Special Investigators. Of the eight Regional Chairmen, three are German professors: E. O. Eckelman, University of Washington; B. Q. Morgan, University of Wisconsin; and Geo. W. H. Shield, present supervisor of Modern Languages of Los Angeles. In the committee for the Northwest, unselfishly working for the good of all the languages are Margaret Fehr, of North Central High School, Spokane, Wash.; Wm. R. Frerichs, Linfield College, McMinnville, Oregon; and O. Carl Gebert, one time of the University of Wyoming. One third of the membership of these committees is composed of German teachers, who have drawn upon their experience of a lifetime in order to improve the modern foreign language teaching field—a field that is almost exclusively composed of Spanish and French teachers! Here you have a truly scientific interest in educational advancement. The unselfish effort that these German professors have put forth to create among the teachers of European languages a better professional spirit cannot help but awaken a sense of appreciation for their wonderful, wholehearted interest in the study of languages as a whole. If only out of a feeling of gratitude, the teachers of French and Spanish in this country should gracefully reciprocate by helping to restore the standing of German in the schools of the country.

As teachers of the Romance Languages, we need not fear that the resumption of the * study of German will upset the favorable position of the Romance Languages now studied in our schools. According to the figures obtained by the Classical Investigation' in 1923-1924 there were 926,000 Americans studying modern foreign languages. Of this number, 40,000 were studying German, or 4.4 per cent. (an increase of .6 per cent. in two years). Compare with this the figures I just received from the Modern Language Study, showing a total of 32,870 pupils taking German in Public Secondary schools during 1926-1927. The study of German The study of German has gained only 4,870 pupils in these schools

The Classical Investigation: Part One, General Report. Appen

dix A. Table 1. Princeton University Press, 1924.

during the last three years. At the present rate of increase it will take many years before the language regains the 460,000 students lost between 1914-1921. The restoration of German in this country is going to proceed gradually so that the teachers of other modern foreign languages can well afford to lend a helping hand, offering encouragement and good will to those students who would prefer to take up the study of German if opportunity were afforded.

The above figures compiled by two recently organized educational bodies for the investigation of foreign language study in the United States and Canada prove that the American people are satisfied that the study of these languages is of inestimable benefit to their children. To-day there are almost two million pupils of foreign languages in the public and private secondary schools of the country. One half of this number is enrolled in Latin, in spite of the impression that this language was on the down grade. The popular vote is that Latin, is still a determining factor in the education of our people. With equal discrimination our patrons of public education in 1923-1924 supported the study of French with 540,000 and Spanish with 330,000 pupils. That there is sufficient cultural and commercial value in these two languages to justify these figures stands without question. The point is that the American public is keenly appreciative of the advantages of all language study, and that each student specializes upon one language because he is convinced that it will bring him in closer contact with the nationality in whose culture he is most interested.

Still, with only 32,870 German pupils of a total school enrolment of 2,430,670 it would seem that the public at large is not exercising the same discretion with regard to German that it is with the other languages. To-day there are only three regions where more than five thousand students of German are to be found-in New England, the Middle Atlantic States, and the North Central States, including Wisconsin. Of the remaining five regions, California alone has

as many as one thousand pupils. In all the Northwest, according to a report from the Modern Language Study1 (1926) there were only 589 German pupils, in the South 261, and the Southwest, 215. Where are all the seekers of Ph.D. degrees who thought it advisable to complete their studies in a German University in order to gain prestige here? Where are all the embryo chemists, medical scientists and laboratory workers who had to be able to read German in the original in order to further their insight into these subjects? Evidently they have disappeared with the overthrow of the German Empire. Again, where are the millions of German descendants in America who fostered the study of the language? In Oregon alone there were according to the last census 13,740 people of German origin, 5,384 living in the city of Portland. Besides there were 74,531 persons or ten per cent. of the total population whose mother tongue was Ger

In twenty-seven churches of this city the services are conducted in their language. In fact, there are more people of this descent than come from any other race. Yet, the German language, banished from the school rooms in 1914, is as much an outcast to-day as it was during the war. The last two German teachers of the schools of this city have ceased to function during the past decade, and are now retired upon a teacher's retirement pension. At Reed College, of Portland, were (Spring 1927) fifty-five German students, at the University of Oregon (including Extension and correspondence students) 212, at the Agriculture College and

at Linfield College another 100, totaling 367 students in the only institutions of the State where the language is taught. Prospective German students in Oregon must begin the elementary study of the language in the University, since they have not had the opportunity to do so while in high school. The principal of my high school told me that continued inquiries come from parents wishing their children to take up the study of German. To the little town of Dallas must go the credit of offering the first course in German in this State since the War. The textbook commission has selected a German Grammar and even the American Legion is in favor of its teaching. Yet all these influences and manifestations of interest in the subject are leading to nowhere, and at the present rate it is safe to predict that there will be no classes in German in the public schools of Portland for five or ten years.

In the State of Washington,' the enrolment figures are somewhat more encouraging according to a report issued by the German Department of the University of Washington. In the high schools of all the large cities of this State the language is now offered and somewhere near one thousand pupils are

4.

5.

Yakima, 5 other

6.

*Tacoma and Spokane have been teaching German for four years. Seattle resumed the teaching of German in September, 1926. At this time the school board was prevailed upon to ask the Principals of the various high schools to announce to their respective schools that if fifty or more pupils in any high school desired German, classes would be organized. The number who responded to this call was from 37 to 105 in each school. Two high schools fell below fifty and so did not have classes in German in 1926, but had them in September 1927.

300

The blank of inquiry consisted of a letter of instructions and four sections of mimeographed material, one section for each of the subjects of Civics, Economics, Sociology, and Problems of Democracy, each section containing three pages. All sections asked for the same information and were identical, except for a few necessary changes of wording to make the section fit the subject. blanks dealing with Civics, Economics, and Sociology were sent out, and 80 usable replies were returned. 200 blanks dealing with Problems of Democracy were sent out and 35 usable replies were received. The number of returns may seem few to the reader, but the writer feels that they are large enough to show tendencies and to allow for conclusions, for any larger number of returns would continue to repeat the nature of the replies in those actually returned, and would add nothing new to the material already discovered.

The first question asked was, "Is the

Dahl, Edwin J. An Analysis of Senior High-School Textbooks in the Social Studies Other Than History. Master's Thesis, Bureau of Research, College of Education, University of Minnesota, 1926.

The next question aimed to discover the amount of opportunity that senior high school students have of taking any other social science than the one regarding which the question was being asked. The question was stated as follows: "How many (approximately) of the students taking this course either have taken or will take any other of the social sciences?" The blank of inquiry listed the other social science subjects and the teachers simply had to fill out a tabular form. Tables 2, 3, 4, and 5 list the answers received.

Table 2 indicates that of the 57 schools offering Civics

1. There are 30, or 53% where there is opportunity to take Sociology.

2. There are 10, or 17% where there is opportunity to take Problems.

3. There are 45, or 79% where there is opportunity to take Economics.

25 schools offer a combination of Sociology and Economics.

5 schools offer a combination of Problems and Economics.

5 schools offer a combination of Sociology, Economics, and Problems. Referring back to Table I showing the number of electives and constants we find: