Show h 1 J Exchanges and Reviews t i i. i e 0 THE STUDY OF ENGLISH IN THE THE- PUBLIC SCHOOLS A report has recently been made to the the- overseers of Harvard College by the Committee committee com Com- committee on composition and rhetoric This report the very faulty use of the the- English language by a class of students students- in that ancient and honorable university In the report a large number of the productions pro productions pro pro- productions of those students a are are e printed in fac facsimile simile red reduced to one-half one their original original original nal size Beyond a doubt those students students- have no command of the English Englis language language lan lan- language guage though they had passed the Harvard Harvard Harvard Har Har- vard examinations and entered the This is conclusive proof that the- the standard of admission to Harvard was low The report deplores the fact that the professors t are obliged to supplement the defective preparation of students in English before going on to the more ad advanced advanced ad- ad work appropriate to them and it seems to lay the fault at the door of the preparatory schools But the preparatory schools had met the requirements Their Their- I students had passed the entrance examina examina- Hons These schools might with equal propriety complain that the pupils who come to them are not well weB fitted for the work appropriate for these fitting schools j jand and the lower schools may likewise insist 1 upon a better training in English in the j primary schools and so on to the kindergarten kindergarten kindergarten kinder kinder- garten the home and even to hereditary tendency and environment In the public schools of France the the- study of the French language and literature literature literature litera litera- ture occupies one fifth of the time If the English language and literature were to occupy as large a proportion of the r time in our school curriculum the education education education tion of our children would be greatly im im- proved For there is no study in the whole course which may be made a better i instrument strument of culture than the study of English It concerns itself with close and accurate thinking and this kind of thi thinking thinking think think- king k- k ing is the very end and aim of education The study of English includes oral speech and written or printed language The first of these is as important with young pupils as is the last and with advanced students the careful study of their oral speech is of great value though it has generally received but little attention In society conversation is f h fi carried on in a careless thoughtless way words are often used with very little regard to their meaning expressions are employed because they are novel or striking rather than because they are appropriate and fit fit- ting And quite generally a word does duty in oral speech in a sense very remote remote remote re re- mote from its real meaning Awful almighty splendid are words commonly commonly commonly com com- used to express a mere superlative The same bad habit of oral speaking is not infrequently allowed in the class class- room The study of English then should begin with oral speech and especially especially especially es es- it should so begin the first day of school in the lowest grade This careful attention to oral language must not be omitted at any stage of school life Oral speech precedes written language and if the written language of pupils in school at first and all along were made the basis of the written work work the the themes and compositions these compositions these exercises would be robbed of all their terror The child begins to talk at a very early age and he knows the meaning of many words long before he he can pronounce them vocabulary vocabulary vocabulary I On comin coming b 0 to school his t k lary is much larger than we have credited him with and his power of expression is greater than most teachers suppose Now Now- the first and chief duty of the teacher isto isto is is- to induce the child just entering school to- to talk talk to to express express' himself I have called this the chief duty duty because the tre expression of thought begets thought in the child The thought may be stimulated by ob objects objects objects ob- ob toys the kindergarten gifts and occupations occupations occupations oc oc- objects of nature of every variety stories plays plays anything anything whatever that interests him im The oral OJal language the childs child's own own may may next be written upon the the- blackboard for him to read and the written characters should be to him the representatives of the sounds he has has- made in speaking The important fact in inthis inthis inthis this connection is that the child Connects his oral speech with the written language He is led to see that written language is is- the expression of thought his own thought and thus the reading is vitalized FO PO to speak speak made made a living thing From this stage it is only a step for for him to perceive perceive perceive per per- that written language may also bethe bethe be be- the expression of another persons person's tho thought It is important that he so look upon it later when he sees the written or printed language in ina in a book The child is taught to think to express him himself elf in words to recognize the written language as another form of his own thought and to reproduce his thought in visible form and incidentally he learns that all written or printed language is the expression of thought He thus learns at the very outset of his school education to look behind the language whether oral or written for the thought that lies with with- in The oral expression whose value I have attempted to emphasize at the very start in school life ought in my judgment judgment judgment judg judg judg- ment to receive equal attention at every stage of the public schools The pupil ought to be accustomed to express in clear concise and appropriate language whatever he has seen or thought or beers been ril concerned about bout This oral expression sh should u d b be a a daily lily practice ti Every tion tibi io 1 Ot ought to tobe obe be made a study of English The form forna and d the fitness fitness- of of the ex expression expression pres- pres si sion n should be looked upon upon as I of equal importance with the matter to be expressed expressed ex ex- pr pressed for there is no definite thought without definite expression Vague language language language lan lan- guage involves vague thought and this careful attention to the la language guage constan and urn unremitting emitting is a great part if not the best the most important part of school e education Prof A. A P. P Marble ble in in t k Sch School School Review Review for A April ril 1 |