Linguistic development and education

Front matter

Class -

Book_x.(li^

COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT

Preface

A number of years ago the writer of this volume, being then in charge of the model department of a training school, undertook a series of experiments relating to the teaching of language in its various aspects. At that time he searched diligently for literature treating of the psychology of linguistic development, but aside from a few incomplete studies by Preyer and others he could find little that proved of much service. It seemed to him then that it would be worth while to carefully observe a child from the beginning of expressive activity on until he acquired a mastery of his mother tongue in its vocal and auditory forms, and endeavor to determine what psychological principles were illustrated in this development. Soon the opportunity was presented to make such observations, not only upon one child, but in due course upon several children, with the result that it has been possible for the author to gather considerable material upon various phases of mental development as revealed in linguistic function. In the first part of the present volume it has been the aim to organize this material, to compare it with that gained by others working in this field, and to indicate in detail the principles of mental development which may be deduced from it, and which seem to explain it.

VIU PREFACE

In the beginning of this investigation it was the intention to carry it along only until the children specially observed reached the school age, when they would begin to study the language arts. However, this point having been reached, it seemed that they had but just entered the most interesting and important stage of linguistic development, viewed from the standpoint either of psychology or of education. So it was decided to keep on with the observations and experiments until the older children particularly had acquired facility in reading, writing, spelling, and composition. The author did some of the experimental teaching himself, and the rest was done under his direct observation. At the same time the linguistic progress of a number of the companions and schoolmates of these children, who were taught by somewhat different methods, was noted; and the organization of the material gained in this way, and its interpretation from the standpoints of contemporary educational and developmental psychology, comprises most of the second part of the volmne. During the past year especially the author investigated the methods of language teaching in schools at home and abroad, and he has incorporated the results of his observations, with criticisms, in the last chapters of the book.

It will be apparent at a glance that an attempt has been made to cover a large field, so that a view of linguistic development as a whole might be gained. Of necessity.

PREFACE IX

many details, in themselves of interest and importance, alike for psychology and for education, had to be omitted, and general principles only developed. It has not been easy to avoid dwelling too long upon minutiae, considering the scope of the task to be accomplished; and the author has doubtless not succeeded in all cases, though he has endeavored so to do. The material collected would have permitted of a more minute treatment of most topics, and if it seems desirable this may be undertaken later.

With a view to assisting the reader in grasping readily the more important principles discussed, a liberal use has been made of sectional and marginal headings, and summaries at the close of each chapter. It has been the constant aim also to be temperate in the citation of illustrative examples, so that one might not lose his way amid a confusion of concrete instances.

The volume has been carefully read in manuscript by Professor W. C. Bagley, and by the author's colleagues, Professor Walter F. Dearborn and Mr. Frederick W. Roe, to each of whom many thanks are due for helpful suggestions and criticisms.

M. V. O'SHEA.

Madison, Wisconsin, August, 1907.

Chapter I Page

Pre-linguistic Expression i

1. Reflex Expressional Activity i

The undifferentiated squall — The beginning of particularization — The physical qualities of early vocal activity — Agreement among children in the first vocal combinations — The motive of expression at the outset.

2. Beginnings of Purposeful Expressional Activity . . ii

The appearance of awareness of the environment — The advent of the smile — The first steps in language proper — The late acquisition of conventional words.

3. First Efforts at Interpretation of Expression . . .17

Response to vocal timbre — Response to facial expression. Summary.

Chapter II

1. Spontaneous Vocal Activity 22

Voice play — The development of voluntary out of spontaneous vocal activity — The linguistic ability of the year-old child — The visual factor in the child's early linguistic imitations.

2. Linguistic Invention 30

The distinction between play and invention, xi

XU CONTENTS

PAGE

3. Interpretation of Conventional Language * > * » 33 The understanding of words as symbols — The repertoire of children of different ages.

Summary.

CHAPTER III Parts of Speech in Early Linguistic Activity • • • 39

1. Sentence-words 39

Methods of classifying the child's vocabulary — Sentence words in adult and primitive speech — Grammatical function performed by gesture, etc. — The child's attitude toward things at first.

2. Nominal and Verbal Function 46

Substantive and predicate function undifferentiated at first — The function of the exclamation — Imitation of differentiated speech without differentiation in thought — Omission of the copula in early sentence construction.

3. Interjectional Function 54

The views of observers — The interjectional element in much of the child's speech.

CHAPTER IV Parts of Speech in Early Linguistic Activity (concluded) . 57

1. Adjectival and Adverbial Function 57

Requirements for the correct use'of the "modifier" — The development of particularizing function — The adjectives earliest used — The development of adverbial function.

2. Prepositional and Conjunctional Function .... 64

The absence of connective terms in the child's speech — The emergence of prepositional elements — Grammatical vs. psychological function in the use of prepositions — The appearance of conjunctional function — Conjunctions earliest employed.

3. Pronominal Function 73

The late differentiation of the pronoun — Pronominal function first discharged by pantomime, etc. — From pantomime

CONTENTS XIU

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through the nominative to the pronominative stage — The order of development in the use of pronouns. Summary.

CHAPTER V Inflection, Agreement, and Word Order .... 86

X. The Function of Inflection 86

The specialization of sentence elements — Specialization of the parts of speech themselves to express special relations.

2. Inflection of the Noun and Pronoun 89

Three factors operating in the child's use of inflected forms — Inflection of the noun — Inflection of the pronoun.

3. Inflection of the Verb 93

Special difficulties in mastering verbal forms — Difficulties with tense forms — The adjectival character of some tense forms — The development of particular tense forms — Mode in early speech — Auxiliary verbs — Inflecting nouns so that they may discharge verbal function.

4. Inflection of the Adjective and the Adverb . . . 105

Comparative function in the beginning — The first inflected forms — The superlative degree.

5. Agreement in Early Speech .110

Violations of the principles of concord — The relative pronoun.

6. Word Order in Early Sentence Construction . . .113

The lack of uniformity in word order — The sequence of elementary ideas expressed in the sentence.

7. Word Order in Negative Constructions . . . .117

The affirmative form precedes the negative — The double negative.

Summary.

Chapter VI

I. Inheritance of Meanings 124

Linguistic inheritance is of a social, not a physical, character — Evolutionary changes in meanings.

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PAGE

2. Extent and Content of Meaning in the Child's Symbols . 127

Abstract symbols often have concrete meaning for the child at the outset — Or else their significance is apprehended in only a very indefinite way — Concrete terms commonly have far too broad extent in the beginning — And again they may have very narrow extent — Parallelism in evolution of ideas and linguistic ability.

3. Reaction of the Alter in determining Meanings . • 137

The principle illustrated — The moulding of words into proper shape — The child's vocabulary as a growing organism.

4. Apperception in the Gaining of New Symbols . . . 142

The general principle of apperception appUed to linguistic experiences — Meanings of specialized terms are determined in part by general attitudes.

5. Meaning as felt before it becomes Definitive . . . 146

The child's " I know, but I cannot tell " is often psychologically true — Illustrations of principles.

6. Some Special Difficulties in Meaning . . . .158

Difficulties with words descriptive of time relations — Difficulties with particular constructions.

Summary.

Chapter VII

1. The Attitude of the Novice toward Reading . . .163

Visual verbal forms have little if any significance or individuality for the novice — Interest in reading is not native to the child.

2. Initial Processes in mastering Reading . . . .168

Language-unities in reading — Visual perception of verbal forms pecuHarly difficult — The exploitation of literal forms — The motor factor in gaining word-ideas — Historic schemes for teaching the alphabet.

CONTENTS XV

PAGE

3. Language-unities in teaching Reading . . . • i77

Wastefulness of the alphabetic method — Relation of word and sentence in the beginning — Lower unities must be gained as functional in higher ones — The mastery of the less important words in sentence-unities.

4. Learning the Functions of Literal Symbols . . .186

The purpose of " phonic analysis " — The danger of formal phonic drill — The method of phonic analysis. Summary.

Chapter VIII

1. Automatic Facility in Graphic Expression . . . .194

The character of graphic word-ideas — The method of attaining automaticity in execution.

2. Imagery Functioning in Graphic Expression . . .196

Visual imagery — Kinsesthetic imagery — Auditory and vocal imagery — The interdependence of linguistic modes as revealed in aphasias — The method of teaching spelling. 3 Psychological Relation of Reading and Spelling . . 203

The acquisition of visual is more rapid than of graphic word-ideas — Phonic analysis in spelling — Teaching spelling incidentally.

Summary.

CHAPTER IX Development of Meaning for Word-ideas in Reading . .211

1. Coalescence of Word- and Meaning-ideas . . . .211

The special problem — Conditions favoring coalescence — Reading without translation — The introduction of symbols must not go beyond the learner's range of experience — Content cannot determine wholly the introduction of word-ideas,

2. Acquisition of Meaning by Definition 219

The process of learning by defining — The most economical method of gaining meanings.

XVI CONTENTS

PAGE

3. Oral Ks. ** Silent " Reading 223

Simplifying the processes involved in reacting upon words — In reading, eye-mindedness must be cultivated. Summary.

Chapter X

1. Efficiency as Special, not General 232

Profound thought but dull expression — Efficiency limited to special situations.

2. The Essential Factor in the Development of Efficiency . 236

Efficiency due in a measure to native endowment — Effective expression in group activities the first requisite.

3. Development of Efficiency through the General Activities

of the School 241

The shortcomings of the school in linguistic training — Linguistic training in all the studies of the school.

4. Development of Efficiency through the Study of Linguistic

Forms 246

The methods employed in the schools — Study and use a unitary process — The merits and defects of "Tell it in your own words " — The influence of models generally declines after adolescence — Linguistic training in the secondary school.

5. Effect of Reading upon Efficiency 253

Reading brings verbal elements to focal attention — It soon becomes more complex than speech — The conditions under which reading will influence oral expression.

Summary.

Chapter XI

I. The Interdependence of the Several Linguistic Modes . 261 The relation of writing to speech — Does skill in one mode insure skill in a different one? — The first step in gaining

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PAGH

written expression — Graphic expression is comparatively slow and clumsy.

2. Simple t^s. Complex Units in Graphic Expression . 268

Structural vs. psychological simplicity — The problem of the language-unities in teaching written expression.

3. Punctuation 273

The attitude of the novice toward punctuation — The development of a feeling for punctuation.

Summary.

Chapter XII

1. Esthetic Function of Language 27

The Spencerian theory respecting style — It undervalues the aesthetic function of language — Expression often secures reaction without imagery.

2. Figurative Expression . . . . .... 285

The development of a dynamic style — Factors which influence figurative activity — The study of figurative expression — Method of training for efficiency in written expression — The influence of temperament and feeling upon style.

Sumjnary.

Chapter XIII

1. The Attitude of the Individual toward a Foreign Tongue 298

The child learns the native tongue because he has need of it — But usually he feels no need of the foreign tongue — As ordinarily taught, the foreign tongue must be translated into the native tongue — Different purposes in teaching ancient and modern tongues.

2. Economy and Efficiency in the Mastery of a Foreign

Tongue 304

The auditory and vocal forms should be gained at the outset — Gaining a " reading knowledge " only of a foreign

XVm CONTENTS

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tongue — Composition may prove a hindrance to reading — Formal grammar and rhetoric in the study of a foreign tongue — Intensiveness vs. extensiveness in the reading of a foreign tongue — Literal translation of a foreign tongue. 3. Lessons from Europe in the teaching of Language . . 320

Practical vs. philological values — Beginning the study of language early — The disadvantages of early grammatical study — Naturalness in teaching the classic languages.

Summary.

INDEX 333

PART I

NON-REFLECTIVE PROCESSES IN LIN- GUISTIC DEVELOPMENT

Chapter I

I. Reflex Expressional Activity It is frequently remarked by students of mental develop- The undiirer-

^ entiated

ment that when the child sets out upon the journey of squaii. life, he finds himself in possession of a quite effective mode of reveahng his simple needs. His earliest vocal expression, as poet and philosopher and scientist * have observed, is a cry, in which there is little if any modulation or intonation or " distinctive timbre." It is only a wail or " squall " which he employs in an undifferentiated way to express all of his experiences. But really the infant may be said to have but one sort of experience — discomfort — which moves him to express himself. During the first days he is ill-adjusted to his new environments,

* Sigismund, who was one of the first systematic observers of infant development, makes this observation in his "Kind und Welt": "Sobald das Kind zur Welt geboren ist, fangt es an gellcnd zu schreien."

B I and his cry ^ is his instinctive method of directing attention to his distress. And it is probable that at the outset the varieties of discomfort which he experiences, or the sources thereof, are not distinguished one from another; hunger is not discriminated from rough clothing, for instance, nor colic from cold.

The But in due course — usually before the fourth week is

beginning of

particuiari- completed^ — the trained ear can detect certain slight

zation. ^ ^

variations in the primordial squall, special needs being denoted by characteristic intonation or timbre. It is possible as early as the fifth week, speaking generally, to distinguish the hunger squall from that expressive of other kinds of discomfort, so that an observant mother can tell whether her babe should have food, or medicine, or the services of the nurse simply. Perez reports a child who as early as the fifteenth day revealed hunger by a special modification of the original cry; but most observers have noted the beginning of differentiation of the primitive wail at a somewhat later period. Mrs. HalP noticed a peculiar timbre in the voice of her nine- weeks-old child when he was impatient, a different one when he was

^ The poets have attached a variety of significations to the primitive cry. Some have said that it is a shout of joy, others that it is a protest, others that it is a song of triumph, and so on. But students, as Preyer, Tracy, and Major, for instance, regard it as a purely reflex act, without meaning so far as the infant is concerned.

^ See, for instance. Major, "First Steps in Mental Growth," p. 284.

^ See the Child Study Monthly, May, 1896-April, 1897.

hungry, and a still different one when he was appealing to her for aid or care. Darwin ^ thought his boy voluntarily modulated his voice in the eleventh week to indicate that he desired a certain object. Compayre ^ has not observed a clear differentiation of the various cries until toward the sixth month. President Hall ^ noted sixty-three variations in his son's vocal expressions before he was five months old. It is probable that the cry of hunger and that of colic are earliest individualized; the latter is seemingly more vehement, more violent than the former, or than any other ; but it is not possible to detect a marked difference in the elementary vocal qualities, as intonation, cadence, and so on.

Leaving aside the matter of precise dates, it is enough for us here to recognize this first step in linguistic development, — the particularization of the original squall to express particular needs. It has already been indicated that out of the general cry of discomfort the hunger cry quite early emerges so that it can be distinguished by the mother or governess. As development proceeds, various specialized cries gradually make their appearance; and while it is impossible to tell just the day when the cry of fear, for example, appears, still there is no mistaking it as early as the beginning of the third month at the latest.

1 "Mind," Vol. 11, p. loi.

2 "Later Infancy of the Child," pp. 72-73. ^ Fed. Sem., Vol. I, 1891, pp. 132-133.

Preyer* thought his son Axel could employ particular sounds in his fifth week to express hunger, pain, cold, joy, and desire. Darwin could not detect any difference between the cry of hunger and that of pain before the eleventh week in the case of one infant, and a little later in the case of another, although in the sixth week he noticed a soft murmur indicative of joy, which he ascribed to the development of recognition. Some observers have reported hearing the cry of anger as early as the sixth week; but it is probable that this is generally differentiated at a somewhat later date. For a considerable period the child seeks help, in his instinctive way, when he is in need, but he does not assume an aggressive or combative or angry attitude toward his environment; he is rather dependent and suppliant. So, too, it is doubtful if vocal expressions for joy in any true sense appear until the expressions for hunger, colic, fear, and it may be anger, are individualized. The infant seems to have ready-made a mechanism for expressing discomfort, but he must wait upwards of two months before he can reveal pleasurable feeling vocally, even in an elementary way.

It is significant that during the first few weeks one infant's cries cannot be distinguished from those of another so far, at any rate, as the ordinary ear is concerned. The

* See his "The Development of the Mind of the Child" (translated by Brown), Vol. II, p. loi.

cry is quite devoid of individual color or timbre, a point mentioned by Garbini and Egger. It is best represented by the symbol a, though some regard it as more complex. Preyer, for instance, represents it by u (as oo in book) and a (as ai in fair), making it ud, ud, Garbini locates the cry of the newborn child between }a^ and /a^, and it remains here for two or three months. Wilson * represents the cry on the musical staff as follows: — i

B r ^

1^ Heu - 6 Heu - 6 Heu - 6 During the first week or two the original sound d is modified mainly in respect to volume and intensity to express different experiences; but before the second month the infant begins to add to his repertoire, and once started, he gives himself to it for many months. The process of development is earliest manifested in differentiation of the original a sound, producing other vowel sounds of both higher and lower range, a point noted by Lukens,^ Tracy ,^ Ament,^ Meumann,^ Allaire,® and others. Then as he

1 See "Prehistoric Art," Report U.S. Nat. Mus., 1896, p. 516.

2 " A Preliminary Report on the Learning of Language," Fed. Sem., Vol. Ill, pp. 424-460.

3 American Journal of Psychology^ Vol. VI, pp. 69-93.

* "Die Entwickelung von Sprechen und Denken beim Kinde," p. 2ir. ' "Die Entstehung der ersten Wortbedeutungen beim Kinde," p. 11.

• "Des Premiers Rudiments du langage infantin," Bull Soc. d'Anthr. de Paris, 1890, pp. 485-490.

goes on he gradually introduces consonantal sounds, labials

first, without doubt ; therj probably the gutturals, the easier

of them ; then the dentals, and finally the nasals.^ Of

The physi- course, these several varieties of consonants are not rigidly

cal qualities of marked off from one another as the child masters them, but

early vocal

activity. jn general he probably executes them in the order given.^ They are always combined with the original (i or some of its differentiated forms. Preyer, Pollock, and others have attempted to indicate in detail the child's progress in developing new sounds and in combining them; but it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to do this successfully. It may be noticed that in attempting to express the sounds made by an infant an adult will inevitably interpret them in terms of the nearest literal representatives of his own speech. Perhaps no adult can even listen to an infant with an absolutely unprejudiced ear; he is likely to hear through the medium of his own usage. The child's early vocalizations differ so markedly from the adult's in volume, cadence, intonation, and so on that to attempt to express them in symbols which are used to indicate the quality and movement of the mature voice is practically certain to convey a wrong impression to the reader. I have tested a number of adults in the execution of the sounds which Preyer, by means of literal representation,

* See the author's " Dynamic Factors in Education," Chap. IX, for a detailed presentation of this point.

2 See Tracy, "Psychology of Childhood," pp. 1 19-157, especially p. 127, for evidence bearing on this point.

ascribes to his son Axel, and I am confident they all went wide of the mark.*

But while we cannot graphically represent these sounds exactly, or analyze them fully as they grow more complex, we can still make out what they mean in a general way. Of course, we are aided in our interpretation by the child's bodily attitudes, his facial expression, his intonation, and the like. It is a commonplace of modern psychology that the fundamental emotions are revealed in characteristic motor attitudes and complexes; and the vocal are probably always congruent in meaning with the general motor expressions. If the mother does not at the outset recognize the angry cry as such, she will soon learn to understand it through the accompanying fadal and,.b_odily demonstrations. Again, a child as early as the third month

^ Mrs. Moore says, touching this point : " At the close of the fourth month it was my impression that the child had made well-nigh all the sounds which occur in the language. Yet I had the exact record of but few which had been pronounced as isolated sounds, or as short syllables, and so distinctly as to render their identification easy and certain." "Mental Development of a Child," Monograph Supplement to the Psychological Review, No. 3, 1896, p. 115.

Egger found it impossible to express in the letters of the alphabet many of the sounds he heard from the fifth week on. It may be of interest to recall in this connection that Stanley Hall (see notes on the "Study of Infants," Fed. Sent., Vol. I, p. 133) declares he distinguished sixty-three different sounds made by one of his children before he was six months old. I have tried often to perform this feat in my observations, but I have found it impossible to unravel the tangle of sound combinations and he sure of the elementary sounds to any such extent as reported by Dr. Hall and others.

Agreement among children in the first vocal combinations.

will sometimes protest through voice and body against being put into his cradle from his mother's arms. Also, if parent or nurse comes within range of his vision, he will " beg " to be taken up. The agitation of his arms, legs, and features and the " pleading " tone in his voice indicate his desires clearly enough, and it is not long before the parent can tell from the vocal expression alone that he wishes to be taken. By the sixth month or so the " teasing " quality becomes differentiated so that it can be easily recognized; and specialization goes on until by the close of the first year one may be in a room apart from the child, but hearing him tease it is possible to tell whether he is pleading to be taken or to be given some object he desires.

Attempts have been made by some writers to show that in the beginning all children use similar combinations of sounds in expression of similar experiences, the implication being that they must travel over the same route in acquiring language. V This suggests the story, credited to Herodotus, of the experiment of Psammetichus, king of Egypt. He placed his two children under the care of a shepherd who was not to utter a sound in their presence, but who was to note the first word they spoke after a period of total isolation from human associations. This word happened to be hekos, the Phrygian word for bread, and the king concluded that the Phrygian must be the parent of all languages. But most observers have noticed that the earliest combinations used by children in our day are formed by combining the consonantal sounds denoted by m, p, and h with the original vowel a sound, making md-mdj pd-pdj and bd-bd. All children use them without any objective reference at first, but the parents and nurse seize upon them, and attach them to particular objects; and by employing them in this manner, they impress them on the infant. But when we get beyond these few combinations, there is no general agreement. Miss Shinn * found her niece uttering ^^ nd-nd-nd^^ as a protest, or expression of unwillingness; but S. used this combination at seven months when he was in the best of spirits, and his caretaker attached it to herself, as her name was Anna. Then the children who followed S. were taught nd-nd-nd, as the caretaker's name, through the action of the caretaker herself, and the parents and brothers and sisters, in repeating it and attaching it to the caretaker. Axel Preyer ^ used " atta " when anything disappeared from vision, and later he used " Uo, t-tUj jiu " ; while Miss Shinn' s niece ^ used for the same sort of experience, ^^ M-gm^' or '' Ng-gug.^^ Instances might be multiplied indefinitely to show that the objective reference of particular combinations is at the outset entirely individualistic, except for the few cases indicated, and even in these it is determined by the action of the particular social

^ "Biography of a Baby," p. 225.

' See Preyer, op. cit., p. 131.

' "Biography of a Baby," p. 226.

lO

The motive of expression at the outset.

environment, and not by any purpose or plan on the child's part. People take what he produces in a spontaneous way, give it a meaning, and then teach it to him.

It should be emphasized that in the early weeks vocal expression always denotes some need of the organism. It is an indication of discomfort of some sort.* The feelings accompanying a congruent relation with the environment are apparently yet very weak, unless mere animal satisfaction — a kind of passive or possibly negative condition — can be called feeling. This animal contentment is revealed in what some have called grunting, though it is hardly defined enough for this. It seems to be the most general and characterless sound which the child utters. An infant of three weeks who has had enough of the right sort of food, and who does not suffer from colic or cold or too rough or too tight clothing sleeps almost continually between feeding times, and it is only immediately after a full meal that he gives expression at all to his feeling of satisfaction. He is at this period only a subjective creature,^ having little or no desire for expression so long as all goes well with him physically. He shows no awareness of an

* Compare Moore, op. cit., p. 57.

' Compare with this statement the views of the following : Baldwin, "Mental Development, Methods and Processes," pp. 15-34; Guibert, "Mental Evolution," in Bull. Soc. d'Anthr. de Paris, 1892, p. 714 ei seq.; Valentin, " Psychology of the Child," Revtie des Etudes Philos. et Soc.y March, 1898.

PRE-LINGUISTIC EXPRESSION II

environing world of persons or even of things to be communed with. He manifests no tendency to share experience through any medium of expression. His vocal is but one phase of general motor excitement. SqualHng is always accompanied by agitation throughout the muscular system, never by relaxation or absence of movement in legs, arms, and features. ]

2. Beginnings of Purposeful ^ Expressional Activity

Toward the close of the second month (some observers The appearance of make it a little earlier) the infant begins to attend through awareness