THE TEACHING OF MODERN LANGUAGES

IN PREPARATORY SCHOOLS.

SYNOPSIS OF CONTENTS.

Questions raised.

Analysis of replies:

Present teaching in Preparatory Schools.

Objections to change.

Suggested reforms.

Various opinions.

Principles of complete reform.

Teachers.

Conclusion.

THE TEACHING OF MODERN LANGUAGES IN PREPARATORY SCHOOLS.*

In order to obtain accurate information as to the present development of Modern Language teaching in Preparatory Schools, the following questions were addressed to 255 head

masters :

I. How many boys in your school learn German?

II. Do all the boys learn French?

III. How many French classes are there?

IV. How many hours per week are devoted to French?

(a) Preparation?

(b) Lessons?

V. Is French taught by a foreigner or by English teachers?

VI. Is French taught conversationally?

(a) In class?

(b) During recreation?

VII. Is special attention paid to pronunciation ?

VIII. Do you make any use of Phonetics?

IX. Do you employ any special method of teaching French,

as

(a) The Gouin method?

(b) That known in Germany as the "New Method"? or (c) Do you teach French on the same lines as the classical languages?

X. What books do you use?

(a) For boys under 12?

(1) Grammar?

(2) Ex. or translation into French?

(3) Translation from French?

(b) For boys over 12

(1) Grammar?

(2) Ex. or translation into French?

(3) Translation from French?

XI. Is the time which you are able to devote to French in your opinion sufficient to produce a good result? XII. Should you wish to alter in any way your system of French teaching supposing that the entrance and scholarship examinations of Public Schools permitted?

* In the present paper the term "modern languages" includes French and German only.

Replies were received from 124. The number would no doubt have been greater had it not unfortunately been necessary to send out the questions just at the busiest time of the school term; as, however, the list of those who responded includes a good proportion of leading Preparatory School masters, it is not unreasonable to regard the information given and the opinions expressed as supplying on the whole correct data for the present discussion.

The material placed at our disposal naturally varies very much in value.

It is not surprising to find that a certain minority of schoolmasters take but little interest in Modern Language teaching, and write without having considered the movement of reform which has for some years been active on the Continent and has lately found its way into England. One gentleman gives his opinion in the following outspoken terms:-"The teaching of French is wasted time. If a boy really needs French, six months on the Continent would do more for him than six years in an English school." This is, however, an extreme case; the majority show themselves to be fully alive to the importance of the subject and write thoughtfully and suggestively.

We here give a short analysis of the replies to each of the above questions taking them in order.

I. Only 73 schools have pupils who are learning German, and with very few exceptions, these pupils form but an insignificant fraction of the total number of boys in the school. It may be taken for granted that in a Preparatory School German is rarely learnt, except as a substitute for Greek.

II. All the 124 schools teach French; and except in the case of a small number, in which the youngest boys do not learn it, this subject has a place in the work of every class.

III. The total number of boys in these schools is 4,997 divided for French into 522 classes, thus giving an average of 95 boys in a class.

IV. The average number of hours per week devoted to French in each class is four, these 4 hours being in many cases distributed among six or even more lessons. In making this calculation we have not distinguished between preparation and Lessons, recognising that preparation in a Preparatory School assumes much more the nature of a lesson than in schools for older boys. Thirty-two schools devote more than 4 hours to French in each class (14 of these giving from 6 to 7 hours), 15 less than 3 hours (one falling to the somewhat low level of 13 hours).

V. Five schools employ foreign teachers exclusively, 26 both foreign and English, and 93 entrust the whole of their French teaching to Englishmen.

VI. Nearly all of these schools profess to teach French conversationally in one or more of the classes.

VII. All recognise the importance of paying special attention to pronunciation.

VIII. Phonetics are not used, and in many cases appear to be unknown; the noes which are written in reply to this question varying in emphasis.

IX. Eleven schools employ what is known in Germany as the "new method," 32 have adapted the classical method to meet some of the demands for reform, and 81 teach French (some "as much as possible") on the same lines as the dead languages. X. Some 150 different books are used in these schools for the various branches of French teaching, forty-five distinct grammars alone being named.

XI. and XII. Fifty-eight headmasters are content with the amount of time which they are able to devote to French, and state that they have no desire to alter their system in any way, supposing that the entrance and scholarship examinations of Public Schools permitted them to do so; sixty-six, on the other hand, are not content, and suggest various changes which they wish to carry out, but state that they are prevented from doing so by the examinations referred to.

By the light of these figures and the other information at our disposal, we will now give a brief summary of what appears to be the usual course in good Preparatory Schools with respect to French teaching. German we omit from consideration, as it is only occasionally taught, and does not form a regular part of the school curriculum.

We find that French is taught mainly on the same lines as the classical languages, and that the teachers are mostly Englishmen with Public School and University training.

Occasionally the time-table is so arranged that one master specially qualified shall undertake the French teaching of the whole school, but more commonly it is shared by several members of the staff, and sometimes a French lady is added " to give the dictation and to converse in French." The classes are small, averaging nine or ten pupils, an ideal number assuming the learners to be on a fairly even level of proficiency. The time devoted to the subject is in the case of boys preparing for the classical side, especially where scholarships are aimed at, as a rule barely sufficient. Lack of time is, however, only one of several causes to which failure, where it exists, may be attributed, and very possibly not the chief one. If we inquire as to results, the answer may perhaps be found in the words of a headmaster who devotes slightly more than the average time to French, and who, in reply to question XI. says:

* "Yes, I consider that a sound foundation is laid in translation and composition, and if a boy were sent abroad for three months he would quickly acquire the power of conversing freely."

In the numerous quotations given in this paper we have endeavoured to change the actual words used as little as possible. It must, however, not be forgotten that the replies to our questions were in most cases hastily drafted, and not put into shape for publication.