A survey of the educational system of the Philippine islands by the Board of educational survey, created under acts 3162 and 3196 of the Philippine Legislature.

MEASUREMENT OF INSTRUCTION

167

is only because it is desirable that the English spoken in the Islands
resemble as closely as possible the speech of the English-speaking world
that the Commission urges that the Bureau of Education resort to the
use of the talking machine. It will serve as a useful makeshift in lieu
of an American teacher in every first-grade classroom. Its use is
mechanically and financially feasible.
The great need is that reasonably correct models of speech be set
before teachers and pupils. The phonograph record can take, keep,
and reproduce, with fair precision, the model desired. Once made the
model can be set before the children in an unending number of repetitions. The use of the phonograph will make possible what is now impossible-adequate courses in ear training. The point has been stressed
repeatedly in this report that the development of correct speech depends
upon accuracy in discriminating correct and incorrect forms. The
phonographic record, repeated day after day by the teacher, will make
possible systematic and recurring practice in discriminating the complex
refinements in pronunciation, rhythm, etc., that dominate the English
language. Because accuracy in the auditory and intellectual apprehension of language sounds must precede accurate control of the speech
apparatus itself, the use of the phonograph appears to be a most important substitute for more American teachers. At any rate, the use
of the phonograph is financially practicable; the employment of great
numbers of American teachers is not.
The Commission does not recommend the immediate use of the
phonograph all over the Islands. It recommends instead the immediate
development of an experimental program of oral English based on a
course of phonic instruction presented through the use of the phonograph.
The Oral-language Situation Merits the Creation by the Bureau of a
Commission of Specialists To Study It Thoroughly and To
Establish an Experimental Program.
A thorough study, suggested by the present preliminary inquiry, should
be made by experts to be employed by the Bureau of Education. Such
a study should include a critical analysis of the vernacular in context;
systematic observation and measurement of the activity of the speech
organs during the oral-reading process; a detailed study of the tonal
quality, rhythm, accent, and syllabication of Filipino tongues and a
minute comparison with corresponding elements of English; and tests
should be made to fit the phonic situation of the Philippines. The
American tests were constructed of course for English-a language the