linguistic intelligence

Psychology

2022

We explain what linguistic intelligence is, its characteristics, examples and how to develop it. Also, other types of intelligence.

Linguistic intelligence offers capacities for the transmission and acquisition of knowledge.

What is linguistic intelligence?

According to the provisions of the American psychologist Howard Gardner in his Multiple intelligence theory of 1983, linguistic intelligence or linguistic-verbal intelligence is a form of intelligence human linked to verbal language and linguistic expression abilities.

This type of intelligence includes the management of languages, writing, oral expression and poetic resources. People with high linguistic intelligence have a particular ease in learning languages, handling words or organizing the language. language, common talents in cultivators of the oral or written word, such as writers, translators or lawyers.

To a large extent this type of intelligence is connected with the musical intelligence and with the logical-formal, since it has to do with the portion of the brain capable of recognizing and producing patterns and rhythms, in this case expressed through verbal language.

Language is one of the main forms of technology of the human being, whose emergence not only allowed social interconnection at complex levels, but also shaped thinking towards margins of abstraction that were impossible in the past, impacting in a unique way on the history of our species.

In fact, it is one of the most unique capabilities of the human being, the only animal endowed with language in the world.

Characteristics of linguistic intelligence

Linguistic-verbal intelligence is a fitness fundamental of human beings, which begins its development from the first years of life. It interrelates our speech apparatus, our temporal lobe of the brain and the society in which we develop, since language is also a social phenomenon.

On the other hand, it is also an important tool for the construction of symbols, signs and other scrutinized languages. In that sense, it implies not only the oral and written handling of language, but its understanding as a system of representation of the reality, which translates into more complex forms of expression.

Those who possess greater linguistic intelligence tend to possess greater capacities for transmitting and acquiring knowledge.

Examples of linguistic intelligence

Translators, composers and polyglots tend to have higher linguistic intelligence.

Linguistic intelligence is usually particularly developed in individuals with great gifts of oratory, persuasion, or speaking skills, such as lawyers, politicians, or psychologists, teachersas well as in polyglot individuals, or in translators, writers, poets, and songwriters. It is common in them habit of the reading and even writing.

How to develop linguistic intelligence?

Some simple activities to develop linguistic intelligence are:

  • Learn new languages, or improve understanding of your own.
  • Adopt the habit of frequent reading, especially of genders challengers, such as poetry.
  • Enroll in reading workshops, literary expression courses or similar.
  • Practice word games, translation exercises, crosswords, and more games that enhance linguistic thinking.

Other types of intelligence

Other types of intelligence within the Multiple intelligence theory Gardner's are:

  • Musical intelligence. That which links individuals with rhythmic patterns and with the music.
  • Logical-mathematical intelligence. That related to the management of formal languages ​​based on logic and reasoning abstract, like mathematics.
  • Kinesthetic intelligence. That which has to do with the body and touch, with the sensations and movement of the body.
  • Spatial intelligence. That which is related to spaces, that is, with the perception of size, proportions and physical relationships of things.
  • Interpersonal intelligence. That which is linked to what we traditionally call charisma: the ability to mobilize others, to affect them or to empathize with them.
  • Intrapersonal intelligence. That which, unlike the previous one, allows the individual a deep understanding of his being, his interiority and his own world.
  • Naturalistic intelligence. That which links the individual with the nature and its dynamics, allowing you to harmonize with them and predict them, simply by paying attention to your surroundings.
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