity, and their English proficiency did exist. In addition, by using t-test, findings showed that genders made a difference in students' multiple intelligences, tolerance of ambiguity, and English proficiency as well. Furthermore, implications derived from the study were provided for more effective English teaching and learning.