Welsh Journals

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But we are not willing to submit to conditions that handicap the Welsh child, and it is our duty as educationists to devise means by which the difficulties enumerated above may be overcome. Possibly the best method of procedure has yet to be discovered, but we venture to make some suggestions, which will deal chiefly with monoglot Welsh areas, as the difficulty of teach- ing English is greater here. In such districts we advocate the teaching of Welsh and Welsh only in the Infant Schools, for both educational and national reasons. The mother tongue comes first, and experts in the teaching of foreign languages agree that no second language should be begun until the foundations of the first are securely laid. The next question, and, the most important one, is when to introduce English. The reason- able time to introduce a foreign language seems to be at about the age of ten, but in Welsh schools we cannot afford to wait so long without introducing English. We must, therefore, introduce English at the stage generally called the second standard," i.e., when the children are about eight years of age, keeping to the natural order of speech first, reading and writing after. In the. middle classes of the school the two languages will require about equal attention, though the methods will differ-one being a native language and the other a foreign. The foreign language will require intensive teaching, and we cannot over-emphasize here the need of fostering and developing, by every means pos- sible, freedom of expression orally by the children, this being, of course, continued in the upper classes. Continual use of conversation is necessary, dealing with a great variety of topics, to enlarge the vocabulary. As an aid to com- position there is nothing more helpful than plenty of reading of easy and interesting story books. For example, for reproduction the read- ing matter should be a grade or two easier than the ordinary class reader, provided always that the stories are long enough. In the upper classes of the elementary school English will demand much more attention than Welsh. If Welsh has been taught with due care all through the school, in these classes it will take care of itself, if-and this is most important -it is still taught as a language, and an effort be made to cultivate taste in Welsh literature. Having done all this, the best teachers will still feel that the degree of efficiency attained in English still falls short of their ideal. What more can be done? A great deal may be done by careful study of the latest methods, and by instituting a system of stimu- lating experiments by teachers; by concentration on the question, and by frequent conferences to hear the results of experiments, and addresses by those who have made the subject their special study. But let us reiterate the fact that we have been teaching two languages during most of the elementary school life of the child instead of concentrating on one, and the effect of this should not be ignored when the child enters a secondary school. What then? We hesitate to make any recommendations here, but we should like to make one remark. The child at the age of twelve ,when he cannot possibly have mastered either Welsh or English properly, is too often plunged into the study of two extra foreign languages, viz., French and Latin. And this when the child has done but very little grammar, if any, this subject being relegated to the background in the elementary school for educational reasons. The conclusions of Dr. Ballard in his book, The Teaching of the Mother Tongue," are interesting in this connection. He states his conclusions thus:- English Grammar is of little use in learning English. French Grammar is of more use in learning French. Latin Grammar is of more use still in learning Latin." It appears that the secondary schools should consolidate the ground in English and Welsh first, introducing one foreign language, say French, during the first year. There would thus be an opportunity of teaching grammar scientific- ally with English as the basal language, thus preparing the ground for Latin Grammar. We quote again an interesting passage by Dr. Ballard:- When it is considered expedient to teach grammar in the French lesson, the correspond- ing English grammar may be taught at the same time. That part of English grammar need not be taught before; it should not be delayed till later. Not only does the English grammar help the French grammar, but the French grammar helps the English." Would it not be better then to improve the children's knowledge of Welsh and English first, introducing the grammar as required and as recommended above? We believe that the advantages gained by this procedure would make up for lost time, when Latin has to be taught. It appears to us that a system which allows young children of twelve to be dragged through the quagmire of four languages, two of them at least being foreign and new to them, needs overhauling. Let us again urge special treatment for Wales in this matter, owing to its unique position, and the peculiar circumstances of the pupils of monoglot and bi-lingual areas. We hope that soon a Departmental Committee will inquire into the teaching of Welsh and English in Wales, and issue a report similar to that recently issued on the Teaching of English in England. The Carnarvonshire Association of Teachers have passed a resolution appealing for the estab- lishment of a Research Scholarship by the University of Wales so as to enable a thorough investigation to be made into this intricate problem. We hope that their appeal will be favourably considered.