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Now that we have presented some of the pros and cons of the matter, we propose to indicate the treatment of grammar under our method.
Among the universal means of acquiring a foreign language are included mechanical imitation (melody and words) and reflection. The latter is obviously necessary to any knowledge and mastery of grammatical rules. When the French grammarian Pinloche, in his " New methods of teaching modern languages " (Paris, 1927), says: " It is quite wrong to confine the study of live foreign languages to mechanical imitation to the exclusion of processes of reflection," the statement amounts to nothing at all. Naturally, a language cannot be learnt by imitation alone. The question, however, is not one of imitation or reflection, but of imitation and reflection, and also of when the stage of reflection should commence. Thus it is a question of time. Questions of time play an important part in all discussions on modern teaching. When should children learn to read and write? When should they first go to school? How long should instruction continue, etc.? (1).
And time is again a deciding factor in the problem we are concerned with. Personally, I would say that grammar should start too late rather than too soon. Or rather certain conditions must first be fulfilled: (1) the music of the foreign language must be already quite familiar and new words must not evoke a distressing feeling of complete incomprehension; (2) there must be a vocabulary of a certain size made up of words of every kind; (3) the ability to take down simple sentences from dictation and (4) a more or less accurate pronunciation of the sounds of the language. Whether and when these conditions are fulfilled must, of course, be determined by examination and we shall have something to say concerning the organisation of these tests.
In recommending that grammatical exercises should start at a relatively late stage, we are at variance with some grammarians. Pinloche, for example, is of a diametrically opposite mind. He is decidedly against " the direct method," which postpones or altogether excludes grammatical reflection, and he states his case as follows: " The method of teaching which consists mainly or solely of grammar may lead to the pupil's possessing grammatical knowledge, without the power to speak the language. There is, however, no great harm in that, for, once equipped with grammar, he can at any time easily and quickly (!) make up for lost time and learn to talk. But if grammar is not taught and the direct method is pursued to its logical conclusion, the student will comparatively soon learn to say simple things, but without grammar will never acquire a really exhaustive knowledge of the language." Pinloche seeks to show that the first of the two methods is the right one, but he forgets one important point — perhaps the most important consideration in language-teaching — and that is the method of learning.
(1) Old-time pedagogics were concerned rather with subjects of teaching.