Editorial
This article was first published in Modern English Teacher, January 2010, Vol. 19/1

Logic for Language Learning 1

Simon Mumford, Turkey

Simon Mumford teaches EAP at Izmir University of Economics, Turkey. He has written on using stories, visuals, drilling, reading aloud, and is especially interested in the creative teaching of grammar. E-mail: simon.mumford@ieu.edu.tr

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Mistake story
Arrow sentences
Mistake or missing?
Multiple choice sentence
Finding the context
Logic puzzle sentences
Lateral thinking language puzzles
Conclusion

Many people enjoy puzzles and solving problems, and the use of an element of logic can make grammar exercises more interesting. Exercises such as putting words in order and clozes can be considered forms of puzzles, but there are many more opportunities to challenge more logically-minded students. Here are some language puzzles for students and teachers alike.

Mistake story

This story consists of 15 sentences. Each sentence has one a mistake, except the last one. A clue to each mistake is given in the following sentence, which either directly gives the correction, or the correct version in some parallel form. The task is to find and correct each mistake with reference to the following sentence. For example, the first sentence should be I heard...

1. I listened (mistake) a wonderful story recently.
2. This story I heard (correction) was about two sheeps call John and Mary.
3. These sheep were the most clever animals in the world. They could speak!
4. They were much cleverer than ordinary animals, they were help people.
5. They helped an old lady who robbed in the street.
6. They helped two childs who were lost on the mountains
7. The children road on the back of the sheep to their home.
8. Other children also rode on them, but one day a bad man tired to catch the sheep.
9. He offered some grass them to try to get them into his van.
10. Then he invited them to a party, promising them lots of straws.
11. When they got to the party, they realised that it was trick and there was no straw.
12. The trick was catching and selling them to a circus!
13. The man’s plan was to make a lot of money what he would use to buy a big new house.
14. Luckily, the sheep were saved in the last minute by a mistake that he made.
15. They came at twenty to seven, twenty minutes early, and overheard him talking about the price with the circus owner. The sheep ran off and never came back!

Solution

1. heard 2. sheep 3. cleverest (cf cleverer, the comparative form) 4. they helped 5. was robbed (cf were lost) 6. children 7. rode 8. tried (cf to try) 9. he offered them some grass (cf promised them lots of straw) 10. straw (uncountable in the next sentence) 11. a trick (cf a party-the party in lines 10 and 11). 12. to catch and to sell (infinitive of purpose, cf to make a lot of money) 13. that he would use. (cf a mistake that he made) 14. at the last minute (cf at twenty to seven) 15. no mistake

Arrow sentences

Put the words in order to make a sentence. Follow the direction of the arrows to find the next word. The second word, I has an arrow pointing left, so look to the left for the third word, came, and so on. The second part follows the first to create a single sentence.

Solution

When I came back, the whole house was flooded, so I called the plumber but he was out!

Comment

The arrows give students support, allowing for longer and more complex sentences than would otherwise be possible in this type of activity.

Mistake or missing?

All of the following sentences seem to contain mistakes, but in fact they were all spoken by native speakers with perfect grammar! However, the first part of the sentence was not heard. Try to add the missing word(s).

1. ...I were waiting for a bus this morning. Example: John and I were waiting...
2. ...I go tomorrow, I’ll be OK.
3. ...I had seen him this afternoon.
4. ...when you arrive at the station.
5. ...models is my hobby.
6. ...Mary’s just found his watch.
7. ...one is two and one is three.
8. ...Jane has got any money.
9. ...he go to the bank and ask for a loan.
10. ...the road are dangerous, so be careful!

Possible solutions: 2. If I go tomorrow... 3. I wish I had seen... 4. Call me when you arrive... 5. Making models is... 6. You know Robert, Mary’s just found....7. Roger has two children, one is two.... 8. Neither Paul nor Jane has got... 9. I suggest he go... 10. Parts of the road...

Multiple choice sentence

Choose one word from each column to make a grammatically correct and logical ten-word sentence.

Solution: There is only one possible answer. Last week is the only collocation for past time in the first two columns. I is the only possibility for the third position.that fits with ...played tennis, the only collocation in the next two columns. ...with my older sister’s boyfriend completes the sentence. Note that neither washer or cooker refer to people. Brothers (with no apostrophe) is plural, not possessive. ...with my dog called Fido and ...with my older great grand-daughter’s boyfriend are grammatically correct but logically impossible.

Finding the context

Match the sentences in the left hand column with their explanation on the right.

Solution

Comment: Variations in tense and polarity can give a limited number of words very different meanings.

Logic puzzle sentences

Complete the grid, making three six-word sentences using the following information:

1. There is one sentence of each tense, past, present and future.
2. The past tense sentence is about the cinema.
3. All sentences have the same subject.
4. One sentence has two words next to each other which both have double o (oo) in the middle.
5. The present tense sentence is about a book.
6. Two sentences share the same second word.
7. The words ‘to’ and ‘am’ both occur twice.
8. ‘Yesterday’ and its opposite appear at the end of different sentences.
9. The future sentence contains a sport beginning with ‘s’.
10. ‘Reading’ is the third word of one of the sentences.

Solution

Comment: The sentences are elementary, but the instructions are intermediate level.

Lateral thinking language puzzles

Use your knowledge of English to solve these lateral thinking puzzles.

1. John wrote me a note saying ‘I’m not a journalist and have never written an article my life.’ I knew he was lying. How? Clue: What different meanings does the word article have in English?
2. The new ___________ is ____________ than the old____________.
   Which one word can go in all three gaps? Clue: than shows it is a comparative. Short comparative adjectives end in –er, eg colder, hotter. This suffix is also used for professions e.g. footballer/writer/singer. The answer is a word that is both a comparative adjective and a job.
3. How many letters are there in a letter box? Clue: What different meanings does the word letter have in English?
4. I got a bicycle, a sweater and a CD for my birthday. Someone asked me which my favourite was. I chose one of them, however, my answer was not A bicycle, A sweater, or A CD. What did I say? Clue: Two words, one of them was bicycle.
5. John said he had an uncle who was a driving instructor, a sister who was a nurse, and an aunt who was a ballet dancer. How many relatives did he mention? Clue: What different meanings does the word relative have in English?
6. Yesterday I told my friend about my three previous visits to France. I did not use the past tense. What did I say? Clue: I only said one sentence, and gave no details e.g. dates.
7. Which pair of English words are closely related grammatically, although have no letters in common? Clue: irregular, words must be short if they have no letters the same.
8. Regular verbs add -ed to make the past tense. However, some verbs do not add anything, in fact, they lose a letter the in the past form. Which are they? Clue: Irregular
9. My boss asked me a question. I didn’t say anything, but I sat down. My boss was not surprised. What was the question? Clue: first words =Would you
10. What is next in this sequence?
    an, a, a, a, an, a, a, a, an, a, a, a, a, a…

Solutions: 1. This note contains two articles: a and an! 2. cleaner. 3. ten (a-l-e-t-t-e-r-b-o-x) 4. The bicycle. 5. six, three people and three relative pronouns! 6. I have been to France three times. 7. go/went, be/was, some/any, a/the, we/us, I/me etc. 8. lead-led, meet-met, shoot-shot, feed-fed, light-lit, hide-hid. 9 Would you sit down, please? 10. an: The nouns following these indefinite articles are in alphabetical order, an apple, a bag, a cat, a dog, an egg etc.

Conclusion

The initial grammar explanation by the teacher or in a course book is only the beginning of the learning process, and students will need to think about the information in different ways before they have a full understanding. Exercises that encourage students to devote time to thinking about grammar can help them to make connections between different aspects of language. In designing such activities, we can take inspiration from lateral thinking and logic puzzles, riddles and wordplay. These activities will especially appeal to more logically-minded learners who will be familiar with this kind of thinking in their own language.

Please check the Creative Methodology for the Classroom course at Pilgrims website.
Please check the How the Motivate your Students course at Pilgrims website.