Evening star., 1898-07-08
ESSENTIALS TOTEACH
Methods of Imparting Instruction in
English Composition.
SPELLING BOOK IMPORTANT FACTOR
interesting Addresses Made by
Professors Shaw and Thach.
NATIONALTHEATER MEETING

| The schedule time for opening the exer-
| cises At the National Theater was e:I5
| O'Clock. At that hour not fifty people were
| seated, and the stage was empty, save for
| forest of chairs The stage was hand
somely set with palms and big jar OF car
! nations stood on the table of the presiding
| officer, but not flag in sight This
| was commented on by many Of the WISH
| tors, who wild with enthusiasm over
| the patriotic display at Convention Hall
| last evening. 1t was quite 10 o'clock before
1 the audience gathered and the convention
opened.
The president, George ]. Ramsey, vice
| president for louisiana introduced the
| Rev. DR.. Clarke. who offered an eloquent
| prayer. There was no music, and Prof Z.
r. Shaw, dean Of pedagogy, New York
| University, Washington square, New York,
| was introduced to give an address of thir-
| ty minutes on The Essentials of English
| Composition to be Taught in Elementary
Schools Professor Shaw is a OF
1 pleasing personality and clear pleasing ad-
| dress. He said in part:
| Prof. Shaw's Address.
| Under the essentials of English compo-
| sition for elementary schools / shall COM
| prehend every means that contributes to
give pupil the fullest and freest COM
| mand of English 1t is possible to give in
the elementary school. More be done.
| / am confident, than has yet been generally
| attained in this direction. The error OF the
| past has been the loss of time and the
waste of effort in teaching English from its
| formal phase.
''The first essential of English composition
| to be secured in the elementary school Is
| correct spelling. There is abundant evi-
| deIce on every hand to show that the
| method generally pursued today in teach
ing spelling is not method which gives
l 90 1Sfa aOrO N NJ
course. be caught incidentally, but in so
difficult and arbitrary a matter as English
spelling definite time must be set apart
for Ii in the school program when spelling
| shall be pursued a regular exercise
Prof Shaw believes the second essential
| to be secured is what he terms feeling for
| En- glish." II he were required to make
| choice between technical knowledge of En-
| glish ana what he terms feeling for En-
glish." lie would unhesitatingly choose the
| latter To develop this sense he would
| give the pupils selections from the masters
| of English literature, and requiring those
| selections to be memorized. to be repeated
| and Transcribed He would have children
| memorize half a dozen good poems each
year. He does rot believe that this will be
sufficient to develop this feeling for En-
glish," for the best prose selections such as
| will test oratorical powers should also be
memorized.
1.-The fundamental requisite. then" he
says, from first TO last. in the teaching OF
| English composition in the elementary
| school, is abundant and continued express
| sion OF the pupils thought and feeling
| growing out of some activity, some eXpe-
| rience, some observation, some intercourse,
some imaginative construction on the part
| of the pupil"
| Grammatical Analysis.
| What is to be insisted on, therefore, ia
some positive, underlying content in the
| pupils mind, which he is led to express
either in oral written language, and out
of this expression all the formal aspects
| of composition are the issue. The next es-
sential is a knowledge Of grammatical an
| alysis Of sentences, which should be well
| begun in the sixth school year and carried
| through the seventh and eighth years.
| THE method to be employed in unfolding
| this grammatical knowledge is that of the
| skillful questioning of the living teacher
| 1t is to be principally analytic rather than
| descriptive. Prof. Shaw would then bring
them face to face with incorrect English
| to set right"
In closing he said he had insisted in his
paper upon the actual use of English in
| writing, and great deal of 1t. instead OF
| study upon how English should be used, or
how it may be used, but that at no point
| shall the teaching be such as to develop q
| fatal facility to use words at the expense
| of defniteness of thought.
| Address by Prof. Thach
| The next address on the Essentials OF
English Composition to Be Taught in Sec
| ondary Schools" was an entertaining paper
| presented by Prof. Chas c. Thach of the
State Polytechnic Institute, Auburn. Ala.
| He opened by saying that within the last
few years there has been a marked i'm
| provement In the teaching of English both
| as to subject matter and methods He was
| somewhat sarcastic in his references TO
| the scholarship of many college boys, who
| in the most mechanical points of execution
| In handwriting, spelling and punctuation, a
| large number are deficient to an appalling
| degree. They have no vocabulary, he says,
| no thought or vividness of feeling and but
| one vent-slang. Thus while the boys are
| bright, the teachers faithful and diligent
| the fault. he believes, lies in the secondary
| schools, through lack of method and the
| manner in which English is taught Habits
| OF FAULTY speech are not corrected early in
| school life.
| Two Distinct Methods.
There are two distinct methods which
have been pursued in the effort to inculcate
a good English style. he says. The first
method, the translation of the ancient clas-
sics, which he believes to be an excellent
| practical exercise In English composition.
The second method, of learning to write
English. consists in the fruitless practice of
| studying about English rather than study
| ing English itself; of celebrating the WHY'S
| ard hows and wherefores of style
Prof. Thach believes that what is needed
| IN our school work in teaching composition
| is less psychology and more practice; more
| OF the method of the gymnasium, of the
| studio and of the laboratory-the method of
| learning to do a thing by doing it,
The professor thinks that of all the arts
| that Of writing well is certainly the most
| difficult Fluency and good style are not
| fairy gifts, but are obtained only by the
most strenuous labor.
| But even practice in writing fails of the
| best results" he says, unless attended by
enother important factor that is recognized
| as an essential element in all good work.
interest-an essential which, IL 1t cannot be
| taught, can at least be cultivated"
He believes that children should be lead
/ by easy stages to write OF what they know
absolutely and are interested in. No one
he believes, can write well unless he writes
for the purpose Of expressing thought One
must have something 10 say and say IL
For instance, he says, girl writing a love
| letter makes success of IL because she has
ideas and wants to express them; she is In
terested in her subject. A feeling of abiding
dis gust for composition as an accomplish
mt II grows in the heart of boy, he says
wi is given dead abstruse subjects 10
wr-te upon. To get the best results the
pupils should never be assigned abstract