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THE TEACHING OF THE MOTHER-TONGUE IN PREPARATORY SCHOOLS.

The teaching of English will be considered, for the purposes. of this Paper, to comprise instruction in—

(a) Reading, Spelling, and Writing;

(b) Original Composition and Reproduction;

(c) Language (Grammar, Word-formation, etc.);
(d) Literature.

The average age at which a boy enters a Preparatory School is about ten, and by that time it might reasonably be expected that he should have been taught at home or elsewhere to read correctly without having to spell words, to spell and understand the ordinary words he meets, and to write neatly. Experience seems to show, however, that this standard is reached only by the few. The increase in wealth and luxury has had a noticeable effect on the early education of children. They are more indulged than formerly, and parents are unwilling to subject them to strict rules or press them to do what they dislike. Their education is put off as long as possible, and, in consequence, when they are found to be unmanageable at home, and are packed off to school, they are some two years behind the standard which the average boy, with proper training, can easily reach. Preparatory Schoolmasters, therefore, find themselves faced by this difficulty. If they devote a sufficient amount of time in the lower forms to these elementary subjects, it is difficult to bring boys up to the classical standard expected by Public Schools. On the other hand, if they take boys as they find them, and allow them to pick up what they can from the unsystematic efforts of individual masters, though the abler boys will probably get along well enough, the average and slow boy suffers all through his school life.

A study of the returns made by the schools reveals the fact that, as might be expected under the circumstances, the most remarkable differences of practice exist. The time given to all subjects included in this paper (except writing) varies from half an hour a week to twelve hours or possibly more. All schools seem to recognise the necessity of giving some time to spelling, but several give none to composition, language, or literature, and the majority give about four or five hours a week in the lower forms and one or at most two in the upper. In one school a spelling lesson is learnt every day by every boy during his school course, in another half an hour a week is considered sufficient. One master gives four hours each to composition, language, and

literature. Many others write that these subjects have no fixed place in their curriculum, or that they are crowded out by the necessities of Public School examinations. Truly there seems no fear that Secondary Schools in England are likely to suffer from the monotonous uniformity of the German system, which some writers dread. The general impression left on my own inind by a long Public School experience and the examination of the returns, is that English is neglected in favour of those subjects which are showy and easily tested. And yet it seems the most ridiculous platitude to assert that until a boy can read the mother-tongue easily, can understand and assimilate what he reads, and even express his thoughts with reasonable fluency, he is not fit to start on the difficulties of Latin prose, or, indeed, the preparation of anything but the merest rote work. I imagine that many teachers, like myself, must have come across boys reading Virgil and Cæsar, to whose minds the English translation conveyed scarcely any definite idea. I am quite sure that no one can examine an average form in a Public School in history or one of the kindred subjects without noticing that the power of expression of thought and interpretation of fact is very low in comparison with the amount of names and facts which the memory has stored. It may of course be replied that the memory of boys is strong and their reasoning power weak, and that we are wise in making the utmost use of the power while we can. But granting this proposition to the full, there is obviously another point of view. We train what is naturally strong and neglect what is naturally weak. Whether the flood of facts which the sponge-like mind of the boy so easily absorbs is worth very much to him may be an open question, but of the value of a welltrained reason there can be no doubt, and what is (to the little boy at any rate) the only possible basis for thought, namely, his own language, this, oddly enough, is the subject whose acquisition is, as a rule, left to chance. I am anxious not to exaggerate the weakness of our Preparatory Schools in this respect. I know that in some schools English is most carefully taught. I know that the clever boys, in any case, do not suffer much, but I feel very strongly that, as a rule, the value of systematic English teaching is not appreciated.

The subjects will now be considered in detail.

(a).-READING, SPELLING, AND WRITING.

Nearly all boys can read a little when they come to school. It lies outside the scope therefore of this paper to consider methods of teaching beginners.

On the other hand, the minority only can read easily and understand what they read. Much time, therefore-not less than six hours a week-ought to be devoted to reading in the lower forms, and necessarily therefore to reading aloud. These lessons can be made most interesting and instructive if a suitable reading book is chosen. For a good teacher can here show his very best powers. By bright oral questioning he can

not only be teaching vocabulary (a most important point), spelling, and easy grammar, but he can also be training his boys to grasp the real meaning of every passage they read.

In their use of these lessons, the Germans are far in advance of us. They ask many more questions on the subject-matter of a passage than is usual in our forms. They demand grammatical and well - expressed answers, and SO prepare the way for the teaching of composition. The mistake made, in my opinion, by most English teachers is to require only answers in one word or short phrases. They are so anxious to be smart, and bright, and vigorous, that the interchange of question and answer is like the rattle of musketry fire. No doubt it demands more skill and preparation on the part of the teacher to keep a class interested in the slower and more elaborate answers required by the German teacher. It is true also that it is quite possible to err on the other side, and to waste time and cover too little ground. But no one can study the reports on the lessons given on the mother-tongue in Germany without feeling that we have much to learn from them.*

The English reading lesson, therefore, should be to the little boy at a Preparatory School his most important task. It may be combined with history or geography teaching, but its main purpose should always be to train him to read, think, and express his thoughts in his own language. He should also, surely, be taught to manage his voice so that it may express the meaning he wishes to convey. Very diverse opinions are held as to the desirability or possibility of training boys in elocution, but, whatever view be taken, it must be right to let them hear the difference between good and bad reading, and detect some of the principles which underly that difference. pleased a boy is, for example, when he first discovers that if he holds up his voice he implies that there is more to come, if he drops it that he has finished his sentence.

How

Spelling is, as a rule, not neglected at Preparatory Schools, though here again there is little agreement among teachers as to methods. In some schools lists of words are learnt every night, in others the use of a spelling book is condemned. One headmaster writes that dictation is hopelessly unscientific, others that dictation lessons are given in all forms in their schools. But thanks to Government examinations there is a consensus of opinion that in one way or another spelling should be taught. The practice which seems to me most reasonable is to make boys (a) copy out correctly all words wrongly spelt; (b) learn words from a spelling book, looking out the meanings in a dictionary when necessary, and framing sentences to illustrate their use; (c) collect a few leading rules; (d) look out for derivations. I am inclined to agree in the condemnation of dictation. For the good speller it is waste of time, for the bad it is a confirmation, for the time, at least, in error.

* Vide the admirable paper by Mr. F. H. Dale on The Teaching of the Mother-Tongue in Germany. Special Reports on Educational Subjects, vol. i., 1896-97. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode.)

Writing is well taught, as a rule. The prevailing style is the upright. It has the merit of legibility if not of beauty. There is, perhaps, a tendency to crush out individualism in the endeavour to secure uniform excellence. It is possible to stretch the desire for neatness too far. I have known much time wasted by teachers whose pride was that their boys' exercise books should be spotlessly tidy. Two further points occur to me as the result of my own experience. Copies are of little use in the case of confirmed bad writers. It is better to try and effect an improvement on the lines of a boy's own hand. Secondly, bad writing is often caused by misuse of the top joint of the first finger. The curve should be convex above, concave below. Otherwise, pressure is thrown on the ball instead of the tip of the finger, and control over the pen is lost.

(b).-ORIGINAL COMPOSITION AND REPRODUCTION.

This subject is rarely satisfactorily taught in English schools, and often entirely neglected. The weekly theme, marked frequently "by impression," is a poor substitute for the admirable methods of the German schools. The fact is there is no more wearisome task imposed on the teacher than the conscientious correction of ungrammatical and unidiomatic English. Nor is such correction, however careful, of much value unless some minutes are given to each boy individually. In few English schools is more attempted than this, and in a very large number, judging from the returns, the subject does not form part of the curriculum. In Germany, from the very first, composition is systematically taught. Beginning with oral lessons in reproduction from the reading-book, the pupil is gradually led on to clothe in his own language ideas supplied to him by the teacher, and only in the higher classes is he expected to find his own material. Fluency in speech is considered to be an essential preliminary to fluency in writing. When a child can readily answer in well-chosen language, he is then, and then only, allowed to commit his words to writing. The result of this training is that in vocabulary and power of expression the average German schoolboy far outdistances the English. On the other hand, it is possible that such a system may, if pushed too far, render a boy over-dependent upon outside help and weaken his originality; but the true mean can surely be found.

In

A practice which I observe several teachers recommend in their returns, and which personally I have found of considerable service, is to set frequent papers on subjects like history, the answers to which are criticised and marked as composition. this way, without excessive expenditure of time, at least on the part of the boy, a good deal of composition may be taught. I feel sure that in history and geography lessons with little boys too much attention is generally given to the acquisition of facts. Little papers are constantly set to test industry, and in this way (to repeat what I said before) the memory

which is naturally strong is assiduously trained, and the powers of reflection and expression which are weak are comparatively neglected.

(c).—LANGUAGE (GRAMMAR, WORD-FORMATION, ETC.).

Elementary grammar and analysis are taught in most schools, but mainly, as I gather, with a view to Latin Prose and construing; that is to say, boys learn to pick out the parts of speech, the subject and predicate, the principal and dependent sentences, and not much more. I fancy few schools use a textbook, and certainly only a small amount of time (about an hour a week on the average) is given to the subject. I am inclined to think that in this respect we are right. It is easy, as I have seen, to spend many precious hours on the elaborate writing out of analyses of complicated sentences without corresponding profit, and fluency in speech and writing, which are the main objects in view, are retarded rather than aided by reference to rule. At the same time, it is obviously necessary that the elements should be thoroughly mastered. I believe many boys go through their school life without a real grasp of the difference between an adverb, conjunction, and preposition.

With regard to word-formation and the history of the language, it can only be said that they are rarely taught at all. An individual master may have a taste for etymology, and encourage his boys to look for derivations, but so far as I am aware, systematic teaching of the subject is almost unknown. Yet taken as an alternative to literature for a term's reading the subject is most stimulating. It widens a boy's vocabulary, and makes him more accurate in his choice of words, and may further lay the foundations of a life-long interest.

(d).-LITERATURE.

The returns here speak for themselves. "No time;"" crowded out; ""not taught." These phrases occur again and again. A few schools teach the subject systematically, but, generally speaking, it is neglected.

I should like to consider whether it is desirable to teach literature at all, and, if it is so, whether the subject is important enough to override the plea of "no time." Is it desirable to teach literature at all? There is by no means universal agreement on this point. The headmaster of Haileybury in the first number of the Preparatory Schools Review, expressed the opinion that English teaching should be confined to grammar and language, and should not include literature.

Again it is often said that by bringing literature into the classroom you take away half its charm; that holiday tasks and term extras have killed the love of the Waverley Novels, and that Shakespeare and Tennyson will suffer the same fate if they come under the same blighting influences; that the boy regards as a task what he would else value one day as treasure trove; the master if enthusiastic finds that he is casting his pearls before swine. I believe this point of view to be quite wrong.

If boys

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