Mons, Anzac and Kut

THE TEACHING OF MODERN FOREIGN LANGUAGES IN SCHOOL AND UNIVERSITY.
By H. G. ATKINS, M.A.,
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 graces 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.

THE CHILD UNDER EIGHT.
By E. R. MURRAY,
Vice-Principal of Maria Grey Training College; Author of “Froebel as a Pioneer in Modern Psychology,” etc.,
AND
HENRIETTA BROWN SMITH, LL.A.,
Lecturer in Education, Goldsmith’s College, University of London; Editor of “Education by Life.”
Crown 8vo. Cloth. 6s. net.

The authors of this book deal with the young child at the outset of its education, a stage the importance of which cannot be exaggerated. The volume is written in two parts, the first dealing with the child in the Nursery and Kindergarten, and the second with the child in the State School. Much that is said is naturally applicable to either form of School, and, where this is so, repetition has been avoided by means of cross references.

The authors find that the great weakness of English education in the past has been want of a definite aim to put before the children, and the want of a philosophy for the teacher. Without some understanding of the meaning and purpose of life the teacher is at the mercy of every fad, and is apt to exalt method above principle. This book is an attempt to gather together certain recognised principles, and to show in the light of actual experience how these may be applied to existing circumstances. They put forward a strong plea for the recognition of the true value of Play, the “spontaneous activity in all directions,” and for courage and faith on the part of the teacher to put this recognition into practice; and they look forward to the time when the conditions of public Elementary Schools, from the Nursery School up, will be such—in point of numbers, space, situation and beauty of surroundings—that parents of any class will gladly let their children attend them.

Further volumes in this series are in preparation and will be published shortly.

FIRST PRINCIPLES OF MUSIC.
By F. J. READ, Mus. Doc. (Oxon.)
Formerly Professor at the Royal College of Music.
Crown 8vo. 1s. 6d.

This book is the result of the author’s long experience as Professor of Theory at the Royal College of Music, and is the clearest and most concise treatise of the kind that has yet been written.

“It is a useful little book, covering a wider field than any other of the kind that we know.”—The Times.

“It is calculated to quicken interest in various subjects outside the normal scope of an elementary musical grammar. The illustrated chapter on orchestral instruments, for instance, is a welcome and stimulating innovation.”—Daily Telegraph.

LONDON: EDWARD ARNOLD, 41 & 43 MADDOX STREET, W. 1.