THE SPOKEN LANGUAGE,

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1710, 29 March 1913, Page 3

THE SPOKEN LANGUAGE,

REMARKS BY SCHOOL INSPECTORS. "With regard to the English subjects," states the annual report of the school inspectors, presented to the Board of Education yesterday, "wo have no reason for qualifying tho statement iu last year's report as to our general satisfaction with this department of the syllabus. Though the benefits of silent c,reading, more especially in tho upper standards, have not been aS fully appreciated as we could wish, the introduction of additional continuous readers in practically all classes, and, tho free use of the 'School Journal' have distinctly raised the lone of the reading from tho points of view of. intelligent'- expression, comprehension and general accuracy. Some weaknesses in the matter of the vowel sounds and some slovenliness in enunciation come under our notice, but glaring instances of these faults are now rare—that is, so far as, tho language spoken inside the school is- concerned—certainly they do not exist to the extent that some of the sweeping assertions made before the Education Commission would lend people to suppose. We aro in regard.to this matter quite in agreement with the Nelson inspectors, who consider 'that critics are too prone to dilate upon and exaggerate tho prevalence of these defects'; and our experience, is precisely similar to theirs, viz.: that the spoken language of the children in our primary schools compares more than, favourably with that of importations from other parts of the' Empire. It is almost invariably tho .enso that the presence in a class of these .newcomers can b<i unmistakably. detected by their strong provincialisms. Wo do not say that there is not room for improvement, and, as a matter of fact, we are most insistent in our demands that teachers relax no effort in striving for improvement; but there is too gTeat a tendency to saddle the unfortunate primary teacher with the solo responsibility' for e.ach and every failing in our.social system. The feverish hustle of modern social and business intercourse . is in our opinion much more to blame than primary teaching for the deterioration in the spoken language. In only a small proportion of schools is tho treatment of" recitation really satisfactory. We have not exacted any high standard of elocution, still less do we wish to encourage the exaggerated declamation and gesture that, frequently do duty for elocution; but we are disappointed at the failure of so many teachers to make the poetry lesson what it' is really intended to be, that is, a means of cultivating in tho child some appreciation of, and taste for 'what is beautiful in literary form and expression. Poor judgment is shown .in'the selection of pieces, in fact, they are evidently often made merely to satisfy the regulation ("Not less than 200, lines, etc.") _ Whole classes are drilled and ground in these ■ minimum requirements, and what should be to the child a labour of love, something that he should take a real delight in,. is converted into a disagreeable and wearisome task. . . . More real # educational. benefit would, in our opinion, result from the proper appreciation of a dozen lines of true poetry than from the mechanical repetition of 200, or any number of lines, unintelligently memorised. The efficiency mark for composition ranges from satisfactory to good, and we aTe pleased to note that tho 1 development continues more on the lines of freedom of expression, and less on those of stilted mechanical. formulae. W© have noticed, however,, some slackness'in the mattei:. of punctuation, duo mainly to'tho lack of proper co-ordination of oral with written composition, and we have had to remind some, teachers' that certainly rea-'. sonablo ■ accuracy, in the placing of the period should be insisted on in practi- 1 cally all stages of instruction in this subject. Functional grammar is not a prominent feature of tho present syllabus, but in view of certain changes in the regulations already foreshadowed, _tcaehers will bo asked to make provision! in their schemes of work for a more, definite treatment of the subject than has hitherto been required. . Spelling and writing, taking the district as a whole, are satisfactory, and in quite 50 per cent, of the schools the efficiency mark ranges from good to excellent."