The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1889-06-13
AND LANGUAGE LESSONS.

y Shall we teach Grammar or shall we
not Z This: question is, atpresent, attract.
ing the attention and engaging the
earnest consideration of teachers all over
onr country. One can seldom open an
educational journal, or even an ordinary
newspaper, without seeing 8 lengthy dis.
cnssion on the subject Of English as she
is is'taught," &c. In appointing uB to open
the discussion on this much.disputed
point, ne feel l:thatswe are placed in q
rather embarrassing position, from tho
fsct tthat some very worthy members of
this Association hold opinions on this
subject which are directly opposed to
our own. We remember that at a
Teachers Institaten some time ago,
quite q an exciting debateswas held on
this very subject. We will, therefore,
first consider the question "ahall We
teach Grammar" and then the equally
important one, how shall We teach it.
We class both under the name Grammar,
for Language Lessons" is only another
name for Primary Grammar and qram-
;marSis extended Language Lessons. We
viii state, first Of all that we are not one
of those extremists who would Danish
Grammar from our schools.
Trnsit was:a dull study in oldenitim
when Grammar comprised only an
almost endless number Of fIules and para.
ing forms; but that was long, long ago.
Those of the present time are so inter.
'esting and attractive thatsfs pupils fail
10! liket study, and teachers find little
difficulty in steachi6g it. In our child.
hood we: studied che much.abnsed
3 :..ssmith' Grammar and now, rather;
than give up the study Of this branch,
We would consent to 60 back to that
ao:called old.time-terror.
The. great demand at the present time
is for practical studies, and the chief
objection to the study Of Grammar is
that it is Of no practical use. In nine
cases out Of ten the parents who object
to pupil studying Grammar for. the
above reason, is perfectly willing to have
him memorize page after page of histori-
cal dates, spend hours in learning the
precise situation Of important towns and
rivers, or poring over endless columns of
long words, which he will seldom use, or
perhaps remember for an hour.
Now, we think it infinitely more i'm:
portant that the pupil have q fair knowl-
edge of English Grammar that is, be
able to analyze any ordinary sentence,
tell the verb subject, object, modi6ers;
connecting and relation words. Nor is
this all. He should be able to express
his ideas in correct sentences, be familiar
with the proper form for notes of all
kinds, and also letters of business or of
friendship. ALI this is gained by study
ing Language Lessons and Grammar.
Now, We defy any one who will give the
subject careful consideration to say that
it is not a practical study. It combines
practice in three most imp.r'srt
branches, viz: reading, spelling and
writing. Give pupil thorough training
in this, and you have done much toward
preparing him for the actual business of
life, even though he be unable to tell the
length of the Orange River. or the pre-
else date OF the Battle Of Monmouth and
the size of each army engaged. This is
one thing which is brought into actual
use every day OF our lives. In every
note or letter We write, even in our pleas
ant spoken greetings when We meet, we
are using or abusing the rules aud teach
ings of Grammar. True, We do not wait
to parse each sentence before it is
uttered, but the training given by the
study Of Grammar naturally causes ust
give much thought to the use of words
and their relation to each other in a
sentence, and from thinking much Of
correct forms we easily form the habit Of
speaking correctly.
While at Monteagle last summer it
was our good fortune to hear series OF
lectures on school work BY Chancellor
Payne, of Nashville, one of which was
on the subject Of Disciplinary Studies. !"
Among the best of such studies he
classed Grammar and Mental Arithme-
tic. There are some who would faiu
discover an easy path to the Temple OF
knowledge and would, therefore, choose
for young pupils such studies as may be
comprehended with the minimum Of
mental exertion, or in ether words, the
children become spoDges and simply
inbaarb These .personB condemn Gram