Letters in Squares- Word Puzzles in English
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
UNIVERZA V MARIBORU FILOZOFSKA FAKULTETA ODDELEK ZA ANGLISTIKO IN AMERIKANISTIKO Diplomsko delo LETTERS IN SQUARES- WORD PUZZLES IN ENGLISH Mentorica: Kandidatka: Doc.dr. Katja Plemenitaš Mateja Vinovrški Maribor, 2010 ZAHVALA Hvala vsem, ki ste kakorkoli pomagali, da je ta naloga tukaj! U N I V E R Z A V M A R I B O R U F I L O Z O F S K A F A K U L T E T A Koroška cesta 160 2000 Mariboor IZJAVA O AVTORSTVU Podpisana Mateja Vinovrški, rojena 23. aprila 1980 v Mariboru, študentka Filozofske fakultete Univerze v Mariboru, smer angleški jezik s književnostjo in biologija, izjavljam, da je diplomsko delo z naslovom Črke v kvadratih – besedne uganke v angleščini oz. Letters in squares – Word puzzles in English pri mentorici doc. dr. Katji Plemenitaš, avtorsko delo. V diplomskem delu so uporabljeni viri in literatura korektno navedeni; teksti niso prepisani brez navedbe avtorjev. ABSTRACT Word puzzles and games are an important tool for learning and consolidating language. They appear in various forms and in various media (books, online, board games and newspapers). This diploma thesis presents the history of word puzzles and offers a classification of different types of word puzzles and games. In order to gauge how English language-learning materials in Slovenia utilize word puzzles, an analysis of the number of occurrences and variety of word puzzles in English language study books that are offered in Slovenia is also presented. A survey among Slovenian primary school learners has been made regarding the use of crosswords in the classroom and its results are also presented. Word puzzles and word puzzle concepts are not just found in textbooks, however, so this thesis also reviews and explains some of the more popular board games and online games that qualify as word puzzles. In addition, reviews and explanations are also offered for some of the word puzzles and games found in daily American newspapers. This thesis concludes with a critical evaluation of the results presented and of the ways that word puzzles can be integrated into the learning experience. Key words: word puzzles, word games, word puzzles in English learning books, crosswords, board games, word puzzles online, word puzzles in American daily newspapers POVZETEK Besedne uganke in igre so pomembno orodje pri učenju in poglobitvi znanja jezika. Pojavljajo se v različnih oblikah, prav tako v različnih medijih (knjige, splet, družabne igre,časopisi). V tej diplomski nalogi je predstavljena zgodovina besednih ugank ter narejena klasifikacija različnih tipov besednih ugank in iger. Narejena in predstavljena je analiza pogostosti in raznolikosti besednih iger v izboru knjig za učenje angleškega jezika, ki so na voljo v Sloveniji, in sicer z namenom izmeriti, kako ta material izkorišča besedne igre. Narejena je bila tudi anketa med slovenskimi osnovnošolci v zvezi z uporabo križank v razredu in predstavljeni so njeni rezultati. Besednih iger in konceptov le-teh ne najdemo samo v učbenikih, zato sta v tej diplomski nalogi narejena pregled in razlaga nekaterih znanih in popularnih družabnih iger in iger na spletu, ki temeljijo na besednih igrah. Prav tako so podane razlage in pojasnila besednih iger, uporabljenih v ameriških dnevnih časopisih. Diplomska naloga se zaključi s kritičnim ovrednotenjem predstavljenih rezultatov in načinov vključitve besednih iger v učni proces. Ključne besede: besedne uganke, besedne igre, besedne uganke v knjigah za učenje angleščine, križanke, besedne uganke na spletu, besedne uganke v ameriških dnevnih časopisih Contents 1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................... 1 2 OVERVIEW OF WORD PUZZLES ............................................................... 3 2.1 SHORT HISTORY OF WORD PUZZLES ........................................................ 3 2.2 TYPES OF WORD PUZZLES ........................................................................... 5 2.2.1 CROSSWORD PUZZLES .......................................................................... 5 2.2.2 WORD GRID PUZZLES ............................................................................ 8 2.2.3 WORD SEARCH PUZZLES/ WORDFINDS ............................................ 9 2.2.4 WORD SQUARES ................................................................................... 10 2.2.5 ANAGRAMS/JUMBLED LETTERS ...................................................... 11 2.2.6 PALINDROMES ...................................................................................... 11 2.2.7 MATCHING WORD PARTS .................................................................. 12 2.2.8 MISSING LETTERS PUZZLES .............................................................. 12 2.2.9 GROUPING WORDS ............................................................................... 13 2.2.10 LIPOGRAMS, UNIVOCALICS, PANGRAMS ...................................... 14 3 WORD PUZZLES IN BOOKS USED IN TEACHING AND LEARNING ENGLISH .............................................................................................................. 16 3.1 BOOKS FOR GENERAL ENGLISH COURSES ............................................ 16 3.2. SPECIALIZED ENGLISH STUDY BOOKS .................................................. 20 3.3 SELF-STUDY AND EXERCISE BOOKS FOR VOCABULARY ................. 23 3.4 CROSSWORDS IN THE CLASSROOM ........................................................ 26 3.5 ANALYSIS ....................................................................................................... 31 4 BOARD GAMES BASED ON WORD PUZZLES ...................................... 34 4.1 SCRABBLE ...................................................................................................... 34 4.2 UPWORDS ....................................................................................................... 37 4.3 BOGGLE .......................................................................................................... 38 4.4 BALDERDASH ................................................................................................ 39 4.5 TYPO ................................................................................................................ 41 4.6 BUY WORD ..................................................................................................... 42 4.7 PASS THE BOMB ........................................................................................... 44 4.8 THE GAME OF SCATTERGORIES ............................................................... 46 4.9 HANGMAN ...................................................................................................... 48 4.10 ANAGRAMANIA ............................................................................................ 48 5 WORD PUZZLES ONLINE ......................................................................... 50 5.1 BONNIE’S BOOKSTORE ............................................................................... 50 5.2 WORD MOJO GOLD ...................................................................................... 51 5.3 TEXT TWIST ................................................................................................... 52 5.4 PARADISE ISLAND ....................................................................................... 53 5.5 CODEWORD ................................................................................................... 54 6 WORD PUZZLES IN U.S. NEWSPAPERS ................................................. 57 6.1 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ................................................................... 57 6.2 USA TODAY .................................................................................................... 57 6.3 THE NEW YORK TIMES ............................................................................... 58 6.4 THE WASHINGTON POST ............................................................................ 58 6.5 NEW YORK DAILY NEWS ........................................................................... 59 7 CONCLUSION .............................................................................................. 61 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................. 63 APPENDIX ........................................................................................................... 71 1 INTRODUCTION Traveling by train from Oxford to London one morning, Ronald Knox opened his copy of The Times and turned straight to the crossword puzzle, reputed to be the most difficult in the world. One of his fellow passengers, noticing that the priest had been staring at the puzzle for several minutes without filling in any of the answers, offered to lend him a pencil. "No, thanks," replied Knox, looking up with a smile. "Just finished." From http://pawprints.kashalinka.com/anecdotes/knox.shtml, retrieved 5.1.2010 Word puzzles are fun and almost everybody, from priest to professor, enjoys them. Being a crossword puzzle enthusiast myself, I decided to look into the area of word puzzles more thoroughly. I was amazed to see how many people deal with word puzzles in one way or another: some are fans of board games like Scrabble, others love their daily crossword puzzle, some deal with them scientifically and some simply do them for fun. This diversity and versatility made me curious, so rather than limiting myself to one type of puzzle, I decided to research a large variety of word puzzles and create a unique classification that includes widely known recreational