SELF-CULTIVATION IN ENGLISH - Introduction

Sep 28, 2026

Self-Cultivation in English by George Herbert Palmer examines how English should be taught as a growing and essential school subject. The introduction traces the influence of educational reform, shifting instruction away from technical, barren grammar and rhetoric toward meaningful reading and the study of complete literary works. It emphasizes two major purposes: cultivating appreciation of excellent English literature and training effective expression through language, while addressing the difficulties teachers face in building linguistic power through improved conditions and enriched thought.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages68

Reading Time1 h 45 min

AccessFree to download

INTRODUCTION

Educational reform and English study

Changes in the spirit of English instruction

The difficulty of training linguistic power

Conditions have been unfavorable

Digitized by the Internet Archivein 2021 with funding fromKahle/Austin Foundation https://archive.org/details/selfcultivationi0000unse 火me 7 3Bíbersioe cEoucatfonal fionograpbs # SELF-CULTIVATIONIN ENGLISH BY GEORGE HERBERT PALMER FORMERLY ALFORD PROFESSOR OF PHILO8OPHYHARVARD UNIVERSITY HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANYBOSTON,NEW YORK AND CHICAGO(@be nibersfüe press,Tambrioge COPYRIGHT,Ig08,BY GEORGE HERBERT PALMER CoPYRIGHT,1909,BY HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Cepyrigbt,1897,by Tomas Y.Crowell&CompaBy # INTRODUCTION ENGLISH as a school subject grows more impor-tant in the education of our youth.Its place inour schools begins to be as large as its positionin every-day life.And gradually the aims pur-sued by the school in English teaching conformto those practical and artistic purposes which areusually associated with our spoken and writtenlanguage. Educational veform and English study The teaching of English reflects the importantmovements for the reform of our schools.Thereis,indeed,no better index of our substantialachievements in modern educational affairs thanthose modifications in English instruction whichare now in progress.The passing of a technicaland barren study of grammatical and rhetoricalforms is part of the general tendency toward thesubordination of formal subjects.The introduc- # INTRODUCTION tion of classic material in reading books and thestudy of unmarred literary wholes mark the de-termined effort to enrich the school curriculumwith content significant alike to the child and tothe society in which he lives.The increased em-phasis on English composition as an instrumentfor the communication or expression of thechild's thought is a response to the same idealsof educational method which are giving manualtraining and the other expressive arts a respect-able position in the school curriculum. Changes in the spirit of English instruction The influence of educational reform on Eng-lish instruction extends beyond specific changesin the subject matter and methods used inschools.It causes wide-sweeping modificationsin the whole spirit of our English teaching.Slowly but certainly it dawns on us that a merestudy of the formalities of language does not in-sure an enjoyment of literature or a command ofspeech.In place of the old and barren insistenceupon a half-scientific analysis of language whichleaves us conscious only of the dissected parts # INTRODUCTION of language,modern teaching sets up two newmajor purposes for English study,—to developan appreciation of the best English literature,and to train the power of effective expressionthrough language. # The difficulty of training linguistic power It is the attainment of this latter end,the im-proved use of English as an instrument of expres-sion,that presents the largest difficulties to theteacher.Most of the current practices of theschool have been developed mainly with refer-ence to giving the child the facts of our organizedknowledge.Until recently,its methods have notbeen concerned with training him in the applica-tion or expression of the thoughts thus attainedHence the weakness of the school in teachingchildren to speak and write good English is con-spicuous,and hence the need to improve theconditions that underlie the acquirement of clearand forceful expression and to develop newmodes of transmitting the technique of Englishspeech and writing. # INTRODUCTION Conditions have been unfavorable The schools of to-day find it difficult to under-take the training of literary power because un-favorable conditions persist from the schools ofa century ago.Time was when any deliberateeffort to teach children to write in school wouldhave largely failed because there was no clearrecognition of the fact that there can be no cul-tivation of the power to use English without anadequate development of enriched thought to beexpressed.That older school which was mainlyconcerned with the formal subjects—the threeR's,grammar,r

FAQs

What two major purposes does the introduction emphasize for English study?

It highlights developing appreciation of the best English literature and training the power of effective expression through language.

How does educational reform change English instruction, according to the text?

Reform shifts teaching away from formal, barren grammatical analysis toward meaningful reading and the study of unmarred literary wholes, and increases emphasis on composition.

Why does the author say training linguistic power is difficult for teachers?

Because many current school practices focus mainly on giving children facts, not on training them to apply and express the thoughts they attain.

Sep 28, 2026

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