OUR LANGUAGE AND THE NATIVE PUPIL. 



By Stephen Gottheil Rich" M.A. 



This paper aims to clear ground for posifive construction 

 in the matter of teaching the Enghsh language to native pupils. 

 It is thus preliminary in its nature. Furthermore, it is based 

 on work among Zulus only, and therefore may fail to take into 

 consideration conditions among other native peoples. It rests 

 mainly on observations and experiments made since February. 

 1916, at the Atnanzimtoti Institute, Natal. 



How early should we begin teaching English? 



In the practising school attached to the Amanzimtoti Insti- 

 tute, a thorough-going scheme of oral lessons in English for 

 all classes was begun in 191 5. The i'ufants of 1915, now in 

 Standard I, have, as a result of this, a command of English 

 practically equal to that of the average native pupil who comes 

 from the day-schools to Standard V of the Institute. In March 

 last, T was able to give nature-study lessons, entirely in English, 

 to the children of Standard II in the practising school. 



A more imi>ortant result is that these children are remark- 

 ably free from the usual native errors. At so young an age it 

 is impossible to teach a language by means of translation. A 

 direct method, with objects, actions and commands, had to be 

 used. The happy result has been that the usual errors due to 

 literal translation of Zulu idiom are avoided. It is an exceptional 

 teacher who can avoid the use — and the abuse — of translation 

 when teaching pupils who are old enough to translate. 



Observations have indicated to me that these young children, 

 thus taught, are really bilingual. They do not simply think in 

 Zulu and translate. They think in Fjiglish when using Eng- 

 lish. I adduce as principal evidence of this their facilitv within 

 the limits of their vocabularies — a facility impossible under like 

 conditions iif they translated. 



I would therefore urge that English be made a prominent 

 feature of the infant-class work. As a guide to the time to be 

 devoted to the subject, I may state that at Amanzimtoti it has 

 received the same amount of time as reading. 



My colleague. Mr. Frank Ostermann, and I have watched 

 with .some care the time and difficulty involved in correcting 

 in Standard V and upwards the errors of those who learned 

 English in the usual way. In our first year Teachers' Training 

 classes, which follow Standard VI, we have worked half a year 

 at eliminating some eight or nine commoii errors. Our success 

 here, as with similar work with Standard V last year, has not 

 been unduly gratifying. We find that the habits of speech 

 learned vounger persist unless a most disjjroportionate amount 

 of time is given to their correction. The follow/n-^; sentences 

 illustrate the types of error in question : 



" My coat makes me to be warm." 



" A bov saw a lizard which lie caught if." 



