the ideas conveyed by the written words as the eye runs over them. The attention of a child cannot, at first, be directed simultaneously to these two acquisitions; for the comprehension of a written subject results from instantaneous association of the written with the spoken words, and of these signs with their corresponding ideas,-which two mental operations are quite impracticable at this time, when his attention is exclusively engaged in inferring the sounds of individual words from the letters. He should not, at the entrance upon this art, be expected to do more than understand each word as he proceeds.

In teaching children to read, the easiest and shortest way is, as already stated, to make them unite letters into words by uttering, not their alphabetical names, but the sounds and articulations for which they stand in each particular word. With this view, the spoken word, the written representation of which is before the eye of the child, should be divided into its vocal elements, whether expressed by one or more letters, and a reproduction of these audible elements is effected by uttering each in succession, pointing, at the same time, at the letters which stand for them in the corresponding written word. Combinations, representing vocal elements, such as au, ea, oo, ph, sh, in which each letter is divested of its original power, will present no difficulty to the child, provided he is made to consider them as single characters. The articulate word laugh, for example, although containing five letters, is composed of only three vocal elements, represented by l, a,f: the child is taught, by imitation, to utter the articulation suggested by l, devoid of any vowel sound; that is, to bring the tongue in contact with the palate and breathe with sufficient force to render the effect of this contact perceptible. He is then desired to pronounce the compound vowel au at once a, as sounded in that word, and finally, to consider the combination gh also as one sign, and give it the pure articulation of f, as produced by breathing while the upper teeth are in contact with the lower lip. These elements, being afterwards uttered without interruption, will necessarily produce the articulate word laugh. Silent letters, as in know and lamb, should not be uttered: the child should be made to notice this peculiarity, and be given rules for his guidance when his reason permits, as must be the case if he is not taught to read before the age of seven or eight. Thus will he, from a knowledge of the powers of the letters, easily read the words in the composition of which they enter. Reading is, in fact,

nothing but the successive utterance of the vocal elements into which the words may be decomposed.

To facilitate the adoption of the phonetical method, the vowels and consonants (simple and compound) may be classified in various series as they represent elementary sounds or articulations, and arranged vertically on separate slips of thin wood or paste-board. The child having been taught the power of the vowels and consonants on two slips, these are brought in contact, one before the other alternately, and being made to slide alongside each other, a variety of syllables is produced, which he readily pronounces, from his knowledge of the vocal elements in each slip. The different series are learned in succession, and, as each is mastered, he joins it to those previously known, with which it admits of being combined. Thus will he unhesitatingly pronounce all possible combinations. A book suited to his capacity being now produced, his instructor reads some sentences, to show the verbal connection; these he easily reads in his turn, aided by his previous acquaintance with the powers of the letters, the pronunciation of the words, and the ideas conveyed. After a few such repetitions, he will be independent of a model, and will only require occasional help when anomalies occur. (19.)

The phonetical method, exhibiting the principle of alphabetical representation and leading a child from the powers of the letters to the pronunciation of the words, is both intelligent and interesting. It does not burthen the memory, because a knowledge of the vocal elements, which are comparatively few, suffices to enable him to read; whereas words having generally more letters than vocal elements, and the alphabetical names being no clue to the pronunciation, the memory is overtasked and the child's progress much retarded by spelling. The art of reading can be taught in a few weeks by the phonetical process; two years are often insufficient for teaching it through the alphabet. The method recommended is now so well established in France, that the French Academy and the best grammarians have, in conformity with it, given to the consonants the denomination of be, ce, de, fe, &c., (in which e has the faint sound of u in but,) these names nearly approaching to the articulations which they generally represent. This rational mode of teaching to read without spelling, now generally pursued on the continent, is far more applicable to the English language than to any other, and yet the people, slow of improvement in almost everything

relating to education, continue very generally to`nge and diffitedious, nay, absurd spelling process. The childrening task to of the poorer class, suffer from this unpardonable aphove his cause the greater number of them, unable, during the ght is period they can attend school, to master completely this gr instrument of knowledge, remain through life ignorant and unt educated.

It has sometimes been stated in favour of the old method, that the naming of every letter in words teaches their orthography : this assertion is unfounded, because the words, not being arrived at through the letters a child names, are not associated in his mind with those letters, and the first steps in the art have been long forgotten by the time he has occasion to express his thoughts in writing all those who spell badly (and their number is considerable) have been taught to read by the spelling process. An acquaintance with the art of reading, by whatever method it has been gained, does not imply a knowledge of orthography; the latter acquisition demands special exercises. It is not, in fact, the naming of the letters, but close attention to their combinations in words, and practice in writing them from correct models, which leads to accuracy in spelling. In learning a foreign language the words are seldom decomposed into their alphabetical elements for the purpose of being read, and yet their orthography is, in general, very easily attained.

Another successful way of proceeding is that which Jacotot recommends; it is as follows: the instructor directs the attention of the pupil to the first sentence of any passage in a book; he reads it distinctly, and points out each word to him. The child is made to repeat the first word and to notice the alphabetical and vocal elements of which it is composed; he then repeats again that first word in connection with the second, and is also made to notice the letters and syllables which the second word contains. This being done, the analytical examination of these two words exhibits to him the letters which they have in common and the new letters with which the second word makes him acquainted. He proceeds afterwards to the third word, which he repeats in the same manner after the instructor, in connection with the first two, and, in the same manner also, analyses it and compares its elements with those of the first two words. Thus he continues, adding the following words one by one, to what preceded, and comparing the elements of which they are composed with those which he has already noticed in

310

nothing but which the

To fac

and

va

READ.

311

especially thy, be

adhere to the

short

Beat

མཔཔ་ སས

or six lines thus read at every sitme, enable a child to read.

be rational and expeditious which, cess, decomposes the words into their betical elements; which substitutes ng, that is, teaches the powers of the and the pronunciation of syllables the old method of teaching to read, ursued, it would not have existed so most interested in having the evil time they suffer from its infliction,

too young to perceive its defects. Another reason why this branch of instruction is so little improved is, that it seldom comes under the superintendence of judicious teachers ; children being generally instructed in elementary reading and spelling by inexperienced nursery governesses, or other persons unacquainted with the principles of mental discipline, and often unwilling to deviate from the beaten track.

SECT. IV. OF EARLY ATTENTION TO THE SUBJECT-MATTER
OF THE BOOK.

After the mechanical comes the intellectual part of reading. From the moment that a child knows the powers of the letters and readily associates with the written form the pronunciation which it represents, his attention should be directed to the ideas. With this object in view, his first reading lessons should convey simple and familiar facts, and should gradually advance as regards, not the length or difficulty of the words, but the seriousness or usefulness of the subject: his progress in the art should be regulated by his intellectual progress.) The power of reading difficult words should not anticipate his power of understanding them, lest he should acquire the false notion that reading consists solely in pronouncing written words. His instructor should see that he comprehends, first, the import of each word, then, the sense of the whole. The habit, early acquired, of associating the ideas with their written signs, will secure his acquisition of the art of reading, and make it a delightful occupation.

The instruction conveyed by the first books should be treated in an interesting manner, that the child may be induced to read much; and it should be expressed in familiar language, that he

may not be discouraged by meeting too many strange and difficult words. It will then be to him an easy and pleasing task to understand in the written form what would not be above his comprehension, if it were spoken; "what is read with delight is commonly retained."

The child should, when reading aloud, be early made to suit his tone to the subject, not only because this is an essential element of good reading, but because it is conducive to a better understanding of the text, as it obliges him to attend to the ideas. However, this object will be facilitated, if the instructor frequently read to his pupil, to show him how the sense is conveyed by the connected words of the written language and marked by corresponding tones. This will also serve him as a model of delivery: it will teach him pronunciation, emphasis, pauses, and inflections.

As soon as the child reads fluently, he should attend chiefly to the subject. It is only to country children and to such as have been much neglected, that oral reading will be of service in removing provincialisms or other erroneous pronunciation. In ordinary circumstances, a child reading to his instructor, rather for the ideas than for the delivery, should be given all the explanations of which he has need. The clear and rapid comprehension of the written language which will thus be gained, soon enabling him to take pleasure in reading books, will become an inexhaustible source from which his stock of words and ideas will be daily increased. The disinclination to read, which some persons feel, often arises from the confused notions which they, at first, attached to words.

The extensive knowledge of things and language which a child of eight may have gained by the afore-described conversational instruction, having so prepared him that he can meet but few unknown words at a time, he will often, in the absence of an instructor or a dictionary, easily ascertain their import from the context: the same words recurring occasionally, he will at first guess at their meaning, and, by degrees, acquire a complete knowledge of them. This is an application to reading of the natural course which he pursued in acquiring familiarity with oral expression. What he knew of his own language before he was taught to read, he gained, not by fingering a dictionary, or by committing definitions of words to memory, but by that unconscious and instinctive process which goes on, when words,

* Dr. Johnson. The Idler. No. 74.