"VOICE DRILL."

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 30, 5 February 1925, Page 4

"VOICE DRILL."

NEW ZEALAND'S ENGLISH. | SCHOOL INSPECTORS COMPLAIN". I (P.y Telegraph. —Press Association i WELLINGTON, this day. j Is New Zealand developing v disiinc- j the accent of its own? Sir James Parr sought opinions of delegates to the j School Inspectors' Conference on this (point to-day. • j Mr. Bird, Chief Inspector (Wellington) i said that undoubtedly there was a de-. |cided tendency among children to' , broaden on vowel sounds. In dairying districts, said Inspector! Mcllwraith (Auckland), there also was ;a tendency to poor speech, because there ! the children grew tired, and the teachers I ,did not .give sufiicient instruction in I phonics. He had been in London re-1 Icently. and believed that the accent of! Mho iiast Knrl was purer than that of. 'some districts of the Dominion, but he, I would not make a. wholesale denuncia-| II ion. Some districts were better than; ! others. | Inspector T. F. Warren I North Auck-1 | land) suggested regular voice drill and, I a chart giving correct sounds for teach- ' ers to follow when instructing children. I Inspector Haslam (Canterbury) agreed : .that the speech of children was not so! poor as regards accent. In class a buy ! i spoke correctly, but outside he seemedto consider it bad form or affectation | to do so. I | Inspector Valentine (Taranaki) admit-' i ted the tendency, hut said the children jof to-day were better than those of 10 I years ago. '■ j Other speakers held that the condi- '■ | tions were not so unsatisfactory. i I The Minister suggested that inspectors ', should nay attention to the matter. 1 'The Department would get out 11 lan-I jguage textbook for teachers, ancl iir-k ; j for the special attention of training' i colleges.