GRADATION
_Gradation means passing from the known to the unknown by easy stages,
each of which serves as a preparation for the next._ If a student
who is willing to learn and is capable of learning finds his lessons
too difficult, if he fails to understand or to apply correctly the
explanations we give him, if his rate of progress is too slow, if he
forgets frequently what he has already learnt, and if his oral or
written work is characterized by an excessive degree of inaccuracy, it
is perfectly certain that his course and his lessons are badly graded.
The student’s progress may in the initial stage be slow; after ten or
twenty lessons he may not seem to have advanced very far; but if he has
been laying a good foundation he has been doing good work, for it will
mean that the next stage of his work will be accomplished more easily
and more rapidly. During the first lessons he is not so much learning
the language as learning how to learn it. During the second period his
progress will be more rapid and he will assimilate more of the actual
language-material, and he will then be learning in such a way that the
third stage will be still more rapid, and so on through the subsequent
stages; his rate of progress will increase in proportion as he advances.
In the ideal course, this principle will be observed in the fullest
possible measure; the course itself will be divided into appropriate
stages, each of which will be marked by an increased capacity on the
part of the student for assimilating and using language-material.
The vocabulary in a well-graded language-course will be arranged in
such a manner that the more useful words will be learnt before the less
useful. (Let us remember that there are two sorts of ‘useful words’:
those which are _useful in themselves_ on account of their intrinsic
meaning, and words which are _useful as sentence-formers_.) The rate
of progress on the part of the student will depend very largely on
the manner in which the vocabulary is graded. Twenty-five well-chosen
words will form more useful sentences than many people believe; with
five hundred well-chosen words an incredibly large number of valuable
sentences can be formed. For detailed information on this point we
would refer the reader to the statistics which have been compiled by
those who have made a special study of this particular subject. In the
ideally graded course the student first assimilates a relatively small
but exceedingly important vocabulary; he learns to use it, he learns
the more important peculiarities of each word, he learns how to combine
these words in sentences, he learns the exact range of meanings covered
by each word either singly or in combination with its fellows. This
small vocabulary then constitutes a sound nucleus, and this nucleus is
of twofold utility; it not only provides the student with useful words,
with language-material which he can actually use, but it serves at the
same time as a sort of centre of attraction for new language-material.
The most apt illustration of this form of gradation is the snowball,
the huge mass of snow which accumulates rapidly and easily once we have
provided the nucleus represented by the first compact and well-rounded
handful.
The grammatical material must also be graded. Certain moods and tenses
are more useful than others; let us therefore concentrate on the useful
ones first. In a language possessing a number of cases, we will not
learn off the whole set of prepositions, their uses and requirements,
but we will select them in accordance with their degree of importance.
As for lists of rules and exceptions, if we learn them at all we will
learn them in strict order of necessity. In most languages we shall
probably find certain fundamental laws of grammar and syntax upon
which the whole structure of the language depends; if our course is
to comprise the conscious study of the mechanism of a given language,
then, in accordance with the principle of gradation, let us first learn
these essentials and leave the details to a later stage.
Gradation can and must also be observed in the study of the semantic
aspect of a language. If a given word has several meanings, let us
first associate the word with its more usual or useful meanings. If
a foreigner is to learn the English verb _to afford_, let him begin
by using it in such sentences as _I can’t afford it_, and not in such
examples as _It affords me the necessary opportunity_. If we are
teaching French, let us first use _ciel_ in the sense of _sky_ and
leave the idea of _heaven_ to a later stage. _I may go_ has more than
one meaning, but let us first teach it in the sense of _Perhaps I
shall go_; the other varieties are not of pressing importance. When we
introduce _but_, let us associate it with its usual meaning and forget
for the moment that semantic variety which is equivalent to _except_.
It is not sufficient for us to adopt the general principle of
gradation; we must adopt the right sort of gradation; for we can easily
imagine all sorts of false grading. We can imagine a teacher refusing,
on the score of gradation, to teach irregular forms before regular
ones, and justifying his procedure by the assertion that the regular is
easy and the irregular difficult. This kind of gradation, however, is
obviously unsound, seeing that some of the most useful words in most
languages are very irregular. As a matter of fact, in a sound course
of study based on the principle of automatism the irregular forms are
learnt as easily as (and sometimes more easily than) regular forms.
We can also imagine some teachers maintaining (on grounds of gradation)
that the _word_ should be treated before the _sentence_. They would
say that it is easier to assimilate a word than a sentence, that what
is easier should come first. Others might say, “Teach easy words first
and difficult ones later.” But this cannot be right, for if we observed
this rule we should teach a Spaniard or a Frenchman the English verb
_to comprehend_ before the verb _to understand_. Gradation does not
necessarily imply passing from the easy to the difficult, but it always
does imply passing from the more important, useful, or fundamental to
the less important, useful, or fundamental. Now, whatever the true unit
of speech may be, our leading semanticians and speech-psychologists
are all agreed that this unit is rarely the word, but generally the
word-group or sentence. Consequently, to start from the word is not
only bad gradation but bad semantics.
We have heard it asserted on grounds of gradation that the _written_
form of a language should be studied before its _spoken_ form. Here
again we find the same misinterpretation of the term gradation and the
same fallacy of ‘facility.’ If relative facility is to be the basis
of gradation, then we should teach the geography of Portugal before
teaching the geography of the British Empire, and we should postpone
our study of chess until we have become expert in the easier game of
noughts and crosses. To learn how to read and to write a language may
possibly be easier than to learn how to speak it and to understand it
when spoken, but this has no bearing on the subject of gradation.
Another false interpretation of the principle is to assume that the
student will begin by using incorrect or pidgin-French (or whatever the
language may be) and will gradually become more perfect ‘with practice’
as he goes on. Now if this is gradation, it is a particularly vicious
form, and in flat contradiction to the principles of habit-forming and
accuracy.
To teach to adults ‘child-like words’ before the words used by adults
is another misinterpretation of gradation. We do indeed see classes
in which boys or girls of twelve or thirteen learn to recite foreign
nursery rhymes, but we doubt whether any teacher would seriously
maintain that words such as _dog_ or _sheep_ should be preceded by
_bow-wow_ or _baa-baa_.
Having examined some faulty and vicious manners of interpreting
the term gradation, let us now proceed to epitomize a few rational
applications of the principle we have set forth, and let us assure the
reader that each one of these has been proved to be psychologically
sound.
(_a_) _Ears before Eyes._--All fresh language-material should be
presented in its oral form and not in its written form. Sounds should
first be practised without any reference to any graphic forms of
representation; the ear, not the eye, is the organ provided by nature
for recognizing and assimilating sounds. Words should first be heard
and imitated orally, for ideal assimilation is not helped but hindered
when the written form is present.
Fresh word-groups and sentences should also as far as possible be
first introduced and learnt orally. The adult student who complains
that the process is too difficult is under the illusion that we hear
with our eyes.
(_b_) _Reception before Production._--It is quite certain that the
student will be unable to reproduce a sound, a word, or a word-group
that has been pronounced to him until he has really _heard_ the model
that he is called upon to imitate. There is a great difference between
really hearing and merely imagining that one has heard a sound or a
succession of sounds. As a rule we do not hear what is actually said to
us; we merely hear what we expect to hear. Ask the average foreigner
to repeat after you a word such as _und’stand_; instead of reproducing
the exaggeratedly shortened form as represented above in two syllables,
he will say _understand_ in three syllables. As a matter of fact,
he is under the impression that he heard you articulate the three
syllables, and consequently he reproduces what he thought you said. Ask
the average foreigner to repeat after you the word _turn_ pronounced
in Southern English (_i.e._ without an _r_) and he will insert an _r_
because he imagines that he heard one. The sentence _il doit venir_ is
pronounced by the average Frenchman as [idwavniːr]; pronounce it like
that to the average English student of French and ask him to imitate
you; in most cases you will obtain what the student imagined he heard,
viz. [il dwa vɛniə] (the last word having a remarkable resemblance to
the English word _veneer_).
The student must therefore not only be trained to hear, but in all
fairness to him he should be given ample opportunity of hearing the
sound, word, or word-group that he will be called upon to reproduce.
Let him hear it several times, let him concentrate his attention on the
succession of sounds without any regard to its written form or its
meaning. Let us endeavour as far as possible to give the student two or
even more separate opportunities (with appropriate intervals) of truly
hearing any given sound, word, or word-group before calling upon him to
imitate the model.
(_c_) _Oral Repetition before Reading._--Just as oral repetition should
be preceded by a period of audition, so should reading be preceded
by oral repetition. Before calling upon a pupil to read off from the
blackboard or his book a word, list of words, sentence, or succession
of sentences, let us first ask him to repeat after us the required
material. If he cannot reproduce to our satisfaction a sentence that he
has just heard from our lips, he will certainly be unable to reproduce
the sentence by the process of reading.
(_d_) _Immediate Memory before Prolonged Memory._--The teacher
pronounces a sound or a succession of sounds (a word, a word-group,
or a sentence). A few seconds later the pupil reproduces what he has
heard; he does not find it very difficult to do so, for the sound of
the teacher’s voice is still ringing in his ears; in his imagination he
can still hear the teacher’s voice, and he has but to speak in unison
with it. The sort of memory which enables him to reproduce what he has
just heard is called _immediate memory_.
Another time the teacher pronounces a sound or a succession of sounds.
The next day the pupil is called upon (without being prompted) to
reproduce what he heard the day before. He may fail altogether to
do so, or he may succeed. That sort of memory which enables him to
reproduce what he has heard one, several, or many days before is called
_prolonged memory_. Let us be quite certain that we understand the
difference between these two extreme varieties of memory. Let us choose
a word in a language unknown to us. Let this be the Hungarian word
_szenvedni_, meaning _to suffer_. The word is pronounced [´sɛnvɛdni];
in the absence of a teacher let us pronounce the word ourselves three
or four times.... Let us take our eyes from the book, and let a few
seconds pass.... How do you say _to suffer_ in Hungarian? [´sɛnvɛdni.]
Quite correct; we have reproduced the word from immediate memory.
To-morrow or the day after let us ask ourselves how they express _to
suffer_ in Hungarian. If we are able to answer correctly without
referring to the book, it will be by dint of our _prolonged memory_. If
this experiment is inconclusive, let us take a word-group, a sentence,
or a list of words; we shall then realize how much more difficult it is
to reproduce new matter after the sound of it has faded from our ears.
Let us remember this experiment when we are teaching; when our pupils
reproduce correctly (either by repetition or by translation) what
they have heard a few seconds (or even a few minutes) before, let us
remember that we have so far only appealed to their immediate memory,
and let us not expect an equally satisfactory result when we call upon
them to reproduce the same matter the next day without prompting. To
expect the same results from the prolonged as from the immediate memory
implies a faulty grasp of the principle of gradation. Let us give our
pupils ample opportunities, on an appropriate number of occasions, of
reproducing matter heard a few moments previously; this will strengthen
their associations and when later on we appeal to their prolonged
memory, the results will be satisfactory.
(_e_) _Chorus-work before Individual Work._--Before we call on an
individual pupil to articulate a sound or a succession of sounds, let
the work be done in chorus on two or more different occasions. For an
individual to have to submit his tentative efforts to the criticism
and perhaps laughter of his fellow-pupils is not conducive to good
results. Let the individual pupils test their articulation in company
with others, and when by so doing they have gained a certain mastery
of what they have to repeat and have thereby gained a certain degree
of confidence, let them proceed to reproduce singly what they have
previously phonated together.
(_f_) _Drill-work before Free Work._--This is perhaps the most
important of the precepts to be observed in connexion with gradation.
The forms of exercise to which the general term _drill-work_ may be
applied are many and varied. Some of them are calculated to train
the student in perceiving and discriminating the sounds of which the
language is composed; others are articulation exercises; there are also
special forms of drill-work which aim at securing fluency and accuracy
in producing successions of syllables. The question-and-answer method
may be embodied in many interesting forms of drill-work; there exist
also many varieties of action drill, conversion drill, translation
drill, and grammar drill. All these forms are characterized by common
attributes: they are all systematic, highly organized, and susceptible
of infinite gradation; the work is methodical and proceeds steadily and
continuously without breaks or interruptions. Most forms of drill-work
have been composed and are carried out in such a way as to preclude the
possibility of the student’s forming bad habits. Indeed, if the work is
carried out as designed the element of error should be almost entirely
excluded.
Now _free work_ in all its varied forms, such as free conversation,
free translation, and free composition, differs greatly from
drill-work, and we can all testify to the ludicrous results these forms
of work yield when performed by one who has had no previous drilling.
If the student has not been put through a proper course of drill-work,
all his efforts at free work will be based on that most unnatural and
vicious of processes--conventional translation from the mother-tongue.
The undrilled French student will be speaking and writing not English
as we understand the term, but anglicized French. Having formed no
English language habits, he will cast all his thoughts in the French
mould, and when the exact English equivalents to his French words and
phrases are missing he will break down.
Free work without the essential preparation means faulty work,
uncertain and erratic work; it means the formation of nearly all the
bad habits which characterize the average student and which mar his
work.