A Training Program for Developing Saudi English Language Prospective Teachers' Successful Intelligence and Higher Order Thinking Reading Skills in the Light of the Successful Intelligence Theory

Abstract

The present study aimed at investigating the effectiveness of a training program based on the successful intelligence theory in developing Saudi English prospective teachers' higher order reading thinking skills. Reviewing literature and related studies have proved that teaching successful intelligence skills is essential; because it is the kind of intelligence that will be the most valuable and rewarding in the real world after school—both in our work and in our personal lives. Students who engage in higher-order reading thinking go beyond the basic levels of comprehension. They can analyze, synthesize, evaluate, and interpret the text they are reading at complex levels. They can process text at deep levels, make judgments, and detect shades of meaning. These students will indeed be prepared to function as outstanding workers and contributors in a fast-paced workplace where the emphasis is on using information rather than just knowing facts. Sixteen –level seven, Saudi English prospective teachers at Imam Mohammed Ibn Saud University, in Riyadh, in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia followed a training program based on the successful intelligence theory, for eight weeks, two hours, once a week to develop their higher order reading thinking skills. A higher order reading thinking skills test and a successful intelligence assessment were administered to the study participants before and after the treatment. All the hypotheses of the study were supported. Students achieved progress in their successful intelligence skills after the implantation of the training program as compared to their performance before the training program. Students' mastery of higher order reading thinking skills improved after the implementation of the training program as compared to their performance before the training program application. Hence, the positive findings of the study proved the effectiveness of the training program that was based on the successful intelligence theory in developing Saudi English prospective teachers' higher order reading thinking skills.

Keywords: successful intelligent theory; higher order reading thinking skills.