The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1883-01-18
Grammar a Curse.

the largest ever assembled. Mr. Orgille
Bright, of Chicago, was introduced. and
| delivered an entertaining address upon
f'the subject of language lessons. He
said: ''How to teach English to English.
speaking children is question which
until within few years has little dis
turbed the comfortable iog-trot of the
average pedagogue. For the acquire
ment of this means of communication
the little children have been left to the
resources of the homes, the playground
and the street. How well these resources
have been improved is demonstrated ev-
cry time they open their mouths. But
there has been strange stir in the phil
| illogical world of late-at least in the
| sommon school corner of it. The mother
tongue is asserting its right to attention,
and that with the youngest pupils in our
schools. Somehow the idea seems to be
gaining ground that it may be more
practicable to form good habits of speech
while children are young than to break
up the rock-rooted habits of maturer
years, which we all know only too well.
Teachers here and there are waking up
| tothe fact that with the average pupil
yes, better than the average study
/ of English grammar has not produced,
and from the very nature of the case
cannot produce correct use of the En-
giish language. sae~t 81
81 In the great majority of the public
schools what has been and what is the
process which we call studying English
grammar?
,''After children are we'll settled in the
incorrect nsesof the language at the age
of twelve Or thirteen they begin by
| learning meaningless combinations of
words called definitions-meaningle to
children. This is almost invariably the
initiation. Then follows parsing, with
endlessrepetition. Their analysis, whose
only aim is to tell the kind of sentence
and in what grammatical way the ele-
ments are Joined together according to
the pet forms and designations of the
author who is being followed. There is
| another mechanical performance called
diagranling-m remarkable in its
i contamination of time. ANY study of
the beautiful thought or sentiment of
the author whose composition is being
served up, or, how this or that element
serves to modify by enliVening, strength
ening or identifying the thought is not
attempted in one school in dozen. The
few pupils who complete the high school
course can as a rule use fairly good En-
glish, but no better than should be al
loWedin the grammar school"
The speaker went on to show what
utter rigmarole was the stuff in the aver
age grammar used in the public schools.
He claimed that the system of diagraming
the sentences was useless and the very
fullness of the analyses of sentences
makes the analysis more absurd. The
analysis of words and sentences are diff
ferent according to the view of the
various authors, and the discussion of any
one of dozen sentences would involve
the teachers present in as much variance
as would the discussion of theological
point. The system of parsing, analysis
and definitions was in the opinion of the
speaker, q preposterous burlesque, and
it was nonsense to force boys and girls to
learn it. It is a waste of time, not only
to the teacher, but also to the pupil.
Definitions are as ageneral thing mere
/ combinations of words, and serve in the
majority of instances only to befog the
mind of the pupil. Children have ideas
when they come to school, and have a
method of expressing those ideas. Tie
method may be wrong, but can easily lie
corrected. The teacher should be friendly
with the pupils, and converse with. then
upon topics with which their limited ex-
perience has made them familiar. Arith-
naetic and geography may be snarled
into the heads of children, but only by
friendliness can the pupil receive the
primary instruction in the mode of ex-
preston. The speaker enforced his
points with illustrations of the absurdity
. of given definitions, claiming that when
child can use a word intelligentlv he
knows what the word means. Instruc-
j tons should begin with object lessons,
thus giving the children a correct idea of
the meaning of terms.
. The address lasted an hour, and at its
close the assemblage applauded. the
speaker roundly. The discussion which
followed showed that all the teachers
were in sympathy with Mr.. Bright's
method of teaching the English Ian
guage.
Prof. Sedan claimed that the old sys-
tenn of teaching the English language
was obsolete, and was of the opinion that
the lower grade pupils should receive
their ideas of the language from CONVEX
sation rather than from reading and alb
struse definitions.
Prof. Wilson, of the Clinton School,
supported the ideas advanced by the
speaker. He believed in drilling on
words, making that the basis of the study
of the language. Pupils on leaving home
have 400 words. and the first year should
be spent in drilling upon these words by
means of pictures and conversations.
The second year should consist of a sys-
tematic drill of new words both by oral
and written exercises The irregular
| plurals of nouns should be introduced,
the use of the possessiVe. the rules for
capitals and the principal points of pune
tuation. About the middle of the grade
the irregular verbs should be introduced,
teaching the use of all parts of the verb.
The peculiarities and difficulties of the
language should be understood rather
than the technicalities, and pupils should
be thus prepared to take up the use OF
grammar in the higher grades.
NJ. A. F. Hamilt on favored the ami