Anglistentag 1993 Eichstätt

Proceedings

edited by Günther Blaicher

and Brigitte Glaser

M A X N I E M E Y E R V E R L A G TÜBINGEN 1994

Die Deutsche Bibl iothek - CIP-Einheitsaufnahme

Anglistentag <1993, Eichstätts Proceedings / Anglistentag 1993 Eichstätt / ed. by Günther Blaicher and Brigitte Glaser. - Tübingen : Niemeyer , 1994

(Proceedings of the conference of the German Association of Univers i ty Teachers of E n g l i s h ; V o l . 15)

N E : Blaicher, Günther [Hrsg.]; Anglistentag: Proceedings of the ...

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© M a x Niemeyer Verlag G m b H & Co . K G , Tübingen 1994 Das Werk einschließlich aller seiner Tei le ist urheberrechtlich geschützt. Jede Verwertung außerhalb der engen Grenzen des Urheberrechtsgesetzes ist ohne Z u s t i m m u n g des Verlages unzulässig und strafbar. Das gilt insbesondere für Vervielfältigungen, Übersetzungen, M i k r o v e r f i l m u n g e n und die Einspeicherung und Verarbeitung in elektronischen Systemen. Printed i n Germany. Gedruckt auf alterungsbeständigem Papier. D r u c k und Einband: Weiher t -Druck G m b H , Darmstadt

Proceedings of the Conference of the German Association

of University Teachers of English

Volume X V

C O N T E N T S

S E C T I O N 1: T H E H I S T O R Y O F L I N G U I S T I C I D E A S

Werner Hüllen:

In t roduc t i on 17

R . H . R o b i n s : W i l l i a m B u l l o k a r ' s Bref Grammar for English: Text and Context (P l enary Lecture) 19

Werner Hüllen: A G r e a t C h a i n of W o r d s : T h e Onomasio logical T r a d i t i o n i n E n g l i s h Lex i cography 32

M i c h a e l C a h n :

T h e P r i n t i n g Press as an Agent in the His tory of L ingu i s t i c Ideas? 47

D a v i d C r a m : C o l l e c t i o n a n d C lass i f i ca t i on : Universa l Language Schemes and the Development of Seventeenth-Century Lexicography 59

Rüdiger Schreyer: D e a f - M u t e s , Fera l C h i l d r e n and Savages: O f Ana log i ca l Evidence in 18th -Century Theore t i ca l H i s t o ry of Language 70

Friederike K l i p p e l : Rules and Exercises : G e r m a n Textbooks for Teaching and L e a r n i n g E n g l i s h around 1800 87

J o h n Walms ley : Parameters or C o n t i n u u m : T h e History of E n g l i s h G r a m m a t i c a l T h o u g h t since Sweet 100

Hans U l r i c h Boas: Misconcept ions a n d Over interpretat ions : C h o m s k y ' s V i e w on de Saussure 116

10

S E C T I O N 2: E N G L I S H L A N G U A G E A N D L I T E R A T U R E I N I N D I A

G e r h a r d S t i l z :

Introduct ion 135

Meenaksh i Mukherjee :

T h e H o m e and the W o r l d : T h e Indian Novel i n Eng l i sh in the G l o b a l C o n t e x t (P lenary Lecture) 140

K l a u s H . Börner: S a l m a n Rushdie , The Satanic Verses: Observations on C u l t u r a l H y -b r i d i t y 150

Beate Neumeier :

Passages to and f rom Ind ia : E . M . Forster and S a l m a n Rushd ie . . 163

E l i s a b e t h Bronfen: A Sense of Strangeness: T h e Gender of C u l t u r a l Identity in B h a r a t i Mukherjee 's Jasmine 176

Dieter Riemenschneider: M a r g i n a l i z i n g the Centre - C e n t r i n g the Periphery : T h e Recept ion of Ind ian L i terature in E n g l i s h 193

U w e C a r l s :

T y p e s of Lex i ca l Pecul iar i t ies in Indian Eng l i sh 205

Josef Schmied :

Syntact i c Style V a r i a t i o n in Indian Eng l i sh 217

M a n f r e d Gör lach:

T e x t T y p e s and Indian E n g l i s h 233

11

S E C T I O N 3: A M E R I C A N S T U D I E S I N T H E P O S T M O D E R N E R A

G e r h a r d Hof fmann:

Introduct ion 253

C a t h y N . Dav idson : Loose Change: Issues and Controversies in Women's Studies and A m e r i c a n Studies (P lenary Lecture) 258

Günter H . Lenz: A m e r i c a n Studies as M u l t i c u l t u r a l C r i t i q u e : Postmodern C u l t u r e , Interdisc ipl inarity , and Intercul tura l Identities 269

L o t h a r Bredel la : Intercultural Understanding between R e l a t i v i s m , Ethnocentr i sm a n d Universa l i sm: P r e l i m i n a r y Considerat ions for a Theory of In ­tercul tural Understanding 287

A l f r e d Hornung :

" M a k e It N e w ! " : T h e Concept of Newness in A m e r i c a n Studies . . . 307

G e r h a r d Hof fmann: Postmodernism and the Pro l i f erat ion of Aesthetics : T h e Interrela­t i on of C u l t u r e and Aesthetics in A m e r i c a n Studies 320

Heinz Ickstadt: T h e Status of L i terature w i t h i n the C h a n g i n g Sel f -Def init ion of A m e r i c a n Studies 340

L u d w i g Deringer: Regional ism and Universa l i ty in A m e r i c a n and C a n a d i a n L i terature : T h e Pacific Northwest as M o d e l 350

12

S E C T I O N 4: L I T E R A T U R E A N D R E L I G I O N I N T H E 2 0 T H C E N T U R Y

Sabine V o l k - B i r k e :

Introduct ion 363

W i l l i Erzgräber:

T . S. E l i o t ' s Poet ic Treatment of Rel igious Themes (P lenary Lec­ture) 366

D a v i d Jasper : Trespassing i n the Wilderness : New Ventures in C a n o n i c a l C r i t ­i c i sm 381

Werner Jeanrond :

L i t e r a r y Imag inat i on , Theolog ica l T h i n k i n g , and C h r i s t i a n P r a x i s 392

Wol fgang W i c h t : Grace i n " G r a c e " : P u r d o n and Vaughan 402

E l m a r Schenkel : F r o m Powys to P o o h : Some Versions of T a o i s m in B r i t i s h and A m e r ­ican L i t e ra ture 419

Ian Ross: A D r u n k M a n , the T h i s t l e , and G o d : A Look at M a c D i a r m i d ' s 1926 L i t e r a r y Use of Theology 433

K l a u s Lubbers :

A Note on A n t i c l e r i c a l Imagery in M o d e r n Irish F i c t i o n 445

Jochen Ach i l l e s : Re l ig ion i n M o d e r n Ir ish D r a m a : Soc ia l C r i t i c i s m and S p i r i t u a l Re ­or ientat ion 459

13

S E C T I O N 5: V A R I A

Jürgen K a m m :

T h e M e n t a l i t y of Heroic D r a m a 473

H e n n a n n Josef Schnackertz: Peter Ackroyd ' s F i c t i ons and The Englishness of English Litera-iure

Al fred Bammesberger :

E d i t i n g O l d E n g l i s h R u n i c Inscriptions 503

Hans Peters:

Relat ive who in E a r l y M o d e r n E n g l i s h 516

Renate Haas:

Women and the Development of E n g l i s h Studies in G e r m a n y 528

Hans-Jürgen Weckermann:

Frank Norr is : T h e M a s c u l i n e - P r i m i t i v e V i e w of Life 541

Friederike Klippel (Dortmund/München)

RULES AND EXERCISES: G E R M A N T E X T B O O K S FOR T E A C H I N G AND LEARNING ENGLISH AROUND 1800

There is no doubt that - in internat ional terms - E n g l i s h is the most i m ­portant language today. Since the mid-s ixt ies E n g l i s h has been taught to a l l pupi ls at a l l types of secondary school in G e r m a n y and at some p r i m a r y schools as wel l . Everybody under 40 years of age can be expected to have at least a smatter ing of E n g l i s h . A n d even those who never learnt E n g l i s h at school are able to handle a lot of those Eng l i sh words we find a l l around us, i n the cit ies ' shopping centres, on T V and at work. Teaching E n g l i s h has become big business.

T w o hundred years ago the role of Eng l i sh in G e r m a n y was very different. Research into the history of E n g l i s h studies has thrown some l ight on the place of Eng l i sh at universities (cf. Schröder 1969) or at elementary schools (cf. Sauer 1968). T h e major i ty of h istor ical studies, however, focuses on the 19th and early 20th centuries and on the teaching of E n g l i s h at schools after it had become an established subject. Therefore there are s t i l l a great many unanswered questions about the learning and teaching of E n g l i s h around 1800, when Engl i sh was not generally taught at schools. In this paper I shal l try and answer a few of these questions. F i r s t of a l l I wou ld like to characterize the learners of E n g l i s h at that t ime and their purpose i n learning this language. In the second and t h i r d sections I shal l look at the books which were used as teaching or learning materials for E n g l i s h grammar . These textbooks can tel l us what was taught as well as how the language was presented and pract ised.

1. Learn ing Eng l i sh in the 18th century

Eng l i sh was ihe new foreign language in 18th-century Germany . A d m i t t e d l y i t d i d not then replace French as the most important l i v i n g language, as the language of the nobi l i ty and of d iplomacy, nor d id it endanger L a t i n as the language of scholarship and erud i t i on . A n d yet, as B e r n h a r d F a b i a n (1985) has argued convincingly, the 'discovery' of E n g l a n d and the E n g l i s h language shaped the intel lectual atmosphere in 18th-century G e r m a n y quite dist inct ly . For the scholar and the educated cit izen a knowledge of E n g l i s h had been of no importance at the beginning of the century; towards the end i t became indispensable (cf. F a b i a n 1985: 178).

88 Friederike Klippel

T h e second ha l f of the 18th century saw the first stage of the steady rise of E n g l i s h towards its present-day status. A t that t ime E n g l i s h was not so much acquired as a means of direct communicat ion but as a means of access. A reading knowledge of Eng l i sh was the key to a store of in format ion in a wide range of subjects, to phi losophical and po l i t i ca l thought as wel l as to the different branches of l i terature.

A number of developments support the c l a i m that E n g l i s h became more and more i m p o r t a n t to educated Germans . T o begin w i t h , a growing n u m ­ber of E n g l i s h publ icat ions became available i n Germany . Engl ish- language books on a variety of subjects were offered at the annual Le ipz ig book fair (cf. F a b i a n 1982). It even seems that this supply could not satisfy the ever­growing demand (cf. Inbar 1980). One might th ink that E n g l i s h books were sought after because of the general shift in interest f rom French l i terature to E n g l i s h l i terature . However, l i terary works were not the only E n g l i s h books i n demand; they were possibly not even the most impor tant category (cf. F a b i a n 1982). M o r e and more people l iked to read E n g l i s h books either i n t rans lat ion or in the or ig ina l . T h e desire to learn about E n g l i s h society, thought , manners, and pol i t ics prompted the foundat ion of several G e r m a n journals featuring excerpts from B r i t i s h periodicals and papers.

T h e expanding E n g l i s h book market suppl ied a growing number of peo­ple able to read E n g l i s h . B u t how had these people learnt Eng l i sh? Some were self-taught, others had learnt E n g l i s h through private t u i t i o n , and a few had been taught in schools. It was possible that people started their own language-learning by a t tempt ing to read the E n g l i s h book they were interested i n w i t h the help of a d ic t ionary and a grammar book. T h e n u m ­ber of grammars of E n g l i s h published in G e r m a n y rose sharply i n the last two decades of the 18th century and continued to rise i n the 19th. A further ind icat ion for the growing popular i ty of learning E n g l i s h is the spreading of E n g l i s h language classes in the g r a m m a r schools, the academies for the nobi l i ty (Rit terakademien) and the universities towards the end of the 18th century (cf. K l i p p e l 1994). More and more educat ional inst i tut ions began to offer E n g l i s h classes, though these were not part of the core syl labus.

In general, the t ime around 1800 can be seen as an impor tant j u n c t i o n i n the various strands of Eng l i sh studies i n Germany . O n the one hand more educated adults were engaged in learning E n g l i s h and in c o m p i l i n g g ram­mars than ever before; on the other h a n d , the seeds for the future of Eng l i sh as a school subject - which needed to be considered in the l ight of peda­gogy - were planted then. T h u s one can dist inguish several target groups for learning E n g l i s h : educated adults who were a i m i n g for reading compe­tence i n E n g l i s h ; ind iv idua ls who needed some preparat ion i n oral ski l ls for a stay i n E n g l a n d ; students at universities, academies or g r a m m a r schools who received a general introduct ion to the E n g l i s h language which t y p i -

German Textbooks for Teaching English 89

ca l ly led to their reading and trans lat ing E n g l i s h texts; and finally pupi ls at c ommerc ia l schools who were also instructed i n correspondence and related sk i l l s i n the foreign language. T h i n k i n g of these different groups of learners one m i g h t ask how their language-learning and teaching was conducted and what textbooks and teaching materials were used. Because we do not have m a n y first-hand accounts of learning and teaching s i tuat ions we have to t ry a n d reconstruct ways of learning and teaching m a i n l y f rom the textbooks o f the t ime .

B u t what can be called a textbook? T h e term textbook is used here for a l l publ icat ions intended for language study. T h i s includes so-called g r a m m a r s , collections of texts or exercises, or books conta in ing a l l three, w h i c h were either used in class, or w i t h a private tutor , or as a m a n u a l of self-i n s t r u c t i o n . W i t h the help of K o n r a d Schroder 's b ib l iography (1975), which l ists over 2000 textbooks for Eng l i sh publ ished in the German-speak ing countries between 1665 and 1900, about th i r ty textbooks publ ished between 1780 and 1820 could be obtained in G e r m a n l ibraries .

Here I would l ike to concentrate on those textbooks which were apt ly cal led Sprachlehre by the G e r m a n textbook authors of the t ime . T h e t e rm Sprachlehre refers to the educational purpose of the textbooks, and indeed, most of the authors were actively engaged in teaching E n g l i s h , either as pr ivate language teachers or at a university or school. M a n y authors just i fy the pub l i ca t i on of their book wi th their teaching requirements, saying that they had to write their own textbook, because they had not been able to find a suitable one either for their way of teaching or for their group o f learners or for their ideas about what a language textbook ought to conta in (cf. Sammer 1783: III f. and Langstedt 1796: I X among others). T h u s , the presentation and expl icat ion of E n g l i s h g r a m m a r found in those Sprachlehren were not just influenced by their authors ' l inguist ic competence b u t also by their intended use as teaching mater ia ls .

H o w may the term Sprachlehre be rendered in Eng l i sh? Frank Turner (1978) speaks of " G e r m a n Pedagogic G r a m m a r s of E n g l i s h " i n his study o f textbooks of the 17th and early 18th century. A n t h o n y Howatt uses the t e r m "pedagogical g rammar" for the grammars of Robert L o w t h and L i n d l e y M u r r a y (Howatt 1984: 122), which served as models for some of the G e r m a n English- language textbooks.

2. G e r m a n pedagogic grammars of E n g l i s h

T o d a y a g rammar is not automat ica l ly a textbook. Therefore i t is impor tant to stress once more that the Eng l i sh grammars publ ished in the late 18th a n d the first ha l f of the 19th century were pedagogic grammars . T h e first g r a m m a r s wr i t ten exclusively for l inguists and scholars and not for language

90 Friederike Klippel

learners were E d u a r d Fiedler ' s Wissenschaftliche Grammatik der englischen Sprache (1849-1850) and E d u a r d A d o l f Maetzner ' s Englische Grammatik (1860-1865) respectively. T h i s is not to say that the earlier authors d i d not b r ing a theoretical or l inguist i c interest to bear upon their work. Some of t h e m conducted their own pa instak ing research into the E n g l i s h language; others were well aware of the wri t ings on E n g l i s h publ ished i n B r i t a i n i n the 18th century. T h e m a i n purpose of the G e r m a n grammars of the E n g l i s h language publ ished before 1850, however, remained a d idact ic one.

In my view the G e r m a n pedagogic grammars of E n g l i s h at that t ime were wr i t t en w i t h i n a framework shaped by three major influences. A s the analyses show, these influences can be ranked as follows: T h e first and most i m p o r t a n t one is the L a t i n model of g r a m m a r w i t h its established parts . T h i s is not surpr is ing , since L a t i n g r a m m a r was t rad i t i ona l l y consid­ered to be the foundat ion of g rammar . T h e second influence, which is less wel l -known, are the s tandard E n g l i s h grammars , especially those of Robert L o w t h (1762) and L i n d l e y M u r r a y (1795) which were available i n G e r m a n y ; the t h i r d one are the successful contemporary G e r m a n grammars of E n g ­l i s h , some of which grew out of an i n d i v i d u a l author 's s tudy of the Eng l i sh language. I would l ike to look at each of these aspects in t u r n .

2.1 L a t i n g rammar

In his history of teaching E n g l i s h as mother tongue Ian M i c h a e l states that "the influence of L a t i n pervades every aspect of the E n g l i s h grammars" ( M i c h a e l 1987: 318). General ly , this is also true for the G e r m a n grammars of E n g l i s h . N o t a b l y the different sections, such as pronunc iat ion , morphology and syntax , the parts of speech to be discussed and the terminology were often, though not always, taken f rom L a t i n grammar . Ian M i c h a e l refers to the declension of nouns and even the article as the most g lar ing examples for an inappropr iate transfer f rom L a t i n ( ib id . ) . Not a l l E n g l i s h grammarians , however, adopted the L a t i n case system. Robert L o w t h , probably the most popular author in the late 18th century, describes E n g l i s h as having only two cases, the nominat ive and the possessive (1762: 28). A n d , in a footnote, he deplores another writer ' s use of the 'ab lat ive ' for E n g l i s h : " T h i s comes of forcing the E n g l i s h under the rules of a foreign language, w i t h which it has l i t t l e concern" (1762: 107). S imi lar thoughts are to be found i n Germany . Here K a r l P h i l i p p M o r i t z criticizes J o h a n n König, the author of the most successful E n g l i s h language textbook (1706; 12th ed. 1802) publ ished in 18th-century-Germany. In the preface to his g r a m m a r , M o r i t z concedes that König's " T h e True Eng l i sh G u i d e " was a most comprehensive textbook which nevertheless contained a lot of unnecessary and mis leading in format ion because i t was completely model led on L a t i n ( "wei l [sie] einen

German Textbooks for Teaching English 91

völlig lateinischen Zuschni t t h a t " , M o r i t z 1801: I V ) . It is needless to say that König describes E n g l i s h nouns as hav ing five cases (König 1755: 50).

L o w t h ' s ideas on the declension of nouns were not universal ly known or accepted i n Germany . Several textbook authors retained the L a t i n declen­sion for E n g l i s h . Some authors decided on how to present the case system according to which of the two functions of their textbook they favoured. E i t h e r they were more concerned w i t h g iv ing a correct descript ion of the E n g l i s h language or w i t h prov id ing teaching and learning aids. T h u s J o h a n n C h r i s t i a n F i c k writes:

Bei der Declination der Nennworter ist blos Folgendes zu bemerken: es werden dazu die Wörtchen of. ov, von, to: too, zu, from: from, von, by. bi, von gebraucht. Diese werden vor den Artikel gesetzt, und sowohl dieser als das Wort selbst nicht im geringsten verändert; [...] Man sieht hieraus, daß die Engländer eigentlich keine Declination haben, und daß man sie füglich ganz aus den Grammatiken weglassen könnte, wenn man nicht wegen der Verglei-chung mit andern Sprachen, durch Aufführung einer gemodelten Declination, die Erlernung der Sprache erleichtern wollte. (Fick 1835: 70f.)

One can deduce f rom this that according to F i c k there is no true declension i n E n g l i s h so that this part of g r a m m a r could well be left out , were it not useful to have a parad igm of the L a t i n declension for E n g l i s h for a comparison w i t h other languages and for rendering language learning easier.

W h e n we ask why L a t i n g rammar was used so extensively in the E n g ­l i sh textbooks , we must not forget this didact ic angle. Those who learned E n g l i s h around 1800 knew L a t i n and consequently L a t i n g rammar . T h u s references to L a t i n , even i f they were recognized as not quite appropriate for E n g l i s h , were introduced as a means of helping the learner. Inciden­ta l ly , this also appl ied to vocabulary. K a r l P h i l i p p M o r i t z , who cr i t ic ized König's textbook for its L a t i n s tructure , includes a t r i l ingua l word l ist to demonstrate the relat ion between E n g l i s h , L a t i n and G e r m a n . A n d J o h a n n Fr iedr i ch M e e r m a n n includes a table showing how E n g l i s h words are derived f r om L a t i n ones (1794: 88).

T h e basis for the role of L a t i n g rammar lay in the common belief that E n g l i s h or G e r m a n grammar were s imply different representations of g r a m ­mar as such. Therefore grammars had to be bu i l t on the same principles . These principles were taught through L a t i n and could then be used as points of reference for the presentation of and the instruct ion in further languages.

2.2 E n g l i s h models

It is very difficult to prove that a textbook author knew other publ icat ions . A s i t was not considered necessary to ment ion the books one had used, only

92 Friederike Klippel

some authors gave the names of scholars as proof for the qua l i ty of their own book on the t i t le page or i n the preface. Rober t L o w t h and L i n d -ley M u r r a y , authors of the most popular E n g l i s h grammars of the t ime, and J o h n Walker , famous for his Pronouncing Dictionary (1791), were con­sidered authorit ies . The i r s were the names mentioned most often i n the G e r m a n pedagogic grammars around 1800. T h e works of L o w t h and M u r ­ray were translated and edited for the G e r m a n market as wel l as treated as author i tat ive reference grammars by G e r m a n authors. Sometimes, the fact that an author m a y have been fami l iar w i t h the work of L o w t h or M u r r a y can only be guessed at f rom the presence of certain rules or examples. A s regards the influence of L o w t h and M u r r a y and other E n g l i s h authors on the G e r m a n pedagogic grammars , a great deal s t i l l needs to be discovered by detai led compar ison , that is, by ' l inguist i c archaeology' . A quick survey of the G e r m a n textbooks reveals certain s imi lar i t ies w i t h L o w t h ' s g rammar , such as his organisat ional device of discussing the finer points or contradic­tory examples i n footnotes. T h i s k i n d of presentation, however, seems to be much older; in fact, i t dates back to the g r a m m a r of Por t R o y a l , where exceptions were given i n smal l pr int (cf. K e l l y 1969: 225). Di f ferentiat ing between the basic rules and the exceptions creates a two-level text . R u d o l p h Sammer adopted L o w t h ' s way of presenting his mater ia l i n his pedagogic g rammar of 1783, because - as he said - i t rendered his textbook useful for beginners and advanced learners (1783: I V ) . Qu i te a number of G e r m a n textbooks follow L o w t h in the d iv is ion into nine parts of speech and the definitions given for each type. Some of L o w t h ' s examples as well as some of his explanations have found their way into the G e r m a n textbooks. B u t it seems an impossible task to unravel the intr icate knots of borrowings and adaptat ions .

2.3 C o n t e m p o r a r y G e r m a n grammars of E n g l i s h

A t a t ime when the concept of copyright d i d not exist in its present f orm, borrowing from other authors was not regarded i n the same light as to­day. A n d , of course, someone w r i t i n g a g r a m m a r of E n g l i s h in Germany , when E n g l i s h books were scarce and diff icult to get, had to make use of a l l the available sources. A l t h o u g h there are a number of pedagogic g r a m ­mars which were successful insofar as they reached several edit ions and new pr int ings , i.e. the works of Theodor A r n o l d (1736, 16 edit ions up to 1838), J o h a n n König (1706, 12 editions up to 1802), J o h a n n C h r i s t i a n F i ck (1793, 23 edit ions up to 1852) or Johannes Ebers (1802, 4 editions up to 1812), there is jus t one G e r m a n author who was generally accepted as the greatest author i ty on E n g l i s h at the t ime: K a r l Franz C h r i s t i a n Wagner . H . M . Me l f o rd wrote about his g rammar : " D i e englische Sprachlehre des Herrn

Germaii Textbooks for Teaching English 93

G e h e i m e n Hofrates Wagner ist al lgemein als die beste anerkannt. E s dürfte i n der T h a t unmöglich sein, eine bessere zu verfassen" (1841: I X ) . Wagner 's first E n g l i s h g r a m m a r was publ ished in 1802, his second one incorporat ing a vo lume of t rans lat ion exercises i n 1819. A 'school g r a m m a r ' followed i n 1843; and L u d w i g Herr ig , one of the leading E n g l i s h scholars of the 19th century, publ ished a revised version of Wagner 's grammar i n 1857, more t h a n ha l f a century later.

It was Wagner 's a i m to write a detailed and comprehensive grammar , w h i c h he intended not on ly for G e r m a n s learning E n g l i s h but for native speakers of E n g l i s h as wel l . In the preface to his g rammar of 1802 Wagner a d m i t t e d that he had used L o w t h ' s g rammar as a basis, but c la imed that he h a d tr ied to progress beyond i t by b u i l d i n g on his own research (1802: III) . T h u s Wagner 's grammar is more than twice as long as L o w t h ' s ; it contains not on ly a far greater number of rules and discussions of rules but also many more examples taken from E n g l i s h l i terature, which i l lustrate the various po ints of g r a m m a r . Further , Wagner , w r i t i n g m a i n l y for G e r m a n learners of E n g l i s h , introduced a contrastive point of view, compar ing G e r m a n and E n g l i s h g rammar wherever they differ. A s w i t h the works of L o w t h and M u r r a y , i t is difficult to assess the exact influence Wagner 's g r a m m a r might have had on his contemporaries. J u d g i n g by an occasional remark i n a preface, other textbook authors largely used Wagner 's g r a m m a r as a store to be plundered for their own purposes.

N o t many authors were as ambit ious as Wagner , though they, too, t r ied to improve on their predecessors' rendering of rules and examples. In many cases the mot ivat i on for a new element or a different structure in the ped­agogic grammars d id not spr ing f rom the authors ' l inguist ic interests but rather f rom their d idact ic one. S tar t ing w i t h the differences and s imi lar ­ities of E n g l i s h and G e r m a n they especially pa id attent ion to those areas of g r a m m a r which they expected to be difficult for G e r m a n learners, such as the use of prepositions (cf. Haußner 1805). Others , like K a r l P h i l i p p M o r i t z (1801) and J o h a n n Jakob M e n o Valet t (1803) used the contrastive approach throughout , s tat ing for each rule how it differed from or resem­bled the G e r m a n equivalent. M o r i t z explained the fact that one could say 'cabbages' in E n g l i s h but not form the p lura l of ' K o h l ' i n G e r m a n w i t h a different wor ld view: "Solche kleine Verschiedenheiten s ind wegen unsrer verschiednen Vorstel lungsart der Dinge sehr natürlich" (1801: 24). Va le t t considered the whole language learning process, quite r ight ly as we know to­day, to be influenced by the learners' first language. He therefore organized his E n g l i s h g r a m m a r along the lines of G e r m a n syntax . He argued:

Der Deutsche Lehrling stellt sich, wie natürlich, eine fremde Sprache erst Deutsch vor; er spricht demnach erst ein Deutsches Englisch, ehe er Englisch

94 Friederike Klippel

sprechen lernt. Ihm hierzu nun behülflieh zu seyn, lehrt man ihn, alles, was in der Deutschen Sprache Regelist, auf Englisch auszudrucken. (1803: Preface)

3. Rules and exercises

Af ter considering who learnt E n g l i s h at the end of the 18th century and after discussing some of the forces that shaped the pedagogic grammars , i t is t ime to look a b i t more closely inside these books. W h a t d id these textbooks of E n g l i s h contain? A s far as g rammar is concerned, the answer is s imple : rules and examples and sometimes exercises. Rules were given for pronunc iat ion , for the parts of speech (morphology) and - i n most cases - for syntax . These rules were given i n G e r m a n and i l lustrated by E n g l i s h examples. Some grammar books also provided exercises for the i n d i v i d u a l g r a m m a r points .

Rules were at the heart of language study at that t ime . T h e funct ion of rules was twofold: F i r s t of a l l , they were the means of presenting the system of the foreign language and , secondly, they were the way of acquir ing that language. How d i d the grammarians of the t ime arrive at the formulat ion of par t i cu lar rules? Robert L o w t h had seen the rules of the language as fixed. He felt that fault lay w i t h the language users, who often vio lated these rules. "It is not the Language, but the practice, that is i n f a u l t " , he said (1762: V I ) . H i s a i m was to lay down rules so that people might be able to express themselves " w i t h propriety i n that Language , and to be able to judge every phrase and form of construct ion, whether i t be r ight or not" (1762: X ) .

Whereas L o w t h d id not specify the or ig in of the rules, his G e r m a n suc­cessors at the end of the century had definite ideas about the or ig in of g r a m m a r rules. T h e y clearly saw them as descriptive i n or ig in and as pre­scr ipt ive for the language use of the G e r m a n learner of E n g l i s h . K a r l Franz C h r i s t i a n Wagner wrote: " D i e Englische G r a m m a t i k oder Sprachlehre ist eine Anweisung , die Englische Sprache zu verstehen u n d nach bes t immten , theils auf die Phi losophie der Sprache gegründeten, theils auf dem Sprachge­brauch beruhenden Regeln r i cht ig zu sprechen u n d zu schreiben" (1827: I) . A n d He inr i ch J o a c h i m Jack stated i n an even more pronounced way: "Was dem Sprachgebrauche u n d den auf i h n gegründeten Regeln gemäß ist, heißt sprachrichtig, was sie aber verlezt [sie], sprachwidrig" (1804: 7). A n d be­cause the rules are founded on language use, the g r a m m a r i a n needed a lot of t ime and patience to collect them when he was reading E n g l i s h authors. T h e n he had to arrange his examples systematical ly , so that the learners might find them instruct ive . In this way Fr iedr ich W i l h e l m Haußner (1805) described the laborious process of compi l ing a pedagogic g rammar .

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A number of authors justi f ied the pub l i cat ion of their textbook by s tat ing that they had improved the rules, either by p u t t i n g them more concisely or c learly or by presenting t h e m i n a new way, for example i n the form of tables (cf. M e e r m a n n 1794, also M o r i t z 1801), or by adapt ing t h e m to the needs of the learners, for instance by using G e r m a n g r a m m a t i c a l terms for women learners who were un l ike ly to be competent i n L a t i n (F ick 1793).

T h e adaptat i on of rules for teaching or learning leads us to their role i n foreign language instruct ion around 1800. It was often said that acquir ing the rules of a language was the best way of learning that language (so F i c k 1835: V among others). B u t there were also a number of dissenting voices. T h e educationists of the Enl ightenment , the Ph i lanthrop i s t s , developed a different concept of language learning based on i m i t a t i o n , games and p r a c t i ­cal exercises, as well as on reading, a method where grammar , i f at a l l , was taught induct ive ly . B u t the phi lanthropis t concept d i d not reach the status of ma ins t ream t h i n k i n g and remained on the fringe of the teaching of l i v ­ing languages. S t i l l , other authors not connected to the movement pointed out that learning the rules was not synonymous w i t h learning the language. C o n t r a r y to the common idea that learning progressed f rom one rule to the next , they advocated an extended per iod of becoming fami l iar w i t h the language i n examples and short texts, in acquir ing basic ski l ls before deal ­ing w i t h g r a m m a t i c a l analysis (cf. G r i m i n g 1810: X ) . T h i s idea became a widely-accepted pr inc iple i n 19th-century language teaching methodology.

E v e n the advocates of the rule method had to a d m i t that memoris ing a great number of rules was not sufficient. T h o u g h it provided the theoretical f oundat ion of language study, i t d id not lead to pract i ca l ski l ls . Because of this general discontent w i t h language study solely based on theory, that is , rules, i t is not surpr is ing t h a t J o h a n n V a l e n t i n Meid inger ' s innovat ion was adopted quick ly and wide ly in the pedagogical grammars . Meid inger , a teacher of French, had added sentences to each grammar rule , which had to be translated into the foreign language. T h e learner was thus led to apply what he had just learnt. Me id inger and many of his successors used the adjective ' p r a c t i c a l ' i n the t i t l e of their textbook to indicate the inc lusion of such exercises. F r o m a pedagogical perspective Meid inger ' s t rans lat ion exercises were a first b ig step towards teaching materials created just for this purpose, inc lud ing exercises and texts special ly wr i t ten for teaching.

G r a m m a r exercises around 1800 tended to be translat ions consisting of isolated sentences. Because these sentences were not graded so that they only contained structures and words which had been dealt w i t h i n the preceding pages, they needed copious notes to be translatable at a l l . Some authors d i d not restrict these t rans lat ion exercises to the appl i cat ion of a par t i cu lar g r a m m a r rule; they used them to b u i l d up their learners' vocabulary by creating sentences for a certain theme: " E r hat eine Englische

96 Friederike Klippel

Dogge, du hast einen Sp i t z , sie haben einen P u d e l , w i r haben einen Mops , [...]" (Valett 1803: 8).

Usua l l y , however, the isolated sentences for t rans lat ion were of negligi­ble educat ional or in format iona l value. A b ig exception were K a r l Franz C h r i s t i a n Wagner 's t rans lat ion exercises. For these he chose sentences f rom works of E n g l i s h l i terature , which he translated into G e r m a n . W h e n the learners successfully re-translated these sentences into E n g l i s h , Wagner hoped they would then provide further meaningful and edi fy ing , and part i c ­u lar ly , authentic E n g l i s h examples for the respective g r a m m a r rules. Since this method of creating exercises needed a lot of preparat ion and a wide knowledge of E n g l i s h l i terature , i t is not surpr is ing that it was not adopted by other textbook authors. T h e i r creative impulse rather worked towards developing new types of g r a m m a r exercises. Consequently, in the course of the 19th century exercises ceased to be just translat ions . A wide variety of language learning act ivit ies began to appear in the textbooks i n the second ha l f of the 19th century.

A s I tr ied to show, around 1800 a typ i ca l pedagogic g r a m m a r of E n g ­l i sh contained rules and t rans lat ion exercises and suggested a deductive ap­proach i n teaching. For this the rule was given first, its real isat ion i l lustrated by examples and its app l i cat ion practised i n an exercise. A l t h o u g h this can be called the mainstream procedure, not a l l textbook authors accepted i t wi l l ing ly . A s teachers who were usual ly p a i d by their pupi l s , they were i n ­terested in prov id ing effective lessons which were suited to their learners; asking people to do noth ing but memorize g r a m m a r rules was not in their interest. T h u s Fr iedr i ch Theodor Kühne, language professor at M a r b u r g university , says that he taught Eng l i sh induct ive ly w i t h examples t i l l his students urged h i m to compile an E n g l i s h g r a m m a r for their use in class (cf. Kühne 1815: III) . M a n y authors seem aware that work ing through a g rammar book was not a natura l way of learning a l i v i n g language. T h e y also realized that this method d id not take into account the different de­grees of diff iculty which i n d i v i d u a l g r a m m a r rules and their accompanying exercises presented. T h e idea that teaching materials should be graded be­gan to gain acceptance in the prefaces of the E n g l i s h pedagogic grammars towards the end of the 18th century. However, the established pattern of L a t i n g r a m m a r w i t h the fami l iar sequence of pronunc iat ion , morphology and syntax proved too stable then to be broken by the concept of grada­t i o n . Texts or exercises which could be graded by length or complexi ty were easier to forge into a didact ic sequence.

In the first ha l f of the 19th century textbook authors found an alternative so lut ion to the grading of i n d i v i d u a l g r a m m a r rules by creating a two-level course. In the first and elementary part of this course the learners were given an induct ive in troduct ion to the m a i n points of E n g l i s h g r a m m a r by means

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of examples, short texts and exercises. F o r m a l grammar rules followed in the second part and their practice was supplemented by reading authentic texts.

A l l the evidence suggests that the few decades around 1800 were a very impor tant phase for the development of E n g l i s h language learning and teaching i n Germany . T h e pedagogic impetus of the textbook authors l a i d the foundations for many ideas whi ch grew into d idact ic axioms i n the 19th and the 20th century. T h e pedagogic grammars show that our concept of the pre -Reform t ime as the dark age of E n g l i s h language learning needs to be revised.

References

1. Textbooks A r n o l d , Theodor (1736), Grammatica Anglicana Concentrata, oder kurzge­

faßte englische Grammatica, worinnen die zur Erlernung dieser Sprache unumgänglich notigen Grundsätze aufs deutlichste und leichteste abgehan­delt sind, Le ipz ig .

Ebers , Johannes ( 3 1802) , Elementarbuch zur leichtern Erlernung der Engli­schen Sprache in zwei Theilen. Erster Theil: Neue praktische Grammatik der Englischen Sprache, B e r l i n .

F i c k , J o h a n n C h r i s t i a n ( 1 8 1835 ) , Theoretisch-praktische Anweisung zur leich­tem Erlernung der Englischen Sprache. Erster Theil: Praktische Engli­sche Sprachlehre fur Deutsche beiderlei Geschlechts (1793), Er langen .

Grüning, Andreas (1810), Englische Grammatik für Deutsche mit Beyspie-len, Uebungen und Proben zur Anwendung der Regeln, H a m b u r g .

Haußner, Fr iedr i ch W i l h e l m (1805), Gründliche Unterweisung in der Eng­lischen Sprache. Oder Darstellung aller Regeln der englischen Sprache erläutert durch deutliche vom Leichten zum Schwerern aufsteigende Bey-spiele, Le ipz ig .

H e r r i g , L u d w i g , ed. (1857), Dr. Karl Franz Christian Wagner's Grammatik der Englischen Sprache, Braunschweig.

Jäck, He inr i ch J o a c h i m (1804), Theoretisch-practisches Handbuch zur leich­testen Erlernung der englischen Sprache, Er langen .

König, J o h a n n ( 6 1755) , Der getreue Englische Wegweiser, oder kurtze, doch grundliche Anleitung zur Englischen Sprache fur die Teutschen (1706), Le ipz ig .

Kühne, Fr iedr ich Theodor (1815), Kurzgefaßte englische Sprachlehre nebst einem Lesebuche in welchem zum Besten der Anfänger auf die Regeln dieser Sprachlehre durchgehends hingewiesen wird, Hannover .

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Langstedt , Fr iedr ich L u d w i g (1796), Vorkenntnisse und Uebungen zur Er­leichterung des Studiums der englischen Sprache für Deutsche beiderley Geschlechts, Göttingen.

L o w t h , Robert (1762), A Short Introduction to English Grammar. With Critical Notes, L o n d o n .

M e e r m a n n , J o h a n n F . (1794), Fundamentaltabellen der englischen Sprache oder vollständige englische Sprachlehre tabellarisch entworfen, C o b u r g .

M e l f o r d , Henry M a r i a (1841), Vereinfachte Englische Sprachlehre. Erste Studien vor dem Gebrauche der Wagnerfschen Neuen Englischen Sprach­lehre fur die Deutschen, Braunschweig.

M o r i t z , K a r l P h i l i p p ( 5 1801) , Englische Sprachlehre für die Deutschen. Mit drei Tabellen, die Englische Aussprache, Etymologie und Wortfügung be­treffend (1784), B e r l i n .

M u r r a y , L i n d l e y ( 4 0 1826 ) , English Grammar Adapted to the Different Clas­ses of Learners. With an appendix containing rules, and observations for assisting the more advanced students to write with perspicuity and accuracy (1795), Y o r k .

Sammer , R u d o l p h (1783), Kurzgefaßte Englische Sprachlehre den Deutschen zur erleichterten und gründlichen Erlernung dieser Sprache herausgege­ben und mit kritischen Anmerkungen erläutert, W i e n .

V a l e t t , J o h a n n Jakob M e n o (1803), Ausübende Englische Sprachlehre. Die Redetheile, H a m b u r g .

Wagner , K a r l Franz C h r i s t i a n (1802), Vollständige und auf die möglichste Erleichterung des Unterrichts abzweckende Englische Sprachlehre für die Deutschen, Braunschweig .

- ( 2 1827) , Neue vollständige und auf die möglichste Erleichterung des Un­terrichts abzweckende Englische Sprachlehre für die Deutschen. Erster oder Theoretischer Theil (1819), Braunschweig .

- ( 2 1828) , Neue vollständige und auf die möglichste Erleichterung des Unter­richts abzweckende Englische Sprachlehre für die Deutschen. Zweiter oder Praktischer Theil, welcher Uebungen über die einzelnen Regeln enthält (1822), Braunschweig .

- (1843), Theoretisch-praktische Schulgrammatik der Englischen Sprache für jüngere Anfänger, Braunschweig .

2. L i terature F a b i a n , B e r n h a r d (1982), " D i e Meßkataloge und der Import englischer Bü­

cher nach Deutschland i m achtzehnten J a h r h u n d e r t " , i n R e i n h a r d W i t t ­m a n n and B e r t o l d Hack , eds., Buchhandel und Literatur, Wiesbaden, 154-168.

- (1985), "Eng l i s ch als neue Fremdsprache des 18. J a h r h u n d e r t s " , i n Dieter K i m p e l , ed. , Mehrsprachigkeit in der deutschen Außlärung, H a m b u r g , 178-196.

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H o w a t t , A . P . R . (1984), A History of English Language Teaching, O x f o r d . Inbar, E v a M a r i a (1980), " Z u m E n g l i s c h s t u d i u m i m Deutschland des X V I I I .

J a h r h u n d e r t s " , Arcadia, 14-28. K e l l y , Lou is G . (1969), 25 Centuries of Language Teaching. An inquiry

into the science, art and development of language teaching methodology 500 B.C.-1969, Rowley, Mass .

K l i p p e l , Friederike (1994), Englischlernen im 18. und 19. Jahrhundert. Die Geschichte der Lehrbücher und Unterrichtsmethoden, Münster.

M i c h a e l , Ian (1987), The Teaching of English from the Sixteenth Century to 1870, Cambr idge .

Sauer, H e l m u t (1968), Fremdsprachen in der Volksschule, Hannover . Schröder, K o n r a d (1969), Die Entwicklung des Englischunterrichts an den

deutschsprachigen Universitäten bis zum Jahre 1850, R a t i n g e n . - (1975), Lehrwerke für den Englischunterricht im deutschsprachigen Raum

1665-1900, D a r m s t a d t . T u r n e r , J o h n Frank (1978), German Pedagogic Grammars of English 1665-

1750, Diss . p h i l . Braunschweig .