IMPORTANCE OF LANGUAGE TRAINING 49 



sions are made in this training and three kinds of drill are 

 constantly practiced. These divisions are: oral language; 

 technical work, consisting of applied grammar in the four 

 lower grades and of drills and textbook grammar in the four 

 higher grades ; composition. 



Since to converse is a necessity for all, why should not 

 a part of the school time be used in exercises that tend defi- 

 nitely toward gaining power in oral expres- 

 Language sion? Children of the first grade should 



begin to reproduce stories, to narrate inci- 

 dents of personal experience, to describe persons, actions, 

 and objects. This training, simple as the child's own life, 

 should accompany his development, broaden with his widen- 

 ing horizon of thought and observation, and adapt itself to 

 the growing power of expression that belongs to every suc- 

 ceeding year of school life. Oral exercises should be of 

 about the same grade of difficulty as the written ones, and 

 should precede when both are given on the same subject. 

 There should be as great a variety of topics as possible, 

 chosen from the known elements of the child's life. Narra- 

 tion predominates in all grades ; but there should also be 

 simple, accurate descriptions, expressions of opinions, pic- 

 tures of people. While talking, the child should be very free 

 from the restraint of formal training, telling freely his 

 thoughts about the suggested subject ; later, there will be a 

 special time for the consideration of errors and the substitu- 

 tion of correct forms. 



One of the methods to which children respond most readily 



and unconsciously in oral language is the reproduction of 



stories. It is a useful servant in all grades, but, like other 



servants, it should not be overworked. The effect of this 



5 



