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 ‘French in Ohio High Schools and Colleges 
 
 B. L. BOWEN, Pu. D. 
 
 Associate Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures in the Ohio State University 
 
 Read before the Ohio College Association, December 27th, 1893 
 
 ® 
 
 PUBLISHED BY THE 
 
 MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION OF OHIO 
 
 Press of SPAHR & GLENN 
 COLUMBUS, O. 
 
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FRENCH IN OHIO HIGH SCHOOLS AND 
 "COLLEGE: 
 
 HE question which I wish to consider in the present paper is a 
 
 simple one: Is the position of French in the courses of our 
 
 Ohio High Schools and Colleges as prominent as it should be ? 
 
 Does not this language deserve a more generous recognition than it at 
 
 present receives? Can it not be made of greater educational value as 
 
 a study? My plea is for more time, and for better and more adequate 
 results. 
 
 It is somewhat surprising that, in a State which has so many flour- 
 ishing high schools as has the State of Ohio, so comparatively little 
 attention should.be given to the study of French. It would even seem 
 that in general, the subject is well-nigh disregarded. A generous num- 
 ber, I think a representative number, of our high schools devote some 
 time to the study of German. Only a very few of them admit French. 
 In from. thirty to forty of them, if not more, courses in German are 
 offered. As far as I am able to learn, there are not more than five or 
 six of the Ohio high schools which have made any provision for in- 
 struction in French. I hold that equal recognition should be accorded 
 these languages, that they should be placed on absolutely the same 
 footing in our high schools. 
 
 There are several circumstances which have heretofore influenced 
 the teaching of these two languages in Ohio, and have helped to de- 
 termine their present relative positions. ‘The fact of the large German- 
 speaking population in our State, with the attendant effects upon legis- 
 lation, is manifestly the first cause of the preference that has been 
 shown the German language. The influx of German-speaking people 
 has helped to give the language a popular and practical character which 
 the French has enjoyed to a much less degree. It has been considered 
 the correct, if not the necessary thing, to acquire some practical ac- 
 quaintance with the German. It has been easy to secure teachers of 
 German ; or at least it has been easy to find persons to teach German 
 who had a speaking knowledge of the language, or who spoke it as 
 their native language. As the French do not emigrate, French-speak- 
 
 901473 
 
 t- 
 
2 FRENCH IN OHIO HIGH SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES. 
 
 ing people have been fewer among us, and teachers of the language, 
 at least native teachers, have been less readily secured. | French then 
 has seemed less popular. It has tended perhaps to assume the posi- 
 tion of a luxury rather than a practical necessity. ‘The fact that German 
 is considered the more difficult language of the two, has also, doubt- 
 less, contributed in some cases to the neglect of French, or has caused 
 a greater amount of time to be devoted to German. 
 
 These are perhaps some of the most evident reasons why French 
 has thus far received so much less attention than German in the schools 
 of our State. It seems to me that such reasons should no longer in- 
 fluence us at the present day. The question of the comparative diffi- 
 culty of the two languages Is one that ought not to have weight in 
 in favor of either; for while the German vocabulary may, for 
 the average American student, offer more difficulties at the outset 
 than the French, this is fully counter-balanced later on by the varied 
 character, the long and continued history, the volume and merit of 
 the French literature. The question of available teachers is one 
 that can really present very little difficulty, and should have no in- 
 fluence in excluding French from our high schools. | While the num- 
 ber of people among us who speak German as their native language, 
 or the language of the family, is manifestly very much greater than 
 the number of those who so speak French, in the matter of persons 
 who have an adequate knowledge of the language, and who know how to 
 impart what they possess, the discrepancy on the side of the French is by 
 no means so noticeable. Within ten or twelve years a very marked im- 
 provement has been made in the teaching of French in the colleges of 
 the United States asa whole. ‘The college in which I, myself, was form- 
 erly a student, (one of the smaller colleges of the East), has advanced 
 from two terms of French offered in 1881 to two years, or six terms, 
 offered at present. I judge that the average college graduate of to-day 
 is much more likely to have had some training in French than the 
 graduate of even four or five years since. I know that this is the case 
 at the institution with which Iam connected. It ought not to bea 
 difficult matter now to secure readily for our high schools bright young 
 men or. women;,;who, while they may not speak French with the flu- 
 ency of a nativey»have had an adequate amount of training in: the 
 language and its literature, and who have above all, the ability to im- 
 part successfully what they do know. ‘There are without doubt at 
 
FRENCH IN OHIO HIGH SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES. 3 
 
 present, among the corps of instructors in many of our high schools, 
 one or more persons of sufficient training to conduct, competently, a 
 course of one or two years in French, if such course were admitted. 
 
 In the teaching of French, the high schools of Ohio are much be- 
 hind those of various neighboring states. German has still the lead in 
 the majority of the states to the west of New England, but in nearly 
 all of those states which can at all compare with Ohio in wealth and 
 population, the number of persons studying French is relatively larger, 
 often much larger, than with us in Ohio. In fact there are but very 
 few states, perhaps half a dozen, in the entire Union, which can show 
 a worse or more unfair condition of things as between French and Ger- 
 man than is shown by the high schools of Ohio. Recent statistics from 
 the ‘‘Report of the Commissioner of Education” give the total number 
 of students pursuing French in the public high schools of Ohio as 253, 
 while the total number studying German is 2774. If we compare 
 these figures with those of several neighboring states, we find French 
 
 at a much less disadvantage : 
 STUDENTS STUDYING 
 
 PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOLS. FRENCH. GERMAN. 
 ROU ROIS AD PALL Lines 0) 0 shoo tata g wictar 291 1316 
 ALOE SSS RA ae en ee Oe Sone ae 457 2048 
 iS ISA RA [oe ee hy 986 2778 
 DURING alg Ah gin, fhe 258 767 
 ETE at ie a 180 385 
 ys RT, Ses a | ea er Ce 53 62 
 
 If we turn to the states of New England, where the influence of 
 the Canadian French is strong, and where other evident influences 
 contribute, we find that the above proportions are almost reversed. 
 French is relatively well cared for in the high schools of the Eastern 
 States : 
 
 STUDENTS STUDYING 
 
 PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOLS. * FRENCH, GERMAN. 
 Plascachmsetiss i) altos soe 5703 sik aegis 
 rE aE Sea 2 Wit) aii hts ct Brie 579 29 
 ME OUTIEMEONE “5 eels, eutynt hi ee 453 745 
 prewes Hamypshite 02 oie eck. 406 27 
 Paulas telat wpe nei A 279 47 
 
 : 
 Wer EO Titer oy tals ook od a Sole US 51 
 
4 FRENCH IN OHIO HIGH SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES. 
 
 In the South, too, French has often an advantage which it does 
 not enjoy in this locality. This is especially true in the high schools of 
 Georgia, South Carolina and Louisiana. 
 
 These general facts touching the teaching of French and German 
 in the high schools of the various states make it evident that Ohio is 
 doing very much less for French than her prominent position as a 
 State justifies. If we compare the cases of individual high schools, 
 we discover details which show still more clearly how marked this dis- 
 crepancy is. For instance, if we take the State of Michigan to the 
 north of us, we find that in the Detroit High School, French and Ger- 
 man are upon an equal footing, four semesters (two years) being devoted 
 to each, while in the Central High School of Cleveland, four years are 
 allowed, for German and French is not taught at all. At the seat of 
 the State University of Michigan, in the Ann Arbor High School, 
 two years’ instruction is given in both French and German, while at 
 the seat of the Ohio State University, in the Columbus High School, 
 French is not recognized at alland four years are devoted to German. 
 I am aware that at the capital of Michigan, in the Lansing High 
 School, no French is at present offered, but the Principal assures me 
 in a recent letter that French will be added to the course and placed 
 on the same footing as German, giving a two years’: course in each. 
 
 If we turn to the State of New York, we find that there also French 
 fares better in the high schools than here with us. .In the Buffalo 
 High School, while three years are always given to German, always 
 two, and sometimes three years, are devoted to French. In the Utica 
 High School (Academy ) three years are given to each language. And 
 in the Albany High School, the two languages are likewise upon the 
 same footing, four years being allowed for each. 
 
 I plead then for more French in the high schools of our State, for 
 
 -a more just division of time between the German and the French. I 
 think it is not asking too much at the present day to require that the 
 two languages be placed on absolutely the same basis. Where German 
 is now optional with Latin, let French be given the same privilege. 
 Certainly some advance can be made by which French may at least be 
 recognized in the large number of schools where now only German is 
 taught. ‘There is enough need of improvement when two such promi- 
 nent cities as Cleveland and Columbus make no provision for the 
 teaching of French in their high schools. 
 
FRENCH IN OHIO HIGH SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES. 5 
 
 Turning to the question of collegiate instruction in French in our 
 State, we find something, indeed much, that is encouraging, but we 
 find also that there is room for much improvement. ‘The subject of 
 French has as yet failed to receive the consideration which it merits. 
 I am convinced, from an examination of the college catalogues of 
 Ohio, that the instruction in French can and should be materially 
 broadened and improved. 
 
 There are, I think, at the present day, almost no colleges worthy 
 of the name, which do not give some opportunity for the study of both 
 German and French. In too many cases, however, these languages 
 are still made elective only, especially in the course leading to the 
 degree of B. A. I regret to say that in the institution with which I 
 am myself connected, this condition of things prevails. The B. A. 
 graduate may go forth without having studied a word of either French 
 or German. ‘The same is true of other colleges in the State. This 
 seems to me unfortunate. I may be in the wrong, but it has been for 
 some years, and still is, my firm opinion that every student taking the 
 degree of B. A. should be required to have an elementary knowledge, 
 that 1s, a fair reading knowledge, of both German and French. ‘The 
 general culture which a liberal education pre-supposes demands this. 
 Such a claim may have been recognized for some time as theoretically 
 a just one, but among us here it has certainly not yet been generally 
 admitted in practice. In 1884 President Eliot of Harvard wrote : 
 ‘The philologists, archaeologists, metaphysicians, physicians, physic- 
 ists, naturalists, chemists, economists, engineers, architects, artists and 
 musicians all agree that a knowledge of these languages (French and 
 German) is indispensable to the intelligent pursuit of any one of their 
 respective subjects beyond its elements.” And less than two years 
 ago President Gilman (Educat. Rev., Feb., 1892) expressed his 
 view of the matter still more pointedly when he said: «A liberal edu- 
 cation absolutely requires that every English-speaking person should 
 have a knowledge of French and German also; for it is from the 
 French and German that in these days we receive the most important 
 contributions to literary and physical science.” This condition of 
 things is realized to a fuller extent in the eastern colleges than in those 
 of this section. I hope that we may be able in the near future so to 
 shape our schedules that every B. A. graduate will have had the ben- 
 efit of an elementary training in both of these languages. 
 
6 FRENCH IN OHIO HIGH SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES. 
 
 As we recognize both French and German in our colleges, my 
 next plea is that equal recognition should be given them, that they 
 should be placed upon an absolutely equal footing. I referred above, 
 in speaking of the high schools, to some predisposing conditions which 
 have been favorable to German rather than to French. I think that 
 such conditions should certainly not influence collegiate instruction. 
 At present a decided preference seems to be given to German in the 
 colleges of Ohio. In almost no instance is more time allotted to 
 French than to German, while the time devoted to German is in some 
 cases twice-and even three times as much as that allowed for French; 
 or else German is given the preference by being required, while 
 French is elective. A comparison of the courses in some twenty of 
 the principal colleges of our State, shows that the average amount of 
 time allowed for French is about two and one-seventh years, while the 
 average time devoted to German is about two and seven-tenths years. 
 In only about half of the Ohio colleges is French given absolutely 
 equal recognition with German. In about half a dozen colleges the 
 time given to German is fully double that given to French. We need 
 then, in the first place, more time for French. ‘There should be a 
 more equitable adjustment between the two modern languages. Both 
 should be made equally prominent, and then the time for both extend- 
 ed as the teaching force may permit it. 
 
 The question of methods in the collegiate teaching of French, or 
 modern languages, may rightly be considered a hackneyed one. It 
 has been a favorite subject of discussion in language associations for 
 some time past, and all that could be said on the one side or the 
 other seems to have been said. I have no wish to revive the discus- 
 sion, but I cannot refrain, in view of what I shall say later, from ex- 
 pressing my firm belief in the adaptability of the grammar and reader 
 method to the needs of instruction in our college classes. The natural 
 method may accomplish oné thing; the grammar and reader method 
 accomplishes another. Indeed, the whole question turns, not upon 
 which method accomplishes more effectively the same purpose, but 
 upon the comparative merits of two different purposes which the two 
 methods may accomplish. The question is simply, shall we make it 
 our main business in teaching to secure to our college student ability 
 to speak the language, just as. we would teach him any other trade, 
 just as we would teach him to write shorthand, or to operate the tele- 
 
FRENCH IN OHIO HIGH SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES. i835 
 
 the courses as laid down in the catalogues of our Ohio Colleges, shows 
 that this tendency is somewhat prevalent among us. _ In one instance 
 a comedy of Moliére is, or has been, scheduled for the first term of 
 the study of French. In another, ‘classic authors” have been read 
 the second term, and the P#édre of Racine is studied the third term. 
 Again the tragedy of <A¢hale is taken up during the third term of the 
 study. Or La Fontaine is introduced at the same stage of the work. 
 Let me say freely that I believe this is unwise. ‘The classic master- 
 pieces should in ail cases be left until the student has gained some 
 acquaintance (and the more the better) with nineteenth century litera- 
 ture, where he is brought into contact with the words and ideas of 
 every-day life. Even if the course in French must be limited to one 
 year, I should say unconditionally that it is much better to leave the 
 seventeenth century out of account entirely, and devote the time to 
 the reading of contemporary authors. My own experience has sug-, 
 gested to me more and more the propriety of giving precedence to the 
 literature of the nineteenth century during all of the first two years of 
 the students’ course in French, and of postponing, as long as possible, 
 the study of such master-pieces as Le Cid, Le Misanthrope, Athalie and 
 Andromaque. Especially should Racine be left till the last. As he is, 
 in the minds of many critics, the one author who, in his best work, is 
 ‘*quite perfect,” so he is just the one whom the student, when practic- 
 ally a beginner, is least capable of rightly appreciating. . The French 
 of the seventeenth century, we of course call modern French, but 
 only by contrast with the old French. <A student must be able to read 
 nineteenth century French with ease before he can appreciate the 
 qualities of language in the seventeenth century writers. And then, 
 he must be of tolerably mature mind before he is in a condition to assume 
 the point of view of those seventeenth century dramatists, and to enjoy 
 intelligently the beauties of that artificial product known as the classic 
 French tragedy. I believe then that we should lighten the tragedy 
 perhaps more than we do, and that, in justice to our sutdents, still 
 more in justice to the authors, we should exclude La Fontaine, Cor- 
 neille, Moliére, Racine from our elementary work, from that stage of 
 our work in which they would have to serve as mere reading exercises. 
 
 And in our teaching of the literature, in the survey of different 
 authors, epochs or schools, we should make use, as much as possible, of 
 the element of comparison. No author or epoch can be fully under- 
 
~ 22 FRENCH IN OHIO HIGH SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES. 
 
 stood and appreciated without being brought face to face with other 
 authors or epochs. ‘The importance of this method is usually conceded, 
 but it is not, I think, always emphasized as it deserves to be in our 
 college courses. Prominently in the subject of the French drama, 
 does comparative study add interest and zest to the work, and bring 
 out more pointedly for the student the qualities of the different schools. 
 I judge that the average college student, who usually approaches such 
 a writer as Corneille with some preconceived notions on the sub- 
 ject of the English drama, will discover in the classic French drama 
 taken by itself little of a character to arouse in him anything more 
 than a very mild degree of interest. But if this drama is placed in 
 direct contrast with the later romantic drama, the student’s interest in 
 the former is materially increased, and the peculiarities of both schools 
 seem more real to him. So I would not take up entirely apart, by 
 itself, such a masterpiece as Horace or Cinna, but in immediate con- 
 nection with a play like Hernani. 
 
 I have indicated above the importance of the study of literature 
 in our collegiate work in French. Literature and literary history are 
 and always will be of prime interest. On the other hand, linguistic 
 history is also of prime interest and deserves a share of recognition 
 which it has not yet received. I believe that the teaching of French 
 in our Ohio colleges as a whole could be rendered much more efficient 
 and raised to a much higher level by the introduction of a more essen- 
 tially historical basis for all collegfate work. I know the rebuff which 
 such a claim for historical methods has met with. We are told that 
 such special study is not possible at the collegiate stage, that philologic- 
 al work belongs only to the post-graduate courses of the University ; 
 and editors of college texts who attempt even very mild philological 
 treatment in their annotations have been met with the cry of “ unnec- 
 essary erudition,” ‘‘ misplaced knowledge,” and the like. Notwith- 
 standing this the ‘‘ historical” point of view as made progress during 
 the last few years, and is, I trust, ina fair way to make further pro- 
 gress here among us in Ohio. We do not need nor wish to introduce 
 special philological research into the college, but we may fairly assume 
 that every intelligent student is interested in understanding the causes 
 of the phenomena with which he is becoming familiar or has learned 
 to use. We should do all in our power to give him a general under- 
 standing of such phenomena. If we can from the outset keep steadily 
 
FRENCH IN OHIO HIGH SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES. 13 
 
 before him the growth of form and expression, emphasizing the resem- 
 blances to modes of expression already tamiliar to him, and gradually 
 formulating for him the most essential principles of word change, the 
 student will come to take a new interest in the subject, the language 
 will seem less mechanical to him, since he will be able to see some- 
 thing of philosophy in it and to regard it as a living product ( Elliott). 
 
 It is evident that historical treatment can be introduced more 
 readily and made more effective in classes which have had some train- 
 ing in Latin. And so from the beginning our classes in French should 
 be divided on the basis of Latin and non-Latin students. The matter 
 of general progress is, as we know, intimately connected with such a 
 principle of classification. Unfortunately, many of us are, I judge, 
 still unable to proceed entirely upon this basis. But even if the stu- 
 dent has had no groundwork in Latin, enough Latin is usually present 
 in his English to enable him to grasp the general relations which we 
 may wish to emphasize. So in the editing of French texts for later 
 work in college, I am in favor of a prudent amount of scientific treat- 
 ment, of etymological reference, and I am gratified to note that recent 
 editors of such texts are justly recognizing this feature. It should 
 ever be borne in mind in our teaching of French that we cannot too 
 soon nor too frequently indicate correlations and deductions, and that 
 in the historical treatment of language development, as of literary 
 development, is found the surest basis of a broad culture. 
 
 The features of pronunciation, composition and conversation in 
 our collegiate teaching of French I have emphasized little in this dis- 
 cussion, because I believe them of inferior educational value. as com- 
 pared with the subjects treated above. They have an importance, 
 however, and a place in college work. My own views as to this more 
 practical side of the subject are briefly these: A reasonable amount 
 ‘of time should be spent at the start in teaching the pronunciation, a 
 longer time with French than with German, because of its differing 
 more widely from English pronunciation and because of more numer- 
 ous irregularities. Attention will have to be called frequently to these 
 irregularities. But as for the sounds themselves, students who will 
 ever learn to pronounce French with reasonable correctness, will 
 usually do so in the first week. There may be, I believe there often 
 are, some students in a college class who will never learn to pronounce 
 French very respectably, and I doubt the propriety of keeping the 
 
14 FRENCH IN OHIO HIGH SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES. 
 
 class back to labor with such. In the matter of composition and con- 
 versation, I believe that these features should receive a due share of 
 attention in the more advanced classes. I conceive that the main 
 business of the first year is certainly to read, that is translate, as much 
 as possible. After the first year I endeavor to devote one hour a 
 week to exercises in composition and conversation. I believe that the 
 composition should as far as practicable be based on the reading. 
 
 But in all our work we can not, I think, keep too firmly in mind 
 that our chief business is educational, that the education we furnish is 
 not to include special investigation on the one hand nor the learning 
 of a trade on the other, and that whatever gives the best mental train- 
 ing, whatever gives general culture, should in all cases be preferred. 
 
 ‘The following articles have been referred to and quoted from in 
 the present paper : 
 
 ‘«Modern Languages as a College Discipline,’ by Professor A. 
 Marshall Elhott. 
 
 ‘¢ Observations Upon Method in the Teaching of Modern Lan- 
 guages,” by Professor Calvin Thomas. 
 
 “Reading in Modern Language Study,” by Professor Edward L. 
 Joynes. 
 
 ‘¢ How to Use Modern Languages as a Means of Mental Disci- 
 pline,” by Mr. E. H. Babbitt. 
 
 «<The Aim and Scope of the Study of Modern Languages and 
 Methods of ‘Teaching Them,” by Professor O. B. Super. 
 
 “©On the Use of the Foreign Language in the Class-room,” by 
 Professor H. C. G. von Jagermann. 
 
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