You know you are predominantly a logical/mathematical learner if you regularly say things like “that makes sense,” or “that isn’t logical.” While words can often be confusing, and their nuances may be interpreted in many ways, the logical learner is often right at home in the abstract analysis of languages. Certainly, if this is your chief method of learning, it does not mean that linguistics is outside of your reach or understanding. Quite the contrary. Logical leaners:
· See patterns and structure more readily than other learners.
· Love charts and diagrams.
· Look for precision in languages, and enjoy grammatical jokes and word games.
· Have strong visual analysis, memory, and problem-solving skills.
· Tend to have an easier time understanding sentence structure and the logic of verb tenses.
· Are good at finding parallels between primary and secondary languages – such as word, prefix and suffix meaning, and word order.
If you are primarily a logical/mathematical learner, you are probably well aware of (and have implemented) these tips. For language teachers of logical/mathematical learners, it’s a good idea to incorporate some of these into every lesson plan.
· We’ll start with the simple – a columned notebook. I like, and recommend graph paper as it pleasantly appeals to the logical learner in us all, and accomodates making charts.
· Get creative with pen and paper colors. Organize your notes and thoughts by color coding. One of my students charts sentences with subject, object, predicate (in short, all the parts of speech) using different colors. He does this on his own (not during class time), and according to his own logic. It’s a wonder to behold how quickly he learned English using this technique.
· Teachers of logical learners should work with tables, charts, and continuums showing relationships. An example is to have students place adverbs of frequency on a continuum.
· Logical learners should be given the opportunity to find and point out word order, spelling rules, pronunciation rules, etc. Teachers should not constantly point them out for the students. Using an example, let students find their own way through the logic.
· Cut up printed sentences by word (simple at first, and then more complicated). Let students create sentences using the provided words. This can be really fun with quotes. Afterwards, let the students analyze the meaning of the quotes and discuss their significance.
· For temporal understanding, find sequential images that tell a story, cut them out and have the students put the story into an order that makes sense using only the target language.
· Flashcards can be a real winner for logical learners, especially if they allow the student to put words into order. Separate flashcards by part of speech.
· Create word chains and have students find the individual words and define them. Girlgoatgoldfishgiraffe
· Learning numbers in a target language can be a place for mathematical learners to shine. Play with equations in the target language. Teachers, have the students say the numbers in patterns. Or work with mathematical equations in the target language. Twenty-five plus sixteen equals _______. Fünfundzwanzig plus sechzehn ist gleich ________ .
· Teachers, for advanced students, deliberately create paragraphs with grammatical or word errors. Let the students find the errors. Most of my assessments have a section with sentences with errors of all sorts – preposition, word order, pronoun, incorrect conditionals, etc. The students are always told that every sentence has a problem. They must find it.
Too often, logical/mathematical learners are pigeon holed as uncreative “egg-heads” who should better stick to the language of science and math. I have often found these types of learners are actually far more talented at learning languages efficiently and quickly. Remember that our goal in language learning is to facilitate our strengths and overcome our weaknesses. Get out there and enjoy learning a new language, making it as fun and rewarding as you can.
Keep learning –
Tim
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