How to Teach English to Foreigners

The absence of pedagogic theory and of a medium for discussing the teaching of English to foreigners have helped to retain and to recapitulate practices after they had outlived their usefulness. Particularly is this true where guidance in the selection of content and method is lacking because of an uncertain aim. Teachers of children, unless otherwise directed, tend to carry over their pedagogic theory to the teaching of adults; lay teacher-; tend to reproduce vaguely remembered snatches of their ovn school days; rarely is the psychology of the adult foreigner taken into account in planning instruction for him. Teachers of English to foreign adults have not been conscious of a definite aim or goal in terms both of English and the special needs of the pupils. Such general aims to Americanize the foreigner to teach him to read the newsiJ aper to readE nglish literature -to become an American citien -to understand An to train him in ci to teach him correct pronuncia: do not -ide in the selection of content and of method. mic and psychological reasons non-E nglish speaking peoples tend to settle near each o.ther and to occupy distinct sections of cities and towns and to perpetuate their old world customs and language. English speaking Americans accent this isolation by moving out when foreigners come in. Thus there have been created The Little I talys. theL ittle Hungarys theL ittle Bohemias Within these i -C tions the foreign it finds no need for acquiring a knowledge of English. He .IK! -ells by using his native tongue. He reads his newspapers printed in his native lan.uunge. Frequently moving pictures and the drama nted in hilanguage and a generous America thro-ugh the public library furn; ks in the language which he reads. At work. th .A merican employers in their eagerness to secure labor remen and superintendents who can communicate their wishes in the for
(Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don't occur in the book.)