BUSINESS ENGLISH: A SUMMARY OF PRINCIPLES JAMES F. HOSIC, CHICAGO NORMAL SCHOOL, CHICAGO, ILL. The term "business English" is establishing itself, but there is, as yet, no agreement as to what it means. Two meanings are obvious: (1) technical training, commercial correspondence, advertising, and the like; and (2) general training in English, planned with reference to the needs of all students who intend to enter commercial life irrespective of whether they will keep books, take dictation, or sell. The situation is complicated at present by the regrouping of the grades so as to place the seventh and eighth with the ninth in what is called the "junior high school," and within these grades to organize the classes according to dominant interests, as academic or professional, commercial, and industrial or technical. For clearness it seems necessary to confine the term "business English" to courses regarded as direct preparation for vocation. Even in such courses emphasis upon forms and details necessary in business must not be permitted to hinder the development of general intelligence and adaptability. Next to certain rudimentary matters of correctness, employers prize thoughtfulness and gumption. Oral composition should receive as much attention in business English as in other English classes. Even the stenographer requires the feeling for language which practice in careful speaking gives. Certainly all will find a good voice and pronunciation an enormous asset. Sales talks, reports upon commercial activities, debates, conversation on business ethics, and similar exercises are easily arranged and full of zest. Written composition should consist largely, but by no means wholly, of letter-writing. Content should receive as much attention as form. The assignments should be of the nature of problems calling for the exercise of tact and judgment. To drill mechanically merely adds to the number of "bone-heads" in the world. Life and reality may be secured by group correspondence so conducted that a given pupil is appealed to by several rivals and must make a choice. Besides letters, the pupils should write reports, advertisements, and newspaper stories. These exercises will provide excellent opportunity for enforcing the elementary principles of correctness and effectiveness. The details to be emphasized in grammar, punctuation, and spelling must be determined by actual investigation. Charters and Ayres have made a beginning in doing this. The details finally selected should be perfectly mastered. Much of the reading of pupils in business English should be contemporary and related to business. Biographies and accounts of achievement will provide much that will be directly inspirational. It should be remembered, however, that human nature is, after all, the great factor in business as elsewhere. Literary study which really helps pupils to understand themselves and others, and which develops their personalities is invaluable. Many English classics can serve these purposes, even in the case of pupils with narrow outlook. Whether they actually do so or not depends upon the teacher. There is good salesmanship in Julius Caesar, but assuredly the college-entrance grind will never reveal it. The general reading of business pupils should be stimulated and guided with special care for two reasons: (1) for its value in keeping one well informed; (2) because in the case of those in whom the habit of reading is rightly formed, it may become the great means of self-education and of true enjoyment. THE CONTENT AND PRESENTATION OF SHORTHAND AND TYPEWRITING ADA R. COLLINS, COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. Commercial education was originally conceived to be merely clerical training, like that carried on in business colleges, and that notion, largely unchanged, still persists in the minds of many. It came into the public schools of the country at an unfortunate time, at a time when it was pedagogically unfashionable for schools to have a vocational purpose. All subjects were idealized in order to make them yield what were considered "cultural values." But, thanks to the changing conditions, the commercial high schoo. and the commercial department of the public schools need to be no longer on the defensivel Commercial education has become a part of the school curriculum, not by design, but rather because of the impossibility of disregarding the demand for it. It involves vastly more than familiarity with commercial subjects. These are, of course, fundamental and important, but it is a tremendous mistake to ignore the fact that the business world of today demands a much wider range of training than is provided in the old-fashioned business-school curriculum. The aim should be to give the student the best possible preparation for a career of business usefulness. A very large percentage of the "clerical and secretarial positions" to which the student is attracted are entered by means of a knowledge of shorthand and typewriting. Stenography is the open door thru which young people may enter business life. What, then, is adequate training for this work? In no field are the duties more variable than in that of the stenographer. The stenographer may address envelopes all day, or he may be called upon to dictate original letters to others. He may do one thing exactly as he is told from the beginning of the week to the end, or he may organize, control, and initiate. The immediate task, then, may demand only a limited experience and training, or it may call for the broadest possible culture, the finest personality, and the utmost executive ability. This fact is plainly emphasized by interviews with employers in connection with what they expect the employe in the office to offer in the way of qualifications. For convenience, I have groupt those qualifications under four chief heads: character, personality, general education, and technique. Character. The character of the stenographer is indicated by his response to the demands put upon him. Whether the work is small or great, he must be absolutely trustworthy. The work of the office is a private matter, not, under any conditions, to be communicated to others; hence, he must be trained to have a fine sense of honor, to be worthy of confidence. Personality. By personality we mean all the gracious gifts which individuals have won from their environment. It is the initial test to which the student applying for a position is put. Some students inherently lack personality, and, for this reason, should be directed to some other occupation. Others have latent possibilities in the matter of personality. Lack of information, failure of the home to supply proper inspiration, general unfortunate environment may retard promising students in attaining success. The teachers should secure personal information about the student's home, his father's occupation, and then in every way possible give him the knowledge that will help him to realize what is required of him. General Education.-It is evident from the variety of the positions awaiting the stenographer that general education is indispensable. It gives a background which makes possible an intelligent grasp of the details of the particular occupation. This education does not necessarily mean facts and figures dug from books in the classroom, but rather the ability to apply these facts and theories to the practical affairs of life. The stenographer who expects to advance must always be a student of English, for the sake of clearness of expression and style, as well as understanding. If he has a good general education, he will take up his new work with enthusiasm, rejoicing in every new thing to be learned, eager to achieve new tasks. It is the capacity of the trained mind that counts quite as much as the knowledge which it is supposed to bring. Technique.—This I have put fourth in the list of essentials because it is the qualification which determines the rapidity of the advancement of the student possessing the other necessary characteristics. It is with this essential that the average teacher of shorthand and typewriting is perhaps most concerned. In launching a student in a course in shorthand, the average teacher finds it profitable to give a short course in phonetics, having the student memorize the names of the diacritical marks and familiarize himself with the different vowel sounds. Especially is this true in the position systems. After this has been accomplisht and the consonant and vowel alphabet has been learned, I have found it helpful to have the students not only write words in their correct positions, but pronounce words with great rapidity and give the positions in which they should be written. In doing board work in shorthand, I have found that various grades of students may be helpt by having each student write as many times as possible the word pronounst, while the slowest student is writing it but once. This calls for very careful supervision to see that the outlines are correctly made. Typewriting is so closely allied with shorthand that it must necessarily fall under the same careful supervision. The teacher should insist upon the student using pure touch system. A great many theories have been advanst for the accomplishment of this purpose, but most teachers have found that different students call for different methods. After the practice lessons in the manual have been completed, the student may begin upon the practical application of his practice work. Almost every school affords ample opportunity for plenty of practical work. Let the classes in shorthand and typewriting make the outlines for the various departments of the school. In the typewriting room stencils may be cut for review and examination questions. Work for the other members of the faculty, the copying of theses for students not taking typewriting, notices sent out by the principal-all this work may be profitably done by the students, always, however, under the close supervision of the teacher. Where part-time employment is possible, it is found to be very helpful. In actual business the student realizes his failures and is imprest with the need of certain qualifications in a way that it is impossible to make him understand in the schoolroom. In the business office he is kept in touch with the constantly changing conditions caused by the introduction of new office appliances. The practice of having prominent business men of the community, especially large employers of office help, speak to the classes about the requirements of office help will be found of valuable assistance. Courses in office practice, demonstrating right and wrong office methods, will be found practicable and helpful. Commercial education must greatly expand its scope in order to embrace the larger opportunities of business; and teachers must invite the cooperation of business men if this expansion is to be accomplisht. DEPARTMENT OF ELEMENTARY EDUCATION SECRETARY'S MINUTES OFFICERS President-ADA VAN STONE HARRIS, director of elementary practice teaching, public .Kirksville, Mo. FIRST SESSION-TUESDAY FORENOON, JULY 4, 1916 The department was called to order by President Ada Van Stone Harris at 9:30 A.M., in Concert Hall of Madison Square Garden. In the absence of the secretary, the chair appointed the vice-president of the department, Bertha M. McConkey, to serve as secretary. The following program was presented: Topic: A Study of the Question of the Transfer of the Upper Two Grades of the Elementary School to the High School, Based On— "The Peculiar Psychological Conditions and Social Needs of the Seventh and Eighth Grades"-David Snedden, professor of educational sociology, Columbia University, New York, N.Y. "The Organization of the Upper Elementary Grades Contrasted with the Organization of the Lower Elementary Grades and the High School"-John D. Shoop, superintendent of schools, Chicago, Ill. "The Necessity of Changes in the Curriculum of the Upper Elementary Grades, both in Subject-Matter and in Content"-Mary D. Bradford, superintendent of schools, Kenosha, Wis. "The Intensive Study of Large_Topics"-Charles A. McMurry, professor of elementary education, George Peabody College for Teachers, Nashville, Tenn. "Proper Vocational Guidance in the Upper Elementary Grades"-William M. Davidson, superintendent of schools, Pittsburgh, Pa. "The Place of the Corporation and the Continuation Schools"-Clifford B. Connelley, dean, School of Applied Industries, Carnegie Institute of Technology, Pittsburgh, Pa. The chair appointed the following to serve as a committee to nominate officers for 1917: Susan M. Dorsey, assistant superintendent of schools, Los Angeles, Cal. Olive M. Jones, principal, Public School No. 27, New York, N.Y. Robert W. Wright, president, East Carolina Teachers Training School, Greenville, N.C. C. J. Scott, superintendent of schools, Wilmington, Del. A. Ruth Pyrtle, principal, McKinley School, Lincoln, Neb. SECOND SESSION-WEDNESDAY FORENOON, JULY 5, 1916 The meeting was called to order at 9:30 A. M., in Concert Hall of Madison Square Garden, the president in the chair. The following program was carried out. Topic: Is There a Need for More Reality in the Elementary School Curriculum? "In Industrial Arts and Crafts-Getting Manual Skill and Making Things"John M. Mills, superintendent of schools, Ogden, Utah. |