The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1914-12-05

And one naturally asks for an ex-
PLANTATION.
Is spelling a lost art? Is the sys-
tenn of teaching spelling ineffective. or
does the fault rest with the individuals
because of lack of application in the
schools? These are questions being
asked by Topeka business men.
The situation is serious" said one
Topeka business man today. ut is diff
ficu1t to find stenographers who can
spell, and some Of the mistakes made
are simply appalling. Even those who
have had a high school education make
errors that are objectionable.
I'VE have been trying to teach the
spelling OF too many words" said H.
b. Wilson, superintendent of schools.
today. And that unQuestiOnably Is the
weakness in the method OF teaching
spelling that has made 1t Impossible
to attain the degree Of accuracy de-
sired.
Change in Topeka.
But the method of teaching spelling
in the Topeka schools is being mater
tally changed Lists OF WORDS, Wiz,
are in the vocabulary OF an average
person, have been compiled ana are
now being used by the teachers OF the
second and third grades. Committees
composed Of members Of the teaching
staff of the city schools are preparins
additional lists for the upper eraues
and they will be ready for use py tne
second semester.
Rusiness Course Strengthened.
Furthermore the business course in
the high school is being strengtneneu
commercial department of the nlsn
school as can be produced in any busi-
ness college, said Superintendent VIII
son.
In the grades the spelling OF many
| words that are not In the vocaoulafS
, of the ordinary business man has peer
insisted upon in the past. There are
. between 10000 and IL, COO words in Rath-
burns Graded Speller used in the loca
| schools. while not more than 2,OVV OF
! 2. 600 words are in ordinary business
correspondence. For example, there
are such words in the speller as consan'
guinity, desuetude, synecdoche, etc.
| Interesting Investigations.
| Recently the division Of education O.
| the Russell Sage Foundation conducted
! a study of the vocabularies OF 1000 shor
business and personal letters. Inc on
tcct was to find out whether or no
there exists a fairly definite body o
words so generally used in ordfnar!
correspondence that they should form
| the basis of the spelling vocabuiar.
| taught in the lower grades or the eie
mentary schools. In pamphlet deal
| ing with this investigation by DR.. Leon
ard p. Ayres the following summary /
given: "On the completion Of the worl
it was found that while the aggregat
number of entries was 23,62S, there wer
SO many duplicates that the total mum
Der Of individual words employed wa
only 2,OO1. In making the tabulatio
names of numbers, persons and place
were omitted. An analysis of the fina
results shows that ISL OF the word
appeared only once each, while one Q
them was repeated 1,0SO times"
DIR. w. Franklin Jones, head of tn
department of education. Universit
of South Dakota. in pamphlet en-
titled Concrete Investigation of tn
Material of English Spelling tells Q
an examination made of $4,000 theme
. averaging 100 words each. TIL
. themes aggregated 15.000.0O0r words
counting each word as many time
as it appeared. but the total numbe
of different words was but 1882. Tn
themes were written by 1850 students
II Tests have been given that were sub
mittd to students more than ffft
, years ago, and indicate that student
of today are better spoilers than thos
of more than a half century ago, bu
| still have not attained to q proper de
| gree of efficiency.
. In the course OF study for the fir
/ semester. .1914-1s15 in the Topek
| grade Schools forty-eight pag
booklet - Superintendent Wflso
: makes suggestions to the teachers
Z respect TO the practical method G
/ handling the spelling work. Super
| intendent Wilson Gays in part:
Throughout our work, We are nc
, Ito forget that the ultimate purpose l
tteaching spelling is that each chill
? shall write correctly: not in columns
but in sentences and paragraphs.
social standards rightly demAn
that one shall spell accurately tn