The Development of Language, an Elementary Study of Language History, and of the Growth of Our Speech, for Use in Schools #251429

Of the various types Of material to which attention may be directed in connection with education, nothing is more readily and more constantly available than language. While its existence, like that of the mechanical devices which play so large a part in modern life, is due to an effort to meet human needs, its character and the laws of its formation and change offer the same challenge to intellectual activity as do the products of the forces of chemistry and physics. The electric motor and the various practical applications of chemistry are merely tools in modern life. In our educa tional procedure, however, they are studied not merely that pupils may know how to use them in industry, but in order to satisfy the instinctive desire for knowledge on the part Of boys and girls, and to provide a broader basis for intellectual activity and satisfaction.