Contributions of the theory of multiple intelligences to the assessment of students’ production in translator training courses

Ensaio: aval. pol. públ. Educ., Rio de Janeiro, v. 19, n. 71, p. 425-442, abr./jun. 2011 Abstract This article argues for an approach to the assessment of students’ translation assignments that is informed by the theory of multiple intelligences proposed by Howard Gardner in 1983 and expanded in his later work. This approach is based on two main strategies: (i) diversity of forms of assessment, offering learners the opportunity to have their performance assessed in ways which are compatible with their more developed intelligences, and (ii) interaction and negotiation between not only teacher and learners, but also among peers, to allow for the interchange that different proposed meanings and solutions require. It is now being tested in the undergraduate translator training program at the Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and the preliminary results indicate that it may successfully help develop and assess students’ different intellectual potentials.