TEACHING OF ENGLISH

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21961, 9 December 1936, Page 8

TEACHING OF ENGLISH

SECONDARY SCHOOL

PROBLEM

.METHODS OK APPROACH

HEADING, WHITING, AND SPEAKING [By A.. E. CADDICK. Headmaster of the Christchurch West High School! One of the many educational cliches—and we are partly ruled by shibboleths and catch phrasesis ‘'Every teacher in English is a teacher of English.’’ Like all such statements it has some truth, but only a small and perhaps misleading part of the truth. It was possibly one of the reasons why, at a certain stage in the development of secondary schools. , a teacher might be placed in charge of an English class to avoid over-much trouble in arranging a time-table. He may not have been particularly interested in English as a subject. But he spoke the language more or less correctly; he had read in it from childhood;

ergo, he was a teacher of English. It is only fair to say that he sometimes made a good job of it. It is also only fair to say that in most secondary schools to-day the supervision of English leaching is in the hands of a specialist (pardon the word) who should be, and generally is, an enthusiast for his subject. Enthusiasm is essential; for English teaching requires not only a knowledge of one’s subject and of one’s limitations, but a real love for it. and a belief in the vigour and beauty of the language. Library and Classroom Probably no two teachers are agreed on the best method of setting about the task; for “the golden rule is that there is no golden rule’’ in the teaching of English. But surely it should be based on reading—and writing; and reading must come first. It is obvious, then, that, to ensure good English teaching, every school should be equipped with an up-to-date library well stocked with carefully chosen books, magazines, and newspapers; so that every scholar can spend some time in reading and studying as he pleases. “Studies serve for delight”—Yes, indeed, if they are properly conducted. A wise school librarian will drift about the room, with a word or two for different pupils, occasionally reading a sentence or two, showing this book or that, pointing out a passage here and there, and taking care not to obtrude too much.

But the best place is in the classroom where, by the personal influence of his knowledge and enthusiasm he can introduce his classes to the best that has been written in our tongue—not merely fiction, but poetry, history, drama, geography, essays, and so on. This, of course, he will attempt according to the age and general intelligence level of his class. Any normal class of boys and girls can be intensely interested in books if the teacher is keen enough to use his own love and knowledge of literature to awaken a real desire in them to learn more of what he has been showing them. It is unwuse to force any pupil to read a book which he has tried—and failed —to appreciate. Let it pass; and go on with your general work. You will find that, sooner or later, the book will be read and understood, even if not liked; since there lurks in every child’s mind a suspicion that there may be more in it than he could see. How many teachers have had the experience of hearing

some pupil say, “By Jove! I've just read So-and-So. It's a great book.’’ The wise teacher doesn’t say “Yes. I told you so when you were in Five Remove.” He agrees heartily, drops a word of Commendation for his former pupil’s literary growth, and goes on to talk of other things. Creative Writing From reading, which is to some extent, passive and receptive as far as the scholar is concerned, we proceed to writing. Most children are eager enough to do something, to “use the creative faculty,” in the jargon of schoolmen and pedagogues. Sometimes this urge is stifled, strangled, or feloniously and murderously put away by quite wellmeaning teachers because, perhaps, there is an examination at the end of the year, or because he finds it easier to assess and mark routine work. One must admit, to the credit of most school teachers, that this is not often the case. It is astonishing what good work can, with a little encouragement, be got from quite young folk when they know that it will be regarded sympathetically if they do their best to write truthfully and correctly about something in which they are interested. There is a danger here. Unless they are encouraged to observe as well as read, they become merely imitative; and the gift of imagination, romance, lying, or creation (c'all it what you like) will be overlaid by something outside the child. Nine boys out of 10, if asked to write an account of a sporting or hunting incident, will reproduce ideas from adventure books,- “school” stories, and so on, and will look astonished and hurt when you suggest you would rather read of their chasing rabbits in New Zealand than shooting tigers in Bengal, and of catching cod in Queen Charlotte Sound than sharks in the South Seas. It is often contended that we can expect nothing original from a schoolboy or girl. Well —that may be so; and if Kipling’s statement be true —that there are only 40 themes for stories in the world, and that all stories are variations upon them —then we cannot expect originality from children. But to the youthful writer, except when the story or verse is deliberately borrowed, his yarn is his own, even though it may be an echo of something he has read and partly forgotten. It doesn’t matter much, so long as you encourage him to think, to read, to observe, and to attempt to put down in a logical, clear, and interesting way -what lie has thought, read, or observed. The Place of Grammar I can imagine all sorts of objections to this. What about (to use the language of the interjection at political meetings)—what about grammar? Are you not going to teach pupils to work? Yes, we are going to give him grammar and ask him to work hard. Grammar is all right in its place. It is necessary for the craftsman to know the working tools of his trade, and then to use them properly. But it must be remembered that they are working tools and not the completed structure. To insist' on grammar as a

complete study, divorced from literature, is to learn all about the tools of a craft and to forget for what purpose they are used. Grammar will help us to understand what we read. Take these lines of Thomas Hardy's—

What of the fire and faith within us Men who marched away Ere the dawn cocks say Night is growing gray. . . .

Very many pupils are unable to read them correctly (as I found a week or so ago) until asked a simple Question in grammar. An extreme case probably: but one which points In the necessity of grammar, teaching_to the fact that occasionally a grammatical question will clarify what appears to be a difficulty. A common complaint is that scholars of present-day schools neither pronounce nor articulate words correctly. That is another aspect of English teaching which it is impossible to treat fully here. Many pupils are almost bi-lingual, speaking one type of English in the classroom and another in the street. Careless articulation, slovenly, or slurred, or omitted consonants, ana badly-pronounced vowels are not confined to school children. Moreoxer. the hours scholars spend in school are few compared with those spent out of school. Much can be done to improve speech by the teaching of phonetics. I do not necessarily mean the type of phonetics sometimes found in examination, papers, where pupils are expected “to put into phonetic script’’ a passage of English. Real “phonetic-teaching” should not be underestimated. But symbols are useless in themselves unless pupils know what sounds they stand for, what the sounds really are when correctly pronounced, how they are formed, how to use tongue, teeth, lips, etc., in shying them. Constant practice in correct speech, and listening to good models (on the gramophone, for example) will do as much to eradicate mistakes.

Modern Aids to Teaching

This brings us naturally to modern aids to the teaching of English. They can never replace personal influence; but the wise teacher will make good use of broadcasts and the gramophone. In the ideal school there would be a room (or rooms) which pupils can use for acting, for choral and orchestral music, for listening to broadcasts and gramophone recitals, and for “talkies.” Naturally, care would be taken in selecting what w'as to be seen or heard. The stage plays would be partly by those recognised dramatists of all periods and partly those written and produced by the pupils themselves. Of course, a good deal of class work of a literary nature (plays, stories, verses, etc.) is very immature, but at least the scholars are attempting to do something for themselves.

One can imagine a remark occurring here—an old friend—“making lessons too easy, undermining strength of character.” The reply to that is—if a lesson can be made easy why on earth should one want to make it difficult? In any case, the adoption of these ideas will not make the English lesson any easier. They will make it more interesting, serve more for delight, ~o to speak. But they also involve a certain amount of hard w r ork: and once an individual or class is thoroughly interested in a subject, hard work will follow naturally. That in itself helps us in certain tasks which, we imagine, arc not very pleasant. No job can be properly done without hard work—which can become a habit just as laziness can. The organisation and development of much of thi? English work can be placed in the hands of the pupils, just as class magazines, anthologies, etc., are left to them now: for

The sin I impute to each frustrate ghost Is the unlit lamp and the ungirt loin, Though the end in sight was a crime, I say. . „

Little enough has been said. To write adequately on the teaching of English cannot be attempted in an article of this length. But I want to emphasise that one does not teach English for this profession or that trade. One teaches English. And if it is taught properly; if one’s scholars see that English is a living, changing language: if they learn to speak and write it correctly—and as fluently and vigorously and beautifully as they can; if they see that English literature records the thoughts, impressions, plans, and deeds of our ancestors and contemporaries, who have something worth while to say, then they will have learned in some measure how to live, and how to appreciate “the golden heresy of truth.”