ELOCUTION.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1451, 28 May 1912, Page 6

ELOCUTION.

AT THE OHRISTCHURCn COMPETITIONS. Tlio Christchurch competitions, just over, have been quite successful. The entries wero larger than ever, the arrangements were excellent, and Hie best of feeling prevailed among the competitors. In the course of an interview with the "Lyttelton Times" after the competitions were- over, Mr. J. M. Clark, of Wellington, judge in the elocution sections, said that elocution in -New Zealand during the past eight years or so had been steadily improving, "and now there were competitors who would compare favourably with any amateur elocutionists in the world. 'Hie chief faults were in diction. I'rouuucintiou of words was frequently incorrect, and it was evident that competitors did not mako sufficient use of the dictionary. There were mistakes made day after day in the pulpit and on the public platform, and theso were never corrected, although a slight investigation would reveal the errors. Of course, pronunciation was only a small port of the art of elocution, and the dictionary could not impart temperament. That was a matter for the intelligence of the competitors themselves. Very little was done in the schools to secure purity of pronunciation. He had known boys seventeen or eighteen years or B"e, who "had matriculated, who were appallingly ignorant of the correct pronunciation of many words One ot the chief faults in pronunciation was in connection with the value of the vowels. 1 was usually pronounced as cither e or "a" and ono generally heard eet lor "it" and "ut" for "at," while "und was the prevalent form of "and. Mr. Clark, in conclusion, said that he know of some school teachers who were strict in regard to pronunciation, biu most of them did very little to correct faults. It was a simpio thing to enforce in the schools, and it was to be hoped that the competitions would influence public opinion to induce the Government to see that something was done in this direction in the schools. . Of course, there were very few examples in the public life of the Dominion whereby young people could be induced to seek purity in diction, and this in turn was due to the faults that were not corrected in the schools.