DISCOVERY 



53 



desired to advise how the study of English " may best be 

 promoted . . . regard being had to (i) the requirements of a 

 I hberal education ; (2) the needs of business, the profes- 

 ' sions, and public services ; and (3) the relation of English 

 to other studies." The reference is sufficiently broad, and 

 they have interpreted it in the broadest possible way, so 

 that the Report as a whole is in itself a tribute to their 

 humane attitude towards learning and a genuine contribu- 

 tion to educational and social science. While it neces- 

 sarily deals to a large extent with pedagogical matters, it 

 never, even when most detailed in its investigations. 

 becomes purely pedagogic, nor does it ever lose sight of 

 the deeper significance of English studies for English 

 people. 



The Introduction at once strikes the right note, when it 

 insists that " the inadequate conception of the teaching 

 of English in this country is not a separate defect which 

 can be separately remedied," but is due to " the failure 

 to conceive the full meaning and possibilities of national 

 education as a whole, and that failure, again, is due to a 

 misunderstanding of the educational values to be found 

 in the different regions of mental activity, and especially 

 to an underestimate of the importance of the English 

 language and literature." It is impossible within the 

 limits of an article to reproduce the sound remarks made 

 in the report on the subject of education in general and 

 the need that it should " bear directly on life, and that no 

 part of the process should be without a purpose intelligible 

 to everyone concerned." But these introductory para- 

 graphs are of immense interest and importance and 

 deserve careful attention. 



The Committee next note the fact that in many schools 

 of all kinds and grades the teaching of English is often 

 entrusted to ill-qualified members of the staff and regarded 

 as being inferior in importance. Yet " education in 

 English is, for all Englishmen, a matter of the most vital 

 concern .... Until a child has acquired a certain command 

 of the native language, no other educational development 

 is even possible. ... A lack of language is a lack of the 

 means of communication and of thought itself. ... If a 

 child is not learning good English he is learning bad 

 Enghsh, and probably bad habits of thought. . . . 

 English is plainly no matter of inferior importance, nor 

 even one among the other branches of education, but the 

 one indispensable preliminary and foundation of all the 

 rest." This particular aspect of English language teach- 

 ing is discussed in various connections. It is, for example, 

 pointed out that inability to put thought into words sets 

 a boundary to thought, and that when a man's vocabulary 

 is limited, he is also incapable of thinking clearly — what- 

 ever the subject of his thought. Secondly, " If the teach- 

 ing of the language were properly and universally provided 

 for, the difference between educated and uneducated 

 speech, which at present causes so much prejudice and 

 difficulty of intercourse on both sides, would gradually 

 disappear." " An education fundamentally English 

 would, we believe, at any rate bridge, if not close, this chasm 

 of separation [between different social classes]. The 

 English people might learn as a whole to regard their own 

 language, first with respect, and then with a genuine 



feeling of pride and affection." Thirdly, " English " is 

 " the principal method whereby education may achieve 

 its ultimate aim of giving a wide outlook on life." 



It is interesting and immensely encouraging in this 

 connection to find in Chapter V (" The Needs of Business") 

 that the forty prominent firms which answered the Com- 

 mittee's inquiries about " the importance they attached 

 as business men to a training in English," agreed that the 

 matter was " one of considerable moment from the stand- 

 point of trade." No less encouraging was their vigorous 

 denunciation of so-called " Commercial English " and 

 " the implicit assumption . . . that British trade would 

 be efficient and successful in proportion to the amount of 

 intellect and imagination brought to bear upon it, and that' 

 the schools would best serve ' the needs of business ' by 

 developing to the utmost the intellect and imagination of 

 those about to enter the business world." 



From the standpoint of trade, therefore, there is no 

 necessity to distinguish between " the requirements of a 

 liberal education " and " the needs of business." Indeed, 

 many of the replies to the questionnaire are explicit on 

 this subject : " Wise guidance in reading we consider the 

 best method to adopt in teaching English " ; or : " Most 

 young people have few ideas because they do not read 

 much " ; or : " We think that a great deal of time . . . 

 would be far better used in the study of English literature 

 in its broader aspects." The Science Masters' Association 

 (to represent which the witnesses examined came from 

 Cheltenham, Eton, and Harrow ; i.e. were speaking from 

 experience of a different type of education) complained 

 similarly that their work was seriously hampered by their 

 pupils' inability to express themselves " in a reasonably 

 adequate manner " either in speech or writing, or to " read 

 English sentences with understanding, or at least with 

 power to say exactly what they did not understand." 

 " They considered that neglect of the mother- tongue 

 led . . . to inhibition of the general power of thinking." 



It is not possible here, though it would be well worth 

 while, to summarise the recommendations made by the 

 Committee with a view to the improvement of English 

 teaching to children, adolescents, and adults in every kind 

 of education. Two dicta may, however, be taken as 

 typical of the wise spirit which inspires them all. The 

 first concerns the Universities, and every competent Uni- 

 versity teacher will endorse what is said : " English, then, 

 is needed in every Faculty. . . . Without it the student 

 cannot attain to full powers either of learning or of teaching 

 in any. We should like to see this officially recognised. 

 We should like it to be officially proclaimed by each Univer- 

 sity that in all its examinations the quality of the English 

 written or spoken by candidates, especially its lucidity and 

 its fitness to the subject, will carry great weight with the 

 examiners. . . . English is ... an indispensable hand- 

 maid without whose assistance neither philosopher, nor 

 chemist, nor classical scholar can do his work properly." 



The second is the admirable account of the place of 

 English in the curriculum of technical students, whether 

 in Universities, technical colleges, or evening schools, i.e. 

 whatever the age or intellectual development of the pupils. 

 The Committee are of opinion that for such students 



