p. 21 | Language Teaching by William Edwin Howell

Review and Herald Publishing Assn. · Washington, D.C. · Dec 31, 1903

Language Teaching

By William Edwin Howell

(Concluded)

WHAT is the first essential to power? Is not simplicity? Simplicity is the truest element of strength. The Saviour taught, when he was here: “Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” You can in no wise possess yourself of truth. You can in no wise become the depositaries of truth. You can in no wise enter into the secrets of the kingdom. The kingdom can not come into your heart unless you take the attitude of children. Now what is the point in becoming as little children? It is simply to become a learner, to be in a condition of mind to receive the truth just as the little child receives it. Simplicity is the greatest element in truth. It has been the work of the enemy through all ages to put truth into such a labyrinth of form and ceremony that nobody but the select few are able to comprehend it at all. Then we must simplify our language study. We must get right down to foundation principles, and deal with them. There is power in principle; there is no power in form. There is so much formalism in language study that the student's work is like trying to satisfy one's thirst by lapping ice, instead of breaking through the crust, and drinking the living water. Yet, since form is necessary, how shall we get that without keeping the mind continually upon it, and without presenting it in such a manner as to give the impression that the form is the principal thing?

It seems to me that the simplest way of doing that is to relegate our forms to the background. The essential forms of words are exceedingly few. A concise statement of them would not occupy very much space, and might be put into the form of a dictionary for reference.

I believe that the acquiring of ability and taste for original study and thinking is the highest and holiest aim of the school work. Our work as teachers is to give students a taste of what is good. It is to teach them how to do original work and original thinking. It is to inspire them with a determination to possess themselves of what is good.

The study of language is to develop power. What is the best way of doing this? Language teaching should be an essential part of the work of every teacher in every department of the school. In the absence of that, we must supply the lack as fast as we can in the language department, and then teach the students, first of all and above all, to think. To do this, we must give them themes to study, subject-matter upon which to reflect. That will make them think. Let the student start with the source of all truth; let that be his foundation in thinking out that theme. Then let him gather in the echo of truth from men's words, collect all the rays of light that he can, and he will find words with which to express his thoughts. But if you tell him that this word must take a certain form after that other word, and use a sentence to show him the right relation of the two words, he not having developed sufficient thinking power to get what the sentence really means, is there anything in it more than just an illustration of the naked form? What do you hold before him as the object of language teaching?—It is to minister to form. It is to bring all truth, and put it through that mill of form, to make it come out in a pretty dress. So when he gets to writing, he has developed ability to know what constitutes a pretty dress, to size it up and criticize it. Then he puts his truth into that form, so as to make that form stand out. But if you have his soul stirred with the theme of the truth he is studying, and let him have a burning desire to impart that truth to somebody else, you will find that that is the greatest stimulus to his powers of speech that he ever had, and he will find some way to tell it. Then if he tells it wrong, set him straight. Show him how to tell that right; point out his faults of speech. Then he will learn through that process of teaching and study, that his forms are simply subservient to the truth. The ordinary grammar says that a noun is a name. That technical term is put before the student the very first thing. But if you teach him the proper use of the noun, the pronoun, and the verb in the expression of the truth that he longs to tell, so that he gets it by actually doing something and thinking something, then you give him an impulse in the right direction. He can see that his forms are servants to his thoughts.

W. E. HOWELL.