The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1929. BROADCAST ENGLISH

Hokitika Guardian, 6 November 1929, Page 4

The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1929. BROADCAST ENGLISH

Thu recent activities of the British Broadcasting Corporation are an indication of the important part wireless is playing in modern life and of the even more important part it is destined to play. When the 8.8. C as it is called, prepared its valuable handbook to assist announcers and enable them to preserve a reasonable consistency in 'their pronuniciation it realised the importance of the occasion. The evidence of that is afforded in the personnel <oi* the .Advisory Committee which decided the pronunciation of doubtful works. Presided over by Dr Robert Bridges the poet laureate, the committee included among its members Mr Bernard Shaw, Sir Johnston Forhos-Rohertsmi, and Professor Daniel Jones. The findings of these authorities in linguistics were submitted to a second committee, of which Lord Balfour, Earl Balfour. Earl Russell, and Lord Grey of Fallodon were among the members. Although the decisions of the committees in some instances have not met with approval, the im-

portant fact is that once more there is to be a tradition of speech. The English language has been becoming a written language, less and less spoken. Consequently, the pronunciation of words has been.changing to accord with the speljing. The activity of the 8.8. C. in this matter, of which Dr Bridges himself has said that “it would seem as if ..there had never been any effective iniiuence to compare with it,” might with profit be considered by the New Zealand Broadcasting Company, for the radio is exerting an increasing influence on the life of the Dominion. The 8.8. C. is already working in conjunction with the schools in England, and pupils are able to listen to readings in modern foreign languages and to talk on a variety of subjects such as history, current events, and English literature. While it might be unreasonable to expect anything comparable with this from oiir wireless stations, yet they can exert a powerful influence in the matter of good speech. Educational authorities in the Dominion are agreed that improvement is desirable in this connection, but, up to the present at least, the somewhat artificial means introduced into the schools to ensure standardisation of speech have had little effect. A good deal lias been justly said recently of the corrupting influence that may be exerted on the speech of young and old alike by the talking pictures, but it is questionable if many educationists realise ’what a powerful ally they may secure in radio in combating tins influence and in improving the speeth of the people.