THE SCHOOLCHILD OF TO-DAY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18677, 5 October 1922, Page 4

THE SCHOOLCHILD OF TO-DAY

ITS RICHER VOCABULARY. It tins always been Hie English custom to belittle the standard of education in vogue and to tube an unnaturally roseate view of that of the davs of our childhood (says Dr C. W. Kimmins, formerly Chid Insi'.ec'or of (he London County Council .Schools), The present outcry is that a serious epidemic oi bad spelling is in our midst. It is common knowledge that the disastrous effect of (lie great war is still beinjy feit in many departments of educational activity. The absence from our schools of vast numbers of brilliant teachers on military service, (ho inevitable lowering of the efficiency of the teaching staffs, and the various makeshift arrangements involved bavc undoubtedly left their mark on the children now leaving the schools. It could not ua'o been otherwise; the marvel is that it is not worse. . , But why single out spelling for special condemnation? It has not suffered moie than any other subject in the school curriculum. , Critics mav still be found who prefer the "look and say" to the “phonic" methods in teaching children to read, but the lattei are too firmly established to be in danger. Quite recently very interesting experimmils have been carried out in England and S co *' land in using simplified spelling methods m the early stages of instruction in reading. Without, prejudging the results of these experiments, one point, however, is substantially clear—-namely, that the children can transfer from phonetic to normal spelling with amazing rapidity, and that no evil effect results from starling them on phonetic lines. ... A, smallproportion of onr children will never spell accurately, and cases are not unknown of distinguished university men who share this incapacity. Script writing, which is becoming increasingly popular in onr schools, rind is rapidly spreading to the schools of other countries, is having a most beneficial effect on spelling, This type of writing approximates more closely to printed matter, so that the visual comparison of the written with the printed word is immediate, and any error is, corrected because “it doesn't 'look right.’ The enormous advantage in thjs respect over cursive writing is not. sufficiently recognised. During the past few years I have been carrying on an investigation on the sense of humour in children, and in connection with this research I have read many thousands of essays by children from eight to 11 years of age. Quite apart from ths extraordinary power of graphic description possessed by young children, I have been much impressed by the wonderful range of their vocabulary. The comparison of the spelling of a child with the very limited vocabulary cf former days with that of one with a vast choice of " words should naturally be confined to words of the same type, especially as where there is the alternative of the short or the long word, the child will invariably choose the latter. The following extracts, taken at random from essays written by young children of 9, 10, 11, and 14 years of age, respectively illustrate the child’s love of long words

(a) “Wo sat in a portion, of the baths set aside for onlookers at the swimming gala, watching wilh much merriment the comical antics of the competitors.” (b) “The shopkeeper, with much efficicucv, strode away and returned with a collection of trains. The man examined them, muttering criticisms ns he did so.” (c) “The heroic little coachman put him- 1 self in the path of the human avalanche (hi? mistress) nind was swept into tho gutter,” (d) "As I walked along, soliloquising upon the drabness of the general outlook, my reveries were interrupted by melodious strains which issued from a very ancientlooking personage." If the number of different words used by the average child of 13 to-day could be compared with that of tho average child of the sum© a£?e of 10 years ago, the result would be startling. Tho child of to-day not only reads far more, but infinitely better, material than that provided by tho schools in tho last decade.