Professor of German in King's College, University of London, and University Reader in German,
AND
H. L. HUTTON, M.A.,
Senior Modern Language Master at Merchant Taylors' School.
Crown 8vo. Cloth. 6s. net.
The first part of this book deals with the School, the second with the University. While each part is mainly written by one of the authors, they have acted in collaboration and have treated the two subjects as interdependent. They have referred only briefly to the main features of the past history, and have chiefly tried to give a broad survey of the present position of modern language teaching, and the desirable policy for the future.
As regards the School, conclusions are first reached as to the relative amount of time to be devoted to modern languages in the curriculum, and the various branches of the subject—its organisation and methods, the place of grammar and the history of the language—are then discussed. A chapter is devoted to the questions relating to the second foreign language, and the study is linked up with the University course.
In the second part Professor Atkins traces the different ends to which the School course continued at the University may lead, with special reference to the higher Civil Service Examinations and to the training of Secondary School Teachers.
The general plan of the book was worked out before the publication of the report of the Government Committee appointed by the Prime Minister to enquire into the position of Modern Languages in the educational system of Great Britain. With the report, however, the authors' conclusions were in the main found to agree, and the text of the book has been brought up-to-date by references to the report which have been made in footnotes as well as in places in the text. No further modifications were thought to be necessary.
The book will be found to give a comprehensive review of the whole field of modern language teaching and some valuable help towards the solution of its problems.