A SUGGESTION FOR THE PRESENTATION OF SHORTHAND

by

John Mervin Buckley

or

A Thesis submitted f o r the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS

i n the Department of

PHILOSOPHY

Mr

THE UNIVERSITY of BRITISH COLUMBIA September, 1936.

A SUGGESTION FOR THE PRESENTATION OE SHORTHAND

Table of Contents

Chapter I . In t r o d u c t i o n . P. 1 - 5

I I . The Laws of Learning and t h e i r Observance i n Primary Reading Methods. P. 6 -12

I I I . A Survey of Primary Method i n Teaching Reading. P. 13-23

IV. A Suggestion f o r the Presen­t a t i o n of Pitman Shorthand. P. 23-50

V. Conclusion. P. 51-53

Bibli o g r a p h y . P. 54 & 55

Appendix. Some Suggestions f o r the Procedure of Lessons. P. 56-66

Chapter I .

In t r o d u c t i o n .

Shorthand or stenography i s a term applied to any form of "brief handwriting which i s intended to enable a person to write l e g i b l y at the rate of speech* T^oms of b r i e f w r i t i n g were used i n the time of Greece and Rome, but by the 10th century had completely disappeared, and not u n t i l the beginning of the 17th century can the a r t be said to have revived. Since then, systems of short­hand have been developed i n many coun t r i e s , but p o s s i b l y nowhere to such a degree as i n the B r i t i s h I s l e s , where, near the end of the 19th century, no l e s s than 483 pro­f e s s e d l y d i s t i n c t systems had been published.

In the Pitman system, one of the most widely used at the present time, the basic consonants of the alphabet are composed of short s t r a i g h t or curved strokes, to which are attached small c i r c l e s , loops, or hooks. These c i r ­c l e s , loops, and hooks, are s p e c i a l devices used f o r re-* presenting more f r e q u e n t l y r e c u r r i n g consonant sounds and n a t u r a l combinations of consonant sounds i n the l a n g ­uage. The vowels are represented by dots which are placed before or a f t e r the stroke consonants. Many of these vowels are eliminated i n the more advanced w r i t i n g , as they can be i n d i c a t e d by the p o s i t i o n of the o u t l i n e , that i s , whether i t i s w r i t t e n above, through, or on the

2. l i n e . Further a i d to vowel i n d i c a t i o n i s afforded by s p e c i a l stroke forms which are used to suggest whether a vowel precedes or f o l l o w s the stroke. A l i m i t e d number of word-signs are given f o r the more f r e q u e n t l y o c c u r r i n g words i n the language. These are c a l l e d "grammalogs". For a number of words, the o u t l i n e s of which would be awk­ward and d i f f i c u l t to w r i t e , s p e c i a l contracted o u t l i n e s or " c o n t r a c t i o n s " have been provided. S t r i c t adherence to phonetic s p e l l i n g i s followed, the t h i r t y - s i x t y p i c a l sounds of the language being represented by d i s t i n c t characters.

The Pitman system admits of high speed i n w r i t i n g w i t h a minimum of e f f o r t . Many w r i t e r s a t t a i n a speed of one hundred f i f t y or more words a minute. P r o v i s i o n has been made i n the system f o r w r i t i n g every word i n the language i n a c l e a r and unmistakable o u t l i n e . In very few eases do the shorthand o u t l i n e s c o n s i s t of more than three strokes, and when one considers that i n longhand w r i t i n g the single l e t t e r "a" requires three strokes, i t i s r e a d i l y appreciated how much time and e f f o r t i s saved by using such a system of w r i t i n g . The o u t l i n e s , from the standpoints of b r e v i t y , f a c i l i t y , and r e a d a b i l i t y , make t h i s system one of the f i n e s t i n use at the present time.

P r o f i c i e n c y i n shorthand i s attai n e d when the

w r i t i n g and reading processes have become so h a b i t u a l that l i t t l e or no thought i s required. To be master of a word, one must know the s p e l l i n g of the word and the short hand o u t l i n e so w e l l that i t can be w r i t t e n a u t o m a t i c a l l y and read without h e s i t a t i o n . Such a mastery of vocabu­l a r y i s the foundation of high speed w r i t i n g and accurate t r a n s c r i p t i o n .

Automatic w r i t i n g , ( w r i t i n g where no conscious ef­f o r t i s d i r e c t e d to the p h y s i c a l a c t i v i t y ) whether l o n g ­hand or shorthand, i s not the r e s u l t of any sin g l e l e a r n ­ing process, but of a number of processes. These may be div i d e d i n t o the f o l l o w i n g : the sight l e a r n i n g of a word; the v i s u a l imaging of the word f o l l o w i n g an auditory stimulus; the w r i t i n g of the word based on i t s v i s u a l im­age; and f i n a l l y , the automatic w r i t i n g of the word: t h i s requires no v i s u a l image because the w r i t i n g has become a muscular or k i n a e s t h e t i c response r e q u i r i n g only a "sound" stimulus to set i t i n operation.

Recognition of these stages i n l e a r n i n g to w r i t e i s admitted by teachers of primary c h i l d r e n and i n modern primary rooms the teaching of w r i t i n g does not begin un­t i l a foundation of reading has been e s t a b l i s h e d . When the w r i t i n g i s introduced i t i s based on those words which have been learned i n reading. The models from which the copies were f i r s t made are l a t e r removed and

4. the w r i t i n g i s done from the v i s u a l image of the words. This i s continued f o r some time before the c h i l d reaches the stage of automatic w r i t i n g . The delay i n achieving t h i s i s p r i m a r i l y due to the f a c t t h a t a great deal of time i s required by the c h i l d to gain complete c o n t r o l over the muscles used i n w r i t i n g . When complete mastery of the muscular a c t i v i t y i s a t t a i n e d , the time required to achieve automatic w r i t i n g i s g r e a t l y reduced as no a t ­t e n t i o n need be given by the w r i t e r to the a c t u a l manipu­l a t i o n of the f i n g e r s , w r i s t , or arm.

The important p o i n t i n t h i s procedure of teaching w r i t i n g i s that the f i r s t lessons are preceded by the sight l e a r n i n g of the words. The c h i l d , having learned the word by s i g h t , i s able to draw upon the v i s u a l image and use i t as a guide. This use of the v i s u a l image i s continued f o r some time, but a f t e r s u f f i c i e n t r e p e t i t i o n s the correct muscular response i s made without the v i s u a l stimulus, and the w r i t i n g becomes automatic.

This procedure of teaching a sight or reading know­ledge of words, before the w r i t i n g i s attempted, i s not followed to any extent i n the teaching of shorthand. The general plan which i s followed and i s suggested by the a r ­rangement of the t e x t (14) c o n s i s t s of teaching the short­hand alphabet and then of b u i l d i n g up word o u t l i n e s from the knowledge of the i n d i v i d u a l l e t t e r s . This i s i n

5. d i r e c t contrast to the method followed i n primary teach­ing .

The remarkable success of primary reading methods suggests t h e i r adoption f o r shorthand. My p l a n i s to d i s ­card the present alphabetic method and replace i t by one s i m i l a r to that used i n primary reading. A si g h t or reading knowledge of every word to be w r i t t e n i s f i r s t taught, and then p r a c t i c e i n w r i t i n g f o l l o w s . The v i s u a l image of the o u t l i n e w i l l enable the l e a r n e r to w r i t e from d i c t a t i o n . L a t e r , the v i s u a l image w i l l not be used be­cause the w r i t i n g w i l l be come a muscular response.

This method of presenting shorthand requires means f o r teaching the s i g h t r e c o g n i t i o n of words and much of the procedure followed i n the teaching of primary reading may be used to advantage i n developing a sight vocabulary. In the f o l l o w i n g pages a survey of the primary method i n reading w i l l be given and t h i s w i l l be followed by an ex­p o s i t i o n of how the f i r s t steps i n teaching shorthand may be based on t h i s method.

Chapter I I .

The Laws of Learning and t h e i r Observance i n Primary Reading Methods.

Before attempting to r e l a t e the teaching of primary reading to the laws of l e a r n i n g , I s h a l l b r i e f l y summar­ize them. I t i s , of course, understood that these laws, as.promulgated by Thorndike, are not acceptable i n a l l s i t u a t i o n s . With c e r t a i n r e s e r v a t i o n s , they form s e v e r a l broad p r i n c i p l e s of the l e a r n i n g process which are gener­a l l y acknowledgedi In the f o l l o w i n g I have used H. J . Reed's i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of the laws. (16)

The law of r e p e t i t i o n i s based on the assumption that p r a c t i c e makes p e r f e c t . Other things being equal, the greater the number of r e p e t i t i o n s the more p e r f e c t the h a b i t . To use r e p e t i t i o n s e f f i c i e n t l y , one must apply them with a t t e n t i o n and v i g o r , d i s t r i b u t e them over a number of periods, increase t h e i r number i n proportion to the d i f ­f i c u l t y of the bond to be formed, motivate them by a r e ­cord of the improvement eff e c t e d and by knowledge of t h e i r r e s u l t s , exercise them at the point of e r r o r , and apply them to u s e f u l r e a c t i o n s . Mere r e p e t i t i o n i n i t s e l f i s not n e c e s s a r i l y good: i t must be the r i g h t kind used i n the r i g h t way.

The law of a s s o c i a t i o n r e f e r s to the assumption that the ease of l e a r n i n g i s increased by the observation of

7. meaning or r e l a t i o n s h i p s i n the m a t e r i a l to be learned. Such observations g r e a t l y increase the q u a n t i t i e s of ma­t e r i a l that can be grasped i n one act of a t t e n t i o n or thought, reduce the time or the number of r e p e t i t i o n s that l e a r n i n g r e q u i r e s , and make a t h i n g easy to remember. Learning m a t e r i a l s by observation of a s s o c i a t i o n s may also be h e l p f u l i n t r a n s f e r r i n g s k i l l from one a c t i v i t y to an­other. Because of these r e s u l t s , the law of a s s o c i a t i o n contains the secret of economical l e a r n i n g .

According to the law of s a t i s f a c t i o n , the ease of l e a r n i n g i s increased i f e i t h e r the a c t i v i t y or i t s r e s u l t i s s a t i s f y i n g . Although the experimental evidence f o r the law i s somewhat dubious, nevertheless the law i s u s e f u l f o r e x p l a i n i n g the e l i m i n a t i o n of useless or wrong move­ments which have had the b e n e f i t of much exerc i s e . I t s a p p l i c a t i o n to l e a r n i n g r e q u i r e s that p r a c t i c e should l e a d to the goal sought and that i t should appeal to some native want or acquired i n t e r e s t .

In the modern primary classroom the teaching of reading (which precedes the teaching o f ' w r i t i n g ) i s b u i l t up around these three laws of l e a r n i n g . Experimental evidence points to the f a c t that the development of speed i n reading r e s u l t s from r e p e t i t i o n . One of the f i r s t c a r e f u l experiments which showed that the r a t e of reading i s influenced by t r a i n i n g was made by 0. T. Gray, (6) who

8. experimented w i t h f i v e d i f f e r e n t types of t r a i n i n g . In the f i r s t type the emphasis was on speed and the increase i n the span of perception, i n the second i t was e n t i r e l y on the i n ­crease i n speed, i n the t h i r d i t was on decreasing the amount of v o c a l i z a t i o n , and i n the f i f t h the t r a i n i n g was e n t i r e l y i n phonics. Regardless of emphasis, a l l except the l a s t pro­duced remarkable increase i n the rate of reading, varying from 0 to 400 per cent according to the i n d i v i d u a l and the q u a l i t y of the ma t e r i a l s used i n the t e s t "before and a f t e r t r a i n i n g . O'Brien, i n a very elaborate experiment, (11) showed that remarkable improvement i n speed can be made with­out any l o s s i n comprehension. He used three types of t r a i n ­in g . In the f i r s t the emphasis was simply on rapid reading, i n the second i t was on ra p i d reading and the e l i m i n a t i o n of v o c a l i z a t i o n , and i n the t h i r d i t was on r a p i d reading and inc r e a s i n g the span of perception by exercise w i t h f l a s h cards. R e s u l t s , a f t e r t h i r t y - n i n e days of t r a i n i n g , showed that the experimental group gained from t h i r t y to t h i r t y - f i v e per cent over the c o n t r o l group.

Systematic p r a c t i c e g r e a t l y increases the rate of read­in g . Although i n t e l l i g e n c e , span of perception, eye-voice span, v o c a l i z a t i o n , and other i n d i v i d u a l c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s , con­d i t i o n the rate and amount of improvement, yet by proper mo­t i v a t i o n , remarkable gains i n speed can be made. The methods are simple enough and are used g e n e r a l l y i n the primary rooms

9.. today. They c o n s i s t of the reading graph, the t i m e - l i m i t chart, the f l a s h cards, the emphasis on the suppression of v o c a l i z a t i o n , the reproduction t e s t , and such i n c e n t i v e s as the desire to surpass the previous day's record.

The e f f e c t i v e use of such devices depends upon ap­p l y i n g them to the needs and d i f f i c u l t i e s of the p u p i l , and t h i s can be discovered only by a c a r e f u l diagnosis w i t h standardized and informal t e s t s .

Comprehension of reading can be g r e a t l y improved by t r a i n i n g which i s based on the law of r e p e t i t i o n and the law of a s s o c i a t i o n . Experiments have proved t h i s to be the case. How comprehension may be improved by motivated d r i l l was shown by Hoover, who c a r r i e d out an experiment i n Kansas C i t y w i t h 1,139 third-grade c h i l d r e n . H a l f of the experimental group received d r i l l ten minutes a day, three times a week, from January to A p r i l , and the other h a l f only the regular i n s t r u c t i o n . Four types of d r i l l cards were used: a c t i o n cards, language response cards, pretense cards, one-word response cards. The d r i l l group made as much improvement i n three months as a c l a s s r e ­c e i v i n g the regular i n s t r u c t i o n o r d i n a r i l y makes i n two years. Another experiment showing the value of motivated d r i l l was made by Miss Smith i n the primary grades of the D e t r o i t schools (17). The d r i l l work i n reading consisted of d i r e c t i o n s f o r making group p i c t u r e s by c u t t i n g and

10. p i e c i n g together i n d i v i d u a l p i c t u r e s . In a d i c t i o n a r y , the name of each object appeared i n both p r i n t and s c r i p t i n connection w i t h each p i c t u r e . A f t e r the group p i c t u r e was completed, a s t o r y d e s c r i b i n g i t was composed. The e f f e c t on comprehension was such that the c h i l d r e n gained i n three months as much as they o r d i n a r i l y gain i n a year. H. ©. Alderman reported that the r e s u l t from d r i l l exer­c i s e s on comprehension was that p u p i l s made an average gain of two semesters i n one ( 2 ) .

To develop comprehension, the primary teacher uses meaningful m a t e r i a l s which contain the pre-school c h i l d ' s vocabulary. The major p o r t i o n of the time i s given to o r a l reading, because spoken words are more meaningful to the young c h i l d . The teacher also s t r i v e s to create the proper mental set f o r each s e l e c t i o n . The f o l l o w i n g de­v i c e s are some of those used by modern teachers; motivated d r i l l w i t h d i r e c t i o n s r e q u i r i n g a response, p r i n t e d d i r ­e c t i ons f o r paper-cutting, advance question on content, reading w i t h the i n t e n t i o n of f i n d i n g and r e t a i n i n g the c e n t r a l thought, d i v i d i n g a s t o r y i n t o thought u n i t s a f t e r the meaning has been acquired, v i s u a l i z i n g and naming p a r t s of the s t o r y , sentence completion exercises based on the thought of the s t o r y .

The t h i r d law of l e a r n i n g , the law of s a t i s f a c t i o n , also has an important place i n the teaching of primary

11. reading. Probably no school subject has so many oppor­t u n i t i e s f o r making an a c t i v i t y s a t i s f y i n g as does reading f o r there i s almost no i n t e r e s t to which an appeal may .not be made by i t . Among the appeals, which the primary teacher uses, are those of i m i t a t i v e n e s s , c u r i o s i t y , mas­tery, r i v a l r y , d e s i r e of approval, and a c t i o n . In l e a r n ­ing to read, there i s a lon g period between the i n t e r e s t aroused by i m i t a t i o n and nov e l t y and that which comes from the i n t r i n s i c value of meanings. This i s the period when l e a r n i n g t o read i s a monotonous task. I t i s the time which gives the teacher her greatest d i f f i c u l t y ; but the ingenious teacher, by appealing to mastery, to the de­s i r e f o r approval, and to r i v a l r y , i s able to bridge the wide gap between i n t e r e s t from novelty and i n t e r e s t from meaning. At t h i s time, o r a l reading scores, scores f o r rate of s i l e n t reading, comprehension scores, and progress curves, are e f f e c t i v e devices of the modern primary rooms f o r arousing mastery and r i v a l r y , and f o r keeping up a l i v e i n t e r e s t i n reading. Rewards of approval f o r suc­cess cost l i t t l e , and generous d i s t r i b u t i o n s of these add to the s a t i s f a c t i o n of success. A c t i o n r e f e r s to the i n t e r e s t which c h i l d r e n have i n moving about, i n doing something, and i n expressing t h e i r f e e l i n g s and thoughts i n gestures. This impulse gets expression i n dramatiza­tion- and i s used i n every system of teaching beginners to

18. read. A f t e r the c h i l d r e n have once mastered the mechan­i c s of reading, there i s no kind of i n t e r e s t to which an appeal can not be made.

The most e f f e c t i v e way to make use of the law of s a t i s f a c t i o n i n teaching reading i s to s e l e c t materials that appeal to c h i l d r e n ' s i n t e r e s t s , and i n v e s t i g a t i o n s show that these are rather w e l l defined. Types of s e l ­e c t i o n s f o r Grades One and Two, whioh have been found ap­pea l i n g to c h i l d r e n ' s i n t e r e s t s are as f o l l o w s : animal s t o r i e s , such as the Three L i t t l e P i g s ; cumulative t a l e s , as the L i t t l e Red Hen; nursery rhymes; c h i l d l i f e ; humor­ous t a l e s ; adventure, nature; dramatization. A l l of these types of reading form a part of modern primary classrooms and the law of s a t i s f a c t i o n i s being used i n a most ef­f e c t i v e way.

Chapter I I I .

A Survey of Primary Method i n Teaching Reading.

The most important work of the f i r s t - g r a d e teacher i n reading i s that of teaching the c h i l d r e n the assoc i a ­t i o n between the o r a l vocabulary and the corresponding w r i t t e n and p r i n t e d symbols. I n d i r e c t l y , through the medium of the words which the c h i l d understands on hear­ing, and can use to express ideas, the teacher must b u i l d up a s e r i e s of a s s o c i a t i o n s between the ideas that these words represent and t h e i r w r i t t e n and p r i n t e d forms. Usu­a l l y t h i s f i r s t work i s c a r r i e d on as a simple s e r i e s of paired a s s o c i a t i o n s of the v i s u a l with the au d i t o r y sym­bols u n t i l the c h i l d has a ready c o n t r o l of from f i f t y to one hundred common words. These are then combined i n t o simple sentences so as to give a complete thought through the eye.

The second stage of the work c o n s i s t s i n he l p i n g the c h i l d to make an a n a l y s i s of w r i t t e n or p r i n t e d words into l e t t e r , s y l l a b l e , or phonogram sounds, which makes i t pos­s i b l e f o r the c h i l d to get the idea from v i s u a l symbols by t r a n s l a t i n g them i n t o auditory word symbols. These w i l l become i n t e l l i g i b l e to him only to the extent that there i s a sound-symbol-object a s s o c i a t i o n already formed. The teacher's f u n c t i o n i s to s e l e c t f o r t h i s work only those

14. words which are sure to s t r i k e a f a m i l i a r a s s o c i a t i o n , or to help the c h i l d "by object lessons, a c t i v i t i e s , or ex­plan a t i o n s , to make the necessary p r e l i m i n a r y l i n k between the spoken word and the idea. The process then becomes cumulative. The c h i l d gets new ideas from new combinations of f a m i l i a r word-idea a s s o c i a t i o n s , and by guessing the idea represented by an occasional "new" word f o r which he had not p r e v i o u s l y made the soundssymbol-idea a s s o c i a t i o n . Before the c h i l d r e n leave the f i r s t grade, they are begin­ning, i n various degrees, to be able to make the assoc i a -t i o n s between the v i s u a l word-symbols and the ideas w i t h ­out f i n d i n g the intermediate step of the sound-symbol necessary. When a c h i l d has learned to do t h i s he may be thought of as having "learned to read'?, that i s , to get thought from the pri n t e d page.

Up to t h i s p o i n t the work i s l a r g e l y o r a l as i t i s necessary to see that each v i s u a l symbol i s connected with i t s proper sound, and that the associated idea i s c o r r e c t .

From t h i s point onj progress i s l a r g e l y a matter of experience i n the reading a c t i v i t y , achievement of f a c i l e i t y i n the h a b i t s formed, attainment of independence i n the process, and s e l f - m o t i v a t i o n i n the s e l e c t i o n of ma t e r i a l s .

A survey of the methods and materials which are i n p r a c t i c a l use i n the modern primary room must include the

15. s e l e c t i o n of reading m a t e r i a l , the i n c i d e n t a l vocabulary, the teaching of the f i r s t words, the f i r s t work i n phonics, reading p r o j e c t s , and the use of devices i n teaching read­i n g .

I n the choice of reading m a t e r i a l , the teacher i s con­fronted w i t h two problems: f i r s t , the s e l e c t i o n of words that are to be taught as the fundamental l i s t at the be­ginning of the work; and secondly, the s e l e c t i o n of the readers that are to be used as a ba s i s of the reading work a f t e r the i n i t i a l s i g h t l i s t has been learned. The former problem comprises both the choice of a s c i e n t i f i c reading vocabulary and the method to be employed i n i t s presenta­t i o n to the p u p i l s .

The s e l e c t i n g of a s c i e n t i f i c reading vocabulary i s not e s p e c i a l l y d i f f i c u l t because of the many recent i n ­v e s t i g a t i o n s which have been c a r r i e d out. Exhaustive word-counts have been made by El d r i d g e (5), Ayres (1), Jones (10)» Cook and O'Shea (4), Starch (18), Anderson (3), and Horn ( 7 ) . These counts were based on the vocabu­l a r y of newspapers, business correspondence, c h i l d r e n ' s correspondence, f a m i l y correspondence, and s i m i l a r phases of common usage. From such s t u d i e s , various l i s t s of the most common words were compiled. In 1921, a l l such stud i e s were combined by Thoradike, and were supplemented by extensive word-counts obtained from a v a r i e t y of other

m a t e r i a l . The Thorndike Teacher's Word L i s t gives, alpha­b e t i c a l l y , the ten thousand most commonly used words, so arranged, that i t i s p o s s i b l e to see the r e l a t e d frequency of usage of each word.

In s e l e c t i n g the b a s i c l i s t of words to be taught, a s c i e n t i f i c word l i s t , such as Thorndike's, should be con­s u l t e d , and l a t e r , i n preparing f l a s h cards, word games, and other devices, the words should be chosen from such a l i s t .

In a d d i t i o n to the fundamental word l i s t , there are many op p o r t u n i t i e s f o r extending the c h i l d ' s vocabulary by i n t r o d u c i n g new words which appear i n c i d e n t a l l y i n the everyday experience of the c h i l d i n the classroom and at home. Objects and a c t i v i t i e s of the room, new words and ideas met i n the reading e x e r c i s e s , and strange words used i n the home and i n the playground, a l l o f f e r ample scope f o r the enlarging of the vocabulary.

Before proceeding to the next t o p i c , the teaching of the, f i r s t words, i t w i l l be wise to consider the response the c h i l d makes when confronted by a word. From observa­t i o n i t has been discovered that beginners i n reading show great i n d i v i d u a l d i f f e r e n c e s i n observing the same word. Some attempt to read from r i g h t to l e f t , others from l e f t to r i g h t , from bottom up, from top down, or from the cen­t r e out. Since there i s no established habit of seeing

17. words from l e f t to r i g h t , i t becomes the task of the teacher of beginners to e s t a b l i s h t h i s h a b i t .

Many f a c t o r s i n f l u e n c e what i s perceived i n a word and how r e a d i l y the word can be f i x e d . The picturesque-ness of the word-silhouette seems to be the most powerful stimulus i n a t t r a c t i n g and h o l d i n g the c h i l d ' s i n t e r e s t . Thus, very i r r e g u l a r words, t a l l , short, and long words, are more r e a d i l y learned than uniform, r e g u l a r l y shaped words of average s i z e . A l s o , the ideas which the symbol o a l l s up, tend to make one word easy and another d i f f i c u l t to f i x . A word c a l l i n g up i n t e r e s t i n g , f a m i l i a r , or humorous images, i s more r e a d i l y f i x e d than one which c a l l s up c o l o r l e s s or i n s i g n i f i c a n t images.

The establishment of the i n i t i a l vocabulary i s one of the o b j e c t i v e s of the beginning.work i n reading. This vocabulary should be drawn from the f i r s t few hundred of the commonest words, the c h i l d r e n ' s own vocabulary, and the basal primer* In general, the words w i l l be taught through the use of p i c t u r e s , s t o r i e s , and o b j e c t s .

The word should be presented f o r the f i r s t time i n i t s s e t t i n g of meaningful content, and should then be i s o l a t e d . A f t e r t h i s , i t should be d r i l l e d according to the s c i e n t i f i c d i s t r i b u t i o n of p r a c t i c e . Good teaching involves repeated t e l l i n g i n order to keep the a s s o c i a t i o n of idea and symbol intense and v i v i d .

18. Through the use of word-games the d r i l l s can "be c a r ­

r i e d on h a p p i l y and s u c c e s s f u l l y . In t h i s connection i t has been found that devices, which operate r a p i d l y i n ex­posing words and phrases, c a l l out more rapid responses from the c h i l d w i t h accompanying pleasure and l e s s f a t i g u e . The device i s good i f i t i s not c a r r i e d to an extreme. Far b e t t e r than the p e r s i s t e n t use of word cards i s the combining of words i n many d i f f e r e n t meaningful phrases to present the vocabulary.

A f t e r a vocabulary of f i f t y or s i x t y sight words has been established the f i r s t work i n phonics i s i n t r o ­duced. Before en l a r g i n g on t h i s a paragraph or two might be i n order to e x p l a i n the meaning of phonics.

Words may be separated i n t o smaller u n i t s f o r various purposes: into l e t t e r s f o r s p e l l i n g and w r i t i n g , i n t o s y l l a b l e s f o r w r i t i n g , p r i n t i n g , and pronunciation, and into phonograms as an a i d i n sounding or pronouncing. The phonogram i s an a r t i f i c i a l device f o r d i v i d i n g words which sometimes coincides with the l e t t e r or s y l l a b l e u n i t s . Broadly, i t may be defined as a commonly used sound u n i t . I t may be composed of one or more l e t t e r s . D i f f e r e n t phonic systems employ d i f f e r e n t l i s t s of sound u n i t s . Sometimes these l i s t s f o l l o w general p r i n c i p l e s i n the grouping of l e t t e r s so as to have e i t h e r consonants or vowels at the beginning of the phonogram. Other systems

19. do not confine themselves to e i t h e r p r i n c i p l e or d i v i s i o n , but use both.

I t must be recognized that a l l phonic systems are merely a means to an end. The common purpose i s t o make the c h i l d independent i n h i s reading by f u r n i s h i n g him with a mechanical means of sounding new words to himself so that the v i s u a l word-symbol can be t r a n s l a t e d into a sound-symbol. This w i l l convey the idea t o him, i f i n h i s previous experience, he has already made the as s o c i a ­t i o n "between the word sound and the concept.

One of the most valuable c o n t r i b u t i o n s i n recent studies of phonic systems has been the s c i e n t i f i c deter­mination of the r e l a t i v e importance of the d i f f e r e n t phonograms used i n e i t h e r of the general types of phonic work. One of these studies (21) gives the f i f t y most com­mon vowel-consonant phonograms found i n words of twenty commonly used primers and f i r s t readers. The i n i t i a l com­b i n a t i o n s of two consonants were a l s o ranked i n order of frequency. Another study (13) gives the r e l a t i v e import­ance of the i n i t i a l consonants, f i n a l consonants, vowels, and phonograms, of the consonant-vowel type, as deter­mined by t h e i r r e l a t i v e frequency of occurrence i n the f i r s t twenty-five hundred words of Thorndike's Teacher's Word L i s t .

Such studies and f i n d i n g s have changed the content of

20. phonics from a haphazard s e l e c t i o n of phonograms to one wi t h a genuine s c i e n t i f i c "basis.

r

I t i s g e n e r a l l y agreed that the i n t r o d u c t i o n of phonics i s to be taken only a f t e r the beginners have acquired a sight vocabulary of at l e a s t f i f t y words. When the work i s f i r s t introduced, i t i s based on an a n a l y s i s of such words as have been already i d e n t i f i e d as whole word u n i t s , and then i t gradually proceeds, both by b u i l d ­ing up l i s t s of other f a m i l i a r words belonging to the simpler and more common phonogram " f a m i l i e s " , and by the phonic a n a l y s i s of simple new words as they occur i n the reading work.

The whole question as to the value of phonic a n a l y s i s and the r e l a t i v e merits of the two general types of phono­grams, i s l a r g e l y a matter of opinion. A few experiments have been made which i n d i c a t e t h a t some c h i l d r e n can l e a r n r e a d i l y and w e l l without any t r a i n i n g i n phonics; others, e v i d e n t l y , are g r e a t l y helped by such work. From these r e s u l t s i t would appear that phonics has a neces­sary and u s e f u l place i n primary reading but t h a t i t s use must be determined by the question of i n d i v i d u a l d i f f e r ­ences among the beginners.

The use of reading p r o j e c t s i s a device of-great worth i n c a r r y i n g out the methods of primary reading. Near the beginning of the term, the c h i l d r e n begin making

21. t h e i r own reading books; posters, p r i n t e d and drawn, are mounted on cards, and the c h i l d r e n t e l l one another what the p i c t u r e s are about. The teacher makes notes of these explanations and p r i n t s them underneath the p i c t u r e s . These i l l u s t r a t e d s t o r i e s are then placed about the room and the c h i l d r e n read one another's s t o r i e s . L a t e r , the p i c t u r e s are gathered and bound into a book which forms a f i r s t reader.

Other p r o j e c t s include the c o l l e c t i n g of signs, posters, advertisements, and l a b e l s of every d e s c r i p t i o n . The c h i l d r e n recognize, i n these signs, words that they know, and keep a record of a l l that they can read.

Another opportunity f o r the p r a c t i c a l use of reading i n the primary room i s given by l a b e l i n g i n s t r u c t i o n s f o r a c t i v i t i e s i n the room. Sand box p r o j e c t s , cupboards,con­t a i n i n g classroom m a t e r i a l , and the l i k e , lend themselves to t h i s . The c h i l d r e n f i n d t h i s i n t e r e s t i n g and l e a r n with l e s s d r i l l than when reading matter which i s l e s s .closely connected with t h e i r immediate experience.

The p l a y l i f e of l i t t l e c h i l d r e n i s r i c h with ex­amples of genuine a c t i v i t i e s , purposeful to childhood. These, viewed i n t h e i r completeness, might be c l a s s i f i e d as p l a y p r o j e c t s . Reading, i n these p l a y p r o j e c t s , con­t r i b u t e s to t h e i r completeness but never becomes an end i n i t s e l f . An a c t i v i t y curriculum i s f i l l e d w i t h j u s t such

28. r i c h experiences i n which reading f u n c t i o n s p u r p o s e f u l l y .

In the development of the reading, i f the words are grouped i n n a t u r a l thought-units, the c h i l d r e n w i l l soon read i n terms of these word-groups i n place of merely c a l ­l i n g i n d i v i d u a l words. I t has been found by experimenta­t i o n that c h i l d r e n recognize a n a t u r a l group of f a m i l i a r and l o g i c a l l y associated words as r a p i d l y as they do si n g l e words. Unnecessary pauses are eliminated by be­ginning at once to increase, gradually but s t e a d i l y , the c h i l d ' s span of r e c o g n i t i o n , and the time spent on f i x a ­t i o n s i s cut down, thus i n c r e a s i n g both speed and compre­hension.

Likewise, the emphasis on s i l e n t reading has been s t r o n g l y favored, and at the present time, the i n i t i a l t r a i n i n g on s i l e n t reading h a b i t s and methods has been ex­tended to the primer and f i r s t reader groups. E f f i c i e n c y i n s i l e n t reading i s being recommended as an important means to one's whole f u t u r e development. Oral reading f o r the adult has l i t t l e value and i n school i t i s needed only to t e s t the progress of the c h i l d i n the reading a r t . The older idea of having a great deal of p r a c t i c e i n o r a l read­ing f o r the sake of developing "expression", i s now being replaced by exercises i n s t o r y - t e l l i n g by the c h i l d , by dramatization, and by t o p i c a l r e c i t a t i o n .

A l a r g e part of teaching the c h i l d to read involves

23. an immense amount of d r i l l work. F i r s t steps i n word r e c o g n i t i o n , i n d i s c r i m i n a t i o n "between words that look much l i k e one another, i n securing c o r r e c t pronunciation, i n s t a r t i n g good eye-movement h a b i t s , i n applying phonic elements i n the a n a l y s i s of new words, and i n other primary a c t i v i t i e s , a l l involve constant r e p e t i t i o n s u n t i l the c h i l d ' s responses become a u t o m a t i c a l l y c o r r e c t . This con­stant r e p e t i t i o n , i n group and i n i n d i v i d u a l d r i l l lessons, becomes a monotonous burden to both teacher and c h i l d r e n , unless the teacher makes use of a great v a r i e t y of devices which w i l l motivate a co n s t a n t l y renewed i n t e r e s t and which w i l l help to make the work t o l e r a b l e . This problem of i n ­troducing constant v a r i e t y and new i n t e r e s t , has been solved by the inve n t i o n of a great number of devices and games which make a strong appeal to the c h i l d ' s play i n ­s t i n c t . Learning, of the d r i l l type, instead of becoming a g r i n d , then becomes an absorbing pastime.

Chapter IV.

A Suggestion f o r the Presentation of Pitman Shorthand.

I f , by the methods o u t l i n e d i n the previous chapter, the highest e f f i c i e n c y i n reading and w r i t i n g of the o r d i n ­ary language symbols has been a t t a i n e d , i t i s reasonable to b e l i e v e that some of those methods might be appl i e d . with success to the problem of the pr e l i m i n a r y or f i r s t year course i n shorthand. At t h i s stage, i t i s true, the p u p i l comes equipped w i t h a more comprehensive vocabulary, both o r a l and w r i t t e n , h i s comprehension i s more extensive, and h i s experience i s considerably enlarged. Yet, con­fronted w i t h the task of t r a n s l a t i n g h i s e x i s t i n g vocabu­l a r y i n t o w r i t t e n symbols, as strange and new to him as the p r i n t e d and w r i t t e n symbols are to the c h i l d at the beginning of h i s school career, he i s fundamentally, i n ef­f e c t , the u n l e t t e r e d c h i l d again.

Let us review the method i n use at the present time f o r teaching shorthand and compare t h i s w i t h the method o u t l i n e d f o r the primary course i n reading.

A f t e r some p r e l i m i n a r y remarks regarding phonetic s p e l l i n g , the value of carefully-made o u t l i n e s , the d i r e c ­t i o n of w r i t i n g , etc., the student i s introduced to the f i r s t eight consonant strokes of the shorthand alphabet. These eight s t r a i g h t strokes are w r i t t e n v e r t i c a l l y ,

h o r i z o n t a l l y , and o b l i q u e l y , i n l i g h t or heavy strokes, and represent the sounds of the l e t t e r s p, b, d, j , ch, k,t, and g. The student i s then given p r a c t i c e i n w r i t i n g and reading these consonants s i n g l y and i n combination. L a t e r , two vowels are introduced and then p r a c t i c e i s given i n reading and w r i t i n g o u t l i n e s of words composed of combina­t i o n s of these vowels and consonants. With such a l i m i t e d alphabet i t i s evident that words and thoughts w i l l be l i m i t e d and w i l l be unrelated to the p u p i l ' s i n t e r e s t s . The'learning becomes a mechanical memorizing of strokes w i t h l i t t l e . o r no a s s o c i a t i o n of meaning to the o u t l i n e s as word-wholes, since a l l the s t r e s s i s placed on l e a r n i n g the alphabet. At t h i s time, great emphasis i s given to the l e a r n i n g of the r u l e s regarding the d i r e c t i o n of w r i t ­ing, the p l a c i n g of the vowels, and the i n d i v i d u a l alpha­b e t i c strokes, and none at a l l i s given to the r e c o g n i t i o n of word o u t l i n e s . The other consonants and vowels of the shorthand alphabet are presented and taught i n much the same way, always accompanied by many s p e c i a l r u l e s . This s t r e s s i n g of r u l e s i s so dominant i n the f i r s t year that no time i s .allowed f o r the v i v i d and u s e f u l work of b u i l d ­ing up a shorthand reading and w r i t i n g vocabulary. At pre­sent, the reading and w r i t i n g i s e n t i r e l y by l e t t e r s and not by word u n i t s . This i s very s i m i l a r to the method f o l ­lowed years ago i n the primary classroom where the teaching

26. of the alphabet was the s t a r t i n g p o i n t i n l e a r n i n g to read.

Throughout the year t h i s method of teaching i s f o l ­lowed. Theory a f t e r theory i s provided and stressed, and the r e s u l t i s , that at the end of one year's work, the average student has a f a i r l y good knowledge of the short­hand alphabet and theory, but has p r a c t i c a l l y no automatic w r i t i n g or reading vocabulary.

In the Foreword of a new text (15) the f o l l o w i n g i s found: "For some years the p u b l i s h e r s have f e l t that too much time has been spent on l e a r n i n g the p r i n c i p l e s of shorthand per se, and that teachers would welcome an op­p o r t u n i t y to save time i n order to devote more a t t e n t i o n to t r a i n i n g i n E n g l i s h and i n the preparation of perf e c t t r a n s c r i p t i o n . "

This i s i n agreement with what I have pointed out above. In t h e i r new t e x t (which i s not used i n the Van­couver schools) the pu b l i s h e r s have arranged the work so that the p r i n c i p l e s are covered i n approximately one-half the time p r e v i o u s l y required.

As a s u b s t i t u t e f o r the present method of teaching shorthand which i s followed so gener a l l y , I suggest a plan of p resentation, the e a r l y part of which i s based on much the same method as i s now used i n the teaching of primary reading. B r i e f l y . s t a t e d , the suggested procedure might be o u t l i n e d as f o l l o w s : . (1) the teaching of a sight

27. vocabulary of the f i r s t few commonest words, by means of paired a s s o c i a t i o n s ; (2) the enlarging of the vocabulary, by means of d r i l l s and reading exercises, to include the f i r s t few hundred commonest words; (3) the p r a c t i c i n g i n w r i t i n g of only those words which have been learned by si g h t ; (4) the analysing of the known shorthand o u t l i n e s i n t o l e t t e r , s y l l a b l e , or phonograms, so that the students would be able to get the meaning of new o u t l i n e s themselves, and also would be able to b u i l d up the shorthand o u t l i n e s of new words; (5) d a i l y reading and d r i l l e xercises to en­l a r g e the vocabulary to approximately two thousand of the commonest words.

During the time given to the analysing of the o u t l i n e s , the p r i n c i p l e s and theory of the system would be taught. This would be c a r r i e d on simultaneously w i t h the teaching of the sight vocabulary and the w r i t i n g vocabulary, but at no stage would the theory work dominate the vocabulary b u i l d i n g . In f a c t , i t might be advisable to teach the theory i n i n d i v i d u a l l e s s o n periods so as not to c o n f l i c t w ith the more important work of b u i l d i n g up the sight and w r i t i n g vocabulary.

The fundamental d i f f e r e n c e between t h i s and older methods i s i n the s h i f t of emphasis to the establishment of a s i g h t knowledge of shorthand o u t l i n e s of the common­est words. This forms the b a s i s of the w r i t i n g vocabulary.

28. D r i l l s on the sight work f i r s t , and on the w r i t i n g l a t e r , would tend to develop automatic h a b i t s i n the reading and w r i t i n g . By the end of the f i r s t year's work i t i s pro­bable that the students would have a sight knowledge and a w r i t i n g knowledge of about two thousand words, as w e l l as the theory of the system.

The adoption of t h i s proposed method of presenting shorthand introduces a number of problems which r e q u i r e more d e t a i l e d d i s c u s s i o n . Among these problems are the f o l l o w i n g : the s e l e c t i n g of a vocabulary, the teaching of the f i r s t words, the teaching of the theory, and the s e l ­e c t i n g of proper reading m a t e r i a l .

The establishment of the i n i t i a l vocabulary w i l l be one of the main o b j e c t i v e s of the f i r s t work i n shorthand. This vocabulary w i l l be derived from several sources. One of these w i l l be a s c i e n t i f i c word l i s t such as Thorndike's (20), or Horn's ( 8 ) , from which a number of the f i r s t few hundred'commonest words w i l l be s e l e c t e d . Throughout the year the greater number of the words to be taught w i l l be drawn from such l i s t s and t h i s w i l l form the bulk of the vocabulary. A second source w i l l be the i n c i d e n t a l vocabu­l a r y of the objects and a c t i v i t i e s of the classroom and the school. T h i s source, p o s s i b l y , w i l l f u r n i s h the best l i s t f o r the f i r s t few lessons as the words w i l l be meaningful and u s e f u l to the student. In such a group would be words

drawn from t h e i r S o c i a l Studies, L i t e r a t u r e , and Club A c t i v i t i e s . A t h i r d source of the proposed vocabulary w i l l be a s c i e n t i f i c a l l y constructed reading text-book to be placed i n the hands of the p u p i l s a f t e r the f i r s t s i g h t l i s t had been taught. This book would be used f o r d a i l y reading p r a c t i c e , and when new o u t l i n e s , appeared, the s t u ­dents would be encouraged to guess t h e i r meaning from the context and from t h e i r knowledge of theory. L i s t s of these new o u t l i n e s would be made and l a t e r , d r i l l s w i t h various devices would be given to f i x them permanently. D a i l y reading, both o r a l and s i l e n t , would be employed to r e ­place the present monotonous and meaningless copying of shorthand o u t l i n e s . As the reading knowledge of shorthand grew, the w r i t i n g of the o u t l i n e s would be p o s s i b l e from d i c t a t i o n , and by r e p e t i t i o n , the automatic stage of w r i t ­ing would be achieved. This procedure i s e x a c t l y the re­verse of that followed at the present time where students spend w e l l over h a l f of t h e i r time i n copying and r e -copying page a f t e r page of p a r t l y known or unknown o u t l i n e s .

The t e x t should be s c i e n t i f i c from several stand­p o i n t s . I t s vocabulary should con s i s t of the f i r s t * thousand or f i f t e e n hundred commonest words and these should be ar­ranged i n an order of frequency beginning with the very commonest and concluding with the l e s s f r e q u e n t l y used words. I t s content, l i k e w i s e , should be founded on a

30. s c i e n t i f i c b a s i s . Studies have been made of the reading i n t e r e s t s of boys and g i r l s of high school age and the f i n d i n g s of such i n v e s t i g a t i o n s should be observed i n s e l ­e c t i n g the mate r i a l to be placed i n the t e x t . L a s t l y , the proposed text should be s c i e n t i f i c from the point of view of such externals as appearance, i l l u s t r a t i o n s , type, and-paper. With such a book, reading of shorthand could be made as i n t e r e s t i n g and absorbing to high school c h i l d r e n as the primary reading i s to the s i x - y e a r - o l d .

The second problem, the teaching of the f i r s t words, i s d i r e c t l y connected w i t h the s e l e c t i o n of the vocabulary. As pointed out, the vocabulary w i l l be drawn from the most fr e q u e n t l y used words and should be l i n k e d up with the a c t i v i t i e s of the classroom i n order that the words may be i n t e r e s t i n g and meaningful. The word i s presented f o r the f i r s t time i n a s e t t i n g of meaningful content. Later i t i s i s o l a t e d . At t h i s time the presentation of the o u t l i n e could very w e l l f o l l o w the modern procedure of teaching s p e l l i n g . The presentation i s made i n as many ways as. pos­s i b l e — t h r o u g h seeing, hearing, pronouncing, and w r i t i n g the new word. A n a l y s i s of the o u t l i n e f o l l o w s and the com­ponent parts of the o u t l i n e , the p o s i t i o n and the d i r e c t i o n of w r i t i n g are noted c a r e f u l l y . F i n a l l y the o u t l i n e i s d r i l l e d according to the p r i n c i p l e s of s c i e n t i f i c p r a c t i c e . Through the use of various devices, the d r i l l s could be

31. c a r r i e d on w i t h i n t e r e s t and mastery. These f i r s t steps i n word r e c o g n i t i o n involve constant repetions u n t i l the response becomes aut o m a t i c a l l y c o r r e c t . This constant r e ­p e t i t i o n w i l l become monotonous and burdensome unless r e­source i s made to a wide v a r i e t y of devices which w i l l motivate a constantly renewed i n t e r e s t * As motivation during t h i s p e r i o d , charts and graphs of i n d i v i d u a l and group records of mastery could be kept, and by appealing to such impulses as r i v a l r y , mastery, and the desire f o r ap­pr o v a l , the desire f o r l e a r n i n g the shorthand vocabulary would be made more s a t i s f y i n g to a l l .

The t h i r d problem, the teaching of the shorthand theory, deals with the d i f f e r e n t devices provided i n the system f o r shortening the o u t l i n e s and so i n c r e a s i n g the speed of w r i t i n g . These devices do not do away wit h the basic a l ­phabet of consonant strokes, but are e a s i l y made c i r c l e s , l oops, and hooks, which are attached to these strokes. The f i r s t of these devices i s a small c i r c l e , joined i n i t i a l l y , m edially; o r f i n a l l y , to various stroke consonants to re­present the f r e q u e n t l y occurring consonants "s" and " z " . A recent study (13) of r e l a t i v e importance of the i n i t i a l consonants of the f i r s t tiventy-five hundred words of Thorndike's Teacher's Word L i s t , shows that the consonant "s" leads i n importance, and so t h i s device of the " c i r c l e s" has a s c i e n t i f i c a l l y established b a s i s f o r use. A

38. second device i s a small loop which represents the i n i t i a l sound of " s t " or the medial or f i n a l sound of " s t r " . Here again the i n i t i a l consonant combination of " s t " was found i n two d i f f e r e n t studies to he the most f r e q u e n t l y used I n i t i a l combination of consonants. Other devices provided i n the present shorthand system include the f o l l o w i n g : a la r g e i n i t i a l c i r c l e to represent "s.wV, or a la r g e f i n a l c i r c l e to represent "ses"; i n i t i a l hooks to represent the sound of Ml" and " r " when i n combination w i t h other con­sonants, thus g i v i n g a s e r i e s of double consonants, such as, p i , b l , k l , pr, t r ; f i n a l hooks to represent "n" and " f " , again g i v i n g devices f o r the two most f r e q u e n t l y occurring f i n a l consonants found i n the f i r s t twenty-five hundred commonest words; a lar g e f i n a l hook f o r the sound of ''shun", one of the most common s u f f i x e s i n the language; a number of devices to represent the compound consonants, kw, gw, wl , whl,. l r , mp, and mb; a h a l v i n g p r i n c i p l e to i n d i c a t e the f i n a l t or d consonants; a doubling p r i n c i p l e f o r the f i n a l combination of t r , dr, and t h r ; devices f o r the com­mon p r e f i x e s , con, com, s e l f , t r a n s , and others; devices f o r common s u f f i x e s , such as i n g , a l i t y , a r i t y , l y , ward. In a d d i t i o n to these there are numerous other devices, a l l of which serve to provide b r i e f and e a s i l y w r i t t e n o u t l i n e s , as w e l l as to be of great value i n vowel i n d i c a t i o n .

I n one study (21) of i n i t i a l combinations of two

55. consonants, the f o l l o w i n g were found to he the most f r e ­quently o c c u r r i n g combinations: s t , t h , sh, gr, br, dr, wh, p i , f l , sp, ch, h i , sw, t r , or, c l , s l y sn, sm, and tw. Examination of these reveals the f a c t that the short­hand system provides devices f o r every combination of the above except the l a s t . Likewise, a study of f i n a l l e t t e r s ranks them as f o l l o w s : r , n, 1,, s, t , d, m, p, nt, re, ce, se, t h , nd, s t , ve, ng, t e , ck, c, c l , and f . Again the shorthand system has devices f o r almost a l l of these f i n a l combinations. This examination of the most f r e q u e n t l y oc­c u r r i n g combination of l e t t e r s suggests that the system i t s e l f has been based on a s c i e n t i f i c a l l y sound, b a s i s , and that the work of teaching these devices may be analogous to the teaching of phonics i n the primary room.

In primary reading, the teaching of phonics i s gener­a l l y postponed u n t i l the c h i l d r e n have acquired a s i g h t vocabulary of at l e a s t f i f t y words. I f t h i s has proved to be b e n e f i c i a l and p r a c t i c a l i n the primary work, i t might be wise to follow.the same procedure i n teaching the short­hand theory. At f i r s t the a n a l y s i s would be based on such words as have been already i d e n t i f i e d as whole u n i t s , and then i t would proceed by b u i l d i n g up l i s t s of other known words belonging to the more simple and common " f a m i l i e s " , and by phonic a n a l y s i s of simple new words as they -occur;in the reading. I n t h i s work the p u p i l s would be encouraged

34. to seek out the p r i n c i p l e involved i n the new o u t l i n e . In place of being t o l d the theory, they would be encouraged to discover i t through t h e i r own e f f o r t s . Throughout the year t h i s work would be regarded as of secondary importance, as the greater emphasis would continue to be placed upon the a c q u i r i n g of a u s e f u l reading and w r i t i n g vocabulary.

Before proceeding to the f i n a l problem, that of the text-book, I propose to make an examination of the text i n present use, (14). This examination may substantiate my claim that a r e v i s i o n of method and m a t e r i a l i s urgently required. The greater part of t h i s c r i t i c i s m deals with the vocabulary of the present t e x t . This may be treated under three headings: the vocabulary of the grammalogs, the vocabulary of the c o n t r a c t i o n s , and the general vocabu­l a r y .

Grammalogs cons i s t of words which, owing to t h e i r supposed frequency of usage, have been provided w i t h spe­c i a l shorthand o u t l i n e s i n order that they may be w r i t t e n i n the b r i e f e s t time and with the l e a s t e f f o r t . I f s p e c i a l forms have been provided f o r c e r t a i n words, these words should be found i n a s c i e n t i f i c a l l y constructed word l i s t such as Thorndike's or Horn's. A comparison of the gramma-l o g l i s t w i t h those of Thorndike and Horn revealed that a la r g e number of the words i n the grammalog l i s t was not i n ­cluded i n the thousand commonest words of e i t h e r of the

35. l i s t s . The, f o l l o w i n g table shows these grammalogs with reference to t h e i r frequency on both l i s t s . Key: "X" denotes words beyond 10000.

Grammalogs Thorndike Horn 1. accord 4000 - 4500 5500 - 6000 2. -ah.--,. 2000 - 2500 X 3. .eh--",'.:...;. Z X 4. aught 5545 - 6047 X 5. •; awe.-;. 4000 - 4500 9066 -10000

aye 6048 - 6618 X 7. behalf 4000 4500 3500 - 4000 8. •V'• belief;. 3500 - 4000 3000 - 3500

beyond 2500 - 3000 2000 - 2500 circumstance 3000 - 3500 4500 - 5000

: l l . |: d e l i v e r 2000 - 2500 2500 - 3000 12. deliverance 5000 - 5500 X :^L3.: d i f f i c u l t 8000 - 2500 2000 - 2500

equalled X X g e n e r a l i z a t i o n X X improve 2500 - 3000 3500 - 4000

;1,7,,;; in f l u e n c e 2500 - 3000 2500 - 3000 18. influenced 2500 - 3000 7018 - 7978 19. i n s c r i b e 8146 - 9190 X 20. i n s c r i p t i o n 6048 - 6618 7018- 7978

36. i n s t r u c t i o n 3000 - 3500 3000 - 3500

22 i n s t r u c t i v e 8146 - 9190 5002 - 6024 23. j u s t i f i c a t i o n x .-• 7979 - 9065

:;:'24v language 2000 - 2500 2500 - 3000 • ;2:5y l a r g e l y ? 3500 - 4000 26. l i b e r t y 2000 - 2500 2000 - 2500 27. anere 2000 - 2500 2500 - 3000 2£* northern 2500 - 3000 3500 - 4000 29. p r i n c i p a l 2500 - 3000 2000 - 3000 30. p r i n c i p l e 3500 - 4000 3000 -. 3500

remark 3500 - 4000 3500 - 4000 s a t i s f a c t i o n 3500 - 4000 2000 - 2500

33. : s e l f i s h 4000 - 4500 4000 - 4500 34* s i g n i f i c a n c e X X

:;;25y s i g n i f i c a n t 8146 - 9190 7979 - 9065 s i g n i f i c a t i o n X X

37. s i g n i f y 5500 en 6000 X 38. southern 2500 - 3000 3000 - 3500 39. s u b j e c t i o n 6619 - 7262 X 40. subjective X X 41. t h y s e l f 3500 - 4000 . X 42.. v a l u a t i o n X 4500 - 5000

The above l i s t represents approximately twenty per cent of the t o t a l grammalogs. In order to have s c i e n t i f i c v a l i d i t y , the above words should be removed and words of

37. higher frequence be s u b s t i t u t e d . F o l l o w i n g i s a l i s t of words, a l l of which are found i n the one thousand commonest words of both Thorndike and Horn. S p e c i a l signs could be provided f o r these, i f more grammalogs were desired to re­place those removed. 1. afternoon 21. hundred 2. already 22. increase 3. bank 23. i n t e r e s t 4. before 24. march 5. business 25. market 6. c e r t a i n 26. minute 7. change 27. moment 8. company 28. morning 9. continue 29. n a t u r a l

10. decide 30. necessary 11. d e s i r e 31. n o t i c e 12. everything 32. order 13. except 33. party 14. f a c t 34. p r a c t i c e 15. favor 35. present 16. f i n i s h 36. purpo se 17. f i r m 37. question 18. f o l l o w i n g 38. receive 19. forward 39. report 20. happen 40. season

38.

46. value 47. work 48. world 49. worth 50. yesterday

The revised grammalogs would then c o n s i s t of words found i n the thousand commonest as shown i n two recognized l i s t s and the use to which these s p e c i a l signs would l a t e r he made i n w r i t i n g would warrant the time spent i n l e a r n ­ing them.

Gontractions are s i m i l a r to grammalogs hut d i f f e r i n that they are w r i t t e n w i t h two or more strokes whereas grammalogs are w r i t t e n w i t h but one. The words, f o r which the contracted o u t l i n e s are supplied, are generally long or they involve awkward and unbalanced o u t l i n e s . The extremely low frequency of the words f o r which s p e c i a l o u t l i n e s have been provided suggests that the present l i s t be r a d i c a l l y r e v i s e d or perhaps omitted e n t i r e l y . Examination of the present l i s t reveals that approximately one-third of the words are not contained i n the f i r s t f i v e thousand common­est words of either Thorndike or Horn. Following i s a l i s t of these words w i t h t h e i r frequency:

*tx. s ervice 42. small 43. tomorrow 44. understand 45. u n t i l

39. Contractions Thorndike Horn

abandonment ;..X X 2. attainment 9191 -10000 X 3. a r c h i t e c t - u r e - a l 6619 - 7262 6025 - 7017

'>4. J c i r c u m s t a n t i a l X X 15. contentment 7263 - 8145 6025 - 7017 6. contingency " 'X • 7. d e f i c i e n t - l y - c y J 7263 - 8145 9066 -10000

demonstrate 5545 - 6047 6025 - 7017 q demonstration 6048 - 6618 7979 - 9065

.3.0.; •• de s t r u c t i v e 91S1 -10000 X d e s t r u c t i v e l y x 'X -

12.; disorganize X .• x 13. e l e c t r i c i t y 7263 - 8145 5002 - 6024 14.- enlargement 9191 -10000 9066 -10000 15. enlightenment X X 16. . ' . ..!'

exigency X X '17:, :| henceforward 9191 -10000 X mJ inconsiderate X X 19, in d i s p e n s a b l e - l y 8146 9190 7018 - 7978 20 i n f l u e n t i a l - l y 9191 -10000 7018 - 7978 21. informer X X 22:. i n t e l l i g i b l e - l y X X 23. i r r e s p e c t i v e X X 24. i r r e s p e c t i v e l y X X

40. 25. i r r e s p o n s i b l e - i l i t y X X •$6>. j u r i s d i c t i o n 8146 - 9190 5007 - 6024 27, magnetic-ism X X 28; manuscript 72 63 - 8145 6025 - 7017 29. objectionable \X'i 7018 - 7978 SO. obje c t i v e X X 31. o b s t r u c t i o n 8146 - 9190 X 32. o b s t r u c t i v e X*; .."X 33y oneself 8146 - 9190 X ;.34:. performer 9190 - 10000 35. perpendicular 7263 - 8145 . X 36. perspective 9191 - 10000 37. p r a c t i c a b l e /•X 6085 ,. 7017 38. productive X 5002 - 6024 39. p r o f i c i e n t - l y - c y 9191 - 10000 '. z 40, proport i o n a t e - l y X X 41. questionable-ly X 7979 - 9065 42* reformer X X 43* • r e l i n q u i s h - e d 7263 - 8145 X 44. remonstrance X X 45. remonstrate 9191 - 10000 X 46, retrospect X X 47. r e t r o s p e c t i o n X X #8,'.; re t r o s p e c t i v e X z 49; stringency X X

41. 50. subscribe-d 7263 - 8145 6025 - 7017 51. thenceforward i.X X «32 # unanimity X X 53. unanimous-ly 6619 - 7262 5006 - 6024

"T ! not shown i n Thorndike 1s or Horn's L i s t .

Since s p e c i a l contracted o u t l i n e s f o r the above words must be memorized by p u p i l s , a great l o s s of time and ef­f o r t r e s u l t s . The o u t l i n e s f o r many of these words w i l l r a r e l y be used by shorthand students i n the ordinary course of business w r i t i n g . The above words should be removed from the l i s t of co n t r a c t i o n s , and i f new words are to r e ­place them, the new words should be found w i t h i n the f i r s t f i v e thousand commonest words of a recognized w o r d - l i s t . I f t h i s were done, there would be a d i r e c t r e l a t i o n between the e f f o r t expended i n l e a r n i n g the contractions and the use which would l a t e r be made of them.

A study of the general vocabulary of the text reveals p r a c t i c a l l y the same conditions i n the examples and exer­c i s e s as was found i n the studies of grammalogs and contrac­t i o n s . An estimated vocabulary of f i v e thousand words i s contained i n the book and t h i s ranges i n frequency from the most common words to the most uncommon. In the early chap­t e r s where the consonants and vowels are introduced, the per­centage of common words i s quite high, but even here

42. numerous examples are found of words beyond the ten thou­sand commonest. Fo l l o w i n g i s a chart of the new words i n the f i r s t ten chapters showing the number i n each f r e ­quency group: (See next page.)

As the work advances, the range of the vocabulary widens i n ever i n c r e a s i n g c i r c l e s . The percentage of new words introduced g r a d u a l l y increases i n the wrong d i r e c t i o n . More and more words of low frequency appear, u n t i l i n several chapters, there are found more of the newly i n t r o ­duced words beyond the f i r s t f i v e thousand commonest than contained i n i t . A count of new words i n chapter eleven reveals that of about one hundred f i f t y - f i v e introduced, more than 50 per cent are not found i n the f i r s t f i v e thousand commonest. Following i s a l i s t of the words i n chapter eleven which range outside of the f i v e thousand commonest of both Thorndike's and Horn's l i s t :

Note; "X" not shown i n l i s t . Thorndike Ho rn

1. a d v e r s i t y 6048 - 6618 X';".-2. abstainer X ." 3. a t t r a c t i v e l y X X 4. b a f f l e r X X 5. b e n e f i c i a l x * 4496 - 5001 6, banker

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44. Thorndike Horn

7. bravely 9066 -10000 8. "b rusher

: : . b r i m f u l : X , X ' •

aimer 11. a f f r a y X:-',- x y :12. c l i n g 4001 - 5144 9066 -10000

b a f f l e 6048 - 6618 canker 6619 - 7262 x "

y!5,-' '•• f l a n k . 4001 - 5144 X 16. f r a y 5545 - 6047 ': x .'

miner 5545 - 6047 7018 - 7978 18. p i t i f u l 5145 - 5544 5002 - 6024 19. shelves 5145 - 5544 6025 - 7017

s t i f l e 5545 - 6047 : 2 21, f e r v o r 6619 - 7262 9066 -10000 ,22i. kennel 6619 - 7262 X 23. mindful 6048 - 6618 X v24v.; o f f e n s i v e 6619 - 7262 7018 - 7978 25. primer 6619 - 7262 9066 -10000 26. r i g h t f u l 661? - 7262 X

21?. usbrer 6619 - 7262 9066 -10000 28. zephyr 6619 - 7262 X '•••89*..; p l a y f u l 7263 - 8145 •• X 30. penalty 7263 - 8145 6025 - 7017

45.

, Thorndike Horn 31;. shred 7263 -. 8145 X 32. shrunk 7263 - 8145 X 33, :;: shrug 7265 - 8145 ." X 34. t r u t h f u l 7263 - 8145 6025 - 7017 35. cleaner 1 6619 - 7262 5003 - 6024 36* E t h e l : 8149 - 9190 X •' 37, exposure ; 9 i 9 i -10000 7979 - 9065 38. f r o t h 9191 -10000 X' • 39. ; / f l a s k - •. ' 8146 - 9190 X 40. f l u s h 8146 - 9190 X 41. f l i c k e r 8146 - 9190 X 42. f l i n t y 8146 - 9190

-43, panel 9191 -10000 5002 - 6024 44. s h r i v e l 8146 - 9190 X 45. calmer X • X ' : 46, •- crusher X •.x . "47. : drinker X 48. drover X X

49. Dover X X

50. e f f e c t i v e l y X 5002 - 6024 51, egg-shell X

2 ' '

52. f r a g i l e X X

53. f l i g h t y X X

54. fledge X X

46 Thorndike Horn

55. Floyd ;>x :. X ' •' 56. f l i n c h • x X 57, ' freed x • : X ,". . 58, f l a t t e s t :..:X: ... . 59* f l i t c h '•••X •>•• . X -." 60. heedful : X ;' •X;':

61. • gleaner •• "X ••-63. j o i n e r • X,' . :. : X .' ; 63. . manger . X. .64,/ nervously '., x . :- X

65., v.;, -'revival - X 6025 - 7017 "'66*:; reproval :X • 67. schooner X

' 68 .;.! shrank X x ,69'.'c shrapnel ;Xv.- . X 70. spanker, x . X .

thinner X •'•X.v','

'72V. ; tougher •X' .•' - x 73. t r a i n e r x . -X- " 74. vainer; • x •x ... 75. v e r s a t i l e X . x '•. • 76. funnel 9191 -10000 :. X. "" •" 77. tanner 9191 -5.0000 X 78. t i n k e r , x - X

In the l a t e r chapters of the text the same wide range i n the vocabulary i s found. Not only do words of low f r e ­quency appear i n the exercises, but they a l s o abound i n the actual examples which are given to i l l u s t r a t e p oints i n the theory. There seems no v a l i d reason f o r using words of such low frequency when there i s an abundance of high f r e ­quency words which w i l l serve the purpose j u s t as w e l l .

From t h i s study of the vocabulary of the present t e x t , i t i s evident that, from the point of view of grammalogs, contractions, and general vocabulary, there has been l i t t l e , i f any, b a s i s f o r i t s s e l e c t i o n . No attempt seems t o have been made to keep to a l i m i t e d group of commonly-used words such as that followed i n the teaching of primary reading. The r e s u l t i s t h a t , a f t e r the f i r s t year's work i n short­hand, the student, i n place of having a l i m i t e d but w e l l -known sig h t and w r i t i n g vocabulary, i s not able to w r i t e e a s i l y , or read f l u e n t l y , even the simplest E n g l i s h . Un­doubtedly a complete r e v i s i o n of the whole vocabulary i s necessary before any worthwhile advance can be expected i n the teaching of shorthand. (Since t h i s c r i t i c a l study of the vocabulary of the present t e x t has been made, a new text-book (15) has been published and i n the "Foreword" i s found the f o l l o w i n g : "The r e s u l t s of s c i e n t i f i c studies of vocabularies have been taken as a guide i n s e l e c t i n g the words i n the exercises." The vocabulary of t h i s new t e x t

48. i s composed of twenty-five hundred words of highest f r e ­quency. The grammalogs and contractions have also been revised to some extent.)

Throughout the text-book, the presentation of the new theory i n each chapter i s followed by d r i l l exercises f o r reading and w r i t i n g . I f we are to accept the law of repe­t i t i o n , as p r e v i o u s l y mentioned, we should f i n d these d r i l l exercises to be operating under the conditions as set f o r t h i n that law, namely; r e p e t i t i o n s must be applied with a t ­t e n t i o n and v i g o r ; they must be d i s t r i b u t e d over a number of periods; they must be motivated by a record of improvement; and they must be applied to u s e f u l r e a c t i o n s . When the ex­e r c i s e s are examined under the above conditions of the law of r e p e t i t i o n , they f a l l short of the requirements. Almost every c o n d i t i o n under which.the law i s to operate i s v i o ­l a t e d . L i s t of words, many of which are uncommon, and meaningless sentences, o f f e r no opportunity f o r making re­p e t i t i o n s vigorous and engrossing. No thought of c a r e f u l d i s t r i b u t i o n of the exercises i s evident. Motivation of the work i s l a c k i n g and no a t t e n t i o n seems to have been given to the suggestion that the r e p e t i t i o n s be applied to u s e f u l r e a c t i o n s .

The same general c r i t i c i s m whichwas made of the vo­cabulary seems to apply to the d r i l l e xercises. Apparently they have been created without s c i e n t i f i c foundation.

lone of the recognized p r i n c i p l e s of educational psychology-has been followed and the r e s u l t i s that the exercises are nothing, more than c o l l e c t i o n s of monotonous and u n i n t e r e s t ­ing r e p e t i t i o n s , from which no one but the. e x c e p t i o n a l l y motivated student could ever hope to a r r i v e at that state of s a t i s f a c t i o n , w h i c h i s so e s s e n t i a l f o r success i n the l e a r n i n g process.

I f the method of teaching shorthand was changed from that g e n e r a l l y followed at the present to one based on the p l a n of developing an automatic w r i t i n g and reading vocabu­l a r y , the text-book to be placed i n the hands of the p u p i l s would have an e n t i r e l y d i f f e r e n t f u n c t i o n from that of the present one. Much of the content of the old t e x t would not be required. No theory or d r i l l would be placed i n the book. ' This would be l e f t i n the hands of the teacher. As i n primary work, the teacher would be expected to present a l l the theory and to supply the necessary d r i l l e x ercises. Only by doing so could there be any p o s s i b i l i t y of f o l l o w ­ing the p r i n c i p l e s l a i d down, i n the laws of l e a r n i n g . I f these are to f u n c t i o n e f f e c t i v e l y , i t i s apparent that they can do so only through the p e r s o n a l i t y of the teacher. No text-book, however p e r f e c t l y constructed, could be expected to f u l f i l the conditions under which the laws of l e a r n i n g are to operate at maximum e f f i c i e n c y . This means that the text-book, as such, would be eliminated. In i t s place

50. would be a shorthand reader corresponding to the f i r s t primer or reader found i n the primary classroom. I t would contain no alphabet, no theory, no d r i l l exercises, nothing but reading e x e r c i s e s . In order to be of greatest value i t would be constructed as c a r e f u l l y and s c i e n t i f i c a l l y as a modern primary primer. I t s vocabulary would be based on a recognized w o r d - l i s t and would contain only the f i r s t two thousand words of highest frequency. I t s content would consist of s t o r i e s and a r t i c l e s which have been found through i n v e s t i g a t i o n to be of greatest i n t e r e s t to p u p i l s of high school age. I l l u s t r a t i o n s , p r i n t i n g , and paper, would be of good q u a l i t y . Altogether, the new t e x t , from the. point of view of vocabulary, content, and form would be based on a s c i e n t i f i c foundation.

Chapter V.

Conclusions

A survey of the modern method of teaching primary reading reveals that t h i s branch of teaching has d e f i n i t e l y been .placed on a sound psy c h o l o g i c a l b a s i s . Numerous i n ­v e s t i g a t i o n s have been made during the past years upon the methods and the ma t e r i a l s of primary reading, and the re­s u l t s so obtained, have been brought into p r a c t i c e i n the modern primary classrooms. The success, r e s u l t i n g from the adoption of these changes, has been phenomenal, and at no time i n the past have the r e s u l t s i n reading been so encouraging as they are at the present time. During t h i s same period the teaching of shorthand has been c a r r i e d on without any pe r c e p t i b l e change. Few i n v e s t i g a t i o n s seem to have been made as to the soundness of the methods f o l ­lowed or of the mater i a l s used, and the teaching of short­hand has not been marked by a steady record of progress comparable to that obtained i n primary reading. The re^-s u l t of t h i s comparison unquestionably favors the primary reading and t h i s has suggested the need of p l a c i n g the teaching of shorthand on a new b a s i s .

The teaching of a sight vocabulary of shorthand out­l i n e s i s advocated before any emphasis i s placed on the w r i t i n g . This work of teaching words by sight i s very s i m i ­l a r to the i n i t i a l steps i n primary reading where a sight

52. vocabulary i s developed, and i t has seemed reasonable to adopt some of the methods of primary reading f o r the teach­ing of the shorthand sight vocabulary.

B r i e f l y s t a t e d , t h i s i n v olves the d i s c a r d i n g of the present method of teaching by alphabet, and the s u b s t i t u t ­ing of the teaching by words, phrases, and sentences. A si g h t vocabulary of the commonest words i s b u i l t up and t h i s forms the important part of the work. The theory work i s c a r r i e d along as supplementary m a t e r i a l and i s not to be stressed at the expense of the s i g h t work. A f t e r a sight l i s t of a hundred or so words has been learned, reading l e s ­sons would become a d a i l y procedure to give meaningful d r i l l and a l s o to give opportunity of e n l a r g i n g the vocabulary. As the s i g h t work proceeds, w r i t i n g p r a c t i c e , from d i c t a t i o n , of well-known s i g h t words i s given and constant p r a c t i c e i n the w r i t i n g of these words w i l l r e s u l t i n the mastery of shorthand w r i t i n g . By the end of one year's work, a student should possess a ready w r i t i n g and reading vocabulary of the f i r s t two thousand commonest words.

The adoption of such a method requires a complete re­v i s i o n of the present text-book. I t would be replaced by a s c i e n t i f i c a l l y - c o m p o s e d reader with no theory or exercises. The vocabulary of the reader and of the sight words would be based on an accepted word l i s t such as Thorndike's or Horn's. The content of the reader would be based on the

53. recent studies of high school students' i n t e r e s t s i n read­i n g . From the standpoint of method, vocabulary and content, t h i s suggested treatment of shorthand would be founded upon sound p r i n c i p l e s of psychology and pedagogy.

B i b l i o g r a p h y . 1. Ayres, L. P., The S p e l l i n g Vocabularies of Personal

and Business L e t t e r s , R u s s e l l Sage Foundation, New York, 1913.

2. Alderman, H. G., The E f f e c t of C e r t a i n Kinds of D r i l l E x e r c ises on Comprehension. Journal of Educational Research, V o l . X I I I , 1926.

3. Anderson, W. N., Determination of a S p e l l i n g Vocabulary Based Upon Wr i t t e n Correspondence. U n i v e r s i t y of Iowa Monographs i n Education, 1921.

4. Cook, W. A., and 0'Shea, M. V., The C h i l d and H i s S p e l l i n g , 1914.

5. E l d r i d g e , R. C., S i x Thousand Common En g l i s h Words, Niagara F a l l s , N. Y„, 1911.

6. Gray, C. T., Types of Reading A b i l i t y as Exhibited Through Tests and Laboratory Experiments, 1917.

7. Horn, Ernest, The Vocabulary of Bankers' L e t t e r s , E n g l i s h J o u r n a l , V o l . X I I , 1923.

8. Horn, Ernest, A Basic W r i t i n g Vocabulary, U n i v e r s i t y of Iowa Monographs i n Education, 1926.

9. Huey, E. B., The Psychology and Pedagogy of Reading. 10. Jones, W. F., Concrete Examination of the M a t e r i a l of

E n g l i s h S p e l l i n g , 1913. 11. ELapper, P a u l , Teaching Children to Read, Ch. 3 - 8. 12. O'Brien, J . A., S i l e n t Reading, 1921. Ch. 6 - 9 . 13. Osburn, W. J . , The R e l a t i v e Value of L e t t e r Sounds

and Consonants. 14. Pitman, Isaac Pitman Shorthand, New Era E d i t i o n ,

Commercial Course, 1929. 15. Pitman, New Standard Course, Pitman Shorthand, 1953. 16. Reed, H. B., The Psychology of Elementary School

Subjects, 1928. Ch. 1 - 8. 17. Smith, N. S., Experiment to Determine the E f f e c t i v e ­

ness of the D e t r o i t Standard P r a c t i c e i n Reading, Journal of Educational Research, V o l . V I I , 1923.

18. Starch, D a n i e l , Thesis i n the L i b r a r y of the Univer­s i t y of Wisconsin, 1916.

19. Stormzand, M. J . , and McEee, J . W., The Progressive Primary Reader, 1928. Ch. 8 - 10.

20. Thorndike, E. L., The Teacher's Word Book, 1923. 21. Vogel, M., Jaycox, E., and Washburn, C. W., A Basic

L i s t of Phonics f o r Grades I and I I , Elementary School Jo u r n a l , 1923.

A Suggestion f o r the Teaching of the F i r s t Sight Words.

In the primary classroom, the f i r s t sight words to be taught are presented i n a s e t t i n g of meaningful content. P i c t u r e s , s t o r i e s , a c t i o n s , etc., are used to create an i n ­t e r e s t i n the i n d i v i d u a l words. Such means would not ap­peal to high school students. However, some means of arous­ing i n t e r e s t i n the words i s e s s e n t i a l and the introductory l e s s o n might be made i n t e r e s t i n g and meaningful i f the sub­j e c t of word-frequency was discussed. A b r i e f survey of the work done i n t h i s f i e l d would emphasize the ne c e s s i t y of a basic w r i t i n g vocabulary f o r a l l students of shorthand. I t might be advisable to have the p u p i l s make word-counts of l e t t e r s , newspaper a r t i c l e s , and books, to i l l u s t r a t e the high frequency of c e r t a i n words. From t h i s study a l i s t of common words would be secured. These could be used f o r the f i r s t l e s s o n . Words, such as the f o l l o w i n g , would be obtained: the, I, and, t o , a, you, of, i n , i s , we, f o r , have, be, not, as, a t , but, a re.

The presentation of the shorthand o u t l i n e s of the s e l ­ected words i s now given. The word i s f i r s t w r i t t e n i n longhand on the blackboard and the c h i l d r e n are t o l d to count the d i s t i n c t strokes required i n w r i t i n g i t . Next, the shorthand o u t l i n e f o r the same word i s w r i t t e n . Again the p u p i l s count the strokes required, and compare the two methods of w r i t i n g the same word. The ease and speed of the

57. shorthand w r i t i n g w i l l impress them. For example, the word "the" i n longhand requires eight d i s t i n c t movements. In shorthand i t r e q u i r e s hut one. The students now close t h e i r eyes and v i s u a l i z e the shorthand form while pronounc­ing the word. I t might he advisable here to have them w r i t e the shorthand o u t l i n e . In t h i s way an appeal i s made to four d i f f e r e n t s t i m u l i : the v i s u a l , the auditory, the vocal and the k i n a e s t h e t i c . Each of the o u t l i n e s i s presented i n t h i s way, l i m i t i n g the number to ten f o r the f i r s t l e s son.

D r i l l s of several kinds f o l l o w immediately to f i x the o u t l i n e s . Following are some suggestions f o r ca r r y i n g out t h i s part of the work:

1. Write the shorthand o u t l i n e f o r each word on the blackboard and have the c l a s s read the o u t l i n e .

2. Write a shorthand o u t l i n e on the blackboard and then erase i t . Have the c l a s s name i t .

3. Present f l a s h cards w i t h o u t l i n e s and have the c l a s s t e l l the word. Diminish the time of exposure as the responses improve.

4. Give the c l a s s cards f o r a matching exercise with the ten words i n longhand and shorthand. The longhand and the shorthand are to be c o r r e c t l y matched.

5. Have a c i r c l e on the blackboard with the ten out­l i n e s around i t s circumference. Have races to see who can go around the f a s t e s t .

58. 6. Divide the c l a s s i n t o teams f o r a mastery t e s t .

Write ten o u t l i n e s on the board and have each student write the longhand i n the proper order. Check and f i n d team to ­t a l s . Keep a score of each on the blackboard.

7. Supply each p u p i l with a card containing the ten words i n longhand on one side and the ten o u t l i n e s i n short­hand on the reverse. P u p i l s are to keep these u n t i l the next lesson f o r study. Teams w i l l be checked at the begin­ning of the next lesson f o r scores.

For several lessons the above procedure i s followed u n t i l a s i g h t vocabulary of a hundred or more words has been mastered. A great v a r i e t y of d r i l l s can be devised to avoid monotony and so motivate the work. When the desired sight vooabulary has been obtained, reading i s introduced and thenceforth i t becomes a part of each l e s s o n .

A Suggestion f o r a Reading Lesson.

The reading m a t e r i a l must possess a genuine i n t e r e s t , f o r high school students. Although given f o r p r a c t i c e i n

recognizing shorthand o u t l i n e s , the appeal of the reading l e s s o n must be to the theme and not to the study of the shorthand symbols. The content and not the form i s to be the i m p e l l i n g f o r c e .

The reading may be introduced immediately a f t e r the f i r s t sight words have been taught. With so small a range i n vocabulary i t w i l l not be possible to obtain a reading content wholly i n shorthand that w i l l prove i n t e r e s t i n g and s a t i s f y i n g . However, t h i s d i f f i c u l t y could be overcome by having the f i r s t lessons composed of paragraphs i n which some of the words would be i n shorthand and some i n long­hand. I f t h i s were done, the content would not s u f f e r and yet much e x c e l l e n t reading p r a c t i c e would be provided.

In the f o l l o w i n g the underlined words would be printed i n shorthand, the others i n longhand:

"Probably the only place i n the world where postmen swim with l e t t e r s is_ the i s l a n d of Niuafu of the Tongo group of the South P a c i f i c . This, i s l a n d is_ completely surrounded by dangerous c o r a l r e e f s and treacherous currents and i t i s impossible f o r a boat of any s i z e to_ make a near approach. Once a month there comes a mail-steamer from Hew Zealand which waits a good two miles from the i s l a n d . Native

60. postmen swim to i t , the l e a d i n g man c a r r y i n g a short s t i c k with a c l e f t at the end; i n the c l e f t are, the outgoing l e t ­t e r s . The steamer lowers a l a r g e sealed b i s c u i t - t i n con­t a i n i n g the in-going mail; t h i s i s steered bjr the swimmers to the shore.''

The paragraph would appear as f o l l o w s : "Probably ... ..only,. ^ _ world where postmen swim . <7..

l e t t e r s .. . i s l a n d ... .Niaufu Tongo group .... South P a c i -f i c . —C .. i s l a n d . .o.. completely surrounded ....... dangerous c o r a l r e e f s treacherous currents .. . t> .. . size . ,v^s___ . near approach. Once.... '.""T~.f.. .") mail-steamer . °?Y . New Zealand .../. . .waits good . . %. miles

e"v r—^ . . . ... i s l a n d . Native postmen swim ,\ ?. . ..leading.. .. car-rying,.... short s t i c k c l e f t .... end; c l e f t _ .s\ . out­going l e t t e r s . .....steamer lowers . .^..sealed b i s c u i t - t i n containing..,., in-going .^r/T; . .(a .steered .. < . swimmers . .y-•. shore.''

The greater part of the reading i s to be done s i l e n t l y . Some o r a l reading may f o l l o w to check up on the accuracy of i n d i v i d u a l readers, but there i s a grave danger i n o r a l reading that the emphasis w i l l be s h i f t e d from the content to the form and t h i s i s to be avoided at a l l costs. Many exc e l l e n t s i l e n t reading t e s t s may be used to t e s t the com­prehension of the p u p i l s .

As the reading progresses and the vocabulary grows

61. l a r g e r there w i l l be fewer words i n longhand and a greater number i n shorthand. U l t i m a t e l y the reading lessons w i l l be p r i n t e d e n t i r e l y i n shorthand.

A Suggestion f o r a Theory Lesson.

A knowledge of theory i s merely a means to an end and i s not to be taught (as i t i s at present) as an end i n i t ­s e l f . I t provides the student with a mechanical a i d f o r w r i t i n g or reading o u t l i n e s of words which he has not mas­tered i n h i s sight work.

A l a r g e share of the teaching of the p r i n c i p l e s of the Pitman System w i l l be c a r r i e d out i n c i d e n t a l l y . During the l e a r n i n g of the s i g h t o u t l i n e s , many opportunities w i l l be a v a i l a b l e f o r n o t i n g s i m i l a r i t i e s i n the construction of o u t l i n e s , and from those observations i t w i l l be possible to discover the bas i c p r i n c i p l e s of the system. At times, how­ever, i t w i l l be advisable to gather up the information per­t a i n i n g to a c e r t a i n p r i n c i p l e and present i t i n one les s o n . This presentation w i l l be very s i m i l a r to that generally followed at present, w i t h the exception that the words used f o r examples w i l l c o n s i s t only of known o u t l i n e s and not of new ones. Numerous examples of o u t l i n e s i l l u s t r a t i n g a cer­t a i n point of the theory w i l l be presented and the p u p i l s w i l l be encouraged to develop the r u l e which i s desired. D r i l l work, both i n reading and w r i t i n g , w i l l f o l l o w to f i x .

I n teaching the p r i n c i p l e of the " C i r c l e S", a l a r g e number of o u t l i n e s of words such as, face • k°., , these names w-r*. f voice , o f f i c e . . . - , knows .-̂ -o., etc., are w r i t t e n on the blackboard. These are f i r s t read o r a l l y .

63. Examination of the o u t l i n e s f o l l o w s and t h i s reveals the use to which the small f i n a l c i r c l e i s put. The p u p i l s are to suggest a r u l e regarding the use of the c i r c l e . Something s i m i l a r to the f o l l o w i n g should be obtained: a small c i r c l e at the end of an o u t l i n e i n d i c a t e s the sound of f i n a l " s " • O u t l i n e s f o r words such as, saf e. , seem,^., s i r . . C T ^ \ . , s e l l ., etc., i l l u s t r a t e the i n i t i a l use of c i r c l e n s " . The medial use of " s " w i t h curved strokes i s found i n out­l i n e s of message . , business . ., reason.^J^,, inside • •>yf- » Wednesday.^f-. . L i s t s of common sight words are given f o r each of the s p e c i f i c r u l e s governing the use of the 11 s" c i r c l e . Erom observation the p u p i l s w i l l derive the r u l e s which follow?

(a) At the beginning of a word the "s" c i r c l e i s always read f i r s t . Examples: song , saving. rs^—•. , sun..?J^. .

(b) At the end of a word the "s" c i r c l e i s always read l a s t . Examples: ears .. 7y .., a d v i c e . . ^ . . , o f f i c e . ... .

(c) The "s" c i r c l e i s w r i t t e n i n s i d e of a curved stroke. Examples: s e l l i n g . i ' ^ * " " ' , sale../'...., message . .. ̂ ...

(d) The " s " c i r c l e i s w r i t t e n on the r i g h t side of s t r a i g h t downstrokes and on the upper side of s t r a i g h t h o r i z o n t a l strokes. Examples: pass..°..., pages. V.., box . . , cause...'

(5) The "s" c i r c l e may be joined to grammalogs to add "s" . Examples: yours , ours. . thinks.. .£>.. , comes

64. (f) The " s " c i r c l e represents "us" i n phrases.

Examples: f o r us . }f. . , give us . __o . . , to us .v,... . (g) The " s " c i r c l e i s w r i t t e n on the outside of the

angle formed by two s t r a i g h t strokes. Examples: desk . J _ . , h i s t o r y . ly-, , dispose J... .

(h) The "s" c i r c l e , used i n i t i a l l y , represents the sound of " s " only, and i s not used i n such words as zero, z e a l . Examples: zero . y^-. , zeal ,

A f t e r the above r u l e s have been obtained, reading p r a c t i c e of words i l l u s t r a t i n g each w i l l be given. The use of the "s" c i r c l e i n each o u t l i n e w i l l be discussed. F i n ­a l l y , a few new words w i l l be presented, and the students w i l l be1 tested i n both reading and w r i t i n g to f i n d i f they are able to apply t h e i r new knowledge.

A W r i t i n g Lesson i n Shorthand.

The f i r s t l e s s o n i n w r i t i n g shorthand i s not presented u n t i l the p u p i l s have mastered a sight vocabulary of a hundred or more words. The w r i t t e n work w i l l consist of those words found i n the sight vocabulary. N The student, having a si g h t knowledge of the word, i s able to v i s u a l i z e i t , and then w r i t e i t from the v i s u a l image. With suf­f i c i e n t d r i l l , the w r i t i n g becomes a muscular response r e ­q u i r i n g no conscious e f f o r t . P r a c t i c a l l y a l l of the w r i t ­ing w i l l be done from d i c t a t i o n , as the ultimate aim i s to have the w r i t e r reach the stage where an auditory stimulus i s t r a n s f e r r e d automatically to the correct muscular response,

A few p r e l i m i n a r y remarks w i l l be necessary regarding the d i r e c t i o n of w r i t i n g , the p o s i t i o n of the o u t l i n e , the l i g h t or heavy strokes i n the o u t l i n e , the p l a c i n g of the vowels, and the ne c e s s i t y of neat and accurate o u t l i n e s f o r purposes of t r a n s c r i p t i o n .

The presentation of the l e s s o n i s indi c a t e d i n the f o l ­lowing:

1. The teacher w r i t e s the o u t l i n e of a known word on the blackboard. I t i s then read by the p u p i l s . A t t e n t i o n i s drawn to i t s p o s i t i o n , d i r e c t i o n of w r i t i n g , etc. I t i s then erased.

I I . The p u p i l s w r i t e the word from d i c t a t i o n . I I I . Another word i s w r i t t e n on the blackboard and the

66. same procedure followed. This continues u n t i l a l i s t of twenty words has been covered.

IV. Several p u p i l s are asked to read t h e i r e n t i r e l i s t of shorthand o u t l i n e s .

V. The teacher d i c t a t e s ten of the twenty words i n a new order.

VI. The students w r i t e them and then read them back. V I I . Several groups of ten are d i c t a t e d i n the same

manner and read back. V I I I . The teacher now d i c t a t e s the l i s t of twenty words

i n a l i m i t e d time. The p u p i l s read them back. IX. The time i s shortened and the twenty words, i n a

new order, are d i c t a t e d and t r a n s c r i b e d . X. This procedure i s c a r r i e d on u n t i l the twenty words

can be c o r r e c t l y w r i t t e n and transcribed at the rate of t h i r t y words a minute.

Motlvation'sof the work may be effected by keeping group and i n d i v i d u a l records of achievement. As the pupi l s become more p r o f i c i e n t i n the w r i t i n g , the speed of d i c t a ­t i o n i s increased u n t i l a rate of one hundred or more words per minute i s reached. Day by day, new words are added, so that by the end of the year the complete sight vocabulary w i l l become a w r i t i n g vocabulary as w e l l .