TEACHING OF ENGLISH

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 17951, 1 December 1932, Page 3

TEACHING OF ENGLISH

PRIMARY SCHOOL WORK CRITICISM IN WELLINGTON When reports of the various advisory committees were made to the Wellington Technical College Board, one report on the teaching of English commented ! that “the- primary schools have done | little or no formal grammar” and , ‘‘pupils coming to us do not seem to • have heard of punctuation. ” j The report upon the English teaching j was presented by Mr. K. F. Eager, head j of the English" department. In it to j remarked * “It 1 i;is been our experience'. to j]nd tlrai the primary schools *llavo' done little or no formal grammar, which must be the basis upon which the work; in .English of all post-primary schools | is built. ■ . • We almost invariably find that, pupils coming to ns cannot even distinguish parts of speech, and do not seem to have heard of punctuation.” In other respects good work had been done. Mr. A. C, Blake expressed the opinion that such a statement was rather sweep- , ing. The principal, Air. 1!. G. Eidiing, said that the English had been tested in oral and written expression, and it was clear ; that- the pendulum regarding the, teach-' ing of English had swung too far away, j Regarding punctuation, it was difficult ■ to get good work out- of the pupils at ■ first, it was characteristic, not; only of , primary schools. Tint of the whole system. Those weaknesses 1 could only be removed by long 1 practice. “ ——