The scientific study & teaching of languages : a review of the factors and problems connected with the learning and teaching of modern languages with an analysis of the various methods which may be adopted in order to attain satisfactory results

Front matter

THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY TEACHING OF LANGUAGES

THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY & TEACHING OF LANGUAGES

A REVIEW OF THE FACTORS AND PROBLEMS CONNECTED WITH THE LEARNING AND TEACHING OF MODERN LANGUAGES WITH AN ANALYSIS OF THE VARIOUS METHODS WHICH MAY BE ADOPTED IN ORDER TO ATTAIN SATISFACTORY RESULTS

Contents

F'aRT _ ^ PAGE

I. INTRODUCTORY 19

II. THE NATURE OF LANGUAGE 29

Section 1. — Does the science of language-study exist? (P. 19.)

Section 2. — Evidence of various kinds shows that this subject has not yet attained the scientific stage, but is so far in the experimental or empirical stage. (P. 19.)

Section 3. — ^It is time that language-study should be placed on a scientific foimdation, and to that effect it would be well to institute a general inquiry into the whole question. (P. 21.)

Section 4. — ^The results of our inquiry must necessarily be of interest to method-writers, to teachers, and to students. (P. 24.)

PART II ; THE NATURE OF LANGUAGE Section 5. — ^Language is a series of natural phenomena. (P. 29.)

Section 6. — ^Language is distinct from the art of literature. (P. 30.)

Section 7. — Language consists essentially of lexicological units popularly supposed to be words, but the term word is vague and impossible of definition. (P. 32.)

Section 8. — ^What is called a word generally proves to be but an accident of graphic continuity. (P. 37. )

Section 9. — Let us rather speak of Lexicological Units, and

II note that they may be Monologs, Polylogs, Miologs, or Alogisms. (P. 89.)

Section 10. — ^Let us classify these units according to the respective principles of Morphology (with its subdivisions), Semantics, and Ergonics. (P. 42.)

Part III : Preliminary Factors Of Linguistic Pedagogy

Section 11 — A complete and ideal language method has a fourfold object, and this is to enable the student^ in the shortest possibh time and with the least effort, so to assimilate the materials of which the foreign language is composed that he is thereby enabled to understand what he hears and reads, and also to eirpress himself correctly both by the oral and written mediums. (P. 47.)

Section 12. — ^In order to determine the best programme for a given student, we must take into consideration four subjective factors : (a) The student ; (b) his previous study of the language ; (c) his preliminary equipment ; (d) his incentive. (P. 48.)

Section 13. — ^We must also take into consideration five objective factors : {a) The language to be studied ; (6) the orientation of the study ; (c) the extent of the study ; {d) the degree of the study ; (e) the manner of the study. (P. 58.)

Part IV : The Principles Of Linguistic Pedagogy

When we are in possession of full information concerning the student and his aim we may prescribe for him an appropriate programme of study. This programme will be drawn up more or less in accordance with a series of principles which we may term the Principles of Linguistic Pedagogy. (P. 71.)

Section 14. — The Fourfold Aim of the Student. In all but special cases the ultimate aim of the student is presumed to be fourfold — namely,

(a) The understanding of the language as spoken by natives.

IS

(b) The understanding of the language as written by

natives.

(c) The speaking of the language as spoken by natives.

(d) The writing of the language as written by natives.

Section 15. — Segregation, In order to exclude confusion and misunderstanding, during the initial period of ^nscious study the phonetic, orthographic, etymological, semantic, and ergonic aspects of language must be segregated from each other and taught independently. In the process of subconscious study, and in the later periods of conscious study, such segregation is neither possible nor desirable. (P. 72.)

Section 16. — Active v. Passive Work, Study may be active or passive. The young child only comes to speak his native language after an ‘ incubation period,’ during which he has passively received and stored up in his mind a considerable quantity of linguistic material. The same process may profitably be employed by the adult person in the study of foreign languages. (P. 75.)

Section 17. — Semanticizing (i.e, the conveying of meanings). There are four different manners or modes of conveying to the pupil the meaning of a given unit.

(A) By material association — i,e, associating the unit

with that which is designated by it.

(B) By translation— associating the unit with the

equivalent native unit.

(C) By definition — i.e, associating the unit with its defini-

tion or paraphrase {i,e, its polylogical equivalent).

(D) By context — i,e. giving examples of its use. (P. 77.)

Section 18. — Learning by Heart (i.e. memorizing or catenizing). Learning by heart is the basis of all linguistic study, for every sentence ever uttered or written by anybody has either been learnt by heart in its entirety or else has been composed (consciously or subconsciously) from smaller units, each of which must at one time have been learnt by heart. We may term primary matter ail units learnt by heart integrally, and secondary matter all units built up or derived by the pupil from primary matter, (P, 103.)

Section 19. — Gradation. In order that the pupil may proceed by the line of least resistance, he should pass from the known to the imknown by easy stages, each of which will serve as a preparation for the one immediately following. (P. 119.)

Section 20. — The Microcosm. In order that the pupil may reach the ‘ point oi transition ’ with the least delay, the vocabulary must be selected with the greatest care and perspicacity ; it should include none but the commonest and most char^teristic units, representing the most important ergonic classes. A vocabulary of this nature may be termed the Quintessence or the Microcosm of the language. This Microcosm should be formed and organized systematically in accordance with and as a compromise between the principles of Frequency, Ergonic Combination, Concreteness, Proportion, and General Expediency. (P. 122,)

Section 21. — Subconscious Comprehension. The pupil’s powers of subconscious (or immediate) comprehension will be developed concurrently with his conscious study of the microcosm, and quite independently of the matter contained therein. (P. 131.)

Part V : An Ideal Standard Programme

Having reviewed the main principles of Linguistic Pedagogy, we will now endeavour to draw up a working programme embodying the conclusions suggested by our inquiry. We will consider as a standard programme that which will prove to be the most suitable for school-children. It will comprise the study of the foreign language (which we will assume to be French) in its oral and written aspects with a view to active and passive use. The whole period of study will be divided into three stages. (P. 138.)

Section 22, — ^The first or elementary stage, of the duration of at least one term, will consist of :

(a) Easy exercises in subconscious comprehension.

(5) Imperative drill.

(c) Easy articulation exercises.

(d) Easy exercises in the use of phonetic symbols.

(e) Simple talks on the five lexicological theories. (P. 138.)

Section 23. — The second or intermediate stage, of the duration of from one to three years (according to the radius of the microcosm), will consist of :

(a) More advanced exercises in subconscious compre-

hension.

(b) Articulation and fluency exercises.

(c) The assimilation of primary matter by means of

various catenizing devices.

(d) The production of secondary matter by means of a

large number of varied exercises based on etymology,

semantics, and ergonics.

During this stage the traditional spelling will be introduced and taught by means of various types of orthoepic exercises. (P. 168.)

Section 24. — The third or advanced stage, of the duration of from one to three years, will complete the scholastic training of the pupil. It will consist of :

(a) Subconscious work (rapid reading, mental and oral ;

listening to talks, stories, and lectures).

(b) Free composition (descriptions of objects, pictures, and

events).

(c) Free translation (French into English and English

into French).

(d) Conversation.

(e) Systematic study of texts. (P. 198.)

Section 25. — We may append here a comprehensive and descriptive list of most of the t5^es of exercises which will be found of use during the three stages. While many of them are suitable for work in the class-room, they will generally be utilized as material for homework and for private study. (P. 207.)

Part VI ; Special Programmes

Section 26. — ^In that part of this book devoted to the Preliminary Factors of Linguistic Pedagogy, we have seen that no one programme can possibly be ideally suitable for all classes of students ; hence, in addition to the Standard Programme that we have just described, we must be prepared to draw up Special Programmes. LimiUd Programmes oi yaxious are de-

signed to meet the special requirements of those whose aim is less than the four aspects of a giv^ language. (P. 225.)

Section 27. — A Documentary Programme is designed to meet the special requirements of those whose aim is not the assimilation of a language in any dr all of its aspects, but a documentary knowledge only. (P. 228.)

Section Corrective Programmes are designed to meet the special requirements of those who have previously studied the language in so disproportionate a manner that one or more of the four aspects has, or have been, totally or partially neglected, or of those who have previously studied the language in so defective a manner that the unsound knowledge so acquired will have to be converted into sound knowledge. (P. 230.)

Part VII : The Functions Of The Teacher

Section 29. — The first qualifications of the expert teacher are a knowledge of the foreign language and of the student’s native tongue, and the ability to organize the programme, to choose the appropriate material and the most appropriate means of conveying and of inculcating it. (P. 238.)

Section 30. — Another function of the teacher is to furnish explanations. (P. 243.)

Section 31. — ^The vehicular language for all explanatory matter should be that which is best known by the student. (P. 249.)

Section 32. — ^The teacher should foster and encourage the pupils’ capacities of visualization by adopting for explanatory purposes the principle of visual correlation. (P. 251.)

Section 33. — Fiuliher functions of the teacher are :

(a) To cause or to stimulate the pupil to work.

(h) To give the pupil opportunities of hearing the language spoken, and to act the part of second person in a conversation.

(c) To act as examiner, to award marks, and to correct errors. (P. 261.)

Section 34. — A very important function of the teacher is to react against the six vicious tendencies to which all students are more or less subject. (P. 263.)

Section 35. — In order to perform effective work, the teacher (or student) should have at his disposal an adequate number of the right sort of instruments in the form of a practical library for reference and other purposes. (P. 265.)

Part VIII : the student

Section 86. — ^There are two categories of students who are necessarily the architects of their own programme or method :

{a) Those who are unable to command the services of any teacher whatever.

(h) Those to whom the services of casual or non-expert teachers are alone available. (P. 268.)

Section 37. — ^The relations between teacher and student in point of authority can only be determined in accordance with certain delicate factors, among which are the relative degree of expertness possessed or claimed by either, the particular end that the student has in view, and the inducement which the pupil is prepared to offer in order to secure the unconditional and unqualified services of a docile teacher. (P. 272.)

Section 38. — The least satisfactory type of student is the one who has neither confidence in the programme suggested by the teacher nor the capacity for working out one of his own. He is

B the source of constant trouble, and we should do well to advise him to seek another teacher. (P. 274.)

Part IX : Conclusion

Section 39. — ^May all those who have followed us in our inquiry so unite and co-ordinate their efforts that language-teaching and language-study shall be placed once for all on a stable and scientific basis. (P. 281.)

THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY &> TEACHING OF LANGUAGES

Part I Introdpctoey

Section 1.— Does the science of language-study exist ?

Does the science of language-study exist ? “Of course it exists ! ” some readers may answer. “ Was it not initiated, created, discussed, fought for, and finally established by the leaders of the Reform Movement years ago ? Is not the principle of the Direct Method an accomplished fact ? Have we not witnessed the introduction, growth, and triumph of the Phonetic principle ? Do we not find the text-books of the science of language-study in every teacher’s library ? Has it not been proved that grammar should be taught inductively, that translation is a delusion, that the dictionary is a snare ? Has not “ the aunt of the Dutchman in the garden of the baker’s brother ” been consigned to the limbo of forgotten things ? Are we not living in the age of object-lessons, pictures, and the total exclusion of the mother tongue ? Are we not . . . ? ” Just so, just so ; all these things have come to pass, and many others also ; reforms have been effected, many bad things (and some good things) have been swept away, many good things (and some bad things) have apparently come to stay.

Section 2.— Evidence of various kinds shows that this subject has not yet attained the scientific stage, but is so far in the experimental or empirical stage.

If the science of language-study exists and is generally recognized in the same way that other sciences are recognized, then the majority of trained teachers will be found to be working on the same lines, differing only in minor details. But the most superficial inquiry tends to show that the methods of teaching adopted in any one country are almost as numerous as the teachers themselves ; that each conscientious teacher has his own particular views on the subject and is prepared to maintain them against all comers ; that the divergences of views are not on questions of detail, but are based on totally different conceptions of the whole problem.

If the science of language-study exists, it must have been founded in accordance with the scientific method, which is :

(a) To collect isolated facts and factors in such numbers as to cover the whole field of inquiry.

(h) To classify, examine, and correlate them.

(c) To draw from them certain conclusions upon which

the fundamental principles may be established and stated in categoric terms.

(d) To confirm and justify these principles by putting them

to the test of actual and continual practice.

Has this been done ?

If the study of language is a science, countless isolated facts covering the whole field of inquiry must have been collected, sifted, and correlated ; valid conclusions must have been drawn in such a manner that the principles of the science have stood forth, each clear, unequivocal, and unassailable.

If the study of language is a science, a scientific terminology must have been formed and must exist, consisting of an adequate number of terms both old and new, all accurately defined by the creators of such terms and perfectly understood by all who use them.

If the study of language is a science, then definite and complete answers must exist to a vast number of vexed questions of which the following are specimens :

What is the function of the teacher ? — of the pupil ? — of the book ? — of the exercise ? What do you understand by Translation ? — by Grammar ? — by Semantics ? — ^by Function ? — by Words ? — by Direct Method ? How many types of exercise

INTRODUCTORY 21

exist, and how may they be classified ? What are the main differences between a ‘ preventive ’ and a ‘ curative ’ language course ? What are the various vicious tendencies toward which all language-learners are more or less inclined, and which are the most efficacious means of reacting against each ? Under what conditions is the use of the mother tongue permissible ? — ^reprehensible ? On what principles should the author of a language method choose the material to be presented and taught ? To what extent should the reference-book and language method be combined ? Problem-solving v. Memorizing the solutions to problems : when should the pupils do either, and why ? Upon what axiom must we base all considerations of language-study ?

If the study of language is a science, then where is the text-book which will give us the answers, the true answers, the logically reasoned answers to these and to hundreds of similar questions of equal importance ?

If we follow out this train of reasoning and reflect seriously on the varied aspects suggested by the above questions, we must inevitably come to the conclusion that the study of language learning has not yet emerged from the empirical stage, that we are still groping our way in a labyrinth of factors the extent and nature of which we are only just dimly beginning to realize, that our progress is hindered at every step by undefined and ambiguous terms, that our way is beset by side issues, down which we wander and lose ourselves anew.

The science of language-study does not exist, but it is high time that it should exist.

Section 3.— It is time that language-study should be placed on a scientific foundation, and to that effect it would be well to institute a general inquiry into the whole question.

The main object of this book is to sketch out the lines upon which research work might well be undertaken, to suggest a suitable terminology, to set forth the data which the writer has collected over a period of sixteen years’ work, both as teacher and as student, and to state the conclusions which he has drawn from them.

To lay the foundations of the science of language-study it will not be necessary to make new discoveries ; it will be quite sufficient to collect factors which are perfectly well known and to co-ordinate them into one comprehensive system. Of data we have a sufficiency ; philologists tell us what language is, phoneticians can give us the most accurate information concerning sounds and the methods of teaching them, most of the essential facts of grammar can be explained clearly by grammarians, and the nature of words, including their etymological, morphological, semantic, and ergonic aspects, is already known to the lexicologist. Modem pedagogy has shown us the value of concretization, and psychologists can supply us with all the data we require concerning the laws of memory. Our new science will consist of a compilation of facts culled from these several domains, but placed in such order and with such observance of proportion that the inevitable conclusions will suggest themselves. If our facts are right, and if no essential fact is missing, our conclusions must be valid. Most of our facts will so bear the imprint of obviousness that their citation will border on the trivial, and yet it is only by insisting on the perfectly obvious that we can arrive not merely at dogmatisms, but at valid conclusions.

Our survey of the problems must be on a most comprehensive basis; we must not be content with stating formulae for the teaching of French to English children; our outlook must embrace the study of any aspect of any foreign language by students of all ages and nationalities. We shall certainly not discover any one royal road to success, but we may in all probability determine a number of paths, each being the shortest and easiest route to the particular end toward which it is intended to lead us.

In comparing various processes of study or tricks of pedagogy we must be careful not always to apply them to problems that we have already overcome, but to test them by problems in languages which are strange to us. A difficulty once overcome appears in its new perspective of so simple a nature that we wonder however it could have seemed so formidable. Those who use French verbs or German adjectives with that complete

INTRODUCTORY unconsciousness that can only result from a perfect mastery fail to realize the months of patient effort devoted to their study. Most of us have the illusion that these and other things came to us naturally and automatically. That is why the language that we are learning always seems far more difficult than any of those which we have already learnt. It has often been stated quite seriously that some of the more modern forms of artificial language (in reality the quintessence of logic and simplicity) are more difficult of acquisition than German or Russian. The fancied facility of difficulties overcome by us can only be compared with the fancied difficulties of problems in store for us.

A teacher is impatient because a pupil cannot memorize a French sentence in five minutes ; let that same teacher endeavour in five minutes to memorize a sentence of corresponding length in Arabic or Chinese, and he will discover that his impatience was ill warranted.

The familiar must necessarily give an impression of facility, just as the unfamiliar conveys an impression of extreme difficulty.

For this reason the reader should not consider as superfluous the various devices and exercises suggested as methods of overcoming certain difficulties in French or any other language perfectly known to him ; before pronouncing them efforts to enf oncer des portes ouvertes, let him apply them to the mastery of problems pertaining to Finnish or Swahili.

Our inquiry might take the form of a comprehensive account of all the language methods in use in all coimtries and in all ages ; it might include detailed reports gathered from an analytic examination of the various linguistic programmes followed in schools both in England and abroad. But in view of the extremely divergent character of all methods of language-study, and of the seeming absence of any really fundamental principles, it will probably be more to the point if we first endeavour to ascertain the basic principles upon which an ideal method should be founded.

Section 4.— The results of our inquiry must necessarily be of interest to method-writers, to teachers, and to students.

The science of language-study must necessarily be of the highest interest to all engaged in the teaching or the learning of foreign languages.

These fall under three headings : (1) Writers of methods ; (2) teachers ; (3) students.

In most methods or text-books destined to convey the material of a language to the student we find a preface in which the author implies that his particular work is superior to all others.

If we submit to a critical analysis the various arguments employed and the various reasons adduced, we must come to the conclusion that every one of these works is weU meant and that the intentions of each author are admirable.

Each claims to follow the line of least resistance, and each asserts or more modestly hints that his way is the one true way.

One will show that his method is based on Grammar and must therefore be sound.

Another will call attention to his system of imitated pronunciation, or ‘ phonetics,’ as he miscalls it.

Others will confess that no written characters can possibly convey any notion of the true pronunciation of a language and therefore abandon all idea of making them do so.

In another case the author is proud to annoimce that as translation is an untrustworthy process, the meanings of the words are given by definition and the use of the mother tongue entirely avoided.

In the contrary case stress is laid on the fact that every word is accompanied by its translation.

Some of these books are based on literary and etymological considerations.

Others give such a full treatment to the phonetic aspect that all the other aspects seem to have been forgotten.

Others claim to teach the most difficult language within a stated period ; six months it may be, or six weeks. These seem to be based on the assumption that the pupil will be

INTRODUCTORY 25

prepared to work twelve hours a day and is incapable of forgetting a single fact once read.

We find guides and manuals, companions and helps,* all implicitly claiming to be based on common-sense principles.

This provokes the obvious question : What are common - sense principles ? Is it sufficient for an author to compile a list of some few thousand words and their ‘ translations,’ supply a few dozens of fragmentary ‘ rules,’ and garnish with a hundred or so ‘ exercises ’ ?

Has the method-maker done his duty by taking some text more or less literary, adorning it with comments and ‘ notes,’ and appending a vocabulary ? Is it sufficient to furnish the rules of grammar and syntax and to call these the ‘ directions for use ’ of the language in question ?

A favourite proceeding seems to be to work out a number of formulae (unknown to the native users of the language themselves) and to invite the students to convert these into living speech. A few examples are thrown in as a makeweight ; not many, for fear of dulling the intellectual faculties of the pupil and tempting him to memorize instead of to \/ think !

Is it a common-sense principle to treat the student as though he were a child about to embark on the study of his mother tongue ?

Many of these methods are not at all badly composed ; some of them are excellent. As far as they go, some of them succeed in their aims. Some people do succeed in learning foreign languages by their aid.

But a careful analysis will bring to our minds one evident conclusion : that there exist no generally accepted principles at all. There appears to be no distinct notion in the minds of the authors as to what the function of a language method is, no conception of the real work it is destined to perform and at what point the student is presumed to fly with his own wings. We gain an impression of praiseworthy efforts clashing one with another and of a general haziness and lack of co-ordinated system.

It is not astonishing, after all, that this should be so. The qualifications of a method-writer are often no more than a knowledge of two languages and the desire to make a book.

A missionary goes to some distant land and spends some years there ipi the exercise of his calling. Incidentally he learns the native language, an imwritten idiom, little known, one of those dialects which, in the absence of any dictionary or other written documentation, has to be ‘ picked up.’ Linguistic work is not his profession ; he is no phonetician and his knowledge of linguistics is based on recollections of his Latin and Greek grammars. With laudable endeavour and patience he will write a book for the benefit of those who come after him.

What can be expected of such a book ? In other professions many years of intensive training are required, training in theory and practice based on accepted and incontrovertible facts ; in the profession of method- writing no training at all would appear necessary.

\^lien the author is not a phonetician, and is ignorant of the simplest laws of lexicology, when he has no clear idea of the functions of a method, when he is no psychologist and ignores the laws of memory, when he is even ignorant of the true nature of language, is it surprising that the result of his labours should savour more of rule of thumb than of science, and should bear on every page the mark of the amateur ?

And yet it certainly must be possible to write a language method on scientific principles ; it must be possible to discover beyond any doubt what really is the line of least resistance ; it should surely be feasible to codify the himdreds of complex factors in the problem and to arrive at certain conclusions concerning them.

The reformation and standardization of language-study must be effected primarily through the writer of methods, for a rational book, properly conceived and efficiently worked out, will show the teacher what to do, and when and how to do it, and the teacher in his turn will convey the results to the pupils.

For those reasons, for the sake of progress in a littleimderstood subject, for the sake of ‘ unified knowledge,’ it is important that method-makers should come to an understanding ; that the ‘ ploughing of lonely furrows ’ should be replaced

INTRODUCTORY by co-ordinated efforts to discover the b^t means and to adapt these means to the right end.

The teacher is often himself a method-writer ; if he is not, he is generally a method-critidzer, for it is comparatively rare to find a teacher in complete agreement with the views of the author of the book he uses. The function of a teacher, however, differs from that of a method-writer. The difference bears an analogy to that existing between the tactician and the strategist.

The method-maker may work at his writing-desk or in his arm-chair ; the teacher works in front of his class. It is the latter who is the personal link between the chooser of material and those who are destined to assimilate it.

Many factors in language teaching concern the teacher alone ; the question of speed, the problems of cohesion, of stimulus, and of articulation are more particularly his. It is he also who has to carry out in actual practice the principles of concretization, of memorizing, of catenizing, and a host of other essential pedagogic processes. And he, like the method-writer, seems to work according to no fixed principles. He chooses the text-book, works out a programme, presents matter, provides exercises and tests, corrects mistakes, blames, congratulates or encourages, often without any clear notion of any determined starting-point or of any precise idea as to the particular end toward which he is supposed to be working. He cannot well do otherwise ; if he works unsystematically it is because there exist few or no principles in system. If he suffers from a lack of training, it is because there exists no school or institution for the training of teachers.