,,the ,,principles ,,of ,,language-,,study ,,by ,,harold ,e4 ,,palmer ,,assistant ,,in ,,the ,,phonetics ,,department ,,university ,,college ,,london ,,lecturer ,,on ,,linguistics ,,at ,,the ,,school ,,of ,,oriental ,,studies ,,london ,,author ,,of 8,,the ,,scientific ,,study ,,and ,,teaching ,,of ,,languages0 8,a ,,first ,,course ,,of ,,english ,,phonetics0 8#ajj ,,substitution ,,tables0 ,,etc4 ,,yonkers-,,on-,,hudson1 ,,new ,,york ,,world ,,book ,,company #aiba ,,printed ,,by ,,neill ,,and ,,co ,,ltd41 ,,edinburgh1 ,,great ,,britain ,,pr,,face ,d,,dicatoire ,a ,,mon ,,vieil ,,ami ,,le ,,commandant ,,charles ,,lemaire1 ,,actuellement ,,directeur ,,de ,l',,institut ,,sup,,rieur ,,colonial ,,anvers ,,mon ,,cher ,,commandant1 ,vous souvenez-vous encore de la visite que je vous fis l't dernier aux ,sources ,fraches1 aprs les cinq annes tragiques que nous avons vcues8 ,je m'en souviens encore comme si c'tait hier4 ,vous tiez souffrant2 je vous ai trouv tendu1 accabl1 affaibli1 et je ressens encore la peine profonde que j'prouvai cette minute prcise o le contraste s'imposait mon esprit entre l'tat dans lequel je vous avais quitt en #aiad et celui dans lequel je vous retrouvais4 ,mais cette impression premire1 dont je garderai toujours un souvenir mu1 fut brve4 ,vous me parliez de votre nouvel ouvrage1 traitant de l'enseignement rationnel1 et dveloppiez la conception qui en forme la base4 ,a mesure que vous avanciez1 vous vous laissiez emporter par votre sujet et1 redress1 vous parliez avec l'ardeur et le feu que je vous ai toujours connus1 scandant vos phrases de gestes nergiques et puissants4 ,je retrouvais en vous le soldat d'avant-garde enthousiaste et fort1 tout vibrant de foi et de conviction1 que vous n'avez jamais cess d'tre4 ,la nature1 disiez-vous1 est une source fconde d'enseignement et de mthode2 elle est la seule institutrice des noirs4 ,ceux-ci1 dans les matires se rapportant la vie primitive--et dont une partie correspond celles que l'on enseigne aux blancs--sont1 mieux que nous1 naturellement dans le vrai1 dans le vrai exprimental4 ,longuement vous dveloppiez votre thse1 l'appuyant de nombreuses constatations de faits rcoltes pendant vos longues annes d'observation en plein cur de l',afrique4 ,je vous ai cout longuement et1 en vous quittant1 je me suis retrouv dans ce dcor que vous avez choisi pour y concentrer votre attention sur les problmes auxquels vous avez voulu trouver une solution2 je me suis retrouv dans cette ,fagne immense et admirable1 au milieu de ces bruyres aux colorations chaudes1 sur cette terre aux vastes horizons frangs de sapinires1 et1 seul en face de la nature1 de cette source ternelle dont vous m'aviez parl avec tant d'enthousiasme1 j'entendais vos dernires paroles rsonner encore mes oreilles4444 99 99 99 99 99 ,le jour mme j'crivis le premier chapitre de ce livre4 ,vous y retrouverez vos propres paroles et l'cho qu'elles ont veill en moi4 ,la nature doit-elle tre notre guide8 ,oui1 sans aucun doute4 ,doit-elle tre notre seul guide8 ,sans aucun doute encore1 non4 ,la nature doit1 disiez-vous1 tre notre inspiratrice2 nous devons1 grce nos capacits acquises1 appliquer les leons qu'elle nous donne en utilisant les forces qui sont inhrentes l'tre humain4 ,comment passer du principe son application8 ,dans quelle mesure faut-il puiser la source naturelle1 faire agir l'intelligence humaine et se servir de ses forces #8subconscientes'8 ,c'tait le point de dpart du livre que voici4444 99 99 99 99 99 ,j'ai crit1 il y a quelques annes1 un livre1 ,the ,scientific ,study and ,teaching of ,languages1 auquel j'avais donn la forme d'une tude soulevant des questions nouvelles1 sujettes controverse et montrant qu'en ralit la science de l'tude des langues n'existait pas et qu'il tait grand temps de rassembler les matriaux et les tudes permettant de lui donner un point de dpart srieux4 ,ce livre traitait de la nature du langage et du processus de l'acquisition des langues ainsi que des divers types d'tudiants et de leurs buts respectifs2 il posait des principes et prsentait un #8programme-type idal' avec des modles de leons et un catalogue complet des mthodes de travail2 il examinait longuement les programmes spciaux1 les fonctions du professeur2 il envisageait les problmes au point de vue de l'lve et1 aprs cet ensemble d'tudes1 il concluait par un appel l'unit et la coopration de tous4 ,cet appel n'est pas rest sans rponse1 et je suis heureux d'exprimer ici ma satisfaction pour les avis et les encouragements que m'a valus mon travail4 ,il m'a gagn de nombreux amis et collaborateurs2 il m'a mis en contact avec des #8samideani' 7s'il m'est permis de me servir d'un des mots les plus connus des langues artificielles7 et m'a ainsi montr d'o pourra venir l'aide prochaine4 ,je suis heureux du secours que ce livre a apport ceux qui en sentaient le besoin1 et c'est pour moi un prcieux encouragement de savoir qu'il en est beaucoup qui travaillent dans la voie qui vient d'tre ouverte4 ,le livre que je prsente aujourd'hui ne couvre pas le mme champ que le prcdent4 ,ce n'est ni une tude1 ni une srie de problmes avec leurs solutions4 ,c'est un expos de faits1 prsumant que le lecteur admet1 comme je les ai admis moi-mme1 les principes fondamentaux du langage et de l'tude des langues4 ,ce nouvel ouvrage se borne exposer les principes essentiels que sont tenus d'observer ceux qui veulent enseigner--ou tudier--avec succs4 ,il est vrai que dans ,the ,scientific ,study and ,teaching of ,languages j'ai consacr soixante pages l'examen de certains principes1 mais quelques annes ont pass depuis que j'ai crit ces lignes1 et pas mal de choses qui semblaient vagues cette poque se sont prcises et dveloppes4 ,si je n'ai rien1 ou peu de chose1 retrancher de ce travail1 j'ai par contre beaucoup ajouter et revoir4 ,j'ai voulu prsenter la matire de mon nouvel ouvrage dans un ordre plus rigoureux que celui de l'tude prcdente1 bien qu'en lui-mme le nouveau livre soit moins technique et que la terminologie en soit moins spciale4 ,en ralit1 le sujet trait1 comme tous les sujets d'ailleurs1 se prsente plus simplement aprs une priode de rflexion et d'incubation1 et la forme actuelle a pour but prcisment de raliser une prsentation populaire4 ,certains1 j'en suis sr1 estimeront que mon ouvrage n'est pas assez technique4 ,plusieurs amis m'ont suggr avec insistance de prsenter le sujet au seul point de vue de la psychologie1 d'autres de me servir exclusivement de termes scientifiques4 ,mais je n'ai pas pu me rallier aucune de ces propositions parce que j'ai d tenir compte de ce que mes lecteurs ne sont pas tous verss dans 8la terminologie psychologique40 ,au surplus1 je sens que le sujet n'est pas mr pour subir une analyse dtaille envisage sous l'angle de la psychologie pure4 ,de plus comptents que moi la tenteront peut-tre quand le moment sera venu4 ,pour l'instant1 cette tude n'apporterait pas l'aide pratique et immdiate que j'espre avoir ralise dans les pages qui suivent1 et dont le besoin se fait sentir chez tous ceux qui s'occupent de l'enseignement des langues4 99 99 99 99 99 ,je tiens exprimer aussi ma reconnaissance ceux qui m'ont aid dans la prparation de ce travail4 ,la collaboration de ,m4 ,morris ,ginsberg 7de ,university ,college1 ,londres7 concernant 8la formation et l'adaptation des habitudes0 a t si prcieuse que je ne puis m'empcher de la souligner tout spcialement2 j'espre qu'il approuvera la prsentation de ce sujet particulier4 ,les vues de ,m4 ,h4 ,perera 7de ,university ,college1 ,londres7 sur la 8parole intrieure0 m'ont galement t fort utiles4 ,je dois des remerciements ,mrs ,powers 7,kingsmead ,training ,institution for ,missionary ,candidates71 qui s'est charge d'examiner le manuscrit phrase par phrase au point de vue de la clart et de la prcision4 ,a prsent1 mon cher ,commandant1 permettez-moi de conclure3 une ide que vous avez exprime un moment propice a dclanch chez moi un ordre de penses qui m'a conduit crire l'ouvrage que je prsente aujourd'hui1 et que je suis heureux de vous ddier4 ,,harold ,e4 ,,palmer ,,contents ,,chapter ,,page ,,pr,,face ,d,,dicatoire #e ,,synopsis #ac ,i4 ,,our ,,spontaneous ,,capacities ,,for ,,acquiring ,,speech #cc ,,ii4 ,,our ,,studial ,,capacities ,,and ,,how ,,to ,,use ,,them #dg ,,iii4 ,,why ,,we ,,must ,,use ,,our ,,studial ,,capacities #eb ,,iv4 ,,the ,,student ,,and ,,his ,,aim #fj ,v4 ,,the ,,supreme ,,importance ,,of ,,the ,,elementary ,,stage #fh ,,vi4 ,,the ,,principles ,,of ,,language-,,teaching #ge ,,vii4 ,,initial ,,preparation #hb ,,viii4 ,,habit-,,forming ,,and ,,habit-,,adapting #ih ,,ix4 ,,accuracy #ajf ,x4 ,,gradation #aac ,,xi4 ,,proportion #abc ,,xii4 ,,concreteness #abi ,,xiii4 ,,interest #acf ,,xiv4 ,a ,,rational ,,order ,,of ,,progression #adh ,,xv4 ,,the ,,multiple ,,line ,,of ,,approach #afa ,,xvi4 #8,,memorized ,,matter' ,,and #8,,constructed ,,matter' #agj ,,index #ahc ,,synopsis #a4 ,,we ,,possess ,,natural ,,or ,,spontaneous ,,capacities ,,for ,,acquiring ,,speech ,in order to become proficient in most arts1 we are assumed to study1 i4e4 to make conscious efforts persistently and perseveringly2 we are assumed to use our intelligence4 ,there is1 however1 one complex art in which all of us have become proficient without any such process and without using our intelligence consciously1 viz4 the art of speech1 i4e4 of using the spoken form of a language as actually used in everyday life4 ,we are endowed by nature with capacities for assimilating speech4 ,each of us is a living testimony to this fact1 for each of us has successfully acquired that form of our mother-tongue with which we have been in contact4 ,these capacities are not limited to the acquiring of our mother-tongue1 but are also available for one or more languages in addition4 ,the young child possesses these capacities in an active state2 consequently he picks up a second or a third language in the same manner as he does the first4 ,the adult possesses these same capacities1 but generally in a latent state2 by disuse he has allowed them to lapse4 ,if he wishes1 he may re-educate these powers and raise them to the active state2 he will then by this means become as capable as the child of assimilating foreign languages4 ,those adults who have maintained these powers in an active state are said to have a gift for languages4 #b4 ,,our ,,studial ,,capacities ,,and ,,how ,,to ,,use ,,them ,in addition to certain spontaneous capacities1 we possess what we may term #8studial' capacities for language-acquisition4 ,these must be utilized when we learn how to read and write a language1 and also when we wish to learn forms of language not actually used in everyday speech 7i4e4 the literary1 oratorical1 or ceremonious forms74 ,the methods by which we utilize these capacities are generally characterized by conscious work 7such as analysis and synthesis7 and by conversion1 i4e4 converting written into spoken 7reading aloud71 converting spoken into written 7dictation71 converting from one language into another 7translation71 or converting one grammatical form into another 7conjugation1 declension1 etc474 ,all exercises requiring the use of the eyes and the hand are of the studial order1 as are also those connected with accidence and derivation4 ,most of those forms of work by which we utilize or adapt habits which we acquired previously while learning some other language 7generally the mother-tongue7 are more or less studial forms of work4 ,most language-learners at the present day are found to make an almost exclusive use of their studial capacities1 and in doing so use methods which are more or less unnatural4 #c4 ,,why ,,we ,,must ,,use ,,our ,,studial ,,capacities ,we must not conclude from the foregoing that methods involving the use of our capacities for study are necessarily bad1 nor that those based on our spontaneous capacities are necessarily always to be used4 ,in certain cases and for certain purposes we shall be forced to use the former4 ,nature alone will not teach us how to read or write2 for these purposes we must use our studial capacities4 ,we shall1 however1 refrain from reading or writing any given material until we have learnt to use the spoken form4 ,nature will not teach us how to use forms of language which are not currently used in everyday speech2 in order to acquire these we must have recourse to our powers of study2 thus we shall use these powers when learning literary composition1 the language of ceremony1 etc4 ,moreover1 the studial powers must be utilized for the purposes for which a corrective course is designed4 ,what has been badly assimilated must be eliminated consciously2 bad habits can only be replaced by good habits through processes unknown to the language-teaching forces of nature4 ,even those who have not been previously spoiled by defective study require a certain amount of corrective work in order that they may react against the tendency to import into the new language some of the characteristic features of the previously acquired language or languages4 ,some students have no desire to use the foreign language1 but merely wish to learn about it1 to know something of its structure4 ,in such cases no attempt whatever need be made to develop or to utilize their spontaneous language-learning capacities2 they may work exclusively by the methods of study4 #d4 ,,the ,,student ,,and ,,his ,,aim ,we cannot design a language course until we know something about the students for whom the course is intended1 for a programme of study depends on the aim or aims of the students4 ,all we can say in advance is that we must endeavour to utilize the most appropriate means to attain the desired end4 ,a course which is suitable in one case may prove unsuitable in another4 ,some students may require only a knowledge of the written language1 others are concerned with the spoken language1 others desire to become conversant with both aspects4 ,some students only require a superficial knowledge1 while others aim at a perfect knowledge4 ,special categories of learners 7e4g4 clerks1 hotel-keepers1 tourists1 grammarians7 wish to specialize4 ,the sole aim of some students is to pass a given examination2 others wish to become proficient as translators or interpreters4 ,the length of the course or programme is a most important determining factor2 a two months' course will differ fundamentally from one which is designed to last two years2 the former will be a preparatory course1 the latter will be highly developed4 ,it will not be possible for us to design a special course for each individual1 still less to write a special text-book for him2 we can1 however1 broadly group our students into types1 and recommend for each type the most appropriate forms of work4 ,in any case1 the teacher is bound to draw up some sort of programme in advance and to divide this into stages appropriately graded4 ,this programme must not be of the rigid type1 the same for all requirements2 it should be designed on an elastic basis and should be in accordance with known pedagogical principles4 #e4 ,,the ,,supreme ,,importance ,,of ,,the ,,elementary ,,stage ,the reader of this book may notice1 perhaps with some surprise1 how much we have to say concerning the work of the beginner1 and how little we say about the more advanced work2 he may be puzzled at the amount of attention we pay to 7what he may consider7 crude elementary work compared with the amount we give to 7what he may consider7 the more complex and interesting work connected with the higher stages4 ,it will therefore be useful1 at this point1 to anticipate what will be more fully dealt with under the heading of gradation 7,chapter ,x71 and insist here already on the supreme importance of the elementary stage4 ,language-study is essentially a habit-forming process1 and the important stage in habit-forming is the elementary stage4 ,if we do not secure habits of accurate observation1 reproduction1 and imitation during the first stage1 it is doubtful whether we shall ever secure them subsequently4 ,it is more difficult to unlearn a thing than to learn it4 ,if the elementary stage is gone through without due regard to the principles of study1 the student will be caused to do things which he must subsequently undo2 he will acquire habits which will have to be eradicated4 ,if his ear-training is neglected during the elementary stage1 he will replace foreign sounds by native ones and insert intrusive sounds into the words of the language he is learning2 he will become unable to receive any but eye-impressions1 and so will become the dupe of unphonetic orthographies4 ,if he has not been trained during the elementary stage to cultivate his powers of unconscious assimilation and reproduction1 he will attempt the hopeless task of passing all the language-matter through the channel of full consciousness4 ,if during the elementary stage he forms the #8isolating habit1' he will not be able to use or to build accurate sentences4 ,an abuse of translation during the elementary stage will cause the student to translate mentally everything he hears1 reads1 says1 or writes4 ,bad habits of articulation will cause him to use language of an artificialized type4 ,the function of the elementary stage is to inculcate good habits1 and once this work is done there is little or no fear of the student going astray in his later work4 ,if we take care of the elementary stage1 the advanced stage will take care of itself4 #f4 ,,the ,,principles ,,of ,,language-,,teaching ,the art of designing a language course appears to be in its infancy4 ,those arts which have achieved maturity have gradually evolved from a number of distinct primitive efforts which1 by a process of gradual convergence towards each other1 have resulted in the ideal type4 ,so will it be in the art of composing language courses3 the present diverse types will gradually be replaced by more general types1 and in the end the ideal type will be evolved4 ,this will come about as a result of a system of collaboration in which each worker will profit by that which has been done in the past and that which is being done by other workers in the present4 ,unsound methods will gradually be eliminated and will make room for methods which are being evolved slowly and experimentally and which will pass the tests of experience4 ,by this time a series of essential principles will have been discovered1 and these will be recognized as standard principles by all whose work is to design language courses4 ,the following list would seem to embody some of these1 and probably represents principles on which there is general agreement among those who have made a study of the subject3 7#a7 ,the initial preparation of the student by the training of his spontaneous capacities for assimilating spoken language4 7#b7 ,the forming of new and appropriate habits and the utilization of previously formed habits4 7#c7 ,accuracy in work in order to prevent the acquiring of bad habits4 7#d7 ,gradation of the work in such a way as to ensure an ever-increasing rate of progress4 7#e7 ,due proportion in the treatment of the various aspects and branches of the subject4 7#f7 ,the presentation of language-material in a concrete rather than in an abstract way4 7#g7 ,the securing and maintaining of the student's interest in order to accelerate his progress4 7#h7 ,a logical order of progression in accordance with principles of speech-psychology4 7#i7 ,the approaching of the subject simultaneously from different sides by means of different and appropriate devices4 #g4 ,,initial ,,preparation ,we must realize that language-learning is an art1 not a science4 ,we may acquire proficiency in an art in two ways3 by learning the theory1 or by a process of imitation4 ,this latter process is often termed the method of trial and error1 but as the term may be misinterpreted it is better to consider it as the method of practice4 ,the method of practice is a natural one1 the method of theory is not4 ,we may acquire proficiency in two ways3 by forming appropriate new habits1 or by utilizing and adapting appropriate old habits 7i4e4 habits already acquired74 ,the natural process is the former1 the latter being more or less artificial4 ,language-study is essentially a habit-forming process1 so we must learn to form habits4 ,by the natural or spontaneous method we learn unconsciously2 we must therefore train ourselves or our students to form habits unconsciously4 ,the adult whose natural capacities for unconscious habit-forming have been dormant may reawaken them by means of appropriate exercises4 ,these are notably3 7a7 ,ear-training exercises1 by means of which he may learn to perceive correctly what he hears4 7b7 ,articulation exercises1 by means of which he may cause his vocal organs to make the right sort of muscular efforts4 7c7 ,exercises in mimicry1 by means of which he will become able to imitate and reproduce successfully any word or string of words uttered by the native whose speech serves as model4 7,the combination of the three foregoing types of exercise will result in the capacity for reproducing at first hearing a string of syllables1 such as a sentence4 ,the student will thereby become enabled to memorize unconsciously the form of speech47 7d7 ,exercises in immediate comprehension1 by means of which he will come to grasp without mental translation or analysis the general sense of what he hears4 7e7 ,exercises in forming the right associations between words and their meanings1 by means of which he will become able to express his thoughts4 ,the combination of these five types of exercise will develop the student's capacity to use spoken language4 #h4 ,,habit-,,forming ,,and ,,habit-,,adapting ,language-study is essentially a habit-forming process4 ,we speak and understand automatically as the result of perfectly formed habits4 ,no foreign word or sentence is really #8known' until the student can produce it automatically 7i4e4 without hesitation or conscious calculation74 ,no one can understand by any process of calculation 7e4g4 translation or analysis7 the language as spoken normally by the native4 ,few people 7if any7 have ever succeeded in speaking the language by a series of mental gymnastics2 our progress is to be measured only by the quantity of language-material which we can use automatically4 ,adult students generally dislike the work of acquiring new habits1 and seek to replace it by forms of study dependent upon the intellect1 striving to justify their abstention from mechanical work on educational grounds4 ,this fear of tediousness is really groundless2 automatism is certainly acquired by repetition1 but this need not be of the monotonous1 parrot-like type1 for there exist many psychologically sound repetition devices and varied drills intended to ensure automatism and interest4 ,most of the time spent by the teacher in demonstrating why a foreign sentence is constructed in a particular way is time wasted2 it is generally enough for the student to learn to do things without learning why he must do them 7due exception being made in special cases1 notably that of corrective courses74 ,the student should not only be caused to form new habits2 he should also be helped1 when expedient1 to utilize some of his existing habits2 it is even part of the teacher's duties to aid the student to select from his previously acquired habits those which are likely to be of service to him4 #i4 ,,accuracy ,accuracy means conformity with a given model or standard1 whatever that model or standard may happen to be4 ,if we choose to take colloquial ,french or colloquial ,english as our standard1 the forms pertaining to classical ,french or ,english 7i4e4 traditionally correct forms7 are to be rejected as inaccurate4 ,there are two types of inaccuracy3 that in which a colloquial form is replaced by a classical form and vice versa1 and that in which a native form is replaced by a pidgin form4 ,in both cases the teacher's duty is to react against the tendency towards inaccuracy4 ,appropriate drills and exercises exist which ensure accuracy in sounds1 stress1 intonation1 fluency1 spelling1 sentence-building and -compounding1 inflexions1 and meanings4 ,the principle of accuracy requires that the student shall have no opportunities for making mistakes until he has arrived at the stage at which accurate work is reasonably to be expected4 ,if we compel a student to utter foreign words before he has learnt how to make the requisite foreign sounds1 if we compel him to write a composition in a foreign language before he has become reasonably proficient in sentence-building1 or if we compel him to talk to us in the foreign language before he has done the necessary drill-work1 we are compelling him to use the pidgin form of the language4 ,in addition to specific exercises and devices which ensure accuracy in special points1 we should observe certain general rules which will be described and treated under the heading of gradation4 #aj4 ,,gradation ,gradation means passing from the known to the unknown by easy stages1 each of which serves as a preparation for the next4 ,if a course or a lesson is insufficiently graded1 or graded on a wrong basis1 the student's work will be marked by an excessive degree of inaccuracy4 ,if a course is well graded1 the student's rate of progress will increase in proportion as he advances4 ,in the ideally graded course the student is caused to assimilate perfectly a relatively small but exceedingly important vocabulary2 when perfectly assimilated1 this nucleus will develop and grow in the manner of a snowball4 ,care should be taken to distinguish between false grading and sound grading4 ,the following applications of this principle are psychologically sound3 7a7 ,ears before ,eyes4--,the student to be given ample opportunities1 at appropriate intervals1 of hearing a sound1 a word1 or a group of words before seeing them in their written form 7phonetic or other74 7b7 ,reception before ,reproduction4--,the student to be given ample opportunities1 with appropriate intervals1 of hearing a sound or combination of sounds1 a word1 or a group of words before being called upon to imitate what he hears4 7c7 ,oral ,repetition before ,reading4--,the student to be given ample opportunities of repeating matter after the teacher before being called upon to read the same matter4 7d7 ,immediate ,memory before ,prolonged ,memory4--,the student should not be required to reproduce matter heard a long time previously until he has become proficient in reproducing what he has just heard4 7e7 ,chorus-work before ,individual ,work4--,in the case of classes1 new material should be repeated by the whole of the students together before each student is called upon to repeat individually4 ,this will tend to ensure confidence4 7f7 ,drill-work before ,free ,work4--,the student should not be given opportunities for free conversation1 free composition1 or free translation until he has acquired a reasonable proficiency in the corresponding forms of drill-work4 ,each individual item in the teaching should be graded1 and in addition the whole course may be graded by dividing it into appropriate stages or phases1 which will succeed each other en chelon4 #aa4 ,,proportion ,the ultimate aim of most students is fourfold3 7a7 ,to understand what is said in the foreign language when it is spoken rapidly by natives4 7b7 ,to speak the foreign language in the manner of natives4 7c7 ,to understand the language as written by natives4 7d7 ,to write the language in the manner of natives4 ,we observe the principle of proportion when we pay the right amount of attention to each of these four aspects1 without exaggerating the importance of any of them4 ,there are five chief branches of practical linguistics3 7a7 ,phonetics1 which teaches us to recognize and to reproduce sounds and tones4 7b7 ,orthography1 which teaches us to spell what we have already learnt by ear4 7c7 ,accidence and etymology1 which teaches us the nature of inflected forms and derivatives1 and also how to use them4 7d7 ,syntax and analysis1 which teaches us how to build up sentences from their components4 7e7 ,semantics1 which teaches us the meanings of words and forms4 ,we observe the principle of proportion when we pay the right amount of attention to each of these five branches1 without exaggerating the importance of any of them4 ,in choosing the units of our vocabulary we may be guided by several considerations1 such as intrinsic utility1 sentence-forming utility1 grammatical function1 regularity1 facility1 concreteness1 or completeness4 ,we observe the principle of proportion when we select the material of our vocabularies in such a way that due attention is paid to all such desiderata1 and without exaggerating the importance of any of them4 ,we also observe the principle of proportion when we give the right amount of drill-work or free work1 of translation-work or #8direct' work1 of intensive reading or extensive reading4 ,a well-proportioned course1 like a well-graded course1 ensures a steady and ever-increasing rate of progress4 #ab4 ,,concreteness ,we are enjoined by the principle of concreteness to teach more by example than by precept4 ,when we give explanations we should illustrate these by striking and vivid examples embodying the point of theory which is the subject of our explanation4 ,one example is generally not enough2 it is by furnishing several examples bearing on the same point that we cause the student to grasp that which is common to them all4 ,but this is not enough3 the examples themselves may vary in concreteness2 therefore we should select for our purpose those which demonstrate in the clearest possible way the point we are teaching and which tend to form the closest semantic associations4 ,we should utilize as far as possible the actual environment of the student3 the grammar of the noun is best understood when we talk of books1 pencils1 and chairs2 the grammar of the verb is best grasped when we choose as examples verbs which can be #8acted'2 black1 white1 round1 square are more concrete adjectives than rich1 poor1 idle1 diligent4 ,there are four ways of teaching the meanings of words or forms3 7#a7 ,by immediate association1 as when we point to the object represented by a noun4 7#b7 ,by translation1 as when we give the student the nearest native equivalent4 7#c7 ,by definition1 as when we describe the unit by means of a synonymous expression4 7#d7 ,by context1 as when we embody the word or expression in a sentence which will make its meaning clear4 ,these four manners are given here in what is generally their order of concreteness2 it is interesting to note in this connexion that translation is not nearly so #8indirect' or #8unconcrete' as the extreme #8direct methodists' have led us to suppose4 ,it is for the teacher to judge under what conditions each of these four manners of teaching meanings may be appropriately used4 #ac4 ,,interest ,no work is likely to be successfully accomplished if the student is not interested in what he is doing1 but in our efforts to interest the pupil we must take care that the quality of the teaching does not suffer4 ,habit-forming work has the reputation of being dull and tedious4 ,the remedy1 however1 would not be to abandon it in favour of work which in itself is or seems more interesting 7such as reading1 composition1 and translation exercises71 for by so doing we should merely be leaving undone work which must be done4 ,the true remedy is to devise a number of varied and appropriate exercises in order to make the habit-forming work itself interesting4 ,the most ingenious and interesting arithmetical problems alone will not assist the student in memorizing the multiplication table1 and the most ingenious and interesting sentence-building devices alone will not cause the student to obtain the necessary automatic command of the fundamental material of the language4 ,there are notably six factors making for interest 7and the observing of these will not in any appreciable degree violate the eight other principles involved71 viz43 7#a7 ,the ,elimination of ,bewilderment4--,difficulty is one thing3 bewilderment is another4 ,the student must1 in the ordinary course of events1 be confronted with difficulties1 but he should never be faced with hopeless puzzles4 ,rational explanations and good grading will eliminate bewilderment and1 in so doing1 will tend to make the course interesting4 7#b7 ,the ,sense of ,progress achieved4--,when the student feels that he is making progress1 he will rarely fail to be interested in his work4 7#c7 ,competition4--,the spirit of emulation adds zest to all study4 7#d7 ,game-like ,exercises4--,many forms of exercise so resemble games of skill that they are often considered as interesting as chess and similar pastimes4 7#e7 ,the ,relation between ,teacher and ,student4--,the right attitude of the teacher towards his pupils will contribute largely towards the interest taken in the work4 7#f7 ,variety4--,change of work generally adds interest3 an alternation of different sorts of monotonous work makes the whole work less monotonous4 ,spells of drill-work1 however1 should be relieved by intervals devoted to work of a less monotonous character4 #ad4 ,a ,,rational ,,order ,,of ,,progression ,apart from all questions of grading1 we may observe in most of the branches of language-work different orders of progression4 ,we may proceed from the spoken to the written or from the written to the spoken3 we may start with ear-training and articulation exercises or leave them to a later stage3 we may treat intonation as a fundamental or leave it to the final stage3 we may proceed from the sentence to the word or vice versa3 irregularities may be included or excluded during the first part of the course3 we may proceed from rapid and fluent to slow utterance or vice versa4 ,modern pedagogy tends to favour the former of each of these alternatives3 whereas the teachers of the past generations generally pronounced in favour of the latter4 ,the ancient school said3 ,first learn how to form words1 then learn how to form sentences1 then pay attention to the #8idiomatic' phenomena1 and lastly learn how to pronounce and to speak4 ,the modern school says3 ,first learn to form sounds1 then memorize sentences1 then learn systematically how to form sentences1 and lastly learn how to form words4 ,the two orders of progression1 it will be seen1 are almost directly opposite to each other4 ,we who have carefully examined and analysed the arguments on either side are forced to conclude that the modern order is the rational order1 and psychologists will confirm our conclusion4 ,the old order stands for cramming and for an erratic and weak curve of progress3 the modern order stands for results which are both immediate and of a permanent nature4 ,the old order teaches us much about the language and its theory3 the modern order teaches us how to use a language4 #ae4 ,,the ,,multiple ,,line ,,of ,,approach ,this ninth and last of the essential principles of language-study welds the eight others into a consistent whole2 it harmonizes any seeming contradictions and enables us to observe in a perfectly rational manner all of the precepts set forth under their respective headings2 it answers once for all most of those perplexing questions which have engaged the attention of so many language-teachers and controversialists for such a long time4 ,if this principle is in contradiction to the spirit of partisanship1 it is equally opposed to the spirit of compromise2 it suggests a third and better course1 that of accepting any two or more rival expedients and of embodying them boldly as separate items in the programme1 in order that each may fulfil its function in a well-proportioned and well-organized whole4 ,the term #8multiple line of approach' implies that we are to proceed simultaneously from many different starting-points towards one and the same end2 we use each and every method1 process1 exercise1 drill1 or device which may further us in our immediate purpose and bring us nearer to our ultimate goal2 we adopt every good idea and leave the door open for all future developments2 we reject nothing except useless and harmful forms of work4 ,the multiple line of approach embodies the eclectic principle 7using the term in its general and favourable sense71 for it enjoins us to select judiciously and without prejudice all that is likely to help us in our work4 ,whether our purpose is the complete mastery of the language in all its aspects and branches1 or whether our purpose is a more special one1 the principle holds good3 we adopt the best and most appropriate means towards the required end4 #af4 #8,,memorized ,,matter' ,,and #8,,constructed ,,matter' ,when more is known about speech-psychology and the ultimate processes of language-study1 it will be possible to embody as one of the fundamental principles the following considerations3 ,the whole of our speech-material is possessed by us either as #8memorized matter' or as #8constructed matter4' ,memorized matter includes everything which we have memorized integrally1 whether syllables1 words1 word-groups1 sentences1 or whole passages4 ,constructed matter includes everything not so memorized1 i4e4 matter which we compose as we go on1 matter which we build up unit by unit from our stock of memorized matter while we are speaking or writing4 ,there are three manners of producing constructed matter from memorized matter2 we may term these respectively grammatical construction1 ergonic construction1 and conversion4 ,grammatical ,construction4--,in this process1 our memorized matter consists of #8dictionary words' 7i4e4 uninflected and unmodified root-like words74 ,by learning the theories of accidence1 syntax1 derivation1 and composition we become 7or hope to become7 able to produce constructed matter at will4 ,ergonic ,construction4--,in this process1 our memorized matter consists of two elements3 more or less complete sentences and #8working words' 7units of speech ready inflected1 ready modified1 ready derived1 or ready compounded71 which units may be termed #8ergons4' ,by means of appropriate tables and drill-like forms of work1 from this memorized matter we produce more or less spontaneously the requisite constructed matter4 ,conversion4--,in this process1 our memorized matter consists of classified series of sentences which are to be converted into other forms by means of appropriate exercises of various kinds4 ,in the opinion of many1 the greatest evil in present-day methods lies in the fact that an almost exclusive use is made of the first of these processes as a method of producing constructed matter4 ,instead of concentrating their efforts on condemning this process as a vicious and unnatural one1 the reformers of thirty years ago merely advocated what has been termed the #8direct method1' the chief features of which are the abolition of translation exercises and of the use of the mother-tongue as a vehicle of instruction4 ,,the ,,principles ,,of ,,language-,,study ,,chapter ,i ,,our ,,spontaneous ,,capacities ,,for ,,acquiring ,,speech ,what do we do in order to become skilful in the exercise of an art8 ,if we wish to become proficient in performing an unlimited series of complicated acts1 what course do we adopt in order to obtain such proficiency8 ,the first answer which suggests itself is to the effect that such skill or proficiency is acquired by a process called study or learning4 ,we learn to do it2 we study the art2 we follow a course and all that the course implies2 we attend lectures1 we take lessons1 we read the text-book containing the principles 7rudimentary or otherwise7 which embody the precepts relating to that art1 we perform exercises2 in short1 we become students4 ,very well2 let us accept the answer for what it is worth and proceed to formulate a series of supplementary questions3 ,what are the qualities which mark the successful student8 ,what sort of people are likely to study with success8 ,of what people can we predict failure or incapacity for making progress8 ,most people will answer3 ,the student must possess intelligence1 assiduity1 and perseverance2 if at the same time he should be #8gifted1' his progress will be much greater than the progress of one who possesses no #8natural talents' for learning the art in question4 ,this answer1 on the face of it1 seems a reasonable one and a right one2 it gives us the impression of being in accordance with the traditions and maxims of the pedagogic world1 and with our experience1 either as teachers or as learners4 ,we think of our efforts 7successful or unsuccessful7 to learn shorthand1 piano-playing1 violin-playing1 singing1 chess1 typewriting1 dancing1 drawing1 painting1 modelling1 carpentering1 and a host of similar subjects2 we remember the intensive acts of analysis and synthesis1 the efforts of attention1 the strain of comprehending1 the striving to retain2 we remember the hours of solid labour1 the exercises1 the drills1 the spade-work2 we consider the period of time covered by these continuous efforts1 and we realize the cost at which we have acquired our present proficiency4 ,and yet there exists an art1 we are told1 in which every one of us has become proficient1 an art in which every man1 woman1 and child throughout the world is a skilful adept1 an art which has been acquired without any process resembling study1 without lectures or lessons or text-books or theory1 without the exercise of our powers of conscious or critical reflection1 or analysis1 or synthesis1 or generalization1 without the giving of our conscious attention1 without deliberate effort or striving4 ,this art1 we are told1 requires no intelligence on the part of the one who is learning it2 on the contrary1 the least intelligent often prove to be among the most successful adepts1 notably very young children1 idiots1 or barbarians of the lowest scale4 ,this statement seems so strange on the face of it1 so paradoxical and so contrary to our preconceived notions concerning the acquiring of knowledge1 that we immediately suspect some #8catch'2 we are inclined to treat as a joker the one who has so gravely made the statement4 ,the #8art' in question is probably something of an absurdly rudimentary character1 something of such a simple nature that it neither admits of analysis or synthesis nor requires any form of logical or co-ordinated thought4 ,but no1 the art in question is one involving at least three distinct sciences1 each of which is so complex and so vast that the learned world has not yet succeeded in unravelling it or in sounding its depths4 ,convinced by now that we are the object of some form of ingenious witticism1 we ask3 ,what1 then1 is this strange art in which the dunce excels1 this art which requires of its adepts neither brains1 industry1 nor patience8 ,the answer is3 ,the art of using the spoken and everyday form of any given language4 ,show me the child of three years of age1 the madman1 or the savage1 who is not an expert at it6 ,let us make sure that we have understood this answer1 in order that we may not misinterpret it1 in order that we may not read into it a meaning which is not there4 ,in the first place1 there is no question here of reading or writing the language1 but of understanding what is said1 and of expressing what we wish to say by speaking2 and the art in question has nothing to do with alphabets1 with letters1 with spelling1 with calligraphy1 which are artificial developments deliberately invented by man4 ,nor is there any question of literary composition in prose or poetry2 we are not dealing with any sthetic form1 but merely with the #8everyday' form1 the colloquial form1 the sort of speech we use on ordinary occasions in order to express our usual thoughts4 ,let there be no mistake on this point3 the higher forms of language1 the artistic developments1 eloquence or literature1 may interest us1 may interest us intensely1 but the particular art of which we are now speaking is far removed from these heights2 we are considering language as manifested by the normal colloquial form as used by the average speaker in ordinary circumstances4 ,now there is no doubt whatever that proficiency in this particular sort of human activity is possessed by every human being who is not congenitally deaf or dumb2 we are all able to say what we want to say1 we are all able to understand what is said to us provided that the communication concerns things which are within the limits of our knowledge4 ,we have acquired this proficiency not by a course of study as we understand the term in its ordinary use2 we have not learnt it as a result of lectures or lessons2 it has not come as a consequence of deliberate effort and concentration4 ,some of us1 in exceptional circumstances1 may have availed ourselves of our intelligence2 but in general our intelligence1 our reasoning powers1 our capacities for deduction1 for analysis and synthesis1 have counted for nothing in the process4 ,might we not then call it a #8gift'8 ,did we not mention specifically that those who have a gift for a particular art can to a certain extent dispense with the qualities of intelligence1 assiduity1 perseverance8 ,there is no objection against using the term #8gift1' provided that it is clear to our minds that everybody possesses the gift in question4 ,usually1 however1 we understand by #8gift' something #8given' to certain individuals only2 consequently we are not in the habit of speaking about the gift of sight1 of hearing1 or of locomotion4 ,it would be safer to avoid the term and to speak rather of our natural1 spontaneous1 and universal capacity for using spoken language4 ,but are we right as to our facts8 ,is it true that we acquire speech by some capacity other than our intelligence1 our reasoning powers8 ,let our answer be based on objective and easily proven evidence4 ,a child of two or three years of age can use the spoken language appropriate to his age1 but what does that child know of reasoning8 ,and what is its standard of intelligence8 ,not enough to cause it to realize or understand that two and two make four4 ,and yet that child observes with a marvellous degree of accuracy most of the complicated laws governing his mother-tongue4 ,and the savage4 ,by definition he is unintelligent1 he has never learnt to think logically1 he has no power of abstraction1 he is probably unaware that such a thing as language exists2 but he will faithfully observe to the finest details the complexities 7phonetic1 grammatical1 and semantic7 of his #8savage' language4 ,he will use the right vowel or tone in the right place2 he will not confuse any of the dozen or so genders with which his language is endowed2 a #8savage' language 7with an accidence so rich that ,latin is by comparison a language of simple structure7 will to him be an instrument on which he plays in the manner of an artist1 a master3 and we are speaking of a savage1 mark you1 whose intelligence is of so low an order that for him that which is not concrete has no existence6 ,in ,english we have a tone-system so complicated that no one has so far discovered its laws1 but little ,english children observe each nicety of tone with marvellous precision2 a learned specialist in #8tonetics' 7or whatever the science of tones will come to be called7 may make an error1 but the little child will not4 ,the grammatical system of the ,bantu languages depends largely on fine shades of intonation2 the dropping of the voice a semitone at certain points in the sentence1 for instance1 is an essential feature of their syntax1 while the highly complex system of tone-mutation serves as a basis of their conjugation and declension2 but no ,bechuana or ,matabele native1 illiterate as he may be1 will ever commit the slightest error in the use of his tones4 ,when1 therefore1 we find that a person has become expert in a difficult and complex subject1 the theory of which has not yet been worked out1 nor yet been discovered1 it is manifest that his expertness has been acquired otherwise than by the study of the theory4 ,let us furthermore examine what passes in our mind when we are speaking our own language1 and endeavour to ascertain whether we form our sentences in unconscious obedience to some rules unknown to us1 or whether we are consciously applying rules we have learnt4 ,do you say ,i go always there or ,i always go there8 ,you certainly use the latter form4 ,why8 ,have you ever been told that a certain class of adverbs 7among them the word always7 is placed before and not after the verb8 ,have you been told that there are twenty-three exceptions to the rule1 and have you ever learnt these exceptions8 ,it is most probable that you have never had your attention called to the rule or to its exceptions4 ,you put always in front of all verbs except the twenty-three exceptional verb-forms for the very reason for which the ,african native puts the right tone on the right syllable in the right case4 ,in what cases do you replace the word far by the expression a long way8 ,what are the precise laws governing the respective uses of went and did go8 ,which are the ,english #8postpositions1' if any8 ,in what cases do we use nouns unpreceded by any article or other determinative word8 ,what is the exact difference between had you and did you have8 ,these are a few odd examples chosen at random out of the thousands of items the sum of which constitutes the theory of the structure of the ,english colloquial language4 ,most of them are not contained in any manual of ,english grammar nor ever taught as a school subject4 ,we are forced to conclude that we have become proficient in the use of our mother-tongue by some process other than that of learning by dint of conscious efforts of reasoning and synthesis4 ,while granting the above conclusion and recognizing its validity1 some may object that the process of unconscious assimilation is not sufficient to ensure skill and proficiency in the use of the language4 ,this objection may be supported by proofs to the effect that the ,english of young children 7not to mention adults7 is frequently #8incorrect' or #8ungrammatical4' ,can this process of nature be said to have succeeded when it produces such results as 8,any bloke what don't do it proper didn't ought to come08 ,certainly the process has succeeded2 most certainly the natural forces have operated with perfect success6 ,the only trouble is that users of such sentences have succeeded in learning a dialect which most of us agree to consider a deplorable one2 this dialect is to our ears an ugly and a repelling one1 but in itself it is probably no easier to learn than the educated colloquial4 ,an educated person to whom this dialect is foreign would probably have to pass a long period of study should he wish1 for any particular purpose1 to become expert in its use4 ,it is quite a fallacy to suppose that a debased or vulgar form of speech is of easier acquisition than the more elevated forms4 ,the language1 dialect1 patois1 or form of speech taught by nature to the child 7or adult7 is that form which he hears spoken by those about him during the period of acquisition1 be it the stilted speech of the pedant or the jargon of the slums4 ,let us accept the thesis as so far proven2 let us agree that this spontaneous capacity exists1 that every child does become expert in this art1 and that his expertness has been gained by the exercise of some powers other than those of conscious reflection or reasoning4 ,but does not this relate solely to the acquisition of one's mother-tongue8 ,in the definition of the art in question the term #8any given language' was used4 ,do we conclude that this given language is the first language1 or are we assuming that the same process holds good for any foreign or subsequently learnt language8 ,the question is a legitimate one2 we may well ask ourselves whether the forces which were operative in the case of our first language are available for the acquisition of a second1 third1 or fourth language4 ,let us1 as before1 go to the actual facts and collect objective evidence on the point4 ,what evidence is afforded by bilingual children1 that is to say1 by children who have learnt two languages simultaneously1 children of mixed parentage1 children whose care has been entrusted to foreign nurses1 children who live abroad with their parents8 ,in nearly all the cases of which we have any record it would appear that the two languages have been acquired simultaneously without mutual detriment2 there has been practically no confusion between the two1 and the one has had little or no influence on the other4 ,both have been acquired by the natural language-teaching forces which are at present engaging our attention4 ,the next evidence will consist of the testimony afforded by children who started their second language after the first had already been acquired as a going concern4 ,we find almost invariably that the second language is picked up with the same facility and accuracy as the first4 ,thousands of ,belgian refugee children returned to their country in possession of an ,english speech hardly to be distinguished from the speech of ,english children of their own age4 ,their first language had interfered in no way with their power of acquiring the second4 ,there were1 however1 exceptions2 in some instances the possession of the first language did interfere with the proper acquiring of the second4 ,what was the determining factor8 ,to what was due this differentiation8 ,we find that in most cases the child was of a riper age1 he had arrived at the age of intelligence1 and had been forced to use his rudimentary intelligence as a means towards learning ,english4 ,he was old enough and clever enough to receive eye-impressions side by side with ear-impressions4 ,he was old enough to pay attention1 he was intelligent enough to concentrate1 he was skilful enough to analyse and to compare the second language with his first1 he was able to translate4 ,these things had a harmful influence on his work2 they interfered with the processes by which nature causes us to assimilate and to remember1 and the quality of his ,english suffered2 it was to a certain extent #8foreigner's' ,english1 whereas his younger brothers spoke #8,english' ,english4 ,and what happens in the case of the adult1 of one who starts his second language from fifteen to twenty years after he has acquired the first8 ,the same thing generally happens as in the last instance quoted1 but in a more marked degree4 ,the same interference takes place2 the use of the eyes inhibits the use of the ears2 the utilization of his conscious and focused attention militates against the proper functioning of the natural capacities of assimilation4 ,moreover1 he is encouraged and trained to use the non-natural methods1 he is directed by his teacher to pay attention to everything1 to use his eyes1 to memorize spellings 7generally non-phonetic72 his books show him how to analyse1 they provide him with exercises calculated to make him concentrate on the detail1 and in so doing to miss the synthetic whole4 ,examine the adult who is supposed to have #8learnt' a foreign language2 in the majority of cases you will find that his speech is pidgin-speech1 that his sounds are wrong and wrongly distributed1 that his inflexions are inaccurate1 that his sentences are constructed on the model of his native language1 that he uses foreign words in a way unknown to the native users of these same words4 ,inquire in each case how the person acquired his knowledge1 and you will find that he acquired it by dint of exercising his capacities for study4 ,and the minority8 ,we find a minority 7alas1 a small minority67 who have come to possess the foreign language as if it were their first4 ,their sounds are right1 the distribution is right1 the inflexions are accurate1 their sentences are constructed on the model of those used by the native speakers1 they use foreign words as the natives themselves use them1 they are as accurate and as fluent in the foreign language as in their own4 ,they do not interrupt the speaker of the language with requests to speak more slowly1 to speak more distinctly1 to spell or to write the words2 in short1 they use the second language as they use their first4 ,inquire in each case how the person acquired his knowledge1 and you will find that he acquired it by methods making no call on his capacities for reasoning1 for concentrating1 for analysing1 or for theorizing4 ,instead of selecting and adapting previously acquired habits connected with his first language1 he was able to form new habits4 ,to sum up our inquiry1 we find that there are people who have been able to use their spontaneous capacities of assimilation in order to acquire a second or a third language2 we find that young children nearly always do so1 that certain adults sometimes do so4 ,but we must make quite sure of our ground before proceeding farther4 ,we must ascertain definitely whether all adults possess what we are calling this spontaneous capacity for assimilation1 or whether this is a #8gift' in the usual acceptation of the term1 that is1 whether it is a capacity given to some but withheld by nature from others4 ,some maintain that from the age of reason onwards none but the gifted possess the capacity in question1 and that those who do not possess it are bound to use what we shall call the studial processes4 ,others1 on the contrary1 maintain that all possess the capacity either in an active or in a latent state1 that most adults deliberately but innocently inhibit their power1 or that1 unaware that these powers exist1 they fail to take the necessary steps to awaken them from their latent into their active state4 ,which of these two is the correct view8 ,let us endeavour to answer this all-important question by examining those who undoubtedly do possess this #8gift' or natural capacity4 ,we first inquire whether they were encouraged or disposed to resist the temptation to receive their impressions through the eyes1 to resist the temptation to rely on spellings1 whether they did consent to use their ears as the receptive medium4 ,in each case we learn that they were so disposed2 they did resist the temptation towards eye-work and did allow the ears to perform the work for which they were intended4 ,we next inquire whether the conditions were such as prohibited them from focusing their consciousness1 from paying an exaggerated attention to detail1 from submitting the language-matter to a form of analysis1 from comparing each foreign word or form with some word or form of their native language4 ,in each case we are informed that such were the conditions4 ,our next inquiry is directed towards ascertaining whether1 in the earlier stages1 the conditions afforded them full and constant opportunities of hearing the language used1 without being under the necessity of speaking it themselves4 ,in each instance we are informed that those were precisely the conditions4 ,this is almost conclusive2 we have ascertained that each successful acquirer of the foreign language was working precisely under the conditions enjoyed by the young child 7and we remember that the young child is invariably a successful acquirer of foreign languages74 ,it is1 however1 not conclusive enough2 we have yet to inquire under what conditions the other type of adult 7the supposedly non-gifted one7 had been working4 ,we ask the same three sets of questions1 and in answer we learn3 7a7 ,that he was encouraged by his teachers to learn by the medium of his eyes1 to base his knowledge on spellings 7generally non-phonetic71 and in so doing to inhibit his ears from fulfilling their natural function4 7b7 ,that he generally focused his consciousness1 that he paid attention to detail1 that he studied rules and practised analysis1 that he constantly established comparisons between the foreign word and the nearest native equivalent4 7c7 ,that conditions were such that he had few or no opportunities of hearing the language used1 while he was obliged to use the language himself1 to forge out sentences as best he might1 neglectful of accuracy and heedless of their conformity or non-conformity with authentic models4 ,this is conclusive2 there is no doubt about it now4 ,those who seemingly do not possess the spontaneous capacity for assimilating foreign languages are precisely those who were unwilling to avail themselves of it1 or who were precluded from availing themselves of it4 ,and by developing their studial powers they simply inhibited the spontaneous powers and effectively prevented them from working4 ,no reasonable doubt remains3 we are all endowed by nature with certain capacities which enable each of us1 without the exercise of our powers of study1 to assimilate and to use the spoken form of any colloquial language1 whether native or foreign4 ,we may avail ourselves of these powers by training ourselves deliberately to utilize them1 or1 having more confidence in our studial efforts1 or for some reason of special expediency1 we may choose to leave our spontaneous capacities in their latent state and make no use of them4 ,we cannot1 however1 afford to ignore them1 and it would be foolish to deny their existence4 ,we shall see later what steps we must take if we wish to rouse these powers from their latent state1 what we must do if we wish to enlist them and have them at our disposal for the purpose of learning or of teaching a foreign language4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,our ,,studial ,,capacities ,,and ,,how ,,to ,,use ,,them ,we have seen that each of us possesses certain spontaneous capacities for learning how to use the spoken form of any language or variety of language4 ,we have seen that these capacities may be either in a latent or an active state4 ,we have seen that unless we enlist these powers in our service we are unlikely to make any real progress in language-study1 either in point of quality or quantity4 ,we shall see later by what means we may awaken our latent capacities and cause them to become active1 and1 incidentally1 how we can exercise ourselves to make the fullest use of them4 ,but we also possess capacities other than these for assimilating and using a language4 ,it is our purpose in the present chapter to see what these are1 and to differentiate between them and those already described4 ,in the first place1 let us note carefully that we have so far dealt with no other form of language than the normal spoken colloquial1 that form which is used under normal conditions by the average educated native4 ,we have not been considering any written form of language whatever1 either colloquial or classical1 nor have we given any attention to the more classical or literary form of speech whether spoken or written4 ,we have1 indeed1 alluded to these aspects or varieties of language1 but merely in order to state that they are beyond the range of any truly spontaneous capacities4 ,reading and writing are not spontaneous processes2 they are even unnatural processes if we do not already possess the spoken form4 ,learning how to use classical or artificialized forms of language such as poetry or rhetoric is a more or less studial process1 an unnatural process if we do not already possess the normal colloquial4 ,for this1 then1 if not for other reasons1 we must be prepared to adopt certain forms of work unknown to man in his natural state 7as exemplified by the very young child72 we shall allude to these as the #8studial methods4' ,what1 then1 are these studial methods8 ,roughly speaking1 we may say that they comprise all those forms of work which require on the part of the student conscious efforts of attention2 work in which he must think1 reflect1 or calculate2 work necessitating the exercise of his reasoning powers1 work which cannot be performed automatically2 this constitutes conscious work1 and all methods embodying conscious work become ipso facto studial methods4 ,most work of analysis and synthesis is of this order2 all that we do to break up a sentence into words1 into syllables1 into sounds2 all that we do to piece together sounds1 syllables1 and words in order to form sentences is of this order4 ,whenever we are distinctly conscious of the words and constructions we are using1 we are doing something unknown to nature4 ,whenever we come to understand a sentence by analysing it1 or to utter a sentence by piecing together as we go on1 we are working by processes of the studial order2 they were not used when we were learning our mother-tongue4 ,all those forms of work which we may include under the heading of #8conversion' are studial1 and these are many and varied4 ,dictation consists in causing the pupil to convert the spoken into the written aspect of language1 reading consists in causing him to do the reverse1 most forms of translating consist in causing him to convert something from one language into another4 ,we may also at times require our pupils to convert an affirmative sentence into a negative or an interrogative one1 to convert a present tense into a past1 a singular into a plural1 passive into active1 to convert a certain word-order into another4 ,all these things are of the studial order2 sound they may be1 necessary or essential they may be1 but they are not spontaneous forms of work1 for we have not by their aid learnt to use the spoken colloquial form of our mother-tongue4 ,all methods which necessitate the use of the eye are studial methods2 nature never meant us to learn spoken language by eye4 ,we may therefore designate as studial all forms of reading1 reading aloud or mental reading1 reading from traditional orthographies or phonetic transcriptions1 reading of isolated sounds or of connected passages4 ,more especially of the studial order are those curious and complicated practices 7common1 alas6 to so many students7 of #8reading what we hear' or #8writing what we speak4' ,in the former case1 we hear a sentence1 we reduce it mentally to written characters1 and read mentally what we see in our imagination2 in the other case we write in our imagination what we wish to say1 and read aloud what we are writing4 ,it follows that all methods which require us to use the hand are studial methods2 nature knows no more of spellings and handwriting than she does of shorthand1 typewriting1 and type-setting2 all these things are of comparatively recent origin1 and all of them have been deliberately invented by man4 ,all methods which teach meanings by means of etymology are of the studial order2 nature intended that each word should become attached to that for which it stands and not become associated with its ancestral etymon or modern cognates4 ,the dictum of nature is that a word means what all speakers of the same language 7or variety of language7 mean it to mean4 ,thus it would appear that nearly everything that the average person actually does when learning a foreign language comes under the heading of the studial processes4 ,he learns rules in order to become proficient in analysis and synthesis2 for the same purpose1 he memorizes the exceptions to the rules4 ,he becomes 7or hopes to become7 an expert in pulling words to pieces and in reconstructing them from roots and affixes1 in sentence-making and sentence-breaking4 ,he learns chiefly by eye1 and expresses himself chiefly by the pen-grasping hand4 ,indeed1 he becomes so proficient in converting the spoken into the written form that he cannot understand or retain the foreign words or sentences he learns until he has converted them into an imaginary written form which1 in his imagination1 he reads off word by word4 ,similarly1 he finds himself only able to express himself by dint of reading aloud the sentences which he is constructing bit by bit by a complicated process of #8mental writing4' ,he aims at becoming 7and often does become7 expert in converting one language into another by a process 7unknown to nature7 called translating4 ,his accuracy is gained by rapid conversions of words from one inflected form to another3 nominatives into accusatives1 singulars into plurals1 infinitives into participles4 ,he attaches great importance to etymology1 and the time he might spend in associating words with their meanings is often devoted to working out the family tree of foreign words4 ,he spends little time in finding out what meanings the natives attach to their words and forms1 but much time in identifying the units of etymology and in tracing them from one language to another4 ,this does not necessarily imply that the student is always doing the wrong thing1 nor that his methods are always bad ones2 we merely observe that he uses 7or is taught to use7 all manner of studial methods at the expense of spontaneous ones1 and that1 in so doing1 he develops his studial capacities of language-study at the expense of his spontaneous ones4 ,the question whether the studial methods should be used at all and1 if so1 which should be used1 forms the subject of the next chapter4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,why ,,we ,,must ,,use ,,our ,,studial ,,capacities ,we should not conclude that methods involving our powers of study are to be abandoned1 and that nature alone is to be responsible for our linguistic education4 ,on the contrary1 we suggest that an extensive use be made of powers which are not possessed by the young child or the barbarian4 ,in the first place1 nature will not teach us to read or to write1 but merely to become proficient in the use of the spoken form of a given language4 ,however valuable it may be to possess the spoken form1 most of us wish to go beyond this2 we wish eventually to be able to use some form of orthography4 ,some even desire to go beyond this and to learn to use shorthand or the typewriter1 man-made inventions of a still more recent date4 ,for we must remember that1 after all1 traditional orthography is not a whit more #8natural' than shorthand1 and a good deal less #8natural' than phonetic transcription or reformed spelling4 ,to learn1 however1 the written form of a language before having learnt how to assimilate the spoken form is unnatural and contrary to all our linguistic instincts2 it is comparable to learning to cycle before having learnt to walk4 ,at a certain stage1 therefore1 the learner will be taught how to recognize by eye what he has already assimilated by ear1 and how to express with the pen what he has hitherto expressed by means of articulate sounds4 ,in each case the process will be one of conversion1 converting written characters into sounds or converting sounds into written characters4 ,in both cases there will be articulation of some sort1 for mental reading means mental articulation1 and when we write we only write what we are repeating to ourselves mentally4 ,neither of these forms of conversion is necessarily difficult4 ,the processes1 without being spontaneous in the true sense of the term1 present at times certain analogies to truly spontaneous processes in that they are apparently performed without effort4 ,much depends1 however1 on the system of script2 if the alphabet of the foreign language is almost identical with an alphabet we have already learnt to use1 the difficulty will be less than in the case of a totally strange alphabet or syllabary4 ,japanese script1 which contains a strange mixture of ,chinese characters used both ideographically and phonetically1 together with two different systems of native phonetic writing1 presents difficulties unknown to the ,european student of ,european languages4 ,the artificial element in writing is particularly evident when we consider that many if not most orthographic systems are in contradiction to the spoken form of the languages they claim to represent4 ,english spelling is an excellent case in point2 its divergences from the actual language are so numerous and so great that we may be said to possess two distinct languages1 the spoken and the written4 ,to learn and to apply the arbitrary laws and conventions which serve to bridge the gap between the two requires capacities of observation and reasoning of a special order1 essentially studial4 ,for that reason we must make use of conversion devices of various kinds3 dictation1 reading aloud1 transcription 7or transliteration71 and spelling drill4 ,many so-called #8difficulties of grammar' prove to be mere difficulties of spelling2 the ,french conjugation and what remains of ,french declension are largely matters of spelling1 often as baffling to the native ,french speaker as to the non-,french student4 ,there are other reasons why studial methods must be adopted in a complete language-course4 ,there exist forms of speech other than the form which is used normally in everyday conversation4 ,there exist artificialized non-colloquial dialects1 such as poetry1 the language of emotion and oratory1 the language of ceremony1 the liturgical1 and similar classical or archaic varieties4 ,as we have already seen1 nature teaches us only those living forms which are used by the people of our environment2 for the others we must have recourse to studial methods4 ,the everyday colloquial form is something we learn at home or in the street2 the higher or more sthetic forms are taught us at school or at college2 we have to study them4 ,the art of literary composition1 the art of selecting and assembling deliberately and consciously those words which express our thoughts and emotions in the clearest and most appropriate manner1 differs widely and essentially from the art of colloquy as exercised in our daily life4 ,in order to become proficient in literary composition1 we must acquire habits of concentration1 we must be able to analyse1 we must become expert in synthesis1 we must learn to discriminate1 we must develop our intelligence4 ,the young child cannot do these things1 nor can the savage or the idiot4 ,there is another reason why we cannot leave everything to nature3 most language-courses must necessarily be corrective courses4 ,the teacher generally finds among his adult students a large number who have already acquired certain notions of the language2 they may have spent one or more years working at school-,french1 school-,english1 or whatever the language may be2 they may have spent some time in the country where it is spoken1 or they may have studied privately4 ,in most of these cases it is practically certain that the student will have formed bad linguistic habits2 his pronunciation will be deplorable1 his command of the inflected forms will be deficient1 his syntax will be faulty1 and his semantic system will be that of his native tongue4 ,in other terms1 he has acquired a pidgin form of the language1 such as ,anglo-,french or ,franco-,english1 unnatural dialects unknown to native speakers2 he may have become accustomed to using this form of language1 even to using it automatically4 ,nor is that all2 not only is his language-material faulty 7to say the least of it71 but his manner of study will probably have impaired very seriously his capacities for any sound form of assimilation4 ,he has not been trained to observe nor to imitate nor to construct sentences by analogy2 he has so trained himself to hearing what he expects to hear and what he thinks he hears that he has no notion of what he actually does hear2 in short1 he has generally learnt wrong material in wrong ways4 ,the only suitable course for such a student would be a corrective course1 a course which would aim at replacing his faulty material by sound material and at replacing his former methods of study by sound methods4 ,one by one his unsound acquisitions must be replaced by sound ones2 we must teach him a new language4 ,now this cannot be done by means of spontaneous methods alone2 unconsciousness will not undo the work consciousness has done2 the natural powers which enable us to assimilate normal speech will rarely1 if ever1 turn bad habits into good ones or convert pidgin-speech into normal speech4 ,what has been done consciously must be undone consciously4 ,the student must be shown specifically in what respects his speech differs from that used by natives1 and he must deliberately set to work to correct it item by item2 we must explain things to him2 we must provide him with charts1 diagrams1 and exercises2 we must put him through courses of drill-work1 and all these things will require his careful and even concentrated attention4 ,we must also teach him how to correct his faulty methods of assimilating2 we must explain to him why they are faulty and convince him that1 however natural and easy they may seem to him1 they are only of utility to the learner of pidgin-speech4 ,we must teach him how to utilize the sound processes 7both spontaneous and studial72 he will not like to do so1 he will constantly tend to revert to the processes to which he has become accustomed2 we must react and cause him to react against his vicious tendencies4 ,after a time1 if fortunate1 we may succeed in eradicating most of the faulty matter and in initiating the right habits of assimilation4 ,from that point onwards the course will not be a corrective one but a normal one4 ,do these considerations apply only to one who has already studied the language faultily1 to the user of pidgin-speech8 ,are we to take it that the raw beginner is exempt from unnatural or vicious habits8 ,unfortunately this is not the case3 more often than not1 the student 7even the student unspoiled by previous defective work7 will tend to let his first language influence his second4 ,if he is ,english1 he will tend to insinuate ,english sounds1 ,english forms1 and ,english thoughts into the new language1 which will therefore tend to become pidginized4 ,this tendency will be greater with some than with others2 much depends on the attitude of the student towards the language he is about to learn2 he may already have studied other foreign languages1 and in doing so may have acquired the wrong attitude towards foreign languages in general4 ,if he considers them as branches of study similar to mathematics1 history1 or geography2 or if he considers them essentially as orthographic systems of which the phonetic form is an unimportant detail1 he will already have become one for whom a corrective course is necessary4 ,we shall have to remove his prejudices and to modify his point of view2 a certain amount of preliminary work will have to be done in order that he may see languages as they really are1 in order that he may see the nature of the task before him4 ,this preliminary work will be of the studial order1 but will be succeeded at the right moment by the more normal and more spontaneous methods4 ,on the other hand1 many students start with no preconceived ideas whatever2 children1 the less intelligent adults1 and those who have been unspoiled by the traditional classical fallacies will slip easily and naturally into the right attitude4 ,they will recognize the necessity for learning new sounds and combinations1 for assimilating foreign material without at each instant comparing it with the material of the mother-tongue2 for retaining by the auditory memory strings of words and sentences1 for reproducing orally what they hear1 and for forming the right semantic associations4 ,such students will be immune or nearly so from the vicious tendencies which so characterize the average language-learner2 they will merely have to be put on their guard at certain critical moments2 we shall at such moments observe certain reasonable precautions in order that bad habits may not be acquired4 ,a fourth reason why we must not neglect the studial methods may be mentioned here4 ,many set out not so much to acquire the capacity for using the language as to learn its structure and peculiarities1 just as a mechanic may wish to become acquainted with a machine without having the intention of ever using it4 ,phoneticians1 grammarians1 and philologists must in the ordinary course of their work become familiar with the characteristic features of many languages or dialects4 ,for this purpose it is by no means necessary that they should acquire the capacity for understanding1 speaking1 reading1 or writing the languages which interest them4 ,in such cases the spontaneous methods would obviously be out of place2 no call need be made or should be made on the students' natural powers of language-assimilating4 ,they would proceed by way of analysis and synthesis1 and instead of retaining the actual language-material itself would retain merely the laws which govern the functioning of the language4 ,we might place in this category of students those whose subsequent intention is to teach the language to others4 ,it may not be necessary for the language-learner to know much about the theory of phonetics1 but the language-teacher must possess a considerable knowledge of phonetic theory both general and as applied to the particular language in which he is an instructor4 ,the learner need know little about the sciences dealing with inflexions1 sentence-construction1 or meanings2 but the teacher must know a good deal about these things in order that he may foresee the special difficulties which his pupils will encounter1 and devise the necessary exercises to overcome them4 ,the technical side of language will therefore be of importance to all who are or who intend to become teachers1 and such knowledge1 like any other technical knowledge1 is acquired by methods unrelated to our spontaneous capacities for assimilating normal colloquial speech4 ,the four series of considerations set forth above are sufficient to show that it would be either unwise or impossible to proceed by the sole aid of nature or by the reconstitution of natural conditions4 ,language-study is such a complex thing1 with so many aspects1 and it requires to be looked at from so many points of view1 that we must enlist all our capacities when striving to obtain the mastery we desire2 we must not neglect our spontaneous powers1 nor should we despise our intellectual powers2 both are of service to us1 both have their place in a well-conceived programme of study1 each will to a certain extent balance the other and be complementary to it4 ,an excess on either side may be prejudicial to the student1 and one of the more important problems before the speech-psychologist is to determine in what circumstances and on what occasions each should be used4 ,more will be said on this particular phase of the subject in ,chapter ,,xv 78,the ,multiple ,line of ,approach074 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,the ,,student ,,and ,,his ,,aim ,what is the best method of language-study8 ,this fundamental question is one which is continually asked by all those who are seriously engaged in teaching or in learning a foreign language4 ,we say #8seriously' and lay stress on the word1 for among teachers and students there are many1 unfortunately1 who are not disposed to take their work seriously1 who see no necessity for any earnest consideration of the ways and means to be adopted4 ,they are content to teach as they themselves have been taught1 or to learn as others have learnt before them1 without inquiring whether the plan or the programme is a sound one1 without even inquiring whether the method is one which is likely to produce any good results whatever4 ,but the serious teacher or student1 who wishes to perform efficient work1 must of necessity ask himself whether the path he has chosen is one which will lead anywhere near the desired end or ends4 ,he may experiment with various methods and try a number of different systems in order to ascertain which of these secures the best results1 and after many such trials he may either hit upon what seems to be an ideal type of work and stick to it1 or1 dissatisfied with everything he has tried1 he may once again seek counsel and ask once more the old and hackneyed question3 ,what is the best method of language-study8 ,the first answer which suggests itself is3 8,the best method is that which adopts the best means to the required end10 and indeed this is perhaps the only concise answer which can be furnished off-hand4 ,but the answer is not satisfactory2 it is too general1 and so true that it ranks as a truism2 it is resented as being a facetious manner of shelving the question4 ,the inquirer has every right to return to the charge and to put the supplementary question3 8,what is the method which adopts the best means to the required end80 ,in the present book we shall endeavour to find the best answer or the best series of answers to this most legitimate question4 ,in doing so we shall set forth1 with as much precision as is consistent with the claims of conciseness1 the conclusions arrived at by those who have specialized in the subject and have obtained positive evidence bearing on it4 ,fundamental as the question appears1 there is yet a previous question of which we must dispose before going further1 for we cannot determine 8what is the best method adopting the best means towards the required end0 until we know more precisely what is the required end4 ,for there are many possible ends1 and many categories of students1 each with a particular aim before him4 ,many desire a knowledge of the written language only2 they wish to be able to read and write1 not to understand the spoken language nor to speak4 ,some may limit their attainment to a capacity for reading the language2 they wish to have direct access to technical or other books4 ,others conceivably may wish solely to become able to write letters in the language4 ,many are only concerned with spoken language2 they wish to be able to speak and to understand what they hear4 ,some wish to possess an #8understanding' knowledge only1 while others are content merely to make themselves understood4 ,the student may limit his requirements to a very superficial knowledge of some pidgin form of the language1 and will be perfectly happy if he just succeeds in making himself understood by using some atrocious caricature of the language which he is supposed to be learning4 ,or he may be more ambitious and set out in earnest to become master of the living language just as it is spoken and written by the natives themselves4 ,the phonetician will wish to attain absolute perfection in the pronunciation of the language2 the etymologist will concentrate on the historical aspect2 the philologist will not be happy unless he is comparing the structure with that of cognate languages2 the grammarian will specialize in grammar1 and the lexicologist or semantician will study the meanings4 ,the clerk or merchant will specialize in the commercial language and learn how to draw up bills of lading or to conduct business correspondence4 ,the hotel-keeper or waiter will concentrate on hotel colloquial1 as also will the tourist or tripper4 ,the littrateur will aim straight at the literature and disdain any of the non-sthetic aspects or branches4 ,every calling or profession will seek its own particular line1 and for each there will be a particular aim4 ,many students have as their sole aim the passing of a given examination4 ,whether they come to know the language or not is a matter of comparative indifference to them2 their business is to obtain as many marks as possible with the least amount of effort1 and what does not lead directly to this aim is not of interest4 ,it is the duty of many or most teachers to coach or to cram their pupils in order that satisfactory examination results may be obtained2 they cannot afford to do anything else1 nor have they any desire to do so4 ,if the examination includes questions on phonetic theory1 the pupil will be crammed with phonetic theory2 if it includes a test in conversation1 the pupil will be crammed with conversational tags2 if it requires the capacity of translating1 the pupil will duly be coached in the art of translating2 if it requires a knowledge of a given text or series of texts1 these will be the subject of study4 ,if the pupil or his teacher knows something of the particular examiner1 special efforts will be made to please that particular examiner4 ,but this has little or nothing to do with the serious study of languages4 ,some people are professional translators or interpreters2 it is their business to render a faithful account of a speech or a sentence uttered in another language or to interpret the thoughts of some foreign writer4 ,this work requires very special qualifications and necessitates a very special study1 so much so that those who are perfectly bilingual experience a great difficulty every time that they are called upon to render a faithful translation of any document or a faithful interpretation of any oral communication4 ,the task of the translator is quite distinct from that of the ordinary student of language1 and is to be dealt with as such4 ,generally speaking1 however1 the language-learner will have comparatively little to do with the profession of interpreter or translator1 and even in the exceptional cases he will do well to leave this particular branch until he has attained a certain proficiency in using the foreign language independently of any other4 ,we have already alluded to the special requirements of the technician2 we have seen that some require a knowledge of the structure or of certain aspects of one or more languages4 ,such people1 having entirely different aims1 require entirely different methods2 they must be furnished with everything that will facilitate their work of analysis or synthesis1 and we may omit from their programme everything which does not lead directly towards the limited and special end they have in view4 ,yet another factor is present and must be considered before we can draw up any definite programme of study4 ,are we giving a three months' course or a three years' course8 ,if we are to obtain concrete and definite results in a limited space of time1 our course must necessarily be an intensive one2 we shall have to make a generous use of studial methods2 we shall not be able to afford anything like an adequate period of preparation2 we shall be forced to take short cuts and we shall reluctantly be compelled to sacrifice a certain measure of soundness to the requirements of speed4 ,if1 however1 at the end of the short course to which circumstances limit our student's opportunity1 he has a chance to continue his studies by himself or to reside in the country where the language is spoken1 we may devote the whole of our time to preparatory work4 ,we may give him an intensive course of ear-training1 articulation1 or fluency exercises1 cause him to memorize a certain number of key-sentences1 and drill him into good habits of language-study4 ,if we adopted this plan we should be laying the foundations upon which the student would build later by his own initiative1 but the drawback would be that the student would have made but small progress in the actual process of assimilating vocabulary2 he would be well prepared1 but would have little to show as a result of his two or three months' work4 ,if1 on the other hand1 we know that we have a clear period of two or more years before us1 our task will be much easier4 ,instead of proceeding at a breathless rate to produce immediate concrete results1 we may go to work in a more leisurely and more natural way4 ,we may sow1 and be assured that the harvest will be reaped in due time2 the natural powers of language-study work surely but not rapidly2 nature takes her time but yields a generous interest4 ,with a long period in front of us1 we may afford adequate intervals for #8incubation'2 it will not be necessary for us to accelerate the normal process of assimilation1 but merely to let it develop in a gradual but ever-increasing and cumulative ratio4 ,at the end of1 let us say1 the first year1 our student will easily outstrip those whose initial progress seemed more satisfactory4 ,evidently it will not be possible to draw up a programme of study which will be suitable for all the diverse requirements we have set forth4 ,nor will it be possible for every teacher to consider the individual requirements of each one of his pupils4 ,we cannot have a specially printed course1 nor even a manuscript one1 for every student2 but in the case of private lessons or of self-instruction we may certainly give a large amount of consideration to individual needs4 ,the bad pronouncer will concentrate on phonetic work1 the bad speller on orthographic work1 the bad listener on devices leading towards immediate comprehension2 the clerk will work with texts of a commercial nature1 the tourist will specialize on hotel colloquial1 etc4 ,no student will ever be expected to work with one book only2 each will gradually acquire a miniature library1 and this library need not be the same for everybody4 ,in the case of collective courses and class teaching1 individual requirements will be less observed1 but in drawing up the programme the teacher will aim at the average result desired by or considered desirable for the average member of the class4 ,as we shall see later1 it is quite feasible to design lessons suitable for a class containing pupils of different capacities2 we can arrange that some shall take an active part while others are assimilating more or less passively4 ,we see1 in short1 that when starting a new course under new conditions the teacher must draw up a programme4 ,this programme will be divided into so many periods or stages1 and for each period certain forms of work will be specified1 these being designed to lead in the most efficient way to whatever the aim may happen to be4 ,without such a programme the teacher will never know exactly where his class stands1 the work will be too much of a hand-to-mouth nature1 and there will be loose ends4 ,this programme may of course be more or less experimental or tentative2 it may be modified in accordance with the teacher's experience and with the results he has so far obtained4 ,the idea of a hard-and-fast programme does not commend itself2 it should1 on the contrary1 be more or less elastic in order that it may be expanded or contracted according to circumstances4 ,anything in the nature of a #8patent method' 7guaranteed to work within so many lessons7 suggests quackery4 ,our programme should be something other than a rigid procedure based on any one particular principle1 however logical that principle may seem to be4 ,there are many logical principles1 and we must strive to incorporate all of them into whatever programme we design4 ,we shall treat of these in the next chapters4 ,,chapter ,v ,,the ,,supreme ,,importance ,,of ,,the ,,elementary ,,stage ,before examining and reviewing the principles of language-study1 it will be well for us to note one important point4 ,the reader ere long may protest that we pay no attention to anything except beginner's work1 that we examine no evidence bearing on the more advanced stages1 that we give no advice nor offer any suggestions concerning the work of the second and subsequent years4 8,we are not interested in elementary work10 some may say2 8what we require is a series of counsels as to how to conduct the subsequent 7and more difficult7 work40 ,and yet we shall have little to say concerning the more advanced course2 on the contrary1 we shall constantly lay stress and insist on the supreme importance of the elementary stage4 ,it is the first lessons that count2 it is the early lessons which are going to determine the eventual success or failure of the course4 ,as the bending of the twig determines the form of the tree1 as on the foundations depends the stability of the building1 so also will the elementary training of the student determine his subsequent success or failure4 ,it is during the first stage that we can secure habits of accuracy1 that we can train the student to use his ears1 that we can develop his capacities of natural and rapid assimilation1 that we can foster his powers of observation4 ,good habits are easily formed 7as also are bad habits72 at the outset of his studies the learner1 whoever he may be1 educated or illiterate1 child or adult1 enjoys the advantage of a plastic mind2 it can be shaped according to our will2 we can train it to form good and sound habits of language-study4 ,at no other period shall we find such plasticity4 ,difficult1 almost impossible1 is the task of undoing what has already been done1 of removing faulty habits of perception and of replacing them by sound ones4 ,the student who has passed through an unsound elementary course finds his road to progress barred2 the twig has been badly bent1 the foundations have been badly laid4 ,all we can then do is to endeavour by means of a corrective course to undo the mischief which has been done1 and a thankless task it is4 ,no amount of advanced work can fully compensate or make good the harm which has been wrought by the untrained or unwise teacher4 ,it is too late4 ,certain habits have been formed1 and we all realize what it means to eradicate a bad habit and to replace it by a good one4 ,what are some of these bad habits8 ,what are the most characteristic vicious tendencies which have been encouraged by an unsound elementary stage8 ,some of these are positive1 others are negative4 ,in some cases the student has acquired bad habits2 in others he has neglected to acquire good ones2 often the two kinds are complementary to each other4 ,we find1 for instance1 that he has neglected to train his ears1 he has not been shown what to observe nor how to observe4 ,the consequence is that he is unaware of the existence of certain foreign sounds1 and invariably replaces them by absurd or impossible imitations based on the sounds of his mother-tongue4 ,instead of ,french he will use ,english ay2 instead of ,french on he will use ,english ong2 a trilled r will be replaced by an ,english fricative r or by no r at all4 ,lack of ear-training will cause him to insert imaginary sounds where there are none4 ,the ,french student will introduce an r 7and a ,french r at that67 in words such as course or farm2 he will insert a weak e in the pl of people or in the bl of able4 ,he has never actually heard such sounds1 but imagines that he has2 his ears have not been trained to observe4 ,he has formed the habit of replacing ear-impressions by eye-impressions2 he believes what his eyes tell him1 and his untrained ears cannot correct the tendency2 he has become the dupe of unphonetic spellings4 ,the neglect of his powers of audition will cause him to rely absolutely on his powers of visualizing the written form4 ,he will refuse to receive the language-matter by the auditory channel2 he will declare with insistence that 8he cannot learn a word or a sentence until he has seen it written02 he will even decline to learn a word except in its traditional 7and probably phonetically inaccurate7 orthographic form4 ,if the elementary course has not provided for the development and use of the powers of unconscious assimilation1 the student will attempt the hopeless task of passing the whole of the language-material through his limited channel of consciousness4 ,he will seek to concentrate his attention on every simple unit of which the foreign language is composed1 and hope thereby to retain every one1 a feat of memory which we know to be impossible4 ,he will therefore have formed the habit of deliberately avoiding that natural process which alone will enable him to make effective progress4 ,he will also have formed the #8isolating' habit1 which consists in learning the individual elements of a group instead of learning the group as it stands4 ,he will learn chaise instead of la chaise1 all instead of suis all or est all4 ,in other terms1 he will have formed the habit of word-learning and have neglected that of word-group-learning4 ,hence1 instead of having at his disposal a number of useful compounds such as ,je ne le lui ai pas donn1 ,il n'y en a pas de ce ct-ci1 or cette poque-ci1 he will endeavour laboriously and generally unsuccessfully to build up by some synthetic process 7probably that of literal translation7 every word-group1 phrase1 or sentence in the language4 ,had his elementary course included the systematic memorizing of word-groups1 this would have become a habit2 as it is1 he has acquired the habit of not doing so4 ,bad semantic habits may also have been formed4 ,that is to say1 the student may have trained himself 7or even may have been trained7 to consider that each foreign word corresponds precisely to some word in his own language4 ,for him prendre is the exact equivalent of to take2 to get is an untranslatable word1 and many foreign words are meaningless6 ,if translation 7not in itself a bad habit7 has been carried to extremes1 and if the habit of direct association has been neglected1 the student will have formed the habit of translating mentally everything that he hears or reads1 and this will be fatal to subsequent progress4 ,the principle of gradation may have been faultily applied in different ways4 ,the teacher may have considered it his duty to over-articulate his words1 to pause before each word1 and to speak under the normal speed of five syllables per second4 ,in this case the student will have formed the habit of understanding no form of speech other than this artificialized type4 ,the capacity for understanding normal1 rapid1 and even under-articulated speech can only be developed by exercise in listening to such speech1 and he will not have had this exercise4 ,the elementary programme may also have been drawn up in such a way as to preclude the study of irregular forms4 ,if this has been the case1 the student1 unprepared for irregularities1 will not know how to deal with them1 and his rate of progress will be correspondingly diminished when they occur in more advanced work4 ,these are some of the bad habits1 positive and negative1 which will result from an unsound elementary course2 these will be some of the fruits of early lessons which have not been based on the essential principles of language-teaching4 ,one of the functions of an elementary course is to enable the student to make use1 even if only in a rudimentary way1 of the language he is learning4 ,it is therefore maintained by some that any form whatever of teaching which leads to such result may be considered as satisfactory4 ,on these grounds it might be urged that1 as pidgin-speech is better than no speech at all1 we should at the outset aim at pidgin1 and leave it to the more advanced stage to convert this type of speech into the normal variety as used by the natives4 ,but those who may hold this view forget that the elementary course has a second and more important function1 viz4 so to prepare the student that his subsequent rate of progress shall constantly increase4 ,the quantity of matter contained in even the everyday language is great--greater than most of us generally imagine4 ,not only are there thousands of words1 but the majority of these consist of a group of allied forms1 declensional1 conjugational1 and derivative4 ,very many words also stand for two1 three1 or more different meanings2 moreover1 the meaning of any word is influenced by the presence of other words in the same sentence4 ,were the beginner able to see in advance the full extent of the work that lies before him1 he might abandon his task at the outset4 ,the work of assimilating this enormous mass of language-stuff will certainly never be accomplished on retail lines2 it will not be done by mere efforts of analysis1 synthesis1 and eye-work4 ,unless the rate of progress increases continuously1 unless the principle of gradation is observed strictly1 there is no prospect of the student gaining that mastery of the language which is his aim4 ,it is the elementary stage1 long or short1 which will prepare the student for this increasing rate of progress1 and an elementary course which has not so prepared the student cannot be said to have accomplished its purpose4 ,it is during the elementary stage that we turn out the good or the bad worker4 ,the function of the first lessons is not only to teach the language1 but1 more important still1 to teach the student how to learn4 ,when we have instilled into him the habits of correct observation1 of using his ears1 of using his capacities for unconscious assimilation1 of forming direct associations--in short1 when we have taught him how to learn--the subsequent stages may safely be left to the student and to nature4 ,let us take care of the elementary stage1 and the advanced stage will take care of itself4 ,,chapter ,,vi ,,the ,,principles ,,of ,,language-,,teaching ,the art of method-writing 7or of course-designing1 which is not very different7 is in its infancy2 it has all the marks of the early or even primitive stage2 it is in a state of slow evolution comparable to that which characterized the gradual perfecting of mechanical inventions and devices such as the typewriter1 the bicycle1 or the calculating machine4 ,in the early stages of each of these 7and many similar things7 each model was more or less rudimentary and clumsy4 ,a dozen different inventors working individually produced a dozen different machines2 although all designed to accomplish the same work1 the means adopted in each case differed fundamentally4 ,in #ahij it was possible to distinguish even at a distance the make of any particular bicycle4 ,at the present day we can still see great differences of structure between the different makes of typewriters and calculating machines4 ,as time goes on1 however1 we notice a gradual convergence of types2 one inventor profits by the work of others2 in spite of the laws of patent1 certain improvements are copied or adapted1 individual defects are gradually eliminated and devices or dispositions which have proved their worth are adopted4 ,the tendency is always towards the more perfect type1 the more efficient apparatus2 and the path towards perfection is marked by an ever-growing convergence of types4 ,the ideal appears to be reached when there is practically no scope for further improvements2 by that time the theoretical principles have been worked out and have become common property2 what divergences do continue to exist are not concerned with essentials1 they are merely variations of equal value4 ,were we to ask a hundred different bicycle-makers or boat-builders to design what they considered an ideal model1 the hundred resultant models would be for all practical purposes identical4 ,now1 if we asked a hundred different language-teachers to design what each considered an ideal course or text-book1 the result at the present day would certainly be a hundred different courses4 ,they would differ in every conceivable way2 most of them would differ from the others fundamentally4 ,this would prove that the art in question is in a very early stage2 it would prove that few or no fundamental principles are generally recognized4 ,if1 however1 at some date in the distant future we were to make the same request1 restricting our invitation to those who will have made a special study of the subject1 to those who will have been striving towards perfection1 we should probably find no great degree of diversity in the treatment2 we should see the converging tendency at work1 and should gather that the fundamental principles were beginning to stand out and to be respected4 ,in the yet more distant future the answer to our request might take the form of a hundred manuscripts1 all essentially the same1 and differing only in non-essential details2 we should then know that the fundamental principles had been established and had been accepted1 but by that time none but experts in the subject will ever venture to carry out such highly technical work4 ,much time will probably elapse before we arrive at this desirable state of things2 much error will have to be eliminated and much experimental work will have to be accomplished4 ,we shall have to ascertain exactly what does take place when we learn1 and exactly what are the mental processes involved4 ,we shall then have to grope about and feel our way1 adopting and rejecting1 modifying and adapting1 improving and perfecting4 ,we shall have to co-ordinate our efforts so that each may profit by the success or failure of fellow-workers2 we shall have to experiment under all sorts of conditions1 with all sorts of learners1 and with all sorts of languages4 ,there are distinct signs to-day that this kind of co-operation is coming about4 ,we see1 for instance1 that the branch of language-study concerned with pronunciation is already far advanced in the experimental stage4 ,for years past phoneticians have been busily engaged in research work2 at first working apart1 they are now coming together and pooling their efforts1 each profiting by the discoveries of the others4 ,a universal terminology is coming into existence2 a universal phonetic alphabet is well on its way2 the principles of phonetics and of phonetic transcription are developing rapidly1 and the inevitable experts' quarrels are becoming more and more confined to matters of detail and to non-essentials4 ,the remarkable advance in this comparatively new science is one of the most hopeful signs of progress1 and a pledge of eventual perfection4 ,a similar advance in the sister sciences such as grammar and semantics is not yet apparent1 but there are signs that ere long the many isolated workers in these domains will be able to do what the phoneticians did twenty or thirty years ago2 they will enlist new workers1 they will open up the field of research1 they will draw up1 first tentatively and then decisively1 the broad principles on which the experimental and constructive work will repose1 there will be co-ordinated and co-operative effort in many countries1 and we shall witness the coming into existence of the general science of linguistics4 ,in the meantime1 the subject is engaging the attention of psychologists4 ,strangely enough1 the psychologists1 whose function it is to ascertain how we learn1 have not been consulted by writers of language-courses1 and few of them have ever intervened in the matter4 ,each language-teacher has had to feel his way as best he could1 proceeding empirically1 dabbling in psychology1 which meant that he did not always apply and often misinterpreted whatever principles of the subject he may have picked up4 ,there are signs that speech-psychologists are about to co-ordinate their efforts with those of the phoneticians and with the experience of those who are actively engaged in making their language-teaching more efficient4 ,we can point to more than one centre both in ,england and abroad where this co-operation is in its initial stage1 and once this co-operation becomes an accomplished fact progress will be very rapid1 and the progress will be sound4 ,the work of ,sweet1 of ,jespersen1 and of de ,saussure 7to cite only three of our modern leaders7 has already paved the way for the new and growing contingent of workers who are prepared to take up the threads and to weave them together in the fabric of the future4 ,what are the principles of language-study so far evolved8 ,what are the fundamental axioms so far postulated8 ,do they give us the impression of soundness8 ,do they appear to us to be reasonable8 ,do they bear the aspect of finality8 ,we shall judge4 ,we shall endeavour to formulate the leading principles which have resulted from long periods of experimental work so far carried on by individual workers4 ,the list will probably not be exhaustive1 nor will the items be presented in that perfectly logical sequence which the future reserves for it4 ,it will1 however1 seek to embody the largest number of important precepts under the smallest number of headings1 in order that we may see in a concise form something which is still evolving and progressing towards further efficiency and simplicity4 ,we purposely omit from the list certain minor principles and modes of application1 nor can particular details connected with the study of particular languages be well included in the present work4 ,at the present day nine essential principles seem to stand out fairly clearly1 and may provisionally be named as follows3 7#a7 ,initial preparation4 7#b7 ,habit-forming4 7#c7 ,accuracy4 7#d7 ,gradation4 7#e7 ,proportion4 7#f7 ,concreteness4 7#g7 ,interest4 7#h7 ,order of progression4 7#i7 ,multiple line of approach4 ,we append a brief definition or broad description of these principles1 and reserve for the following chapters a detailed explanation of each of them4 7#a7 ,initial ,preparation4--,during the initial stages of the course the teacher will1 if necessary1 endeavour by means of appropriate forms of exercise to awaken and to develop the student's natural or spontaneous capacities for language-study1 in order that he may be adequately prepared for his subsequent work4 7#b7 ,habit-forming4--,language-study is essentially a habit-forming process2 the teacher will therefore not only assist the student in utilizing his previously formed habits1 but will also cause him to acquire new ones appropriate to the work he is to perform4 7#c7 ,accuracy4--,no form of work is to be adopted which may lead to inaccurate habits of language-using1 for habit-forming without accuracy means the forming of bad habits4 7#d7 ,gradation4--,the teacher will cause the student to pass from the known to the unknown by easy stages1 each of which will serve as a preparation for the next1 and thereby secure a constantly increasing rate of progress4 7#e7 ,proportion4--,the various aspects of language 7i4e4 understanding1 speaking1 reading1 and writing7 as well as the various branches of the study 7i4e4 phonetics1 orthography1 etymology1 syntax1 and semantics7 to receive an appropriate measure of attention4 7#f7 ,concreteness4--,the student will proceed from the concrete to the abstract1 and will therefore be furnished with an abundance of well-chosen examples4 7#g7 ,interest4--,the methods are to be devised in such a way that the interest of the student is always secured1 for without interest there can be little progress4 7#h7 ,order of ,progression4--,the student should first be taught to hear and to articulate correctly1 then to use sentences1 then to make sentences1 then to make 7i4e4 to inflect or to derive7 words4 ,in this way he will secure rapid and yet permanent results4 7#i7 ,multiple ,line of ,approach4--,the language should be approached simultaneously from many different sides in many different ways1 by means of many different forms of work4 ,text-books may differ in the sort of material supplied2 teachers may differ in their mode of presentation2 there will be room for individuality and personality4 ,for years to come we shall not secure perfect uniformity and ideal results1 but if these nine essential principles are understood and reasonably well observed by the method-writer1 course-designer1 and teacher1 the resultant teaching is bound to be good and the results are bound to be satisfactory4 ,,chapter ,,vii ,,initial ,,preparation ,in the first chapter we have seen that each of us1 child or adult1 possesses in either an active or a latent state certain capacities for the spontaneous assimilation of the spoken and colloquial form of any given language1 native or foreign4 ,in the case of the young child1 these capacities are in an active state and at his immediate service1 he does not require to be trained in their use2 in the case of the average adult1 these capacities are in a latent state1 they have fallen into disuse1 they are not at his immediate service1 he must train himself to use them1 he must learn how to learn4 ,in the first place1 he must realize that language-learning 7within the scope of our definition7 is an art and not a science2 to become proficient in an art is to acquire the capacity for doing something2 to become proficient in a science is to acquire knowledge concerning something4 ,so long as the student treats language-study as a science he will make little or no progress in the art of using language4 ,now1 there are two possible ways of acquiring proficiency in an art2 the one consists in applying theory1 the other consists in persistent efforts to imitate the successful performances of others4 ,let us say that the student wishes to use the ,french equivalent of #8she went4' ,by the method of theory he will remember that past actions are generally expressed by the ,french pass indfini 7or perfect72 he will then remember that this tense is formed by means of one of the two auxiliaries plus the past participle4 ,his knowledge of theory will tell him to derive from the infinitive aller the past participle all2 theory will also tell him that this particular verb requires the auxiliary tre and not avoir1 and that the present tense third person singular of tre is est4 ,if he is writing the sentence1 he must remember that the participle must in this case agree with the subject and be spelt alle4 ,by the method of practice he will merely reproduce by imitation the sentence elle est alle1 which sentence he will have had occasions of learning or of reading4 ,in both cases there is the possibility of error2 the theory may be imperfectly known and one or more links in the chain of reasoning may be weak1 or the sentence may have been badly memorized4 ,first attempts at imitation are sometimes inaccurate2 our initial attempts at reproducing are occasionally unsuccessful2 we wish to produce a foreign sound we have just heard1 but utter a native sound instead2 we wish to produce a foreign sentence1 but construct it wrongly2 we wish to express a certain thought1 and fail to hit upon the right word4 ,for this reason the method of practice is often termed the method of trial and error4 ,we are told that some of our efforts will be successful and others unsuccessful1 and that in the course of practice we shall gradually eliminate the unsuccessful ones4 ,we are even told that it is only by making mistakes that we learn not to make them4 ,although we may admit a modicum of truth in this somewhat hyperbolical dictum1 we would suggest that it is liable to misinterpretation4 ,nor is the term trial and error an ideal one from the language-teacher's point of view4 ,in both cases there is an implication that all successful attempts must necessarily be preceded by unsuccessful ones1 which is not only untrue but unsound pedagogy4 ,the literal interpretation of the term and doctrine may induce a sort of fatalistic attitude1 and the principle of accuracy 7which we shall deal with later7 will suffer in consequence4 ,it may provide teacher and student with an easy pretext to condone careless work4 ,the student may say1 8,since it appears that error must precede perfection1 ,i will not unduly strive towards accuracy40 ,the teacher may say1 8,since psychologists tell us that error is inevitable1 ,i will allow my pupil to do inaccurate work40 ,it may be true that some forms of inaccuracy in certain conditions tend to eliminate themselves in the course of time and practice1 but it is certainly true that errors also tend to become habitual1 and no psychologist has ever maintained that the forming of bad habits is a necessary step towards the acquisition of good ones4 ,we would lay stress on this point1 for there seems to be a real danger in the misapplication of such terms as #8trial and error1' #8the selection of the successful and the rejection of the unsuccessful efforts1' #8practice makes perfect1' etc4 ,misunderstanding on this point has caused many teachers to encourage1 and many students to acquire1 pidgin-speech1 and to consider it as the inevitable or even indispensable prelude to normal speech4 ,in the present chapter we are inquiring what are the processes of nature and how we may train the student to observe them4 ,we have just seen that there is a method of theory and a method of practice2 it is fairly evident that the latter is a natural process and that the former is not4 ,we will now proceed to set forth another pair of rival processes and determine which is the one followed by the natural language-teaching forces4 ,when we are young we form new habits with facility2 a new sort of work has to be performed1 and we proceed to acquire the new habit which will enable us to perform it4 ,when we are older we form new habits with greater difficulty and certainly with greater reluctance4 ,we make all sorts of efforts 7generally unconsciously7 to avoid forming a new habit1 for in some respects the adult seems to dread novelty4 ,a new sort of work has to be performed1 and instead of acquiring the new habit or habits which will perform it we select habits already formed and strive to make them do the new work4 ,let us take a few examples in order to realize what this means4 ,suppose we wish to make ,chinese characters with a native writing-brush4 ,this is a new sort of work2 in order to do it successfully we must hold the brush vertically in a way we have never held a brush before2 we must form a new brush-holding and brush-using habit4 ,but the average ,european adult will strive to use the brush and to trace the characters by holding the brush as he holds a pen2 he will be using the known pen-holding habit instead of acquiring the unknown habit of holding a writing-brush4 ,or we wish to learn to pronounce the vowel generally represented in ,french by 4 ,this will require a muscular habit unknown to the average ,englishman4 ,what does he do8 ,he seeks immediately to replace the required new effort by a known effort--and replaces the ,french by the ,english ay4 ,if this is too unsatisfactory he will strive to modify his ay until it seems to resemble sufficiently the required sound4 ,similarly1 he will substitute for ,french au1 u1 or on1 ,english o 7as in #8boat'71 ew 7as in #8new'71 and ong4 ,or the ,english adult student may wish to learn to use ,french word-groups or sentences1 in which case we shall almost invariably find that he only learns to use those which correspond most nearly to ,english constructions2 he prefers to adapt his known syntax-habits rather than form new ones4 ,now children have not this same reluctance to form new habits1 either because their minds are more plastic1 i4e4 they are so used to forming new habits that a few more do not incommode them1 or because they are not clever or intelligent enough to make the necessary selection from their stock of acquired habits4 ,language-learning is essentially a habit-forming process1 a process during which we must acquire new habits4 ,it is1 then1 one of the cases where we cannot always proceed from the known to the unknown in the more obvious sense of the term2 we must often consent to plunge 7or be plunged7 straight into the unknown4 ,the most important thing we have to do1 then1 is to train the student to form new habits and to cause him to refrain from adapting his old ones in cases where we know that such adaptation will be fruitless4 ,we make this last qualification advisedly1 because there are certain cases where successful adaptation is possible4 ,a foreign language is not wholly different from our own tongue1 and where identity exists obviously no new habit is required4 7,we must1 however1 see that the student selects the right previously acquired habit1 that is to say1 the nearest native equivalent47 ,the capacity of forming new habits of observation1 articulation1 inflexion1 compounding1 or expression for every new language is one of our spontaneous capacities1 and the student must when necessary be taught to form such new habits4 ,another very characteristic feature of the natural process is unconscious assimilation2 we learn without knowing that we are learning4 ,what we therefore have to do is to train ourselves 7or our students7 consciously to learn unconsciously2 we must set out deliberately to inhibit our capacities for focusing or concentrating our attention on the language-material itself4 ,attention must be given to what we want to say and not to the way we say it4 ,how shall we do it8 ,in the first place we must set out to sharpen our powers of receiving and retaining knowledge communicated to us orally4 ,this may be difficult2 we have become so accustomed to acquiring information from the written word via the eyes that we feel very bewildered and incapable when deprived of this medium4 ,we hear a foreign word or sentence1 and this auditory impression is such a rapid and transitory one that we feel that we cannot possibly retain it in our memory2 we feel that we require at least one good look at the word so that we may hereafter reproduce in our imagination the written form4 ,but we must resist this tendency2 we must discipline ourselves to forgo this artificial aid to memory1 for ear-memory cannot be cultivated while we are visualizing4 ,if we truly desire to tap the natural language-learning energies we must obey nature2 we must train and drill our ears to do the work for which they were intended4 ,if we make up our minds to train our ears to be efficient instruments we can do so3 a little patience1 a little practice1 and we shall surely regain the power that we had allowed to lapse4 ,the exercises we use in order to sharpen our ear-perceptions and to make them serve us may be termed #8ear-training exercises4' ,this term may not satisfy those who delight in hair-splitting definitions2 they may say1 8,we cannot train our ears1 but we can train our capacities for using them02 but the term is sufficiently accurate to designate what we mean it to designate4 ,how are ear-training exercises performed8 ,there are several varieties4 ,the simplest of all is this3 the teacher articulates various sounds1 either singly or in combination with others2 we listen to these sounds and make unconscious efforts to reproduce them by saying them to ourselves4 ,this is the most passive and most natural form of ear-training2 we did it years ago when lying in our cradles listening to the sounds made by the people around us4 ,if the teacher systematizes his work1 so much the easier will it be for us who are training our ears4 ,we must then seek to recognize or identify certain sounds and to distinguish them from others4 ,the teacher may write 7in conventional phonetic symbols7 a series of sounds on the blackboard and append to each a conventional number4 ,he will articulate a sound and ask us to give him the number pertaining to it1 or we may go up to the blackboard and point to the sound we think we have heard1 or he may give us #8phonetic dictation1' in which case he will articulate sounds which we must write down by means of these conventional phonetic symbols4 ,this latter process has the advantage that it can subsequently be extended to the dictation of syllables or words4#a #a ,it will be preferable for these to be #8nonsense words1' that is to say1 artificial words with no meaning1 for if real known words are articulated to us we may possibly write down not the sounds that we really hear but some sort of ingenious phonetic transliteration of the orthographic form of the word4 ,other forms of ear-training exercises may be devised by those who are engaged in carrying out such work1 care being taken that such exercises do really train the ears and not our capacities for successful guessing4 ,if you wish to know to what extent such exercises do have the desired effect1 go through a short course of ear-training on these lines and you will yourself be a witness to their efficacy4 ,ear-training is not confined to isolated sounds and simple combinations of sounds2 it also includes the exercise of our capacities for perceiving or retaining long strings of syllables such as sentences4 ,we are able to do this in the case of our mother-tongue1 and there is no reason why we should not soon become fairly proficient in doing it in the case of a foreign language4 ,the next thing in importance is to learn how to articulate foreign sounds1 singly1 in simple combinations1 or in long strings of syllables4 ,we must train our mouth and our vocal organs generally2 in some cases we must develop certain muscles in order that they may do easily and rapidly what is required of them4 ,we have learnt to do this in the case of our mother-tongue1 and we can learn to do the same for sounds which are so far unknown to us4 ,it is never too late in life to develop a muscle in order that it may perform the small amount of work which will be required of it4 ,we must go through a course of mouth-gymnastics2 if we are disinclined to do so it means that we are disinclined to take the trouble to tap our natural language-learning resources4 ,what are articulation exercises8 ,like ear-training exercises1 they exist in many varieties4 ,we begin by practising on known sounds4 ,we take simple sounds and learn to prolong them for a few seconds or to utter them rapidly1 and we practise them in new and unfamiliar combinations4 ,we are shown how to convert voiced into voiceless sounds and vice versa2 we are taught how to produce sounds which are intermediate between two known sounds2 we are shown how to convert known sounds into their nasal1 lip-rounded1 or palatalized forms1 etc4 ,we are trained to imitate strange noises of all sorts1 and the phonetician is ready to show us how to make them4 ,our ear-training exercises will be of assistance to us1 for it is easier to articulate sounds that we recognize than sounds which have so far been unfamiliar to our ears4 ,at a more advanced stage1 articulation exercises gradually become merged into #8fluency exercises4' ,when we are asked to articulate a given string of syllables so many times in so many seconds we are learning to become fluent1 to connect sound with sound and syllable with syllable without ugly gaps and awkward hesitations4 ,while ear-training and articulation exercises are being carried on the student should be encouraged to develop his powers of mimicry2 after having heard on many different occasions words or strings of words uttered by the teacher he should strive to become at least as proficient as parrots and phonograph records in reproducing them spontaneously4 ,the term imitation is not adequate to express the process by which he should work2 what we require is absolute mimicry4 ,sounds1 with all that appertains to them--pitch1 timbre1 length1 abruptness1 drawl1 distinctness1 and any other qualities and attributes possessed by them--should be mimicked faithfully and accurately2 little or no distinction should be made by the learner between the characteristic pronunciation of the language he is learning and the personal pronunciation of his teacher4 ,the teacher1 indeed1 should say to the student1 8,don't be content with a mere reproduction of what you imagine to be my standard of pronunciation2 go further and mimic me40 ,ear-training1 articulation1 and mimicry exercises will carry us a long way towards our aim2 when fairly proficient in these1 we shall find little difficulty in reproducing at first hearing a sentence which has been articulated to us4 ,this is one of our most important aims2 once able to do this1 we are able to avail ourselves immediately of one of the most valuable channels for acquiring the foreign language2 we are able to assimilate foreign sentences by ear2 every sentence repeated in our hearing will have its due effect in furthering our knowledge of the language and our capacity for using it4 ,anyone who is unable to repeat with tolerable accuracy any sentence he has just heard is certainly unable to assimilate the foreign language by spontaneous methods4 ,he may seek to compensate this inability by methods involving the imagery of the written word1 but these methods will be unnatural ones and will inhibit the development of the spontaneous powers4 ,anyone who experiences a difficulty in repeating a foreign sentence which he has just heard will be severely handicapped in his subsequent work1 for he will be paying attention to his hearing and articulation when he should be devoting his attention to other things4 ,indeed1 we would go so far as to say that the power of correctly reproducing a string of syllables just heard is one of the essential things we must possess in order to make any real progress in the acquisition of the spoken language4 ,it is this power which enables us to memorize on a wide scale sentences and similar strings of words4 ,whether we like it or not1 whether the prospect is encouraging or not1 it is quite certain that an easy command of the spoken 7and even of the written7 language can only be gained by acquiring the absolute mastery of thousands of combinations1 regular and irregular4 ,we shall see later that certain forms of synthetic work exist which will enable us to form correctly an almost unlimited number of foreign sentences2 we shall see that the utilizing of these studial forms of work will carry us very far on our way to acquire the language2 but1 ingenious and sound though they may be1 they will not replace the cruder and more primitive process of memorizing integrally a vast number of word-groups4 ,now this task cannot be accomplished by means of intensive and laborious repetition work2 it cannot be accomplished by the traditional methods of memorizing2 book-work and perseverance will never lead us to the goal of our memorizing ambitions4 ,as we shall see later1 in the early stages a certain amount of deliberate and conscious memorizing must be done2 we shall insist on the daily repetition of a certain number of useful compounds1 but sooner or later we shall come to a stage in which memory-work must be carried out on a far larger scale and in a far more spontaneous manner4 ,we must train ourselves to become spontaneous memorizers1 and this can only be done in one way3 we must acquire the capacity for retaining a chance phrase or compound which has fallen upon our ears in the course of a conversation or speech4 ,it is in this way that we have acquired those thousands of phrases and combinations which make up the bulk of our daily speech in our own language4 ,we have acquired the capacity of noting and retaining any new combinations of ,english words which we may chance to hear2 we do this unconsciously1 and are not aware of doing so2 we rarely or never invent new types of compounds1 but simply reproduce at appropriate moments those types of compounds which we have happened to hear used by those speaking in our presence4 ,this is one of the habits we acquired in our infancy2 this is one of the habits we must revive now and use for the foreign language we are studying4 ,so long as we have not acquired this habit our progress will be slow--too slow for the purpose we have in view4 ,at a later stage of our study1 it is true1 we may make such acquisitions by reading instead of listening1 but this will only be after we have become proficient in reproducing what we hear4 ,we may be inclined to think that we assimilate new linguistic material by the eye alone1 but this is not the case2 the eye alone cannot assimilate4 ,it may be taken as proved to-day that all normal people #8inner-articulate' all that they read1 that we are indeed incapable of understanding what we read unless a process of #8inner-articulating' is going on at the same time4 ,we need not stop at present to inquire exactly what is the psychological definition and explanation of this inner-articulating2 we may content ourselves for the moment by defining this process as a sort of #8mental repetition4'#b ,it is well known that deaf-mute children who have been taught to read and to write never acquire the power of writing their #8native language' as normally used2 they produce an artificial variety which reads as if it were written by a foreigner4 ,nor is this to be wondered at2 it is perfectly in accordance with what might be expected2 deaf-mutes cannot articulate1 either aloud or mentally2 they are therefore compelled to learn by studial methods1 and they acquire language as slowly and as painfully as anyone acquires a foreign language by mere studial methods4 #b ,victor ,egger1 ,la ,parole intrieure3 8,souvent ce que nous appelons entendre comprend un commencement d'articulation silencieuse1 des mouvements faibles1 bauchs1 dans l'appareil vocal0 7,ribot74 ,to learn to repeat mentally exactly what we hear1 neither more nor less1 without the intervention of any other elements than those of hearing and articulating1 is1 then1 one of the things we must do if we wish to avail ourselves of the help which nature is ready to afford us4 ,another of the spontaneous capacities with which we are endowed is that of understanding the gist of what we hear without any intervention of analysis or synthesis4 ,some people seem never to have lost this power4 ,it suffices that they should have a certain number of opportunities of listening to the language being used for them to be able to gather the general sense of what they hear4 ,others do not appear to possess this #8gift'2 they cannot understand anything they have not analysed and reduced to its component units4 ,in reality1 if they would refrain from so analysing what they hear 7or even read7 they would soon find themselves able to do as well in this respect as the #8gifted4' ,we therefore suggest that a programme of this sort should include a certain number of exercises designed expressly to develop this power of direct understanding4 ,what sort of exercises should these be8 ,they are many and varied4 ,the essential feature should be the rigid exclusion of all opportunities for reasoning1 calculation1 analysis1 or synthesis4 ,the pupil must not be allowed to focus his consciousness on the structure of the language2 he must keep his attention on the subject-matter4 ,the natural law in this respect would seem to be that we shall come to understand what we hear provided that we fix our minds not on the actual words used but on the circumstances which result in the words in question4 ,interest must be present4 ,if you are not interested directly or indirectly in what you hear1 you may listen and listen for months or even years without understanding what you hear4 ,if1 on the other hand1 things are said in your presence concerning matters which affect even distantly your welfare or which are connected with your interests or surroundings1 you will have a tendency to grasp the meaning of what is said4 ,we must endeavour to devise a series of exercises which fulfil these conditions2 we must design forms of work in which the student's attention shall be directed towards the subject-matter and away from the form in which it is expressed4 ,gradation1 however1 must be observed if we wish to obtain fairly rapid results1 we must first work with a comparatively limited vocabulary1 we must use an abundance of gesture1 we must avail ourselves of everything likely to further our aim4 ,in so doing1 however1 we must avoid the other extreme2 if we are too careful in our choice of words1 if we speak too slowly and over-emphasize our speech1 the process of understanding will be too conscious2 we shall be fostering habits of conscious study and of focused attention1 things which are very good in their way1 but which are not calculated to further the particular end we have at present in view4 ,the most natural form of work1 indeed the first form of work which suggests itself to us1 consists in talking to our pupils1 talking to them naturally and fluently1 talking to them about anything which may conceivably be of interest to them4 ,we may show them the different parts of the room in which the lessons are given1 the furniture1 objects on the table or in our pockets1 and while showing them we name them and speak about them4 ,we may perform all sorts of actions and say what we are doing2 we may describe the position of the various objects1 their qualities and attributes2 we may show pictures and describe them4 ,these elementary talks will gradually develop2 we may pass by easier stages from the concrete to the abstract2 in the end we shall be relating 7and even reading7 simple stories1 and our listeners will come to follow our thoughts and understand what we are saying1 even as we understood the simple stories for which we clamoured in our nursery days4 ,another form of work1 called #8imperative drill1' consists in giving orders in the foreign language to the pupils to perform certain actions 7stand up1 sit down1 take your book1 open it1 shut it1 etc474 ,in the initial stage such orders will be accompanied by the necessary gestures2 the students will not be slow to grasp what is required of them1 and in a very short time they will respond automatically to the stimulus provided by the foreign imperative sentence4 ,another form of exercise designed to cultivate the capacity of immediate comprehension is that in which we require our pupils to answer yes or no 7oui or non1 ja or nein1 etc47 to hundreds of questions which we ask them1 7,is this your book8 ,is the sky blue8 ,am ,i speaking to you8 ,are we in ,france8 etc41 etc47 ,certain other simple forms of systematic questionnaire exercises will further develop the natural powers of comprehension1 of associating the word with the thought4 ,a type of exercise called #8action-drill' will have the same effect if carried out as a means to the particular end we have in view4 ,these then are the chief things to be done once we have decided to enlist on our behalf the universal and natural powers of language-using1 and these are some of the various ways in which we may achieve our aim4 ,all of them are possible and all of them can be carried out in actual practice by any teacher who has a sufficient command of the foreign language 7and if he has not1 we can hardly call him a competent teacher74 ,nothing has been suggested here which has not already been successfully carried out by those whose business it is to ascertain experimentally how languages are actually learned4 ,the initial stages of the language-course will be very largely characterized by these forms of work1 in order that the student may be thoroughly prepared and mentally equipped for the later stages4 ,,chapter ,,viii ,,habit-,,forming ,,and ,,habit-,,adapting ,language-learning1 like all other arts as contrasted with sciences1 is a habit-forming process4 ,proficiency in the understanding of the structure of a language is attained by treating the subject as a science1 by studying the theory2 but proficiency in the use of a language can only come as a result of perfectly formed habits4 ,no foreign word1 form1 or combination of these is #8known' or #8mastered' until we can use it automatically1 until we can attach it to its meaning without conscious analysis1 until we can produce it without hesitation and conscious synthesis4 ,we hear a foreign sentence as pronounced at a normal speed by a native speaker4 ,if we understand this sentence as soon as it falls from his lips1 if we understand it without being conscious of its form or without even realizing that we are listening to a foreign language1 we #8possess' that sentence1 it forms part of the material which we have gained as the result of a habit2 our understanding of it is #8automatic4' ,if1 on the other hand1 we ask the speaker to repeat it or to say it more slowly1 if we claim a moment of reflection in order to realize the parts of which it is composed1 if we subject it to a rapid analysis or to a rapid translation1 we do not possess the sentence2 it has not become automatic4 ,we wish to speak2 if the foreign sentence springs to our lips as soon as we have formulated the thought1 if we are unconscious of the words or the form of the words contained in it1 if we are unaware of the manner in which we have pieced it together1 it is certain that we have produced it automatically1 we have produced it as the result of a perfectly formed habit4 ,if1 on the other hand1 we prepare the sentence in advance2 if1 as we utter it1 we consciously choose the words or the form of the words contained in it2 if we build it up by conscious synthesis or by a rapid translation from an equivalent sentence of our native tongue1 we do not produce it automatically2 we have not formed the habit of using the sentence or the type of sentence to which it belongs2 we are producing it by means of conscious calculation4 ,adult students in general dislike forming new habits and avoid such work as far as possible2 they seek to replace it by forms of study requiring discrimination and other processes of the intellect4 ,one reason for this is that habit-forming often entails monotonous work1 whereas the other types of work are more or less interesting2 another reason is that the forming of a habit seems a slow process2 so many repetitions are required and progress is not at once apparent1 whereas the other form of work has all the appearance of rapidity4 ,we know1 however1 that in reality what we have learnt as the result of a habit is not only immediately available at all times1 but is also a permanent acquisition1 and that what we have learnt by the aid of theory alone is neither immediately available nor permanent4 ,let us take an example to illustrate our point4 ,we wish to learn when and how to use each of the ,german cases4 ,the theory of the declension provides us with all the necessary rules and exceptions4 ,one set of prepositions requires the accusative1 another the dative1 another the genitive1 another accusative or dative according to certain semantic considerations4 ,this rule can be mastered without any great difficulty2 within the space of a few hours the necessary formul may be committed to memory1 and the student imagines that the problem is solved for all time4 8,whenever ,i want to know what case to use10 he thinks1 8,i shall only have to remember to which category the preposition belongs and ,i shall know what case is required40 ,in reality his knowledge of the theory1 i4e4 his memory of the categories1 will soon become blurred and will tend to fade away2 and even if he does succeed in retaining this fresh in his memory1 he will always require a second or two of conscious reflection before he is able to hit on the right case4 ,he will be using consciousness where unconsciousness would serve him better2 if 7as is probable7 he has learnt to determine gender by a similar process1 his conscious attention will have to be devoted to this as well1 he will be focusing his attention on the language-material1 which will prevent him from focusing it on the things he wishes to say4 ,deciding to use these #8short cuts' he will therefore assume for his whole lifetime the burden of continual conscious effort4 ,now1 instead of learning and applying theory he might memorize a hundred or so real living sentences1 each exemplifying one of the results of the theory4 ,by doing so he would acquire a hundred or so new habits or automatic actions4 ,he recoils before the task2 the perfect memorizing of a simple sentence is so distasteful to him2 it seems to take so long2 he fails to realize the permanent advantages which he might obtain by doing it2 he chooses what seems the easier path1 the short cut4 ,it is here that we see the value of spontaneous assimilation4 ,if the student has trained his capacities of retaining unconsciously what he may happen to hear 7or read71 he will memorize without effort1 and without the expenditure of any appreciable amount of nervous energy4 ,the same considerations apply to the learning of the ,french conjugation1 ,english pronunciation1 ,hungarian vocalic harmony1 ,welsh mutation1 or to the overcoming of the other obstacles in the path of progress towards perfect attainment4 ,the fear of monotonous and tedious memorizing work1 and the realization of the length of time necessary for each act of memorizing1 induce the student to invent pretexts for avoiding such work4 ,he declares that #8parrot-work' is not education1 that modern educationalists condemn #8learning by rote1' that the age of blind repetition is over and that the age of intelligent understanding has taken its place4 ,he will talk of the method of discovery1 the factor of interest1 and will even quote to us #8the laws of nature' in defence of his thesis4 ,but we know that in reality these are but so many excuses for his disinclination to form those habits which can secure him the automatism which alone will result in sound and permanent progress4 ,this fear of tediousness is not really justified at all1 for mechanical work is not necessarily monotonous4 ,automatism1 it is true1 is acquired by repetition1 but this repetition need not be of the parrot-like type4 ,repetition1 in the sense ascribed to it by the psychologist1 simply means having many separate occasions to hear1 to see1 to utter1 or to write a given word or sentence4 ,the object of most of the language-teaching exercises1 drills1 and devices invented or developed in recent years is precisely to ensure proper repetition in attractive and interesting ways4 ,nearly all the time spent by the teacher in explaining why such and such a form is used and why a certain sentence is constructed in a certain way is time lost1 for such explanations merely appease curiosity2 they do not help us to form new habits1 they do not develop automatism4 ,those who have learnt to use the foreign language and who do use it successfully have long since forgotten the why and the wherefore2 they can no longer quote to you the theory which was supposed to have procured them their command of the language4 ,when teaching the ,french word chauve-souris it is not necessary to point out that this is literally equivalent to #8bald-mouse'2 and if we tell our student that a se comprend really means #8that understands itself1' we are telling him something which is not true1 and something that will cause him needless perplexity4 ,hauptstadt is the ,german equivalent of #8capital' 7in the geographical sense71 and we need not pander to morbid etymological habits by making an allusion to #8head-town4' ,nothing is gained1 but much is lost1 if we tell the student that the ,french say #8,i am become' instead of #8,i have become4' ,it may be objected that habit-forming is aided by these explanations1 that the knowledge of the why and the wherefore is a useful aid to the process of memorizing4 ,there is something to be said for this statement2 we are ready to admit that in some instances it is good to point out the nature of the laws that stand behind the sentences which exemplify them2 we shall even show later in what cases and for what reasons we counsel the giving of explanations4 ,but we are entirely at issue with those who maintain that explanations are an indispensable concomitant of memorizing1 and we give a flat contradiction to those who maintain that 8they cannot memorize what they don't understand40 ,the most successful linguists have attained their proficiency by memorizing sentences they could not analyse4 ,the temptation to replace habit-forming by analysis and synthesis is so strong that the teacher must continually react against it4 ,as we have already seen1 instead of acquiring the habit of using the ,french sound the ,english student persists in replacing it by some form of the ,english ay2 conversely1 the ,french student of ,english tends to replace the ,english ay by the ,french 4 ,most of these acts of substitution are illegitimate2 ,french eu is a very poor substitute for ,english u in but1 the ,english word air is a mere caricature of the ,french word air2 of the six sounds contained in the word thoroughly rli1 only two1 and l1 are in any way equivalent to ,french sounds4 ,about half of the forty-six sounds 7or rather #8phones'7 contained in the ,english phonetic system have no equivalent in ,french1 and about the same proportion of the thirty-seven ,french sounds are absent from ,english4 ,yet most ,french users of ,english and most ,english users of ,french endeavour respectively to speak the foreign language with no other sounds than their native sounds4 ,the ,french system of stress and intonation is entirely different from the ,english system1 but most ,english students will use their native system when speaking ,french4 ,the average ,english student replaces ,french habits of sentence-building by his previously acquired ,english habits1 and also attributes to ,french words or word-compounds the meanings 7or connotations7 possessed by what he imagines to be their ,english equivalents4 ,in many cases he is undoubtedly justified2 his efforts are not all misplaced2 some foreign sounds are actually identical with some native sounds1 some foreign constructions are actually parallel with some native constructions1 and some foreign words and expressions do possess an exact counterpart in the native language4 ,but the trouble is that the student fails to realize in what cases these identities exist2 untrained in observation and discrimination1 he considers as equivalents things which are not1 and fails to identify as equivalents things which are4 ,french a in patte is frequently not far removed from a perfectly ,english variety of u in cut1 but the average ,frenchman pronounces cut with the ,french vowel eu in veuve1 and the average ,englishman pronounces patte either with the vowel of pat or of part4 ,the last syllable of pleasure is practically identical with the ,french word je1 but the average ,frenchman does not know this1 and substitutes some sort of ,french ure or eure4 ,the ,french words souhaite1 semelle1 laine1 dialecte are very similar to the 7real or imaginary7 ,english words sweat1 smell1 len1 d'yullect1 but the average ,english student does not know this1 and uses pronunciations such as soohate1 semell1 lane1 dee-ah-lect instead4 ,in these and all parallel cases the student is utilizing certain of his previously acquired habits1 but unfortunately he has selected the wrong ones instead of the right ones2 it is for the skilful language-teacher to ascertain which of the student's known habits can be most nearly adapted to what is required4 ,the same thing holds good in the case of construction1 choice of words1 etc4 ,the ,english student constructs the sentence ,je marcherai la gare on the wrong model2 if he must use an ,english habit at all1 he should in this case proceed from ,i shall go on foot to the station and not from ,i shall walk to the station4 ,some may inquire at this point1 8,why drag in ,english at all8 ,why not think in the foreign language without reference to the mother-tongue80 ,we would reply that this is hardly relevant to the matter under immediate consideration2 we are simply showing that the average student1 if left to himself1 will tend not only to utilize his native linguistic habits1 but to select very unsuitable ones4 ,we would1 however1 add that cases do undoubtedly exist in which the student would be well advised to enlist some of his previously acquired habits2 a judiciously selected native form will produce better results than a badly constructed foreign form4#c #c ,a typical example has just been noticed by the writer3 a ,dutch student's pronunciation of #8know it' was almost unintelligible1 but when advised to replace this rendering by the ,dutch word nooit he produced a very close approximation to the ,english pronunciation4 ,,chapter ,,ix ,,accuracy ,let us be quite sure we understand what we mean by the term #8accuracy4' ,there is1 of course1 no such thing as intrinsic or unconditioned accuracy2 the term is a relative and not an absolute one2 this word1 and its synonyms #8correctness1' #8rightness1' and the adjectives #8accurate1' #8correct1' #8right1' #8good1' #8proper1' etc41 all imply conformity with a given standard or model4 ,if the dialect we are learning is an unclassical one1 differing appreciably from the literary form1 then accuracy will consist1 among other things1 in not using the literary or traditionally correct forms4 ,therefore1 if we are learning colloquial ,french we shall be guilty of inaccuracies every time we use cela instead of a and every time we use the pass dfini 7or whatever the present name of this tense may be7 or the imparfait du subjonctif4 ,whether the ,french ,academician approves of the colloquial forms does not concern us from the moment that we have set out to learn the colloquial forms4 ,du bon pain1 c'est pas a1 i' m'a dit que'qu'chose may or may not be typical of educated speech1 but if1 for reasons of our own1 we have decided to acquire the type of speech exemplified1 then de bon pain1 ce n'est pas cela1 il m'a dit quelque chose will be inaccurate as not being in conformity with the standard we have chosen4 ,who do you give it to8 ,what have you got8 ,it's me1 ,under the circumstances1 etc41 etc41 may or may not represent an atrocious ,english dialect2 but we may decide to teach this dialect to our foreign students1 if only because this is the dialect most often used by the average educated speaker4 ,once we have made this decision we shall consider as inaccuracies such forms as ,to whom did you give it8 ,what have you8 ,it is ,i1 ,in the circumstances4 ,when1 therefore1 we use the terms inaccuracy1 mistake1 fault1 wrong form1 error1 etc41 we shall always mean something not in conformity with the type of speech chosen as a convenient standard4 ,one of the duties of the language-teacher and method-writer is to react against the tendency of the student towards inaccuracy4 ,we shall generally find two types of inaccuracy3 7a7 that which consists in using the wrong dialect 7literary instead of colloquial1 or vice versa71 and 7b7 that which consists in using pidgin4 ,pidgin or pidgin-speech may be defined as that variety of a language which is used exclusively by foreigners4#d ,some kinds of pidgin 7e4g4 pidgin-,english of the ,china ports1 the ,chinook jargon of ,british ,columbia7 have become so standardized that they may almost be considered as normal languages2 many people deliberately set out to learn such pidgin-languages1 and we may conceive of the possibility of these possessing sub-pidgin forms4 #d ,or1 in some cases1 by natives when speaking to foreigners4 ,in connexion with the first type of inaccuracy 7wrong dialect71 we should here note that the uneducated native tends to make too extensive a use of the popular dialect1 whereas the tendency of the student to whom the language is foreign is the contrary one3 he makes too extensive a use of the classical or traditionally correct form4 ,the uneducated native will tend to use the colloquial form when writing2 the foreigner will tend to use the literary when speaking4 ,in both cases it is part of the functions of the teacher to react against these tendencies3 to the schoolchild he will say1 8,don't use a preposition to finish a sentence with602 to the foreign speaker he will give the contrary advice4 ,having defined the terms accuracy and inaccuracy1 let us now see to how many branches of language-study these terms 7and their synonyms7 may be applied4 7a7 ,there may be accuracy or inaccuracy in sounds4 ,the student must be taught1 by means of appropriate drills and exercises1 to make and to use the sounds of the language he is studying2 if he uses an ,english sound in place of a ,french one1 or if he uses a right ,french sound in the wrong place1 he will be doing inaccurate work4 ,ear-training and articulation exercises 7as described in ,chapter ,,vii7 will tend to make him accurate in this respect4 7b7 ,there may be accuracy or inaccuracy in the use of stress and intonation4 ,to use one language with the stress and intonation system of another results in a form of pidgin4 ,the student must be taught1 by means of appropriate drills and exercises1 to observe and to imitate the system used by the natives4 7c7 ,there may be accuracy or inaccuracy in fluency4 ,most languages are spoken at the rate of five syllables per second4 ,nothing is to be gained by speaking at a slower rate2 indeed1 it will often be found that rapid speech is easier of acquisition than slow speech4 ,correct fluency includes correct assimilation or absence of assimilation1 and the requisite degree of smoothness or grace of utterance2 we may often note the harsh and halting effect of the speech of foreigners who when speaking their native tongue are masters of the art of elocution4 ,by means of appropriate exercises1 the student can be made to observe accuracy in fluency4 7d7 ,when the student uses the traditional spelling of the language he should be encouraged to avoid orthographic inaccuracy4 ,generally1 however1 few mistakes of this sort are made1 and these tend to be eliminated more or less spontaneously4 ,if this is not the case1 appropriate exercises may be devised in order to ensure accuracy in this respect4 ,let us note here1 with all the emphasis which is due to such an important point1 that the exclusive use of a phonetic script in the early stages generally leads to a greater accuracy in the traditional spelling which is learnt subsequently4 ,we make no attempt here to furnish an explanation of why and how this is so1 but leave it to psychologists to investigate the subject and to ascertain the causes of what may seem paradoxical and even incredible to those who have not had sufficient teaching experience4 7e7 ,there may be accuracy or inaccuracy in combining words2 the laws of sentence-building are not the same for all languages1 and the student must be trained to observe the right laws2 he must be taught to be accurate in concord1 in compounding1 and in word-order4 ,some of the most interesting methods and devices are designed specifically to react against inaccurate tendencies in this respect4 ,it is as easy and as natural to say la table 7and not le table7 as it is to say latitude 7and not letitude72 it is as easy to learn je ne le lui ai pas donn as any of the inaccurate examples of word-order by which the average ,english student tends to replace it4 7f7 ,there may be accuracy or inaccuracy in the use of inflexions4 ,it is as important to learn the right inflected forms of a word as to learn the uninflected word4 ,if our methods are right1 it is as easy to learn the word enverrai as it is to learn the word envoyer1 and far easier to learn enverrai than envoyerai4 ,the habit of using the right inflexions is one that must be acquired at as early a stage as possible and as unconsciously as possible4 ,many methods and devices exist which have been designed to combat inaccuracy in this respect4 7g7 ,there may be accuracy or inaccuracy in meanings4 ,the meaning of a word may vary considerably according to its context4 ,open in the sense of open the door has not the same meaning as open in the sense of open the box4 ,most ,english words have two or more meanings2 the foreign words which are assumed to be their equivalents may also have two or more meanings1 but the foreign word does not necessarily have all the meanings of the ,english word1 and vice versa4 ,the branch of linguistics which deals with meanings1 synonyms1 translations1 definitions1 etc41 is called #8semantics'2 special forms of work have been devised to ensure semantic accuracy on the part of the student4 ,the principle of accuracy may be expressed as follows3 ,do not allow the student to have opportunities for inaccurate work until he has arrived at the stage at which accurate work is to be reasonably expected4 ,if we force him to speak ,french before he has been sufficiently drilled in ,french sounds1 we are forcing him to pronounce inaccurately4 ,if we tell him to do ,french composition before he has acquired the necessary habits of inflexion1 compounding1 and sentence-building1 we are inviting him to do inaccurate work4 ,if we compel him to talk to us in ,french before he has become proficient in conversion and similar drills1 we are virtually compelling him to speak pidgin-,french and1 incidentally1 to form the habit of doing so4 ,in opposition to the principle of accuracy1 we are frequently told that 8,it is only by making mistakes that we learn not to make them10 and that 8,only by going into the water can we learn to swim40 ,these are cheap proverbs1 and we may as easily coin others such as3 8,it is by making mistakes that we form the habit of making them02 or1 8,he who has not learnt to swim will drown when thrown into deep water40 ,the method of trial and error1 to which we have already alluded1 is in direct opposition to the principles of accuracy2 it is the method of sink-or-swim1 of die-or-survive1 of flounder-and-grope-until-you-hit-on-the- right-way4 ,to replace this method by something less cruel is the function of such things as guides1 teachers1 and pedagogic devices4 ,for let us remark that the environment of the young child who acquires language spontaneously1 as explained in ,chapter ,i1 is such that error has little or no chance of surviving2 the persons with whom he is in contact are providing him continually with accurate models of whatever the dialect may happen to be2 he is given no chance of imitating wrong models1 and he is not intelligent enough to create them himself in any appreciable degree4 ,furthermore1 the young child as a matter of fact does not begin to use language until he is fairly proficient in the important speech-habits2 he rarely or never uses a form of speech until he has memorized it by hearing it used by others4 ,one of the most important advances in the art of language-teaching will have been made when the principle of accuracy is understood1 accepted1 and adopted by all who are engaged in this work either as teachers or as trainers of teachers4 ,we have seen1 then1 that there are seven branches of language-study in which accuracy 7or inaccuracy7 may be developed4 ,in connexion with each of these there exist methods1 exercises1 and devices designed to inculcate right habits and to prevent the formation of wrong ones4 ,there exist also sciences upon which most of these are based4 ,the methods dealing with sounds1 stress1 intonation1 and fluency are based on the data furnished by phonetics1 and without a knowledge of this science the teacher is unlikely to secure accuracy in these branches4 ,the 7so far empirical7 science of grammar is the basis of those methods and exercises calculated to ensure accuracy in inflexions and sentence-building4 ,orthography 7possibly a science1 though this is doubtful7 is the basis of spelling work1 and the new 7and so far empirical7 science of semantics will furnish the necessary data for all methods1 exercises1 and devices concerned with meanings4 ,in addition to these specific sciences1 methods1 exercises1 and devices1 there are general forms of method of the strategical order1 the effect of which is to ensure general accuracy4 ,as these are practically identical with gradation1 we reserve their consideration for the next chapter4 ,,chapter ,x ,,gradation ,gradation means passing from the known to the unknown by easy stages1 each of which serves as a preparation for the next4 ,if a student who is willing to learn and is capable of learning finds his lessons too difficult1 if he fails to understand or to apply correctly the explanations we give him1 if his rate of progress is too slow1 if he forgets frequently what he has already learnt1 and if his oral or written work is characterized by an excessive degree of inaccuracy1 it is perfectly certain that his course and his lessons are badly graded4 ,the student's progress may in the initial stage be slow2 after ten or twenty lessons he may not seem to have advanced very far2 but if he has been laying a good foundation he has been doing good work1 for it will mean that the next stage of his work will be accomplished more easily and more rapidly4 ,during the first lessons he is not so much learning the language as learning how to learn it4 ,during the second period his progress will be more rapid and he will assimilate more of the actual language-material1 and he will then be learning in such a way that the third stage will be still more rapid1 and so on through the subsequent stages2 his rate of progress will increase in proportion as he advances4 ,in the ideal course1 this principle will be observed in the fullest possible measure2 the course itself will be divided into appropriate stages1 each of which will be marked by an increased capacity on the part of the student for assimilating and using language-material4 ,the vocabulary in a well-graded language-course will be arranged in such a manner that the more useful words will be learnt before the less useful4 7,let us remember that there are two sorts of #8useful words'3 those which are useful in themselves on account of their intrinsic meaning1 and words which are useful as sentence-formers47 ,the rate of progress on the part of the student will depend very largely on the manner in which the vocabulary is graded4 ,twenty-five well-chosen words will form more useful sentences than many people believe2 with five hundred well-chosen words an incredibly large number of valuable sentences can be formed4 ,for detailed information on this point we would refer the reader to the statistics which have been compiled by those who have made a special study of this particular subject4 ,in the ideally graded course the student first assimilates a relatively small but exceedingly important vocabulary2 he learns to use it1 he learns the more important peculiarities of each word1 he learns how to combine these words in sentences1 he learns the exact range of meanings covered by each word either singly or in combination with its fellows4 ,this small vocabulary then constitutes a sound nucleus1 and this nucleus is of twofold utility2 it not only provides the student with useful words1 with language-material which he can actually use1 but it serves at the same time as a sort of centre of attraction for new language-material4 ,the most apt illustration of this form of gradation is the snowball1 the huge mass of snow which accumulates rapidly and easily once we have provided the nucleus represented by the first compact and well-rounded handful4 ,the grammatical material must also be graded4 ,certain moods and tenses are more useful than others2 let us therefore concentrate on the useful ones first4 ,in a language possessing a number of cases1 we will not learn off the whole set of prepositions1 their uses and requirements1 but we will select them in accordance with their degree of importance4 ,as for lists of rules and exceptions1 if we learn them at all we will learn them in strict order of necessity4 ,in most languages we shall probably find certain fundamental laws of grammar and syntax upon which the whole structure of the language depends2 if our course is to comprise the conscious study of the mechanism of a given language1 then1 in accordance with the principle of gradation1 let us first learn these essentials and leave the details to a later stage4 ,gradation can and must also be observed in the study of the semantic aspect of a language4 ,if a given word has several meanings1 let us first associate the word with its more usual or useful meanings4 ,if a foreigner is to learn the ,english verb to afford1 let him begin by using it in such sentences as ,i can't afford it1 and not in such examples as ,it affords me the necessary opportunity4 ,if we are teaching ,french1 let us first use ciel in the sense of sky and leave the idea of heaven to a later stage4 ,i may go has more than one meaning1 but let us first teach it in the sense of ,perhaps ,i shall go2 the other varieties are not of pressing importance4 ,when we introduce but1 let us associate it with its usual meaning and forget for the moment that semantic variety which is equivalent to except4 ,it is not sufficient for us to adopt the general principle of gradation2 we must adopt the right sort of gradation2 for we can easily imagine all sorts of false grading4 ,we can imagine a teacher refusing1 on the score of gradation1 to teach irregular forms before regular ones1 and justifying his procedure by the assertion that the regular is easy and the irregular difficult4 ,this kind of gradation1 however1 is obviously unsound1 seeing that some of the most useful words in most languages are very irregular4 ,as a matter of fact1 in a sound course of study based on the principle of automatism the irregular forms are learnt as easily as 7and sometimes more easily than7 regular forms4 ,we can also imagine some teachers maintaining 7on grounds of gradation7 that the word should be treated before the sentence4 ,they would say that it is easier to assimilate a word than a sentence1 that what is easier should come first4 ,others might say1 8,teach easy words first and difficult ones later40 ,but this cannot be right1 for if we observed this rule we should teach a ,spaniard or a ,frenchman the ,english verb to comprehend before the verb to understand4 ,gradation does not necessarily imply passing from the easy to the difficult1 but it always does imply passing from the more important1 useful1 or fundamental to the less important1 useful1 or fundamental4 ,now1 whatever the true unit of speech may be1 our leading semanticians and speech-psychologists are all agreed that this unit is rarely the word1 but generally the word-group or sentence4 ,consequently1 to start from the word is not only bad gradation but bad semantics4 ,we have heard it asserted on grounds of gradation that the written form of a language should be studied before its spoken form4 ,here again we find the same misinterpretation of the term gradation and the same fallacy of #8facility4' ,if relative facility is to be the basis of gradation1 then we should teach the geography of ,portugal before teaching the geography of the ,british ,empire1 and we should postpone our study of chess until we have become expert in the easier game of noughts and crosses4 ,to learn how to read and to write a language may possibly be easier than to learn how to speak it and to understand it when spoken1 but this has no bearing on the subject of gradation4 ,another false interpretation of the principle is to assume that the student will begin by using incorrect or pidgin-,french 7or whatever the language may be7 and will gradually become more perfect #8with practice' as he goes on4 ,now if this is gradation1 it is a particularly vicious form1 and in flat contradiction to the principles of habit-forming and accuracy4 ,to teach to adults #8child-like words' before the words used by adults is another misinterpretation of gradation4 ,we do indeed see classes in which boys or girls of twelve or thirteen learn to recite foreign nursery rhymes1 but we doubt whether any teacher would seriously maintain that words such as dog or sheep should be preceded by bow-wow or baa-baa4 ,having examined some faulty and vicious manners of interpreting the term gradation1 let us now proceed to epitomize a few rational applications of the principle we have set forth1 and let us assure the reader that each one of these has been proved to be psychologically sound4 7a7 ,ears before ,eyes4--,all fresh language-material should be presented in its oral form and not in its written form4 ,sounds should first be practised without any reference to any graphic forms of representation2 the ear1 not the eye1 is the organ provided by nature for recognizing and assimilating sounds4 ,words should first be heard and imitated orally1 for ideal assimilation is not helped but hindered when the written form is present4 ,fresh word-groups and sentences should also as far as possible be first introduced and learnt orally4 ,the adult student who complains that the process is too difficult is under the illusion that we hear with our eyes4 7b7 ,reception before ,production4--,it is quite certain that the student will be unable to reproduce a sound1 a word1 or a word-group that has been pronounced to him until he has really heard the model that he is called upon to imitate4 ,there is a great difference between really hearing and merely imagining that one has heard a sound or a succession of sounds4 ,as a rule we do not hear what is actually said to us2 we merely hear what we expect to hear4 ,ask the average foreigner to repeat after you a word such as und'stand2 instead of reproducing the exaggeratedly shortened form as represented above in two syllables1 he will say understand in three syllables4 ,as a matter of fact1 he is under the impression that he heard you articulate the three syllables1 and consequently he reproduces what he thought you said4 ,ask the average foreigner to repeat after you the word turn pronounced in ,southern ,english 7i4e4 without an r7 and he will insert an r because he imagines that he heard one4 ,the sentence il doit venir is pronounced by the average ,frenchman as idwavnir2 pronounce it like that to the average ,english student of ,french and ask him to imitate you2 in most cases you will obtain what the student imagined he heard1 viz4 il dwa vni 7the last word having a remarkable resemblance to the ,english word veneer74 ,the student must therefore not only be trained to hear1 but in all fairness to him he should be given ample opportunity of hearing the sound1 word1 or word-group that he will be called upon to reproduce4 ,let him hear it several times1 let him concentrate his attention on the succession of sounds without any regard to its written form or its meaning4 ,let us endeavour as far as possible to give the student two or even more separate opportunities 7with appropriate intervals7 of truly hearing any given sound1 word1 or word-group before calling upon him to imitate the model4 7c7 ,oral ,repetition before ,reading4--,just as oral repetition should be preceded by a period of audition1 so should reading be preceded by oral repetition4 ,before calling upon a pupil to read off from the blackboard or his book a word1 list of words1 sentence1 or succession of sentences1 let us first ask him to repeat after us the required material4 ,if he cannot reproduce to our satisfaction a sentence that he has just heard from our lips1 he will certainly be unable to reproduce the sentence by the process of reading4 7d7 ,immediate ,memory before ,prolonged ,memory4--,the teacher pronounces a sound or a succession of sounds 7a word1 a word-group1 or a sentence74 ,a few seconds later the pupil reproduces what he has heard2 he does not find it very difficult to do so1 for the sound of the teacher's voice is still ringing in his ears2 in his imagination he can still hear the teacher's voice1 and he has but to speak in unison with it4 ,the sort of memory which enables him to reproduce what he has just heard is called immediate memory4 ,another time the teacher pronounces a sound or a succession of sounds4 ,the next day the pupil is called upon 7without being prompted7 to reproduce what he heard the day before4 ,he may fail altogether to do so1 or he may succeed4 ,that sort of memory which enables him to reproduce what he has heard one1 several1 or many days before is called prolonged memory4 ,let us be quite certain that we understand the difference between these two extreme varieties of memory4 ,let us choose a word in a language unknown to us4 ,let this be the ,hungarian word szenvedni1 meaning to suffer4 ,the word is pronounced snvdni2 in the absence of a teacher let us pronounce the word ourselves three or four times4444 ,let us take our eyes from the book1 and let a few seconds pass4444 ,how do you say to suffer in ,hungarian8 snvdni4 ,quite correct2 we have reproduced the word from immediate memory4 ,to-morrow or the day after let us ask ourselves how they express to suffer in ,hungarian4 ,if we are able to answer correctly without referring to the book1 it will be by dint of our prolonged memory4 ,if this experiment is inconclusive1 let us take a word-group1 a sentence1 or a list of words2 we shall then realize how much more difficult it is to reproduce new matter after the sound of it has faded from our ears4 ,let us remember this experiment when we are teaching2 when our pupils reproduce correctly 7either by repetition or by translation7 what they have heard a few seconds 7or even a few minutes7 before1 let us remember that we have so far only appealed to their immediate memory1 and let us not expect an equally satisfactory result when we call upon them to reproduce the same matter the next day without prompting4 ,to expect the same results from the prolonged as from the immediate memory implies a faulty grasp of the principle of gradation4 ,let us give our pupils ample opportunities1 on an appropriate number of occasions1 of reproducing matter heard a few moments previously2 this will strengthen their associations and when later on we appeal to their prolonged memory1 the results will be satisfactory4 7e7 ,chorus-work before ,individual ,work4--,before we call on an individual pupil to articulate a sound or a succession of sounds1 let the work be done in chorus on two or more different occasions4 ,for an individual to have to submit his tentative efforts to the criticism and perhaps laughter of his fellow-pupils is not conducive to good results4 ,let the individual pupils test their articulation in company with others1 and when by so doing they have gained a certain mastery of what they have to repeat and have thereby gained a certain degree of confidence1 let them proceed to reproduce singly what they have previously phonated together4 7f7 ,drill-work before ,free ,work4--,this is perhaps the most important of the precepts to be observed in connexion with gradation4 ,the forms of exercise to which the general term drill-work may be applied are many and varied4 ,some of them are calculated to train the student in perceiving and discriminating the sounds of which the language is composed2 others are articulation exercises2 there are also special forms of drill-work which aim at securing fluency and accuracy in producing successions of syllables4 ,the question-and-answer method may be embodied in many interesting forms of drill-work2 there exist also many varieties of action drill1 conversion drill1 translation drill1 and grammar drill4 ,all these forms are characterized by common attributes3 they are all systematic1 highly organized1 and susceptible of infinite gradation2 the work is methodical and proceeds steadily and continuously without breaks or interruptions4 ,most forms of drill-work have been composed and are carried out in such a way as to preclude the possibility of the student's forming bad habits4 ,indeed1 if the work is carried out as designed the element of error should be almost entirely excluded4 ,now free work in all its varied forms1 such as free conversation1 free translation1 and free composition1 differs greatly from drill-work1 and we can all testify to the ludicrous results these forms of work yield when performed by one who has had no previous drilling4 ,if the student has not been put through a proper course of drill-work1 all his efforts at free work will be based on that most unnatural and vicious of processes--conventional translation from the mother-tongue4 ,the undrilled ,french student will be speaking and writing not ,english as we understand the term1 but anglicized ,french4 ,having formed no ,english language habits1 he will cast all his thoughts in the ,french mould1 and when the exact ,english equivalents to his ,french words and phrases are missing he will break down4 ,free work without the essential preparation means faulty work1 uncertain and erratic work2 it means the formation of nearly all the bad habits which characterize the average student and which mar his work4 ,,chapter ,,xi ,,proportion ,in language-study as in any other branch of activity we must observe a sense of proportion2 we must pay due attention to the various aspects of the question in order to ensure a harmonious whole4 ,it is possible to devote too much time and effort to a given aspect or branch2 this is the case when such time and effort are spent at the expense of an aspect or branch of equal or of greater importance4 ,it is necessary1 for instance1 to give much attention to the understanding of the language as spoken rapidly and idiomatically by natives2 but if this occupies the whole of our time we shall be able to do nothing else1 and shall neither learn to speak1 nor to read1 nor to write4 ,this would be an obvious violation of the principle of proportion4 ,it is necessary to know something of the grammar of the language1 but if we devote every lesson of a three years' course to the study of grammar we shall again be offending against this principle4 ,we tend to give too much attention to things which interest us1 and too little to those things in which we are not particularly interested4 ,such inequality of treatment is more particularly apt to occur in these days of specialization2 the intonation specialist thinks of little but intonation1 and tends to think that everything else is of secondary importance2 the phonetician is so keenly alive to the immense importance of ear-training and of correct articulation that he may tend to dismiss all other things as trivialities2 the grammarian grinds away at declensions and conjugations regardless of the existence of such things as sounds and tones2 the semantician is so intent on meanings that all has to be sacrificed to his special branch4 ,the most typical example of disproportionate treatment is1 of course1 that afforded by the orthographist of the old school2 for him language is nothing but a set of spelling rules2 pronunciation for him is the interpretation of spellings2 grammar is a branch of orthography1 and meanings themselves are largely dependent on the way a word is spelt4 ,in the present-day reaction against the orthographist we may expect a swing to the other extreme1 and we may find schoolmasters welcoming spelling mistakes as the signs of a healthy tendency towards phoneticism4 ,already the reaction against the over-use and abuse of translation exercises has resulted in an almost equally grave over-use and abuse of the #8direct' method4 ,there are1 however1 times when a seemingly undue proportion of attention should be directed to certain things1 notably when we have to react against a vicious tendency4 ,if our student is too keenly interested in orthography and oblivious to the importance of phonetics1 we may be justified in excluding orthography from his programme4 ,if he is morbidly interested in grammar and analysis1 we may find it necessary to give him overdoses of semantics and unconscious assimilation in order to re-establish some sort of equilibrium4 ,with the student who refuses to learn a word until he sees it written we must for some time make an exclusive and seemingly disproportionate use of oral work and phonetic writing4 ,the principle of proportion1 then1 does not necessarily imply equality of treatment nor even a fixed standard of ratios2 it simply means that all the items in the whole range of subjects and aspects must receive an appropriate degree of attention1 so that the student's knowledge of them may ultimately form a harmonious whole4 ,it is impossible to observe the principle of proportion without having in view the ultimate aim of the student4 ,if his sole object is to become a master of colloquial expression1 our sense of proportion will tell us to exclude in a very large measure the study of the conventional orthography4 ,the ultimate aim of most students is fourfold3 7a7 ,to understand the language when spoken rapidly by natives4 7b7 ,to speak the language in the manner of natives4 7c7 ,to understand the language as written by natives 7i4e4 to read the language74 7d7 ,to write the language in the manner of natives4 ,each of these four aspects requires special methods of teaching4 ,a method or device which will rapidly enable the student to understand the language when spoken will be inefficacious as a method for teaching him to produce a written composition4 ,no amount of composition work1 on the other hand1 will teach him how to understand what is rapidly uttered by natives4 ,if 7as is freely admitted7 a command of the spoken language is a great help towards acquiring command of the written1 the converse is not the case2 proficiency in written work does not imply progress in oral work4 ,to pay too much or too little attention to any of these four aspects is a violation of the principle of proportion4 ,the principle may also be violated by paying too much or too little attention to any of the five chief branches of practical linguistics3 phonetics1 orthography1 word-building1 sentence-building1 and semantics4 ,let us pass them in review in order to make quite sure that we understand the scope of each and have properly discriminated between them4 ,phonetics teaches us how to recognize and how to make the sounds of which the language is composed2 it teaches us the difference between two or more sounds which resemble each other1 and between a given foreign sound and its nearest native equivalent4 ,orthography 7with which we may associate orthoepy7 teaches us how to spell what we have already learnt by ear2 it also teaches us how to pronounce what we have learnt by eye from an ordinary orthographic text4 ,word-building 7accidence and etymology7 teaches us inflexions1 prefixes1 and suffixes1 and how to use them1 how to form plurals from singulars1 accusatives from nominatives1 finite tenses from infinitives2 most of the mysteries of declension and conjugation are included under this heading2 the collecting of word-families pertains to this branch4 ,sentence-building 7syntax and analysis7 teaches us how to combine words into sentences1 how to form compound tenses1 phrases1 and clauses2 it teaches us the places of the various sentence-components1 the nature and use of concord or agreement2 it shows us the differences between regular and irregular sentences4 ,when properly systematized 7according to a special science to which the name of #8ergonics' has been given7 this particular branch of linguistics shows us how to form the largest possible number of sentences with the fewest words4 ,semantics teaches us the meaning of words1 of inflexions1 and of compounds2 it shows us how to transform our thoughts into language1 to select the most appropriate word or form1 and to interpret correctly what we hear and read4 ,it is more especially this branch which teaches us the differences in style and dialect1 and enables us to distinguish the colloquial from the classical and to keep either from contaminating the other4 ,if we are to judge by the average teacher and the average language-course1 the principle of proportion is usually violated by teaching3 7a7 ,no phonetics at all4 7b7 ,too much orthography or orthoepy4 7c7 ,too much word-building4 7d7 ,too little sentence-building4 7e7 ,practically no semantics4 ,the principle of proportion may also be observed or violated in the selection of vocabularies and of grammatical material4 ,to include in early lessons words or forms which are comparatively rare1 archaic1 and useless1 while excluding some of the commonest and most useful items of language-material1 is an offence not only against the principle of gradation but also against the principle of proportion4 ,too little attention also is usually paid to ensuring a just proportion between the various parts of speech4 ,there is a fairly well defined series of laws which determine the relative number of nouns1 verbs1 and adjectives occurring in a given vocabulary radius1 and with the growing attention which is being given to this sort of statistical work these laws are standing out more clearly and are coming to be better understood4 ,we have also to note a regrettable tendency to give preference in vocabularies to words of special utility 7such as names of plants1 animals1 parts of the body1 tools1 implements1 and such-like semi-technical words7 and to neglect unduly words of general utility1 words which may occur in any context and which are common to any subject4 ,this is a particularly grave case of disproportion when we consider that the bulk of any given text 7probably from #hj per cent4 to #ij per cent4 of it7 is made up of these general words4 ,proportion must be observed in determining the respective quantities of drill-work and free work1 of translation-work and #8direct work1' of intensive reading and extensive reading1 of chorus-work and individual work needed2 throughout the whole range of the subject there are possibilities of good or of bad proportion4 ,it is for the teacher or for the designer of language-courses to see that the principle is reasonably well observed4 ,,chapter ,,xii ,,concreteness ,such expressions as for instance1 for example1 or here is a case in point are fairly common in our speech4 ,whenever we hear somebody explaining something we may be certain that one of these expressions will occur not once but many times4 ,when we ourselves set out to explain anything we may be quite sure that in a very few moments we shall use one of the expressions in question1 and indeed our certainty is justified in almost every case4 ,the reason for using such phrases is quite clear2 every time we do so it is because we feel instinctively that we have just made a statement which is not sufficiently explicit2 we are more or less aware that we have expressed something in terms rather too abstract1 and we wish to reduce our statement to more concrete terms2 we feel the necessity for concreteness4 ,there is a similar reason for using such expressions as in other terms1 in other words1 or that is to say4 ,we feel in these cases that an explanation just given is wanting in lucidity1 and we add a supplementary explanation in order to make our point more concrete4 ,the substance of the principle of concreteness is contained in the maxim1 8,example is better than precept02 we intuitively know this to be true1 and our own experience confirms our judgment2 we remember on how many occasions a few typical examples have been of greater help to our understanding than the best-worded definitions or the most detailed descriptions4 ,psychologists confirm us in our impression and assure us that it is correct2 indeed1 one of the fundamental principles of the psychology of study is that we must work from the concrete to the abstract4 ,let us take a concrete example to serve as an illustration4 ,one of the things we have to teach the ,french student of ,english is that anterior duration is expressed in ,english by the use of the perfect tenses 7if possible in their progressive form7 and not by the use of the ordinary non-perfect tenses as in ,french1 and that depuis or its equivalent is not merely since4 ,the whole point can be expressed more or less abstractly by the following formula3 ,french ,english ,non-perfect tense depuis measure of duration or ,corresponding perfect ,il y 7non-perfect tense of 7progressive7 tense 7for7 avoir7 measure of duration measure of duration4 que non-perfect tense ,non-perfect tense depuis ,corresponding perfect term signifying initial 7progressive7 tense moment of duration since term signifying initial moment of duration4 ,now this is a very concise formula and probably covers the whole of the ground4 ,but it is expressed in such abstract terms that we cannot expect the average student to grasp it1 still less to apply it in his speech4 ,we can concretize it by furnishing one or two typical examples4 ,we can say3 8,look at the clock1 it's just half-past twelve--we started this lesson at twelve1 didn't we8 ,well1 it means that we have been working since twelve o'clock2 we have been working for half an hour4 ,how long have we been working8 ,for half an hour4 ,since when have we been working8 ,since twelve o'clock4 ,repeat that after me4 ,repeat it again4 ,now just note that we say ,we have been working1 not ,we work or ,we are working4 ,now1 then1 how do you say ,nous travaillons depuis midi8 ,and ,nous travaillons depuis une demi-heure8 ,note that nous sommes sometimes becomes we have been40 ,that would be a fairly concrete 7but not ideally concrete7 way of teaching the point in question4 ,the average student would grasp the point1 and the conscientious student would probably observe it and incorporate it into his usage4 ,but the principle of concreteness goes beyond this2 it does not merely state that examples of every rule should be given1 it specifies various degrees and various kinds of concreteness4 ,an example in itself is more concrete than a rule1 but one example may be more concrete than another2 let us therefore choose the more concrete examples1 that is to say1 those which will create the strongest semantic associations4 ,concreteness will be the chief determining factor in the choice of the early vocabularies2 it will tend to make us give a preference to words and compounds lending themselves to #8direct' work4 ,it will not1 however1 be the sole factor1 for if we decided to make an exclusive use of such words it would be at the expense of the principle of proportion4 ,here is another example of what is implied by concreteness4 ,it often occurs that a student will learn how to construct a sentence--indeed1 he may even memorize it--and yet fail to realize that it is a real living sentence1 an integral part of his linguistic repertory ready for immediate use4 ,he may have learnt the construction ,would you mind ----ing and be able to translate it backwards and forwards and invariably to quote it in his list of compounds requiring the use of the ing-form1 and yet1 instead of using it in actual practice1 may replace it by ,would you be so kind as to or some such stilted equivalent4 ,in such cases we may be sure that the principle of concreteness has not been sufficiently observed4 ,the #8direct methodists' of the more extreme type interpret concreteness in a curious way1 and identify it with the non-translation principle and with the principle of the exclusion of the mother-tongue as a vehicular language4 ,they tend to think that by keeping ,english out of the ,french lesson1 the teacher causes ,french to be acquired concretely4 ,in certain cases this is true1 but there are probably far more contrary cases4 ,in the example relating to the expression of anterior duration the concreteness consists very largely in pointing out the difference of usage in the two languages4 ,in order to make the construction ,would you mind perfectly concrete to a ,frenchman1 we must insist on its semantic equivalence to his ,est-ce que a ne vous ferait rien de4 ,one of the things we must do to concretize the difference between ,i did so1 ,so ,i did1 and ,so did ,i1 is to furnish the student with his respective native equivalents4 ,there are four ways and four ways only of furnishing a student with the meaning of given foreign units3 7#a7 ,by immediate association1 as when we point to the object or a picture of the object designated by a noun or pronoun1 when we perform the action designated by a verb1 when we point to a real example of the quality designated by an adjective1 or when we demonstrate in similar ways that which is designated by a preposition of place or certain categories of adverbs4 7#b7 ,by translation1 as when we give the nearest native equivalent or equivalents of the foreign unit4 7#c7 ,by definition1 as when we give a synonym or paraphrase of the word or word-group or a description of that which is designated by it4 7#d7 ,by context1 as when we embody the unit in sentences which will make its meaning clear 7e4g4 ,january is the first month of the year2 ,london is the capital of ,england74 ,these four methods or modes of #8semanticizing' a unit are here given in order of what are generally their relative degrees of concreteness4 ,there may1 however1 be some cases in which translation will be more concrete than immediate association4 ,translation is not in itself necessarily #8indirect' 7or #8inconcrete1' as we should prefer to express it72 it may be relatively indirect when compared with good examples of immediate association1 but it is undoubtedly more #8direct' than a cumbrous or vague definition1 or an obscure context4 ,the following precepts may serve as concrete examples of the way we can carry the principles of concreteness into practice3 7#a7 ,let the example precede or even replace the rule4 ,a well-chosen example or set of examples may so completely embody the rule that the rule itself will be superfluous4 7#b7 ,give many examples to each important rule4 ,we have noted that the suggested treatment of the problem of anterior duration was not an ideal one4 ,in order to make it ideal we should have taken a second example 7e4g4 ,how long have you been learning ,english87 and still more examples 7e4g4 ,how long have you been in this room8--been living in ,england8--been living at your present address8 ,have you been sitting here since twelve o'clock or since a quarter past twelve8 ,how long has ,france been a republic874 ,too often the teacher imagines that one example constitutes a complete exposition of a given point3 whereas in reality it is by finding 7consciously or unconsciously7 the common element in many examples that we come to grasp the usage exemplified4 7#c7 ,when teaching or alluding to the peculiarities connected with nouns1 choose as examples the nouns which are the names of various objects actually in the room1 and in each case point to or handle the object in question4 ,handling pencils1 pens1 and books while talking about them very much facilitates the grasping of principles of declension4 7#d7 ,when teaching or alluding to the peculiarities connected with verbal forms1 choose as examples verbs such as take1 put1 see1 go1 come1 sit1 stand1 etc4--that is to say1 verbs that can be #8acted4' ,present1 past1 and future tenses are much more easily distinguished and retained if the teacher illustrates them by actions4 7,in a moment ,i shall take the book--,je prendrai le livre4 ,j'ouvrirai le livre--,j'ouvre le livre--,j'ai ouvert le livre47 ,if a ,frenchman cannot grasp the difference between to go in and to come in1 it is because the explanations given to him are lacking in concreteness4 7#e7 ,when teaching or alluding to the peculiarities connected with adjectives1 choose as examples such words as black1 white1 large1 small1 round1 square1 etc41 and avoid the traditional good1 bad1 beautiful1 idle1 diligent1 etc4 7#f7 ,when teaching or alluding to the peculiarities and semantic values of prepositions choose as far as possible prepositions such as in1 on1 under1 over1 in front of1 behind1 beside1 etc4 ,useful work in this connexion can be done with a match and a matchbox 7in the box1 on the box1 under the box1 etc41 etc474 7#g7 ,choose as many real examples as possible1 examples suggested by present and actual conditions4 ,do not teach the mechanism of direct and indirect objects by allusions to imaginary farmers giving imaginary oats to imaginary horses1 but give books1 pencils1 and pens to the students and make them give them to you1 and then talk to them about what you are doing4 ,do not illustrate the active and passive voices by reference to men beating boys and boys being beaten1 but speak about writing words and words being written or about speaking ,english and ,english being spoken4 7#h7 ,in as many cases as possible cause the student to make active use of any form he has just learnt4 ,when you have taught him to say ,i don't understand give him an opportunity of using the sentence4 ,if you teach him to say ,it's time to stop see that he duly makes use of the expression at the end of the lesson4 7#i7 ,encourage gestures1 even in the case of ,english students4 ,in the earlier stages they should shake their heads when uttering a negative sentence1 raise their eyebrows when using an interrogative form1 and use other appropriate gestures for such words as here1 there1 me1 that1 these1 etc4 ,in short1 observe the principle of concreteness by using examples1 many examples1 cumulative examples1 real examples1 and examples embodying the personal interest4 ,,chapter ,,xiii ,,interest ,we have laid great stress on the necessity for drill-like work1 for mechanical work1 for exercises calculated to secure automatism1 for habit-forming types of work4 ,it has even seemed at times that we take a malicious pleasure in pillorying and condemning precisely those forms of work which are generally the most attractive to the average student4 8,the writer of this book10 some may say1 8takes a savage delight in reproving teacher and student whenever they contemplate work of an interesting nature1 heads them off whenever they approach anything resembling intellectual work1 and turns them into channels of routine and repetition4 ,he positively gloats over words like #8automaticity1' #8passivity1' #8mechanism1' or #8unconscious assimilation1' and apparently glories in the theory that language-learning like life itself should be #8one demd horrid grind4'0 ,we readily plead guilty to a firm insistence on habit-forming exercises and drills1 but continue to urge in mitigation that the practical study of language1 the mastery of any form of actual speech1 is a habit-forming process and little else4 ,we must have the courage and honesty to face facts as we find them3 a language cannot be mastered by learning interesting things about that language1 but only by assimilating the material of which that language is made up4 ,but our attitude1 far from being a pessimistic one1 is positively optimistic4 ,we are prepared to deny most emphatically that good drill-work is dull and uninteresting1 and if some teachers make it so it is our duty to tell them not to4 ,those who have seen the sort of lessons that embody the forms of teaching which result from the rigid observance of these principles all testify that they are #8live' lessons 7to use the term they most generally employ71 that the students are keen and the teachers enthusiastic4 ,it is only too evident that every lesson must be made as interesting as is compatible with pedagogic soundness4 ,few people learn anything well unless they are interested in what they are learning4 ,hope of reward and fear of punishment are certainly stimuli to work1 but very poor stimuli compared with that represented by interest4 ,if the method is the machinery of language-study 7or any other study for the matter of that71 then interest is the motive power4 ,be the clock ever so well and ingeniously constructed1 it will not go without some sort of mainspring2 be the method ever so efficient as a method1 it will not work unless the student is interested4 ,all these statements are of course truisms and are accepted as axiomatic2 the trouble comes when we discuss the means by which interest can be induced and maintained1 for we are not all in agreement on this point4 ,there is1 too1 the question of intrinsic and extrinsic interest2 the subject may be interesting in itself or it may derive an artificial sort of interest from some attendant circumstance1 such as the hope of reward and fear of non-success and all that that may imply4 ,but a point arises at the outset which deserves our attention4 ,a fallacy exists in connexion with interest1 a fallacy which is the cause of much error and of much bad teaching4 ,this fallacy when reduced to the absurd consists in saying1 8,we can make a subject of study interesting by changing the subject of study40 ,now obviously it is absurd to say that we can make the study of ,french interesting by teaching geometry in its stead1 or that we can make arithmetic interesting by replacing the arithmetic lesson by a history lesson4 ,and yet this is the sort of thing that frequently does take place in some form or other4 ,it is necessary that the student shall learn how to understand spoken ,french1 spoken ,english1 or spoken ,pekingese2 it is assumed that the necessary phonetic and oral repetition work will be uninteresting1 so we change the subject and teach the student to read ,french1 ,english1 or ,mandarin ,chinese1 or to analyse these languages or to construct sentences in them by synthesis4 ,now reading and analysis and synthesis may to some people be more interesting than ear-training and oral memorizing1 but whether this is the case or not it is certainly beyond the point4 ,if we wish to learn to read1 let us read2 if we wish to do analytic and synthetic work1 let us analyse and synthesize2 but if the object of our study happens to be the command of the spoken language1 it is no use to amuse ourselves by doing work which does not further our aim4 8,parrot-work is so monotonous1 uninspiring1 and uninteresting3 let us rather translate the work of some author into our mother-tongue40 8,i don't find the study of the colloquial language elevating3 ,i prefer to work at the classical40 ,very well1 we will not quarrel about tastes1 but we will ask you to make it quite clear what you are setting out to learn and what your object really is2 when we have ascertained that1 we will see how we can make your path an easy and pleasant one4 ,a journey to ,london may or may not be an interesting one1 but if your object is to get to ,london it is no use taking a ticket to the ,isle of ,wight or to the ,highlands of ,scotland1 however interesting such journeys may be4 ,the general tendency among educationalists to-day is towards interesting methods1 methods involving the intelligent use of the intelligence1 methods which develop the reasoning capacities1 methods which form the judgment1 which proceed from the trivial1 familiar1 and known towards the more profound1 unfamiliar1 and unknown4 ,geography is no longer a process of learning lists of place-names by heart1 history is no longer represented as a catalogue of dates1 arithmetic is taught by playing with cubes1 chemistry is presented as a series of experiments in the laboratory1 botany and geology are studied in the field4 ,the old cramming process is being replaced by the method of discovery2 the teacher furnishes the documents and the students discover the rules2 the teacher suggests the problems and the pupils set their wits to work and find out the solutions4 ,all of which is very interesting and1 on the whole1 very good4 ,there is1 however1 this danger3 these interesting and mind-developing methods do not tend towards automatism and habit-formation2 they are1 indeed1 not intended to foster any form of mechanical command4 ,proficiency in shorthand cannot be gained by any method of discovery1 and the capacity for doing good and rapid work on a typewriter is not attained by the heuristic method4 ,mathematics is a science1 but the absolute mastery of the multiplication table is an art and cannot be gained by the exclusive practice of playing with cubes4 8,the memorizing of the multiplication table is a wearisome grind2 let us therefore make it interesting by teaching in its place the theory of numeration60 8,practising scales on the piano is monotonous and inartistic2 let us therefore abolish such finger-gymnastics and replace all such work by the theory of harmony60 8,learning sentences by heart and performing these drills are so tedious2 let us therefore reject these forms of work1 and replace them by analysing a text or by trying our hand at literary composition60 ,now1 as we have seen and proved to our satisfaction1 language-learning is essentially a habit-forming process1 is an art and not a science1 and if we insist on considering as a science what is an art we are confusing the issues and creating a breeding-ground for all sorts of fallacies4 ,linguistics is a science1 language-teaching is largely a science1 but the practical study of languages is not2 let us remember this primordial fact while we are endeavouring to make our subjects interesting4 ,what are the chief things making for interest8 ,we suggest six rational and reasonable factors calculated to produce interest if not enthusiasm without any detriment to any of the eight other fundamental principles1 viz43 7#a7 ,the elimination of bewilderment4 7#b7 ,the sense of progress achieved4 7#c7 ,competition4 7#d7 ,game-like exercises4 7#e7 ,the right relation between teacher and student4 7#f7 ,variety4 7#a7 ,the ,elimination of ,bewilderment4--8,i can't make out what it's all about6 ,what on earth is the teacher driving at8 ,i don't understand these new terms nor the use of them4 ,what is it all for8 ,what good is it going to do me8 ,i do hate this lesson60 ,have you ever heard comments of this sort8 ,have you ever made them yourself8 ,the attitude of one making such comments 7either openly or inwardly7 is not a hopeful one2 it gives no promise of successful work2 it shows that interest is entirely lacking4 ,what is the cause of this attitude1 and how can we change it8 ,is it because the subject is too difficult8 ,no1 surely not1 for some of the most difficult subjects may be most fascinating1 even for the average student2 difficulty often adds to the attractiveness of work and may even induce interest4 ,difficulty is not necessarily an unfavourable factor4 ,but bewilderment invariably is6 ,there is an immense difference between difficult work and bewildering work2 of difficulties there must necessarily be many1 but of bewilderment there should be none4 ,new methods often bewilder those who have become used to the old ones2 unfamiliar grammatical systems are bewildering to those who think that one system of grammar is common to all the languages of the world4 ,it is disconcerting to face the fact that languages have classical and colloquial grammars existing side by side1 which grammars are mutually exclusive in many respects2 it is more especially bewildering to those who have never made any study of colloquial language4 ,easy things and easy systems are more bewildering than difficult ones if one has already become more or less familiar with the difficult system4 ,to those who have wrestled for years with difficult and tangled orthographies a phonetic system of writing1 the acme of ease and simplicity1 may appear bewilderingly difficult4 ,a good deal of bewilderment may be ascribed to prejudice or to preconceived notions concerning the nature of language2 this is why 7other things being equal7 children are generally less bewildered than adults when learning how to use the spoken form of language2 they have fewer prejudices or even none at all4 ,there are two ways of eliminating bewilderment4 ,one is to give in the clearest possible way certain fundamental explanations whenever there appears to be confusion in the mind of the student2 the other is to see that the programme is properly graded4 ,once the student grasps the scope of the particular problem or series of problems1 and once the programme is reasonably well graded1 there will be no more bewilderment and there will be no more puzzled learners4 ,we might perhaps add here that there are times1 strangely enough1 when the teacher finds it necessary to induce a temporary bewilderment4 ,categoric and unconventional devices have occasionally to be adopted in order to break certain undesirable associations2 #8mystery words' and #8mystery sentences' often play a useful part in destroying false associations and vicious linguistic habits4 ,but these intentionally created mysteries1 puzzling for the time being1 are not of the same order as those hopeless and perpetual mysteries which are the cause of so much discouragement and discomfiture4 ,it is a subject of debate whether we ought to use explanations at all for the purpose of teaching anyone to use a language4 ,some maintain that we should no more explain a point of theory to a schoolchild or an adult than we should to a child of eighteen months4 ,the young child1 it is said1 learns to speak the language which he hears around him by dint of sheer imitation2 he learns no theory and would understand no explanations2 why therefore should we explain at all8 ,we would suggest that the chief function of explanations is to prevent bewilderment4 ,it may or may not be useful for a schoolchild or an adult to know why certain things are so1 why ,french nouns are either masculine or feminine1 why it is sometimes avoir and sometimes tre1 why we do not say in ,english he comesn't1 why we do not say ,i had better to go1 and why certain ,french conjunctions require the use of the subjunctive4 ,appropriate explanations may induce a more rapid rate of progress or they may not 7probably in the long run generally not71 but they certainly do have the effect of satisfying that instinctive curiosity which1 if unappeased1 will induce bewilderment and so cause the student to lose interest4 ,we might add 7although this is not pertinent to the subject under discussion7 that in the case of a #8corrective course' simple and rational explanations should form an essential part of the treatment4 ,with regard to the second manner of eliminating the factor of bewilderment1 viz4 the proper grading of the course1 we would refer the reader to the chapter dealing specifically with this subject4 7#b7 ,the ,sense of ,progress ,achieved4--,all work becomes more interesting when we are conscious that we have made and are making progress in that work4 ,that sense of discouragement which is so inimical to interest arises when1 in spite of our efforts1 we seem to be no nearer to our goal4 ,statistics compiled by those who have made a special study of the psychology of learning show us that periods frequently occur in which there is no apparent progress and during which1 as a necessary consequence1 the interest of the student diminishes4 ,it is generally during such periods 7technically called plateaux7 that the adult student gives up his study as a bad job and retires from the contest4 ,the cause of such plateaux would appear to be a defective system of gradation2 the student has overreached himself and has temporarily absorbed more material than he can retain permanently2 he has worked too fast for his habit-forming capacities and has to mark time until the previously acquired material has been properly assimilated4 ,novelty always gives a certain amount of interest to a new subject1 and during the first period students often gain the idea that they are making more progress than is warranted by the facts2 when the novelty wears off the reaction occurs1 and a period of depression follows4 ,in order1 therefore1 to make it possible for the student always to feel he is making progress1 and thus to maintain interest and zest1 it is necessary to see that the course is properly graded1 that the repetitions are kept up regularly and systematically1 and that the rate of progression is consistently increased4 7#c7 ,competition4--,the spirit of emulation gives zest to a study4 ,the fear of being outdistanced by one's fellow-students or rivals1 the satisfaction of gaining ground on them1 and the hope of becoming or remaining the best student in the class is a stimulus not to be despised4 ,this is really one of the chief raisons d'tre for examinations1 tests1 and registers of progress4 7#d7 ,game-like ,exercises4--,in the case of young students a considerable amount of interest can be induced by making certain forms of exercise so resemble games that the pupils do not quite know whether they are playing or working4 ,games of skill such as chess are almost indistinguishable from many subjects of scholastic study1 and many types of puzzles and problem-games are practically identical with mathematical problems4 ,the only danger here is that language-games may not further the student sufficiently in the habit-forming process2 some types certainly will not2 indeed1 we can imagine types of exercise-games which would tend to inhibit it4 ,if1 however1 the necessity for habit-forming is constantly present to the teacher's mind1 it is permissible to introduce at appropriate moments forms of exercise such as #8action drill1' #8living grammar1' or #8sorting exercises1' possessing real educative value and an interest-giving value at the same time4 7#e7 ,the ,relation between ,teacher and ,student4--8,no1 ,i don't take ,french lessons now4 ,m4 ,untel used to be my teacher1 but he went away1 and ,i didn't much like the man who took his place1 and so ,i lost interest and stopped4 ,the new man was all right in his way1 but it wasn't at all the same thing as with ,m4 ,untel2 he didn't have the same way of giving the lessons1 and somehow or other ,i didn't seem to get on with him40 8,i like the ,french lesson2 ,m4 ,untel makes it so interesting2 he's got a nice way of explaining things1 and we are never afraid of asking him questions4 ,he doesn't laugh at you if you say something that sounds silly2 he understands what you're trying to drive at1 and always knows what the trouble is4 ,i didn't use to like ,french lessons at all4 ,we had another master then2 he always seemed to be telling you things that you didn't feel you wanted to know1 and yet when you did want to know something he never understood what it was you wanted to know40 ,these expressions of opinion 7written in colloquial ,english7 give us a good idea of why two students 7one an adult and the other a schoolchild7 are interested in learning ,french when ,m4 ,untel gives the lesson4 7#f7 ,variety4--,a monotonous type of drill-work is performed during an entire lesson4 ,in the next lesson a second and different type of monotonous drill-work is performed4 ,the third lesson is devoted to a third type of drill-work4 ,a fourth lesson consists of sixty minutes of another sort of grind4 ,a fifth and a sixth lesson are similarly devoted to two other sorts of mechanical work4 ,the net result is six dull and monotonous lessons4 ,another case4 ,six lessons are given4 ,each lesson is divided into six periods of ten minutes4 ,each period is devoted to a different type of mechanical work or drill-work4 ,the net result is six moderately interesting lessons4 ,not that any lesson should consist exclusively of drill-work or mechanical work2 there is a place in every lesson for listening to the living language in actual use2 there is a place in every lesson for interesting explanations and for the factor of human interest1 for the use of devices which usually engage the keenest attention of the students4 ,if1 however1 there are forms of work which generally appear less popular or less vivacious1 if the repeating of word-lists and the reciting of groups of sentences do tend towards dullness1 then we can compensate for this temporary lack of vivacity by introducing an extra dose of variety4 ,a change of work is in itself a factor of interest even if the work should not be particularly interesting2 variety will relieve any tedium which may possibly be associated with mechanical work4 ,let us suppose that on one or more occasions we do find it necessary for some particular purpose to introduce an unpopular form of exercise2 we can sandwich that exercise between two popular forms of work1 and the evil ten minutes will pass unnoticed4 ,this point will be treated incidentally when we come to examine principle #i 7the multiple line of approach72 we shall see what bearing this theory has on the question of variety and the interest engendered thereby4 ,,chapter ,,xiv ,a ,,rational ,,order ,,of ,,progression ,one of the greatest differences between the old-fashioned manner of teaching languages and the new manner towards which we are feeling our way is a difference in what we call #8order of progression4' ,this term and the principle which is involved therein cannot1 at the present stage of our knowledge1 be defined in very categoric terms2 its connotation is somewhat loose1 for it may be applied to the general programme of study and also to any particular item of study4 ,in some ways the principle seems to have a close connexion with gradation1 and yet on the whole it appears to cover other ground1 for we can imagine entirely different orders of progression1 and each may be well or badly graded4 ,under this particular heading we have to consider the order in which the various aspects and branches of a language may be dealt with4 ,we may conceivably work from the written to the spoken or vice versa2 we may start with systematic ear-training and articulation exercises or leave these to a later stage2 we may advise or we may reject the use of a phonetic alphabet2 we may teach or we may leave intonation2 we may proceed from the word towards the sentence or we may take the sentence as our starting-point2 we may exclude irregularities during the early stages or we may include them2 we may insist on a slow and distinct pronunciation at the outset and leave abbreviations and shortened forms to a later stage4 ,in all these matters1 and in other cases as well1 we have to consider very seriously two alternatives2 we have to weigh the respective advantages and disadvantages1 remembering always that our object is to secure rapid but permanent progress4 ,each of the pairs of alternatives enumerated above has been and still is the subject of discussion and controversy2 there is much to be said on both sides1 and an argument in favour of the one side may seem conclusive--until we have heard the argument for the other4 ,let us examine each of the points we have mentioned and place the opposing views in parallel columns2 for the sake of convenience we will in each case place the arguments of the older school on the left-hand side and the modern answer on the right4 ,written or spoken first8 ,the most stable form of speech is written speech2 it does not vary from one person to another or from one region to another as spoken language always does4 ,in the written form we find the essence of a language and its treasure-house4 ,spoken language is a faint and attenuated counterpart1 generally more or less debased and altered by slang1 dialect1 and slovenly habits of utterance4 ,the only true form of speech is spoken speech2 it constitutes the living language itself4 ,all languages were spoken long before they were written4 ,orthographies are comparatively recent inventions1 and have no more claim to being the essence of language than shorthand4 ,the written aspect of language is artificial2 the spoken aspect alone is pursuing the normal course of evolution1 and is always freeing itself from archaic and useless encumbrances4 ,the spoken language is a token of life1 for dead languages are those which exist but in written form4 ,an unwritten language is almost a contradiction in terms1 for a language without a literature is but a barbarous jargon1 primitive in its structure1 weak in vocabulary and in means of expression4 ,the facts are all wrong4 ,most1 if not all1 unwritten languages so far investigated prove to be of a remarkable richness4 ,the ,bantu group1 to quote one example1 has an inflexional system rivalling and excelling those of ,latin and ,greek1 and possesses wonderfully rich syntactical and semantic systems4 ,when a child goes to school1 he starts learning his language on its written basis4 ,he starts at the ,a ,b ,c4 ,in the meantime he has already become an expert user of the spoken language1 including the complete phonetic system unconsidered in written speech and a most complex and beautiful system of intonation unknown to orthographies4 ,grammar only exists in written language4 ,if the grammar of the written language only exists in the written language1 the grammar of the spoken language only exists in the spoken language4 ,it is easier to learn a written word than a spoken word1 for the written word remains before the eyes1 whereas the spoken word is intangible and evanescent4 ,consequently if we learn the written word we are unable to understand what is said to us and to express ourselves orally4 ,it is easy to convert eye-knowledge into ear-knowledge4 ,once we know how a word is written we easily learn how to pronounce it4 ,the facts are all wrong again4 ,the most difficult thing in language-study is to convert eye-knowledge into ear-knowledge4 ,once we know how a word is pronounced we can recognize and reproduce its written form with the greatest ease4 ,shall we start with systematic ear-training and articulation exercises8 ,no4 ,both are of doubtful value under the best of conditions4 ,the majority of students manage eventually to understand and to make themselves understood without such adventitious and fanciful aids4 ,certainly4 ,unless the teaching rests on this foundation all the subsequent work will be distorted and false4 ,the young child does not have to undergo such processes when learning his native tongue1 and yet he succeeds in hearing and in articulating correctly4 ,the young child at the cradle age does little else than go through a course of such exercises4 ,he listens and imitates1 at first imperfectly1 but later with great expertness1 recognizing and reproducing isolated sounds and complex combinations of these4 ,such exercises are extremely monotonous and dull2 they are likely to kill interest and to cause the students to dislike the whole process of language-learning4 ,such exercises are always found extremely interesting1 and tend to constitute an additional attraction to the study of the language4 ,few language-teachers know how to make the foreign sounds correctly1 and therefore few can give such exercises without causing the students to acquire bad habits4 ,no teacher should be allowed to do language-work who is not proficient in the sounds of the foreign language1 for those who are incapable of making the sounds cannot be good language-teachers4 ,it is useless to attempt to teach systematically the sounds of the language1 seeing that these vary from one region to another and from one person to another4 ,any form of normal speech will serve as a model1 provided that the speech is that of educated natives4 ,in the absence of any model at all1 the student will speak the foreign language with the sounds of his mother-tongue6 ,shall we admit or reject the use of phonetic transcription8 ,reject it certainly1 for various reasons4 ,accept it certainly for various reasons4 ,it is extremely difficult2 those who have been learning languages for years1 even languages with strange alphabets1 find phonetic symbols so puzzling that they are forced to discontinue their efforts4 ,it is extremely easy2 young children learn to use it readily and accurately4 ,those who experience any difficulty are those who are unable or unwilling to form new habits4 ,a language is such a difficult thing that we must utilize every means of making our work easier4 ,it would take weeks or even months to learn the strange and unnatural symbols4 ,the half a dozen strange symbols usually required in addition to those of the ordinary alphabet can usually be learnt at sight without any special practice4 ,even a strange #8orthographic alphabet' such as the ,russian one can be mastered in a few days4 ,the whole proceeding is an unnatural one1 contrary to all the laws of language4 ,all writing is an unnatural process in the sense that it is not performed by instinct1 but has to be learnt as an art4 ,of all systems of writing1 however1 the phonetic system is the one most in accordance with logic and natural law4 ,it is trying to the eyes4 ,most phonetic alphabets are clearer than those used in ,german and ,russian1 for instance4 ,it is a waste of valuable time to learn an artificial alphabet4 ,the learning of a perfectly natural alphabet is in itself of educative value2 it inculcates the idea of phonetic writing and serves once for all as an essential preparation for the study of any number of foreign languages4 ,it is evident that the use of a phonetic alphabet will make havoc of the ordinary spelling to be learnt subsequently4 ,it has been ascertained experimentally that those who have been taught to read and to write a language phonetically become quite as efficient spellers as those not so trained4 ,in many cases the phonetically trained student becomes the better speller4 ,to learn phonetic writing means learning two languages instead of one4 ,in all cases where the traditional orthography is not in agreement with the native pronunciation the student is necessarily forced to learn the two things4 ,the use of a phonetic alphabet is the only way to perform this double work rapidly1 rationally1 and with the minimum of confusion4 ,phonetic texts always give slovenly and incorrect manners of pronouncing words4 ,authors of phonetic texts always strive to give an accurate rendering of the language as really and effectively spoken by educated natives2 they rarely attempt to teach forms that have no existence in the language as actually used in ordinary speech4 ,should we teach intonation in the early stages8 ,no4 ,it is a fancy subject of little or no importance and certainly forms no integral part of language-study4 ,yes4 ,it is a subject of great importance and forms an integral part of language-study4 ,in many languages speech without the correct tones is only half intelligible2 in ,chinese and other languages it is perfectly unintelligible4 ,in any case it can be left to the very final stage of the programme4 ,if it is not taught in the very earliest stage correct intonation will be very difficult to acquire4 ,language-study is a habit-forming process1 and the habit of speaking with wrong tones is a bad habit4 ,word or sentence first8 ,the word is the unit of language4 ,whatever the unit of language is1 it is not the word4 ,words are definite entities and constitute the component parts of sentences4 ,sentences may be reduced to component parts2 sometimes these are words1 but quite as often they are word-groups 7such as compounds and phrases7 or units less than words 7such as affixes74 ,the word1 not the sentence1 is the basis of translation4 ,since a word has a definite meaning and conveys a definite idea it is easy to find the foreign equivalent4 ,a sentence has generally1 if not always1 a definite foreign equivalent4 ,a word is so unstable that it may entirely change its meaning when used with other words4 ,it is easy to memorize words and difficult to memorize sentences4 ,it is as easy to memorize a six-word sentence as six words4 ,we speak in words4 ,we express our thoughts in sentences4 ,if we learn a few dozen words we can build up thousands of sentences from these by the synthetic process4 ,if we learn a few dozen sentences we can construct thousands of others from these by disintegration and substitution1 and1 what is more1 we can recognize them and use them even in rapid speech4 ,words are the basis of grammar4 ,sentences are the basis of syntax4 ,the collection of word-families is a valuable way of enriching one's vocabulary4 ,the enriching of one's vocabulary should be left to a comparatively late stage in the study of language1 especially in the study of most derivatives and compounds4 ,words constitute the #8primary matter' 7i4e4 matter to be memorized integrally without analysis or synthesis74 ,sentences constitute the #8secondary matter' 7i4e4 matter to be derived synthetically from primary matter74 ,it is precisely because sentences are so rarely considered as #8memorized matter' that so few people manage to understand the foreign language when spoken or to express themselves correctly in it4 ,take care of the words and the sentences will take care of themselves4 ,take care of the sentences and the words will take care of themselves4 ,should irregularities be included or excluded during the earlier stages8 ,the regular is easy1 the irregular is difficult2 in the interest of gradation let us therefore exclude temporarily the irregular4 ,irregular forms are generally more used and more useful than regular ones2 in the interest of gradation let us therefore include all necessary irregularities even in the earlier stages4 ,irregular forms make it difficult to formulate precise rules4 ,rules with numerous exceptions are not worth formulating at all4 ,the normal and logical should precede the abnormal and illogical4 ,then1 as natural languages are full of abnormalities and bad logic1 let the student start with an artificial language6 ,immediate fluency or gradual fluency8 ,it is easy to pronounce a sentence slowly and distinctly2 difficult to pronounce it rapidly and fluently4 ,it is just as easy to pronounce a sentence rapidly and fluently as to pronounce it slowly2 it is even easier in some cases4 ,the converse is only true when we are constructing our sentences synthetically1 word by word1 but this is not a sound process4 ,it is more correct to articulate clearly and deliberately4 ,to articulate more clearly and deliberately than the average educated native is a mark of inaccuracy1 for1 as ,dr ,cummings says1 8fluency is an integral part of accuracy40 #8,shortened forms1' such as don't or ,i'm1 should never be taught4 ,the student1 alas6 will only too soon pick up these undesirable vulgarisms4 ,don't hasten the process4 ,all #8shortened forms' which are invariably used in normal speech by educated natives 7e4g4 don't1 ,i'm7 should be taught to the exclusion of the longer form4 ,the student1 alas6 will only too soon acquire the habit of using pedanticisms4 ,let us not hasten the process4 ,it is always easy1 too easy1 to transform clear and incisive speech into a blurred and slovenly style of speaking4 ,it is almost impossible1 in the case of foreign students1 to convert an over-distinct and halting speech into a smooth1 harmonious style of utterance with the proper cadence and rhythm4 ,it is for this reason that when a foreigner wishes to say ,sunday1 two to two1 or four for four1 we so frequently understand some day1 #b1 #b1 #b1 or #d1 #d1 #d4 ,a vowel or even a consonant may perhaps disappear when we are speaking very rapidly or very carelessly4 ,when1 however1 we are deliberately teaching a word1 we should give the most perfect model and employ the most sonorous forms4 ,the maintenance of such syllables in ordinary rapid speech is one of the characteristics of pidgin or foreigner's speech4 ,it is not yet sufficiently realized that the use of certain sounds is only correct in slow speech or in isolated words4 ,if #8stayshun' is a more sonorous and correct rendering of s-t-a-t-i-o-n than #8stayshn1' then #8stayshon' is still better1 and #8stay-si-on' or #8stay-ti-on' better still4 ,conclusion ,on the basis of the foregoing considerations1 we conclude that it is desirable1 if not essential3 ,on the basis of the foregoing considerations1 we conclude that it is desirable1 if not essential3 7a7 ,to learn to read and to write before learning to speak and to understand what is said4 7a7 ,to learn to speak and to understand what is said before learning to read and to write4 7b7 ,to avoid systematic ear-training and articulation exercises1 at any rate in the early stages4 7b7 ,to start a language-course with systematic ear-training and articulation exercises4 7c7 ,to reject the use of phonetic transcription4 7c7 ,to make a most extensive use of the phonetic transcription1 especially in the early stages4 7d7 ,to leave to a very late stage or to omit altogether the study of intonation4 7d7 ,to teach intonation at a very early stage4 7e7 ,to memorize words and to learn to inflect them1 before memorizing and learning how to construct sentences4 7e7 ,to memorize sentences and to learn how to construct them1 before memorizing words and learning how to build either inflected forms or derivatives4 7f7 ,to avoid irregular and idiomatic forms in the earlier stages4 7f7 ,to include irregular and idiomatic forms even in the earlier stages4 7g7 ,to pronounce very slowly and distinctly1 leaving fluency to a later stage4 7g7 ,to teach from the outset a rapid and fluent style of pronunciation1 reserving more distinct utterance to a later stage4 ,all our experience leads us to endorse most emphatically all the statements made in the right-hand column4 ,numbers of those who were formerly of the opinion expressed in the left-hand column have become and are becoming converted to the opposite view2 the contrary case is practically unknown4 ,the modernists are not arguing in the dark2 they have their data and their evidence1 and are perfectly well acquainted with the arguments of the ancients1 whereas few of those professing the older views have ever even heard of the modernists' case1 still less given it any reasonable amount of consideration4 ,we should note that the protagonists of each of the two schools are not invariably as sharply and as consistently divided as in the foregoing comparison4 ,it is only natural that we should find individuals taking the modern view in the case of certain of the points quoted1 and the ancient view in the other cases4 ,an enthusiastic adherent of the phonetic theory will not necessarily endorse the view that rapid and fluent speech should precede slow and distinct speech4 ,one may believe in teaching sentences before words and yet be unconvinced as to the necessity for phonetics and all that that implies4 ,some may favour the memorizing of sentences at an early stage1 but will not agree that the colloquial language should be given a more favoured place than the classical4 ,the two schools1 however1 do appear to be fairly well defined1 for in the majority of cases it will most probably be found that those who favour the ancient view in any one respect will generally favour the whole of the ancient programme and regard with distrust and misgivings the order of progression generally recommended by the modernists4 ,let us sum up1 and set forth in parallel columns the two most widely differing orders of progression in order that we may fully realize that each is the antithesis of the other4 ,,the ,,ancient ,,order 7based on tradition7 ,,the ,,modern ,,order 7based on psychology7 ,first1 learn how to convert #8dictionary-words' 7i4e4 etymons7 into #8working sentence-units' 7i4e4 ergons74 ,this will be done by memorizing the rules of accidence and derivation4 ,first1 become proficient in recognizing and in producing foreign sounds and tones1 both isolated and in combinations4 ,secondly1 learn the general structure of sentences4 ,this will be done chiefly by reading and translation exercises4 ,secondly1 memorize 7without analysis or synthesis7 a large number of complete sentences chosen specifically for this purpose by the teacher or by the composer of the course4 ,thirdly1 memorize the irregular or idiomatic phenomena of the language4 ,thirdly1 learn to build up all types of sentences 7both regular and irregular7 from #8working sentence-units' 7i4e4 ergons7 chosen specifically for this purpose by the teacher or by the composer of the course4 ,lastly1 7if necessary7 convert the eye-knowledge' of the language into #8ear-knowledge' by means of reading aloud and by #8conversation-lessons4' ,lastly1 learn how to convert #8dictionary words' 7i4e4 etymons7 into #8working sentence-units' 7i4e4 ergons74 ,an irrational order of progression is bound to entail much #8cramming1' a process by which much information 7valuable or valueless7 is retained for a short time 7generally for examination purposes71 but without ensuring any permanent results except bad results4 ,a rational order of progression will not only rapidly secure useful and desirable results1 but will also encourage the formation of the right sort of language-habits and ensure as a permanent result the capacity for using the foreign language in the fullest sense of the term4 ,,chapter ,,xv ,,the ,,multiple ,,line ,,of ,,approach ,the ninth and last of the essential principles is1 in reality1 more than a mere principle of language-study1 it is even more than a principle of study1 it is almost a philosophy in itself4 ,it seems to be a special application of a doctrine which1 to many1 constitutes a line of conduct1 an attitude1 towards most of the problems and interests of our daily existence4 ,this attitude is fairly well designated by the term eclectic2 this1 however1 is not an ideal term1 seeing that1 like so many others1 it possesses a double connotation4 ,its first sense is distinctly pejorative2 it suggests unoriginality1 a lack of coherent system1 a patchwork of other people's opinions4 ,in its second and broader sense1 so far from being a term of disparagement or reproach it implies the deliberate choice of all things which are good1 a judicious and reasoned selection of all the diverse factors the sum of which may constitute a complete and homogeneous system4 ,if1 therefore1 we speak here of the doctrine or attitude of eclecticism1 we are obviously using the term in its second and broader connotation2 used in this way it stands as the antithesis of prejudice1 of faddiness1 of crankiness1 and of fixed ideas4 ,many of those who practise eclecticism call it the #8philosophy of the complete life'2 whether this is or is not a philosophy in the true sense of the term1 we will leave to philosophers to discuss2 we will content ourselves by quoting a few maxims or aphorisms which will serve to make clear the attitude in question4 ,all is good which tends towards good4 ,the recognition and appreciation of any particular good thing does not necessarily invalidate those things which do not resemble it1 nor even cause us to disparage or deprecate things which are seemingly in conflict with it4 ,let us neglect nothing except futilities and things which we have proved to our satisfaction to be in themselves bad and harmful4 ,two or more opposing principles1 ideas1 likes1 operations1 interests1 in short any two or more conflicting tendencies1 may be combined1 and this combination can be effected by other means than the expedient of compromising4 ,lobster salad and fruit salad may be attractive to the gourmet1 but no compromise between the two would be palatable4 ,it is not always the height of wisdom and expediency to kill too many birds with one stone4 ,this attitude towards life in general does indeed solve many problems and vexed questions4 ,it constitutes a method of conciliating inconsistencies1 both real and apparent4 ,it explains how it is that one can appreciate both classical and popular music1 classical and light literature1 how idealism may exist side by side with a keen interest in material things4 ,the real and the ideal1 scientific precision and unscientific emotion1 patriotism and internationalism1 are not incompatible with each other in the #8philosophy of the complete life4' ,and what has all this to do with language-study8 ,what bearing have these fanciful or fantastical philosophical considerations on the problem of teaching or learning a language rapidly and well8 ,the connexion is clearer than one might imagine at first sight1 for each of the aphorisms quoted above may serve1 if not as a definition of the ninth principle1 at least as a strong suggestion of what the principle implies4 ,those who have followed us1 point by point1 in our enumeration and analysis of the eight preceding principles may be in perfect agreement with our conclusions1 but may1 nevertheless1 be sorely troubled as to how they are to be carried out in practice4 ,on many points there appear to be conflicts and inconsistencies2 in many cases it would appear to be exceedingly difficult1 if not impossible1 to observe two or more of these principles simultaneously4 ,how is habit-forming consistent with interest8 ,how can we combine a study of phonetics with a study of orthography8 ,how can we combine the development of our spontaneous capacities with that of our studial capacities8 ,how can we observe the principle of accuracy and combine it with other principles which are seemingly in conflict with it--such as the inhibition of our powers of analysis and synthesis8 ,how are we to foster a keen appreciation of the classical or literary style of composition1 and yet concentrate on the colloquial and trivial8 ,the principles of gradation and of order of progression seem to reveal inconsistencies when they are compared with each other2 there is more than a seeming inconsistency between the process of unconscious assimilation and the principle of concreteness4 ,translation is destructive1 or is often considered so1 of the power of #8thinking in the foreign language1' and yet it is suggested that the student should do translation work and at the same time train himself to think in the foreign language4 ,these and many other problems or difficulties suggested by the careful study of the foregoing eight principles can only be solved by the thorough understanding of the spirit of eclecticism underlying this ninth principle4 ,we have alluded to the philosophy of the complete life in order that we may better realize the significance of what we may term the complete method4 ,this complete method1 mark you1 is not a compromise between two or more antagonistic schools2 it boldly incorporates what is valuable in any system or method of teaching and refuses to recognize any conflict1 except the conflict between the good and the inherently bad4 ,the complete method will embody every type of teaching except bad teaching1 and every process of learning except defective learning4 ,the complete method 7of which the multiple line of approach is the expression7 is the antithesis of the special or patent method4 ,patent or proprietary methods very often1 but not always1 resemble patent medicines4 ,we know what they are4 ,a patent language method1 like a patent medicine1 claims to prevent or to cure all possible ills 7linguistic or physical1 as the case may be7 by repeated applications of one special device or drug2 both of them claim to kill innumerable birds with one stone4 ,one is always inclined to doubt the efficiency of an instrument which is designed to perform too many distinct functions2 a tool designed to serve both as a hairbrush and as a hammer is not likely either to brush or to hammer very efficiently1 and our imagination refuses to picture what one vehicle could possibly afford us all the advantages of a bicycle1 a motor-car1 a wheelbarrow1 and an express train1 not to mention those of a boat or balloon4 ,one dish1 however nutritive1 succulent1 and satisfying1 will not constitute a complete banquet4 ,let us apply the principle of the multiple line of approach to the solving of a number of vexed questions1 well known to all those who have read or participated in discussions and controversies on the subject of language-teaching4 ,shall reading be intensive or extensive8 ,that is to say1 shall we take a text1 study it line by line1 referring at every moment to our dictionary and our grammar1 comparing1 analysing1 translating1 and retaining every expression that it contains8 ,or shall we take a large number of texts and read them rapidly and carelessly1 trusting that quantity will make up for the lack of quality in our attention and the lack of intensity8 ,shall we translate8 ,we can learn much from translation2 it affords us many types of interesting and valuable exercises4 ,or shall we ban translation8 ,for we know that under certain conditions translation may foster and encourage more than one vicious tendency4 ,shall we memorize sentences or shall we learn to construct them1 both synthetically and by the substitution process8#e ,either plan seems to have its advantages and its disadvantages4 #e ,see page #agf and footnote1 and p4 #agg4 ,which is better3 drill-work or free work8 ,the principle of accuracy inclines us towards the former2 the principle of interest and our instinctive striving for naturalness incline us towards the latter4 ,are we to study with conscious attention or with effortless attention8 ,in the average lesson or language-course1 the former alone is considered1 but the young child1 or the adult assimilating a language under ideal conditions1 knows no other than the latter4 ,shall we assimilate our language-material by reading or by listening to people8 ,many claim to have mastered a language rapidly and successfully by the one method1 while many others ascribe their success to the fact that they have learnt exclusively by the other4 ,which is the best method of retaining language-material3 by repeating it aloud or by writing it8 ,there again1 we find many who are staunch adherents of either method 7and consequently opponents of the other74 ,active or passive work8 ,do we gain and retain our impressions by speaking and writing1 or do we in reality acquire proficiency in the use of language by the processes of reading and listening8 ,without the principle of the multiple line of approach there are only two ways of settling these and all similar questions4 ,one is to adopt one alternative1 rejecting the second2 the other is to effect a working compromise between the two4 ,shall we read intensively or extensively8 8,read intensively10 says one2 8,no1 read extensively10 says another2 and the compromiser comes along and says1 8,read neither very intensively nor very extensively40 ,shall we translate or shall we banish translation8 8,translate by all means10 says one2 8,banish translation10 says another2 and the compromiser says1 8,translate a little occasionally1 but do not let the translation be particularly good40 ,drill-work or free work8 ,the compromiser suggests something between the two1 mechanical enough to destroy naturalness1 and free enough to encourage inaccuracy4 ,shall we memorize sentences1 or shall we construct them8 ,the compromiser suggests that we should aid our memory by doses of mental synthesis1 in fact just enough to prevent the laws of memorizing from operating4 ,the principle of the multiple line of approach suggests a third and better procedure4 ,instead of accepting the one and rejecting the other1 instead of adopting the middle course which frequently militates against the success of either extreme1 this principle says1 8,adopt them both concurrently1 but not in one and the same operation4 ,at times read intensively2 at others read extensively4 ,at appropriate moments1 and for specific purposes1 make the fullest use of all sorts of translation work2 at other moments1 and for other specific purposes1 banish translation entirely4 ,at times1 more especially during the early stages1 let there be an abundance of drill-work2 later1 but not before the student is perfectly ripe for it1 let us introduce free work2 and then let the two types alternate4 ,at certain moments1 more especially during the early stages1 let the memorizing of sentences be carried out on a most extensive scale2 at other moments1 as a distinctly separate operation1 let us cause the student to perform exercises in constructing correct sentences himself40 ,we have had occasion to note that this principle suggests the inadvisability of killing too many birds with one stone4 ,the principle goes farther and adds to the figure of speech just quoted the two following corollaries1 viz43 8,find the right stone to kill the right bird10 and 8,it is often advisable to kill one bird with more than one stone40 ,there are many different ways of teaching a difficult sound1 there are many different ways of teaching a difficult point in grammar1 a curious form of construction1 or of causing the student to discriminate between two things which ought not to be confused4 ,in these and in all similar cases1 there is no reason why several methods should not be used concurrently2 they need not be strictly co-ordinated4 ,the cumulative effect of approaching the difficulty from different and independent angles will certainly secure the desired result4 ,superficial and rapid work on most points plus intensive and thorough work on certain essential specific points will generally ensure a well-assimilated whole4 ,either of these methods will tend to correct any disadvantages attached to the other and will be complementary to the other4 ,the high degree of accuracy which results from intensive work will tend to spread by contagion to that portion of the work which must necessarily be done in a more summary fashion4 ,this principle1 which underlies all others1 leaves the door open for new devices1 new methods1 and improvements on the old ones4 ,it leaves us free to welcome and to adopt all sorts of innovations1 provided such innovations are likely to prove of value4 ,we will quote one example of what may happen when we do not sufficiently realize the importance or the scope of the ninth principle4 ,the teacher of ,french may consider that a certain amount of theory is useful and helpful2 he may consider it necessary to explain all manner of things to students--how certain sounds are formed1 how certain verbs are conjugated1 why certain constructions must be used2 he may consider it his duty to give information on hundreds of doubtful or difficult points4 ,and he is often perfectly justified in doing so2 explanations of the right sort and given at the right moment are indeed valuable4 ,this same teacher considers also that many opportunities should be given of hearing ,french spoken1 in order to train his student's powers of observation and of semantic association4 ,this also is good and reasonable2 passive audition1 unconscious or semi-conscious assimilation1 immediate understanding and expression1 are processes the value of which we have always insisted upon4 ,but this teacher1 too anxious to kill two birds with one stone1 combines the two forms of work2 he says1 8,i have a number of difficult things to explain1 and ,i will explain them in ,french2 the student will therefore have a double gain40 ,the student1 however1 unless already very considerably advanced1 is not a gainer but a loser2 he fails to understand the explanation1 and in his efforts to do so he fails to adopt the proper receptive attitude towards the actual language material4 ,after all1 we do not learn how to write shorthand from books written exclusively in shorthand1 and the book which teaches us how to use the ,morse code is not printed exclusively in the ,morse code4 ,to use the foreign language for the purposes of a vehicular language under the pretext that the more the student hears of the foreign language the better he will learn1 is a method which stands fully condemned when we properly realize the nature and scope of the principle we are now examining4 ,we may sum up this principle of the multiple line of approach fairly concisely in the following terms3 ,let us approach the language1 or any specific point in the language1 simultaneously from several distinct points of departure1 by several distinct but gradually converging avenues4 ,the observing of this principle will alone enable us to observe consistently and successfully the eight other vital principles which it has been the object of this book to set forth4 ,,chapter ,,xvi #8,,memorized ,,matter' ,,and #8,,constructed ,,matter' ,until we know more about speech-psychology and the ultimate processes of language-study1 it is doubtful whether we can embody in the form of a concrete principle the subject treated in this chapter4 ,the writer would prefer1 at this stage of our knowledge1 simply to submit the following considerations in the hope that future research will throw further light on the subject and render it possible to co-ordinate it with those branches of linguistic pedagogy which are more familiar to us4 ,indeed1 when we have ascertained experimentally the exact nature of what we shall call #8memorized' and #8constructed' speech-material1 it is conceivable that the whole subject will become so clarified that it will be possible to reduce to one main principle all or most of what has been said in the foregoing chapters4 ,now1 whenever we open our lips to speak1 or whenever we set pen to paper1 it is with the object of producing one or more units of speech4 ,these units may be short and simple1 such as3 ,yes1 ,no1 ,here1 or they may be word-groups1 such as3 ,very well1 ,i don't know1 ,yes1 if ,i can1 or they may be complete and even complicated sentences containing one or more subordinate clauses4 ,but whatever the unit may be1 long or short1 simple or complex1 one thing is clear3 each unit has either been memorized by the user integrally as it stands or else is composed by the user from smaller and previously memorized units4 ,this is a fundamental fact about speech which stands out clearly and unmistakably2 it is not a fanciful supposition or an idle conjecture1 it is an axiomatic truth4 ,now let us term #8memorized matter' everything that we have memorized integrally1 and #8constructed matter' everything that we have not so memorized1 but which we compose or build up as we go on4 ,can we distinguish the two things8 ,in most cases we can4 ,monosyllabic words have generally 7although not necessarily7 been memorized as they stand2 we say and understand the word cat1 because once upon a time we had the occasion to hear the word in question and the opportunity to connect it with its meaning and to retain it4 ,the word cat is included in our memorized matter4 ,probably most words of two or even more syllables have been acquired as memorized matter4 ,great numbers of compound words have also been acquired in the same way4 ,a considerable number of word-groups and sentences are included in our memorized matter4 ,such sentences as ,i don't know1 ,just come here1 ,pick it up1 ,i don't want it1 are most probably memorized with most speakers4 ,now consider a unit of speech such as3 ,i saw ,henry ,siddings between six and half-past at the corner of ,rithington ,lane4 ,is it the sort of unit which we should use as a result of having memorized it integrally8 ,an actor or reciter may indeed have occasion to do so1 but apart from those whose duty or hobby it is to memorize #8lines' it is an extremely unlikely specimen of memorized matter4 ,the writer has just composed it1 and does not even know whether there exists such a surname as ,siddings or a place called ,rithington ,lane2 there are millions of chances to one that it is an entirely original sentence4 ,most of the things we utter or write come into the category of constructed matter2 their component parts have been memorized integrally and so constitute memorized matter2 but the complete units are constructed1 they are the result of rapid and probably unconscious acts of synthesis4 ,this is no place for statistics1 even if data were available2 it must be left to investigators to ascertain the relative amount of memorized and constructed matter used by the young child in his first months or years of speech4 ,inquiries of this sort should afford some valuable and surprising evidence2 the writer has had occasion to note that a ,french-speaking child of about ten was even unconscious of the composition of units such as pomme de terre or quatre-vingts1 just as the average adult ,english person is unconscious of the composition of fortnight or nevertheless4#f ,what will certainly complicate such research work is the paradoxical fact that constructed matter may become memorized by dint of frequent repetition4 ,a further complication is added by the fact that the two types of matter may also be considered from the point of view1 not of the speaker1 but of the auditor4 #f ,see ,the ,scientific ,study and ,teaching of ,languages1 pp4 #ajc-aai4 ,one of the questions that concerns us at present is to ascertain what should be the right proportions of memorized and constructed matter in the initial stages of learning a foreign language4 ,too large a proportion of memorized matter will render study unnecessarily tedious1 for memorizing work1 even under the best of conditions1 is less interesting than the piecing together of known units4 ,too large a proportion of constructed matter1 on the other hand1 will certainly result in an artificial sort of speech or a pidgin form1 with all its evil consequences4 ,at the present day1 as in the past1 the tendency in language-study is to pay far too much attention to constructing and not nearly enough to memorizing4 ,what concerns us still more is to ascertain definitely by experiment what is the exact nature of those processes by which constructed matter is derived from memorized matter4 ,we must find out what really does happen in the case of young children in the first stages of their speech-experience1 and by what mental processes those persons called born linguists attain their results4 ,there would appear to be three distinct manners of producing constructed matter2 these may be termed respectively3 7a7 ,grammatical construction4 7b7 ,ergonic construction4 7c7 ,conversion4 7a7 ,,grammatical ,,construction ,this process consists in memorizing #8dictionary words' 7the infinitives of verbs1 the nominative singular of nouns1 the masculine nominative singular of adjectives1 etc47 and of forming sentences from them 7with or without the intervention of translation7 by means of applying the various rules of accidence1 syntax1 derivation1 and composition4 ,the following is a typical example of the process4 ,an ,english student wishes to form as constructed matter the ,german sentence3 ,ich habe mit grsstem ,vergngen seinen freundlichen ,vorschlag angenommen1 from the previously memorized units ich1 haben1 mit1 gross1 ,vergngen1 sein1 freundlich1 ,vorschlag1 annehmen4 ,besides having to determine 7in accordance with rules of word-order7 the relative position of the nine primary units1 he has to perform the twelve following operations3 7#a7 ,choose the appropriate form of the pronoun of the first person singular4 7#b7 ,choose the appropriate tense of the verb annehmen4 7#c7 ,derive the present tense first person singular form of haben4 7#d7 ,determine the case governed by the preposition mit4 7#e7 ,derive the superlative form of the adjective gross4 7#f7 ,determine the gender of the noun ,vergngen4 7#g7 ,derive the masculine dative singular form of the superlative adjective grsst--when not preceded by a determinative4 7#h7 ,determine the gender of the noun ,vorschlag4 7#i7 ,determine the function of the same in this particular sentence4 7#aj7 ,determine the form of the possessive adjective of the third person masculine singular when modifying a masculine accusative singular noun4 7#aa7 ,determine the form of the adjective freundlich when preceded by a possessive adjective and when modifying a masculine accusative noun4 7#ab7 ,derive the past participle angenommen from the infinitive4 ,it will be noticed that most of these operations require1 in addition to a perfect memory of the grammatical rules 7including numbers of word-lists71 a fine power of logical discrimination4 ,needless to say1 no speaker of ,german actually does perform any of these operations 7except perhaps on very special and rare occasions71 and we dismiss as a patent absurdity the supposition that the young native child constructs his matter in any such way4 7b7 ,,ergonic ,,construction ,in this process we work from an entirely different sort of memorized matter2 instead of being merely #8dictionary words' it consists of 7a7 more or less complete sentences1 and 7b7 units of speech which we may term #8ergons1' i4e4 #8working units' derived and inflected in advance by the teacher 7or the author of the course71 each ergon being thus quite ready for use4 ,the following is a typical example of the process3 ,a fairly simple sentence is memorized2 let us say1 ,ich kann meinen ,stock heute nicht nehmen1 8,i can't take my stick to-day40 ,appropriate groups of ergons are also memorized1 such as3 ,a ich1 ,i ,b kann1 can muss1 must soll1 am to werde1 shall knnte1 could musste1 had to sollte1 ought to wrde1 should ,c meinen ,stock1 my stick meinen ,bleistift1 my pencil ,ihren ,regenschirm1 your umbrella den ,stuhl1 the chair denselben1 the same ihn1 him1 it sie1 her1 it es1 it ,d heute1 to-day morgen1 to-morrow heute morgen1 this morning morgen frh1 to-morrow morning um zwei ,uhr1 at two o'clock nchsten ,monat1 next month nchste ,woche1 next week nchstes ,jahr1 next year ,e nicht1 not ,f nehmen1 take sehen1 see bringen1 bring1 take tragen1 carry1 take suchen1 look for finden1 find bekommen1 get ,the student will then form 7as constructed matter7 as many of the #af1abh resultant sentences#g as is considered necessary for this particular vocabulary4 ,this will be done by means of drills and habit-forming exercises based on the following substitution table3 #g ,see #ajj ,english ,substitution ,tables1 by the author of the present book 7,heffer1 ,cambridge74 ,also the series of 8,auto-,translators0 7,international ,students' ,bureau1 #ef ,russell ,square1 ,w4,c4 #a74 ---------------------------------------- ------------- ,a ,b ,c ,d ,e ,f ---------------------------------------- ------------- ,ichkann meinen ,stock heute nichtnehmen muss meinen ,bleistift morgen sehen soll ,ihren ,regenschirmheute morgen bringen werde den ,stuhl morgen frh tragen knntedenselben um zwei ,uhr suchen mussteihn nchsten ,monat finden solltesie nchste ,woche bekommen wrde es nchstes ,jahr ---------------------------------------- ------------- ,the essential difference between grammatical and ergonic construction lies in the sort of memorized matter used in either case4 ,in grammatical construction the memorized matter consists exclusively of what we have called #8dictionary words' 7a large proportion of which require modifying in some form or other before being available for use in a sentence71 whereas in ergonic construction two sorts of memorized matter are required3 a more or less complete sentence and a number of ergons 7units of language inflected or composed in advance for the student1 instead of by the student74 7c7 ,,conversion ,this process consists in memorizing a number of sentences all composed in a more or less uniform way4 ,when these sentences have been memorized1 the student is taught by a series of appropriate drills and habit-forming exercises to convert each sentence into another form4 ,the following is a typical example of the process4 ,the student memorizes the ten following sentences3 7#a7 ,he goes to the station4 7#b7 ,he comes here4 7#c7 ,he takes it4 7#d7 ,he waits for it4 7#e7 ,he stays there4 7#f7 ,he writes a letter4 7#g7 ,he reads a book4 7#h7 ,he speaks ,french4 7#i7 ,he gets up4 7#aj7 ,he's here4#h #h ,the inclusion of an exceptional form 7#8,he isn't here'7 in a conversion table is a useful feature in these exercises4 ,he then listens to the teacher1 who says3 ,he goes to the station ,he doesn't go to the station4 ,he comes here ,he doesn't come here4 etc4 etc4 and after one or more repetitions performs the conversion himself in the same way1 with or without prompting by the teacher or the book4 ,the teacher will then change the sentences in some other manner1 for instance3 ,he goes to the station ,does he go to the station8 ,he comes here ,does he come here8 etc4 etc4 ,the student listens1 and subsequently performs the same series4 ,on other occasions each of the ten sentences may be converted into forms such as3 ,he'll go to the station1 etc4 ,he wants to go to the station1 etc4 ,he's going to the station1 etc4 ,he didn't go to the station1 etc4 ,he went to the station1 etc4 ,he's gone to the station1 etc4 ,it's impossible for him to go to the station1 etc4 ,he always goes to the station1 etc4 ,in the case of conversion the difference between memorized and constructed matter is not so marked as in the two synthetic operations1 nor is the yield of constructed matter so great4 ,indeed1 in extreme cases1 the form into which the original sentence is to be converted will have to be learnt integrally1 and so becomes in itself memorized matter4 ,on the other hand1 some forms of this type of work are practically identical with exercises based on ergonic construction1 and for these two reasons it has been held that conversion is not a distinct process for forming constructed matter1 but merely a modified form of ergonic work4 ,whether this view is justified or not is a matter more of academic than of practical interest to the language-teacher4 ,these then appear to be the only three processes known by which memorized matter can be developed and expanded into original composition4 ,what we have called grammatical construction is the classical and almost universal method4 ,what we have called ergonic construction is embodied more or less unsystematically in a number of language-courses and the more enlightened books of instruction4 ,conversion is also practised1 but still in a sporadic and desultory fashion4 ,now1 some thirty years ago the reform movement started4 ,in several different countries bands of zealous pioneers took up arms against the then prevailing system and sought to put an end to it4 ,the reform prospered4 ,the reformers have carried all before them1 and the daring innovators of twenty or thirty years ago now enjoy the prestige that their efforts have earned for them4 ,what was the nature of this reform8 ,what abuses has it swept away8 ,and for what innovations have we to thank it8 ,it would appear1 on analysis1 to have had a threefold object3 7a7 ,to promote the rational and systematic study of pronunciation by means of phonetic theory and transcription4 7b7 ,to promote the idea that a language is used primarily as a means of communicating thoughts4 7c7 ,to promote the idea that foreign languages should be learned by methods approximating to those by which we learn our native tongue4 ,the first two objects have certainly been attained2 phonetics is the order of the day1 and both teachers and students have to use phonetic symbols whether they like it or not2 moreover1 the new generation does recognize that the deciphering and analysis of ancient texts is not the primary use of language4 ,the third object has not been so successfully pursued2 indeed1 we are still very far from learning the foreign tongue by the same processes as those by which we learnt our own4 ,the chief reason for this failure was a bad diagnosis of the chief evils of the system hitherto employed4 ,many of the reformers and most of their disciples imagined #8translation' to be the root of the evil1 and so translation in every shape or form was banned2 there must be no bilingualism at all1 and so the mother-tongue must be excluded from the course1 the lessons must be conducted entirely in the foreign language4 ,but translation and the use of the mother-tongue1 as it turns out1 are perfectly harmless and in many cases positively beneficial2 the evil lay in the exaggerated attention which had always been paid to grammatical construction2 that was the dragon that the ,st ,georges might well have slain had not the red herring of #8translation' unfortunately been drawn across the track4 ,as it was1 the red herring was duly run down and annihilated1 and the dragon still lives6 ,the misunderstanding was natural enough2 logicians would quote it as an example of the fallacy of the ,false ,cause4 ,the process of grammatical construction was carried out by means of a vicious form of translation exercise1 and the result was utterly bad4 ,two important reforms might have been effected3 in the first place1 the vicious form of translation might have been replaced by a beneficial form2 and secondly1 new and more worthy uses of translation might have been found4 ,but the act of translation itself 7nay1 the mere use of the mother-tongue7 was made the scapegoat and so paid the penalty4 ,it is now time for a second band of reformers to attack and to destroy the original cause of unsuccessful language-study1 viz4 grammatical construction1 or at any rate to limit it to special cases and to appropriate occasions4 ,it is time1 too1 to rehabilitate in some measure the character of the comparatively innocent process of translation1 and to remove the stigma attached to those who still use the mother-tongue as a vehicular language1 and by so doing proceed naturally enough from the known to the unknown4 ,these are no reactionary suggestions2 they are made in the spirit of the nine essential principles treated in the previous chapters1 and are not in contradiction to the urgent plea set forth in these pages for the recognition and fostering of our #8spontaneous' capacities for language-study4 ,we can afford to ignore no necessary tool in our efforts to teach well and to produce perfect results1 and translation is often a necessary tool1 especially during the process of deriving constructed from memorized matter4 ,we suggest for the moment no tenth principle based on these considerations2 we submit the problem and we more than hint at a solution4 ,it is now time for experimental work on #8ergonic' lines1 and the data to be obtained thereby will enable us to form our conclusions and to embody them among the principles of language-study4 ,,index ,accidence1 a branch of linguistics1 #bd1 #abf ,accuracy1 principle of1 #ba1 #bb1 ,chapter ,,ix ,action-drill1 effect of1 #if ,active or passive work81 #aff ,aim of the student1 #ae1 #af ,archaic speech1 #ed1 #abg ,articulation exercises1 object of1 #bj1 #aba -- -- at what stage to introduce1 #bh1 #aea -- -- description of1 #hi1 #ij -- -- as a means of ensuring accuracy1 #ajh ,articulation1 mental or #8inner1' #ec1 #ic ,attention1 conscious and unconscious1 #afe ,audition1 opportunities for1 #aah1 #aai ,automatism1 necessity for1 #bj1 #ba -- nature of1 #ih1 #ii -- acquired by repetition1 #aja ,bantu languages1 #ch1 #aej ,bewilderment1 elimination of1 #bg1 #adj1 #ada ,children1 and language1 #cg -- bilingual1 #dj1 #da -- ,belgian refugee1 #da -- use spontaneous capacities1 #dc1 #hb -- successful acquirers of foreign languages1 #dd -- studial methods unknown to1 #dh -- not averse to forming new habits1 #hf -- linguistic environment of1 #aaa -- early phonetic work1 #aea -- unconscious of elements in compound words1 #agb ,chinese characters1 in ,japanese writing1 #ec -- -- habit of writing1 with brush1 #he ,chinook jargon1 #ajg ,chorus-work1 #bc1 #abj1 #aba ,classical speech1 studial process necessary in order to learn1 #dh1 #ed ,colloquial speech1 as standard1 #bb -- -- as used by average speaker1 #cf1 #dg -- -- compared with vulgar speech1 #ci -- -- and studial work1 #di1 #ed -- -- and inaccuracy1 #ajf1 #ajg1 #ajh -- -- grammar of1 #ada -- -- used in passages1 #ade ,competition as factor of interest1 #bg1 #add ,complete method1 #afd ,concreteness1 principle of1 #be1 #bf1 ,chapter ,,xii 8,constructed matter10 #cj1 #ca1 ,chapter ,,xvi ,context as method of teaching meanings1 #bf1 #acc ,conversion1 a studial form of work1 #ad1 #di1 #ej -- method for producing constructed matter1 #cj1 #ca -- drills as aid to accuracy1 #aaj1 #aba -- process described1 #agg1 #agh1 #agi ,corrective courses require studial capacities1 #ae -- -- require explanations1 #ba1 #adc -- -- when necessary1 #ee -- -- nature of1 #ef ,course1 length of1 #af1 #fd1 #fe ,course-designing1 #ah1 #ge ,cramming1 #bh1 #aci1 #afj ,cummings1 ,dr ,t4 ,f41 quoted1 #aef ,deaf-mutes1 #ic ,definition as method of teaching meanings1 #bf1 #acc ,depuis1 ,english equivalent of1 #acj1 #aca1 #acc1 #acd ,dialect1 #ci1 #dj #8,dictionary-words1' compared with #8working words' or ergons1 #cj1 #aei1 #agc1 #age ,direct method1 #ca1 #agi1 #ahj1 #aha ---- ---- abuse of1 #abd ---- ---- and concreteness1 #aca1 #acb ,drill-work1 to ensure automatism1 #ba ---- compared with free work1 #bd1 #be1 #aba1 #abh1 #afe1 #aff1 #afg ---- various types of1 #if ---- necessity for1 #acf ---- not necessarily uninteresting1 #acg1 #adf ,ear-training1 necessity for1 #ag1 #gj1 #ajh1 #aeg ---- as initial preparation1 #bj1 #bh1 #fd ---- description of1 #hh1 #hi ---- as a means of reception1 #aah ---- arguments for and against1 #aea ,eclecticism1 #bi1 #afa1 #afb1 #afd ,egger1 ,victor1 quoted1 #ic ,elementary stage1 supreme importance of the1 #af1 #ag1 #ah1 ,chapter ,v ,ergonics1 #abg1 #ahb ,ergonic construction1 compared with grammatical construction1 #cj1 #agc ---- description of1 #age1 #agf1 #agg ,ergons1 #aei1 #afj ,etymology1 a branch of linguistics1 #bd1 #abf ---- of the studial order1 #ej ---- abuse of1 #ea ,etymons1 #aei ,examinations1 #fb1 #fc ,exercises1 articulation1 #bj1 #bh1 #hi1 #ij1 #ajh1 #aba1 #aea1 #aeg ,exercises1 conversion1 #ad1 #cj1 #ca1 #di1 #ej1 #aaj1 #aba1 #agg1 #agh1 #agi ---- fluency1 #ij1 #aba ---- question and answer1 #if1 #aba ,explanations1 abuse of1 #ajb ---- as means of eliminating bewilderment1 #adb1 #adc ---- sometimes helpful1 #afh ---- in foreign language1 #afi ,extensive reading1 compared with intensive reading1 #afe1 #aff1 #afg ,eye-work contrasted with ear-work3 ,ears before eyes1 #bc1 #ec1 #aag ,abuse of eye-work1 #db1 #di1 #gj ,successful results from ear-work1 #dd ,eye-work of the studial order1 #di ,opposing views on subject1 #aej ,facility1 fallacy of1 #aaf ,false gradation1 #aaf1 #aag ,fluency1 exercises1 #ij1 #aba ---- accuracy in1 #ajh ---- immediate or gradual81 #aef1 #aeg1 #aeh ,game-like exercises1 #bg1 #add1 #ade ,german prepositions and cases1 #ajj ---- substitution table1 #agg ,gestures1 #if1 #ace ,gift for language-study1 #ad1 #cc1 #cf1 #dc1 #dd1 #id ,gradation1 principle of1 #bb1 #bc1 #bd1 ,chapter ,x #8,grammatical construction' compared with #8ergonic construction1' #cj1 #agc1 #agd1 #agi1 #aha ,habit-forming and habit-adapting1 principle of1 #bj1 #ba1 #dc1 #hj1 ,chapter ,,viii ---- process1 #ag1 #ai1 #bj1 #ba1 #acf ---- and interest1 #bf ---- in initial stage1 #fi ---- as initial preparation1 #he1 #hf1 #ic ,habits1 utilization of existing1 #ai1 #ba1 #he1 #hf1 #ajd1 #aje ,habits1 bad1 positive and negative1 #gb ---- ---- forming of1 #hd ---- ---- how to prevent1 #aba ---- ---- cause of1 #abb ,heuristic method1 #aci ,idiomatic forms1 #aei ,immediate association1 #bf1 #acb1 #acc1 #acd1 #ace ---- comprehension1 #bj1 #id1 #ie1 #if ---- and prolonged memory1 #bc1 #aai1 #abj ,imperative drill1 #if ,inaccuracy1 two types of1 #bb ,inconsistencies1 seeming1 #afc #8,incorrect' or #8ungrammatical' ,english1 #ci ,incubation1 periods of1 #fe ,initial preparation1 principle of1 #ai1 #bj1 ,chapter ,,vii ,intensive and extensive reading1 #afe1 #aff1 #afg ,interest1 principle of1 #bf1 #bg1 #bh1 ,chapter ,,xiii ---- fallacy in connexion with1 #acg1 #ach1 #aci ,intonation1 when to introduce1 #bh1 #aec1 #aed1 #aeg ---- accuracy in1 #ajh ---- and proportion1 #abc ---- ,english system of1 #cg ,inventions1 evolution in1 #ge1 #gf ,irregularities1 shall we include or exclude8 #bg1 #aee1 #aeh ,isolating habit1 #ag1 #ga ,japanese writing1 #ec ,jespersen1 ,professor1 #gh ,language of ceremony1 #ae ---- of savage peoples1 #cg ,latent capacities for language-study1 #df1 #dg1 #hb ,linguistics1 five chief branches of1 #bd1 #hj1 #abf #8,memorized matter1' #cj1 #ca1 ,chapter ,,xvi ,memorizing key-sentences1 #fd ---- word-groups1 #ga1 #aeg ---- on a large scale1 #ia1 #ib ,memorizing contrasted with theory-learning1 #ajj1 #afe1 #aff1 #afg ---- and fear of tedium1 #aja ,mental reading and writing1 #ej1 #hg1 #ia ,method of discovery1 #aci ,methods of the future1 #gf1 #gg ,mimicry1 #bj1 #ij1 #ia ,morse code1 #afi ,multiple line of approach1 principle of1 #bi1 #cj1 ,chapter ,,xv ,mystery words and sentences1 #adb ,nonsense words1 #hh n4 ,oral repetition1 #aai ,order of progression1 ancient and modern1 #aei1 #afj ,orthography1 a branch of linguistics1 #bd1 #abf ---- not a product of nature1 #eb ---- accuracy in1 #aji1 #aab ---- and proportion1 #abd ,phonetics1 a branch of linguistics1 #bd1 #abf ---- progress made by science of1 #gg ---- ,english and ,french systems compared1 #ajc ---- data furnished by1 #aab ,phonetic dictation1 #hh ,phonetic transcription1 more #8natural' than traditional spelling1 #eb ---- ---- exclusive use of1 #aji ---- ---- and proportion1 #abd ---- ---- the acme of simplicity1 #ada ---- ---- arguments for and against1 #aeb1 #aec1 #aeg ---- ---- and the reform movement1 #ahj ,pidgin-speech1 a form of inaccuracy1 #bb1 #db1 #ee1 #ef1 #aaj1 #aaa ---- as an aim1 #fb ---- better than none1 #gb ---- definition and examples of1 #ajg ---- and constructed matter1 #agc ,plateaux1 #add ,principles of language-teaching1 #ah1 #ai1 ,chapter ,,vi ,progress1 a factor of interest1 #bg1 #adc1 #add ,programme of study1 depends on aim of student1 #ae1 #af1 #fe1 #ff ,proportion1 principle of1 #bd1 #be1 ,chapter ,,xi ,psychologists and language-study1 #gh1 #aji ,question-and-answer exercises1 #if1 #aba ,rate of progress1 #bc1 #fe1 #gc1 #hj1 #aac1 #aad ,rational order of progression1 principle of1 #bh1 #bi1 ,chapter ,,xiv ,reading should be preceded by oral work1 #aai ,reception before production1 #bc1 #aah ,reform movement1 #agi1 #ahj1 #aha ,repetition1 and automatism1 #ba1 #aja ---- and interest1 #ba1 #aja ---- definition of1 #aja ,rules and exceptions1 lists of1 #aae ,saussure1 de1 #gh ,semantics1 a branch of linguistics1 #bd1 #be ---- bad habits in connexion with1 #ga ---- future of1 #gg ---- inaccuracy in1 #aaj ---- data afforded by1 #aab ---- and gradation1 #aae1 #aaf ---- and proportion1 #abg ,shortened forms1 #aef ,shorthand1 and orthography1 #di1 #eb1 #adi ---- not learnt by method of discovery1 #aci ---- text-books not written in shorthand1 #afi ,special or patent method in language-study1 #afd ,spelling1 reformed1 #eb ---- difficulties of1 #ed ,spontaneous capacities for acquiring speech1 #ac1 #ad1 ,chapter ,i ,student and his aim1 #ae1 #af1 ,chapter ,,iv ,studial capacities for acquiring speech1 #ad1 ,chapter ,,ii ---- ---- why we must use1 #ad1 #ae1 ,chapter ,,iii ,substitution process1 #afe ---- table1 #agf n41 #agg ,sweet1 ,dr1 #gh ,syntax1 a branch of linguistics1 #bd1 #abf ---- and gradation1 #aae ,teacher and student1 #bg1 #ade ,theory and practice1 #ai1 #hb1 #hc1 #afh ',tonetics1' #cg ,translation1 as method of teaching meanings1 #bf1 #acb ---- abuse of1 #ag1 #ga1 #ahj ---- a form of conversion1 #di ---- a studial process1 #ej ---- the art of1 #fc ---- or no translation8 #afe1 #aff1 #afg ---- and the reform movement1 #ahj1 #aha ,trial and error1 method of1 #ai1 #hc1 #hd1 #aaa ,unconscious assimilation1 #hg1 #ie1 #afh ,units of speech1 #aaf1 #agj ,unphonetic writing1 #ec ,unwritten ,english grammar1 #ch1 #ci ,variety1 necessity for1 #bg1 #adg ,vicious tendencies1 we must react against1 #ef1 #ajg1 #abd ---- ---- relative immunity from1 #eg1 #eh ---- ---- various types of1 #gj1 #ga1 #gb1 #ajb1 #abb ,vocabulary1 nucleus of1 #aad ---- selection of1 #abg ,word-order1 inaccuracy in1 #aji ,word or sentence first8 #aed1 #aee ,written or spoken language first8 #adi1 #aej 99 99 99 99 99 ,transcriber's ,note ,the alternating left-aligned and indented paragraphs following the heading ,written or spoken first8 were printed in parallel columns4 ,the following apparent errors have been corrected3 p4 #abc variou saspects changed to various aspects p4 #aee #8secondary matter' 7i4e changed to #8secondary matter' 7i4e4