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CHAPTER VI.

GRAMMAR.

Object of teaching grammar in schools. Taking that definition of Grammar which is given in most treatises on the subject as our guide, we see that the object of all grammatical instruction must be to enable children to speak and write their own language correctly, or, in other words, to give to them 'the power of writing plain and clear sentences with correct syntax, orthography, and punctuation.'

The sole use of text-books. One plan adopted to secure this consisted in requiring them to commit the text-book to memory from the beginning to the end; but this is now abandoned by all except the very worst teachers.

Why wrong. The arguments against it are similar to those already brought against the system of learning the meanings of words from the columns of a dictionary: viz. (1) scarcely any child could remember all required of him; (2) it was laborious and unprofitable; (3) grammar could thus be taught only to those who had already acquired a considerable proficiency in reading and general knowledge; (4) it required an equal amount of attention to be given to each division of the science-to Orthography as to Etymology, to Prosody as to Syntax; (5) the teaching wanted that vividness and force which always characterise, to a greater or less extent, oral instructions, and (6) both the questions and answers constantly tended to become purely routine and mechanical, according to the well-established law, that when books alone are used, correctness of repetition comes in the end to be looked upon as sufficient.

Evils of. Grammar so taught was ineffectual, as it could not possibly give to the children any facility in expressing themselves correctly; and, among the evil effects produced by it, not the least formidable are that dislike to this study, and that settled opposition of the parents to it, with which all teachers of primary schools have to contend.

Present system an improvement. The system at present in force, though it is, in my opinion, as I shall endeavour hereafter

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to show, by no means the most correct, is a great improvement. By it the child's first notions of grammar are formed easily from the verbal expositions of the master, and this knowledge is largely extended in the same unlaborious manner; so that when the textbook is put into his hand, almost at the close of his course, he is prepared to understand and profit by it. By such means the child is certain, when using the text-book, to commit to memory only what he already very fairly knows the value of, and the master is more at liberty, in treating the subject, to vary the terms made use of, adopting a different illustration and a different phraseology wherever the natural abilities and capacity of each child demand such a course. Not being called upon to interpret the words of an author, he will be more certain to avoid rote teaching, and to feel that his duty is to deal with the facts of language, and not with the words in which these facts are conveyed; he will be thrown upon his own knowledge of the science, and he will, therefore, the more likely make use of those natural modes of communication by which mind immediately acts upon mind, when no text-books intervene to perplex and confuse by being misunderstood.

He will also be the better able to introduce the children to what is easiest and most important first, and to dwell the longest upon what is most essential for each. An author cannot do this, as he is necessarily obliged to begin at the beginning-the part of nearly all sciences which is in general the most difficult and least understood-and to continue in accordance with certain heads and divisions which he previously marked out for his guidance.

Depends very much on the skill of the teacher. A system like this, which excludes the use of a text-book until a certain advanced proficiency has been attained, must necessarily vary-as indeed all other systems must-with the skill of the teacher. То succeed, the teacher must know the subject well himself, and he must possess the power of communicating his information methodically, intellectually, and agreeably.

Grammar should begin with Etymology. hints may be found of advantage.

The following Grammar should be commenced by the study of Etymology, and not of Orthography, for Orthography has comparatively very little to do in securing the object sought.

Technical terms. Again, teachers should be particularly on their guard against confining their instructions to the mere terms of the science. This is the great fault of young and inexperienced men. They forget that these terms are used solely to facilitate expression, and that, therefore, they may be committed to memory and even applied correctly by a child who yet upon examination

would be found to know nothing of the real nature of the subject which underlies them.

The terms noun, verb, adjective, adverb, for instance, are purely technical, and are invented solely to record and express with brevity the peculiar grammatical force of certain words. To say that man is a noun,' that 'good is an adjective,' or that 'very is an adverb,' is to talk technically; and unless the full meaning of these terms is known to the children, they would acquire as much knowledge from the repetition of words of a foreign language with which they were unacquainted.

To teach the terms only is to teach nothing. To permit the use of the technical word, without seeing that it is fully understood, is, therefore, in reality, to teach nothing. Many of the teachers who commit this fault fall into it unconsciously; but many of them—and I regret very much to say it-do so deliberately, under the erroneous impressions that explanation is too difficult for young children, and that they will understand the matter fully as they advance. Such men not only omit all explanation, but they look upon those who require it as too exacting and particular, It may be quite true that it is a matter of difficulty to give children correct ideas of the use of words, but it is equally true that, unless a child knows what is meant by the terms noun, verb, &c., any of his answers that contain these words are worthless. Such men rest satisfied with laboriously teaching nothing, and often feel injured because others will not give them credit for the performance.1 In their hands technical terms are injurious instead of beneficial. They deceive both teachers and scholars, and prevent the real defects of information which underlie their flippant use from becoming apparent.

The parts of speech should be taught at first without using technical terms. The use or force of a word in a sentence,

Mr. Morrell (Min. of Council, 1848-9, vol. ii. p. 466) says: 'It is forgotten that a technical knowledge of the subject does not necessarily involve any real knowledge of it at all; and that the power of acquiring words, which is so remarkable in the child, may easily cast a veil over the real ignorance which lies hidden behind them. To deal with the memory of a child is infinitely easier than to deal with its perceptive faculties and its intellect. The words which a child so readily employs in answer to set questions, may seem to indicate the most precise and complete acquaintance with a subject; but I have been convinced, by many ob

servations, that frequently no ideas whatever are attached by him to the terms he employs; and that, if he do attach any, those ideas are to a great extent incorrect, and to a still greater extent inadequate.' He adds this truth, which may partially account for the fact, that a few weeks of absence from school is for the most part sufficient to cause the children to forget all previously taught them; that 'knowledge digested, reduced to experience, made a part of our whole system of thinking, is never lost; verbal knowledge, on the contrary, passes away almost as rapidly as it is acquired.' See also Min. of Council, 1855-6, p. 432. Mr. Brookfield's Rep.

TEACHING THE TECHNICAL TERMS.

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which forms the chief object in teaching Etymology, can be treated of fully, though certainly in a longer way, without technical terms at all, and, in my opinion, that is the way in which the parts of speech should be commenced by children: the use of the word first, the technical term expressive of that use afterwards. Take, for instance, the sentence, 'Studious boys love their books.' We may thus express the use of each word—

Example.

Studious is used in describing the objects about which we are

No technical term is here employed, and yet the matter is fully treated of; and though it is at the expense of a few words, yet one cannot but see that, by this additional expenditure, the child has been enabled to arrive at the real essence of the subject easily, and without the intervention of a language which requires translation and explanation before it admits of intelligent use. Children will thus come gradually to divide words into-naming words, describing words, action words, modifying words, connecting words, &c. And these terms the teacher may make use of until they are fully understood. Then, and not till then, should the technical names be taught; for it is only then that the children are in a position to understand and appreciate their advantage. Teaching technical terms. These terms may be introduced somewhat thus: The children may be told, for instance, that it has been agreed upon to call all words used for naming objects,' by the short term 'noun;' to call all words used to describe objects,' by the term 'adjective;' and to call all words 'used for other words,' by the term 'pronoun,' &c.-brevity of expression being the sole object in view; and that therefore in future, instead of saying that any word is used to name an object,' or is 'a naming word,' as they were before in the habit of doing, it is sufficient to say simply that it is 'a noun,' as the sense will be exactly the same in both cases. Pupils by such a method cannot fail to see what technical terms mean, and why they are used, and are very unlikely to give to them an undue importance.

6

Example of a method often confounded with it. This system teaches the technical term from, or rather after, teaching the use of the word; but there is a system quite the opposite, which is sometimes confounded with it, and is in reality an abuse of it.

For instance, take the phrase, 'Little bird with bosom red;' the questions &c. go on somewhat thus :

:

Teacher. What is the use of the word little?

Child. (No answer.)

Teacher (repeating the question in another form). What is it for?

Child. (Again no answer.)

Teacher. What part of speech is little?

Child (at once). An adjective.

Teacher. What is an adjective?

Child. A word used to describe an object' (being the definition he had learned of it).

Teacher. What is the use of the word little, now?

Child. To describe an object.

The true order is thus reversed, the use being taught from the 'part of speech,' and not, as ought to be the case, the part of speech from the use. This is clearly incorrect. A child who did not know the use of a word could not possibly tell what part of speech (the technical term expressive of that use) it was, except by guess or from memory; for an intelligent answer to the one question requires an intelligent comprehension of the other. But, being told the part of speech, the child could state its use; for that is mentioned in the definition.

When

Children should give reasons for their answers. pupils once know the technical terms fully, they should ever afterwards employ them; but, to avoid all possibility of mechanical answering, they should be called upon frequently to assign reasons for what they say; or, in other words, to explain the exact meaning of the terms they make use of. To give the definition merely as the explanation of a term, is not, however, a sufficiently clear explanation. Take, for instance. the sentence

'John loves his book well.'

If a child tells me that 'John' is a noun, 'loves' a verb, 'his' a pronoun, 'book' a noun, and 'well' an adverb, and if, to test whether he understands what he says or not, I ask, 'Why is John a noun ?' or 'What is a noun ?' and if he says, 'a noun is the name of a person, place, or thing;' and if, in reply to similar queries about the other parts of speech, he says that 'a verb is a word used to express an action;' that a pronoun is a word used for, or instead of, a noun;' and, in the last case, that' an adverb is a word which qualifies a verb, an adjective, and sometimes another adverb '-which are the usual forms of definitions given