St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-02-08

their more careless COIL panlOns. NO Time
need be wasted by any pupil. All can adj
vance just as rapidly as they are qualified to
do so, and those who are stimulated TO in
dustry by proper home influences do make
satisfactory progress, though the schools can
not supply defects of heredity, or overcome
the inertia of parental neglect.
There is feeling prevalent among many
educated persons, who have not carefully
considered the matter, that pupils are not
! being properly trained, unless they are COM
hitting TO memory pages of text book.
| There may be educational cranks behind the
teachers desk at the present day, but it
seems to me that the worst specimen of the
class is he that plunges children, without re-
gard to their present attainments, into the
unknown, and compels them to swallow
! boluses of rule, definition and paradigm, and
exclaims with satisfaction that ''pupils and
! not teachers are doing the works.
AS the first of the series of reports
upon the several branches of our course
of study, 1 desire, at this time, to show
what is attempted in our schools in the
| teaching of the glish language. It is I'M
derstood that complete and thorough study
of English includes both the study of the art
of speaking and writing it correctly, and the
science of the language, its classification,
taught without assisting materially the pupil
in the use of the language in either oral or
written expression. We learn to do by doing,
and so we commence at the practical side of
the subject. Just where the study of abstract
grammar should begin is pedagogical ques-
ton which would be answered differently BY
different individuals, but all thoughtful per-
sons would certainly put it at a time when its
rules and definitions would be to students
something more than mere forms of words.
At first, therefore, we make the test of our
work the satisfactory answer to the question;
of what use is the lesson / am Civ
ing to the making of my pupils
able to express themselves orally in
good English, or to write on subjects
within their comprehension with words cor
rectly spelled, capitals properly placed, and
marks of punctuation according to good
! usage? viii study of grammatical defini-
tons do thisl Is there any training in the
use of language in such work as is repre-
scented by the quesiionsl What is the sub
iunctive mode! What is a modifier! What
is meant by the predicate? Manifestly none.
For while a complete knowledge of the struc-
ture and science of the English language
must include such matters, they are of no
use in making our pupils better takers or
writers. How many of our best authors
would pass a good examination on the tech
nicalities of English gram mar? l am of the
opinion that defnitive and descriptive adj
jectives, logical predicate, mass nouns, pre-
positional phrases aud adverbial elements
would be to many senseless jargon. Does
analysis Of sentences, cOnscientously taught
according to one of the many systems in
vogue, help pupils to the mastery of the difficult
I'M ba Of 0ff
thoughtsl Sentential analysis is certainly OF
i'm portance when we are studying language
from the scientific side, but its relation to
giving our immature boys and girls greater
power over their mother tongue is not evil
dent. Is parsing an exercise that will give
us the results that We desire! As a means
of determining whether pupils understand
the science Of grammar, and can classify
words according to its canons, it seems to
me valuable, but for teaching young pupils
the use of language there is more eX-
ceent way. As was stated in an editorial of
recent issue of one of our daily papers:
Language can be taught to the young with
out the semblance of punitive process. 1t is
safe 70 say that the time-honored method Of
forcing youth through the 0ia dolorOsa Of
grammar, whose rigid rules aud paradigms
must be painfully memorized, is an educa-
tional blunder.' Most of the common mis-
takes in the use OF language are included in
the following: The use of the wrong part of
irregular verbs, the use of the wrong case of
pronouns objects of propositions
and of verbs or as parts of
predicates. The use Of the wrong
propositions after certain verbs and adjec-
tives, and the misuse Of certain auxiliary
verbs. Our aim therefore, is to teach the
right use where there is liability TO err, by
forcing upon pupils the necessity to use ex-
pressions which give opportunities for mis-
takes. We begin with oral exercises. These
are not talks about errors, but skillfully pre-
pared lessons arranged so as to cause pupils
to use the forms to be taught, the teacher
commencing when pupils are correct, and
correcting when they err. The written work
takes the form of letter writing, writing from
dictation, compositions. written descriptions
of pictures, practice in synonyms and hon.
onyms, and the use of the dictionary In all
this no careless work is permitted, and no
error is allowed to pass uuchalenged. From
the first the technical names Of the parts of
speech aud their notifications are used, as 4
matter of convenience, although the defni-
tons are not required In the upper grades
of the grammar schools too, pupils are
taught 70 distinguish the subject, predicate,
and object, where there is one, Of
simple sentences, but this ia not allowed to
interfere with the training which has for its
aim the improvement Of our pupils in the
use Of their mother tongue.
Upon entering the High school each pupil,
no matter which course he may select, takes
up the study of English from the scientific
side, and finds that ne is but classifying and
arranging his previous knowledge.
This. then is our aim in the teaching of Eng
lish Beginning not at the Traditional starting |
point, "What ia English grammarP 'What |
is etymologyr' but at the place where there
is liability TO err in the use Of language, we |
strive to give pupils such training in speak |
ing and writing English as will make them |
a5le by toe time they reach the High school to 1
speak gram matically, aud 10 write page after /
page with words correctly spelled, capitals |
properly placed and marks OK punctuation /
where they should be used. A thorough /
study Of the grammar Of the language in the !
High school completes the course. II /
this is Kindergarten work carried through /
our whole school system up to the doors 4
of the High SCHOOL, II certainly is OF so pract- /
cal a kind, that many parents are glad 10 /
have their children receive it, az the hands OF |
conscientious and capable kinderCarteners. |
The following extracts are made from the
reports OF Superintendents Of schools in other
cities. This comes from Albany, y. Y. ut /
is only necessary 70 appeal 10 the conscious
ness Of every speaker or writer 20 get the
ready admission that none OF whatever facil
iiy in The use of language he may possess.
came from the study Of English grammar as
pursued IN our schools. No, We must learn
20 write and 70 speak correctly as a child
learns 20 talk, By constantly repeated imita.
tons. aud accordingly as the models we fol-
low-and we do follow the models presented
10 Us by orr every day companions, whether
they be books or men, implicitly though per-
haps unconsci0usly good or bad. so will