The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1921-12-08

! OF Mrs. Lemke. The implication Whlcf
this action by lesser citizen woulc
present should certainly apply to Mr.
! Lemke.
SPOKE ON PROBLEM
/ OF ENGLISH WORK
The following extracts are from a
paper read by Miss Beulah Drummer
head of the Junior High School of
S. T. c., before the English depart
ment of the N. D. E. A. which met
last week in Fargo.
An important problem of the teach
er in the work in oral English is to
correct gross errors. This problem is
extremely difficult to solve because a
child can use very poor and incorrect
speech and succeed in making his
wants known. When II seen" gets re-
suits Just as easily as II saw" and
when for six years the child has heard
the former from the lips Of those in
whom ne has most confidence, where
is the motive for l saw. At six he
enters school and the struggle begins
and never till he becomes sensitive to
the correct form through the devices
Of skillful teachers will be overcome
the early habit and form new one.
The lack of ability to train children to
be sensitive to correct forms and to
furnish real motives for their use is
one cause of the persistence OF poor
English.
Another problem in oral compost
ton is the difficulty in the ordinary
round of school activities Of finding
enough worth while material for the
child to talk about. When our cur
riculum shall be so enriched and re-
yised that it contains abundant ma
terial within the realm of the child's
natural interests, there will be free
discussion, the recitation will be what
DR.. Dewey calls a social clearing
house and children will correct each
others errors. =.
A third problem is the neglect OF
the teachers in other departments.
When slovenly speech is not checked
up very strongly by any one except
the English teacher, one-fourth OF the
childs school work has to overcome
the bad habits of the other three
fourths.
A very difficult problem is present,
ed thru poor study habits, which lead
to Indebtedness, carelessness of pre-
sentation, and lack Of organization
Poor thinking is reflected thru poor
speech.
If this paper were intended to offer
solutions for these problems 1t would
sound less pessimistic. 1t is intended:
however. that in the presentation OF
the problems there is some suggestion
of solution. A further suggestion is
the organization of class activities
into better social groups where the
customs of polite, society prevail ana
where che class activity takes the al,
rection of either formal or informal
discussion as the material and nature
of the situation demand.
The problems of the English teacher
in written composition are greater
Here there is a new speech medium
to be mastered, with many technical
difficulties by way of punctuation, cap
italization, and paragraphing.. These
difficulties are made greater because
of the differences in the standards set
up. The National Council OF the
teachers in English has made heroic
effort to secure uniformity Of nomen-
clature and a set of definite standards:
onlv to be met with indifference both
by the laity and by great portion OF
the teachers in other fields.
Commercialism in the form OF new
and attractive texts has >often doml-
mated and controlled judgment. II:
as DR.. Hosic has said, "English means
competence in the use of the vernacu.
lar for the purposes of everyday lie,
then the problem is one Of thinking
clearly, reading intelligently, and
writing forcefully. Standards vary
from course Of study to course OF
study, from textbook to textbook, ana
from teacher to teacher. The average
teacher does not realize how widely
thew vary nor how seriously this var
iation affects the school. j.
Another problem is the difficulty OF
establishing measuring scale. Quail
ity, very elusive term, IS the meas.
uring stick in one scale, punctuatlon
in another, parCS OF Speecll II,
language completion in another, ana
minimum essentials in another. The
rank and file of teachers cannot put
them together. nor use them separate
ly either to diagnose or to remedy
The method of criticism Of written
work looms large in this discussion
Schemes for conserving time, for sell
criticism and correction, for grouping
and handling of typical errors, Tor
building up sentence CONSCIOUSNESS:
and for avoiding repetitions have been
devised and progress has been made
We are reaching the point where
teachers refuse to spend valuable
time in blue pencilling the same errors
oft repeated. ra,:ah
The many-sided nature OF Engllsn
presents a very difficult problem!
Someone said, Everything from
Paradise Lost to an apostrophe: Ev'
ervthing from drill in accuracy to the !.
possibilities of creative expression.
The only salvation for the teacner Is
soso Nf those