DIE DEUTSCHEN LANGEN UND KURZEN VOKALE

ā Vater, kam, fragen, haben, schlafen, Hahn, Knabe, Samen, nahm. ă fand, Land, krank, Tante, Hand, Arm, Mann, Hammer, Lampe, Garten.

è geben, legen, leben, streben, beten, jener, treten.

KNACKGERAUSCH (GLOTTAL CATCH)

Anna, Otto, ach, Anfang, Esel, eben, Ochs, offen, Indien, Ufer, Erich, Igel, Immensee, essen, Onkel, Eule, unser.

The complete list contains about 250 words which are used to illustrate some forty sounds. After the introductory lessons are completed, attention is constantly given to securing correct pronunciation during the later work, as recommended above by Bagster-Collins.

Tentative answers to questions of method on page 99. — This will conclude our discussion of the methods of instruction to be used in acquiring motor control. Many of the problems of method involved are covered by the questions which we formulated in the beginning of the chapter (p. 99). As a summary of the points brought out in the chapter in discussing the special subjects of instruction which involve motor skill, we may formulate the following tentative answers to these questions.

I. In most cases of motor skill there are certain better methods of performance which use human energy or force more economically and effectively than others. The better methods are known as good form. In many cases, however, good form includes a number of possible methods and permits of considerable variation to provide for individual differences. Fingering in playing the piano is a good example.

2. Imitation of a correct model is generally the most effective way of getting the idea of the act to be performed. In some cases it is helpful to provide verbal directions concerning the best way to perform the act. There is great danger of overemphasizing such directions. Methods of teaching vocal technique and pronunciation furnish good examples of such overemphasis.

3. Ordinarily the learner's attention should be centered. on the objective result of the movement, not on the movement itself. An elaborate analysis of the movements in terms of the anatomy and operation of the parts of the body concerned is generally a waste of time and often prevents the attaining of the best results. Musical technique and pronunciation furnish good examples. Occasionally explicit attention to the character of the movement seems to be helpful.

4. The method of trial and accidental success necessarily plays a large part in motor learning. The process may sometimes be shortened considerably by suggesting to the learner the use of correct or better methods of performing the act. If these suggestions involve bringing over, or using, coördinations which have already been mastered in other situations, and which the learner can transfer voluntarily, the saving may be very great. If the suggested methods involve extensive new coördinations, however, the process of trial and error will still play a large part. There is danger of wasting time in piling up suggestions in order to shorten the process. Again musical technique and pronunciation furnish good examples.

5. As a rule, training upon elementary movements as they are encountered in complex acts or compositions is superior to isolated training upon the elementary movements. Frequently elementary difficulties encountered in complex performances may with advantage be studied separately for a short time and then worked back into the whole. A good example is separate training upon breathing out while the face is under water in learning to swim by the Australian crawl method.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES

General. I. COLVIN, S. S. The Learning Process. (The Macmillan Company, 1911.) Pp. 10–23.

2. LADD, G. T., and WOODWORTH, R. S. Elements of Physiological Psychology. (Charles Scribner's Sons, 1911.) Pp. 555-565.

3. THORNDIKE, E. L. Principles of Teaching. (A. G. Seiler, 1905.) Pp. 219-234. Contains the best pedagogical discussion.

Experimental investigations. 4. BAIR, J. H. The Development of Voluntary Control. Psychological Review, Vol. VIII, pp. 474–510. An experiment in learning to move the ears.

5. DEARBORN, W. F. Experiments in Learning. Journal of Educational Psychology, 1910, Vol. I, pp. 373–388. Describes experiment on mirror writing.

6. JUDD, C. H. Relation of Special Training to General Intelligence. Educational Review, June, 1908, Vol. XXXVI, pp. 28–42. Experiment to show influence of theoretical instruction in acquiring motor skill.

7. Nock, A. J. Efficiency and the High Brow. American Magazine, March, 1913, pp. 48-50. Describes use of kinetoscopic pictures to increase skill.

8. ORDAHL, L. E. Consciousness in Relation to Learning. American Journal of Psychology, 1911, Vol. XXII, pp. 158–213. Experiments on tossing balls and on left-handed writing.

9. RICHARDSON, R. F. The Learning Process in the Acquisition of Skill. Pedagogical Seminary, September, 1912, Vol. XIX, pp. 376394. A summary with bibliography of experimental investigations.

10. SWIFT, E. J. Mind in the Making. (Charles Scribner's Sons, 1908.) Pp. 169-190. Experiments on the juggling of balls.

Empirical discussions. Musical technique. II. HOFMANN, JOSEF. Piano Playing, a Little Book of Simple Suggestions. (Doubleday, Page & Company, 1908.) A delightful series of essays. See especially pp. 34–39.

12. TAYLOR, D. C. The Psychology of Singing. (The Macmillan Company, 1908.) An interesting summary of the historical and psychological aspects of voice training.

Phonetic pronunciation. 13. BAGSTER-COLLINS, E. W. The Teaching of German in Secondary Schools. (The Macmillan Company, 1904.) A very useful discussion of the whole problem of language instruction. See pp. 39-69 on pronunciation.

14. BAHLSEN, L. New methods of Teaching Modern Languages. . Teacher College Record, May, 1903, Vol. IV. Also published by Ginn

and Company (1905). A very good discussion, with full bibliography. See pp. 20-49 for a discussion of phonetics in relation to the Reform Movement.

15. HANDSCHIN, C. H. The Teaching of Modern Languages in the United States. Bulletin No. 3, United States Bureau of Education, 1913. See pp. 140-149 for bibliography on phonetics.

Handwriting. 16. FREEMAN, F. N. The Teaching of Handwriting. (Houghton Mifflin Company, 1914.) While the teaching of handwriting is not a matter of special interest to high-school teachers, it is worth considering as being the one phase of acquiring motor skill in school which has been subjected to careful scientific experimental investigation. Freeman summarizes the experimental results, evaluates current practices, and discusses many principles of motor learning that apply with equal force to learning other forms of motor skill.

Main points of the chapter. 1. One of the principal types of learning in the traditional high school is the association of symbols and meanings, especially in learning the vocabulary of a foreign language.

2. The ordinary translation method makes these associations indirectly via the English symbols; hence it is less economical than the direct method, which dispenses very largely with the use of the English symbols as intermediate links.

3. Ready-made systems of direct instruction are necessary for inexperienced teachers. Modifications of the Gouin series system are among the best.

4. According to this system the teacher is an active demonstrator of meanings before the class. He uses objects, actions, sketching on the blackboard, charts, and various other devices.

5. Systematic oral exercises are supplemented by easy reading and the gradual development of grammatical usage. The use of English is almost entirely eliminated.

6. All the conversational work must be definitely planned and systematized.

7. Pupils must be given ample opportunities to use the language in class.

Predominant process in foreign-language instruction. In some aspects of high-school instruction the type of learning process most involved is the association of symbols and meanings. The most striking example is learning the vocabulary of a foreign language. The mental activity in this case consists largely in building up thousands of connections between English symbols and foreign symbols, or between