178 LANGUAGE AND MENTAL DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN
Through the discussion of the qualities disclosed in the use of
each fresh term that comes to be employed, a great deal of social
as well as intellectual enlightenment can be ensured. As already
emphasized, the child should be trained to ask himself in be-
coming aware of a fresh word or phrase which has appealed to
him, "What should I have said (or what have I been in the
habit of saying) instead?5' Then he should go on to inquire
what exactly is the difference in meaning between the old word
and the new one. Certainly it would seem that those children
who remain unable, after such training, to advance beyond the
realm of the nice, the kind, and the good must be considered to be
maturing all too slowly.
6. KNOWLEDGE BY ACQUAINTANCE AND KNOWLEDGE
BY DESCRIPTION
To set children to write about other children whom they know
well is to find abundant evidence of their unreadiness below the
age of thirteen for the study of the motives and purposes of
adults whose minds are so much more mature and complex.
The categories employed by the average child below the age of
thirteen in his description of his acquaintances will depend to a
large extent, of course, upon the nature of his environment.
He will tend to think largely in terms of those qualities which
he sees to be desirable but not general in the community life
he shares. Thus, in a rather poor social group, children make
frequent reference to such qualities, and their opposites, as
cleanliness, tidiness, good manners, obedience, and industry.
In an environment where mosf*of the good qualities mentioned
can be taken for granted there is reference instead to.honesty,
truthfulness, reliability, and trustworthiness, and their opposites.
But in all groups cheerfulness, good temper, generosity, kindness,
and helpfulness are naturally and widely valued. We may,
perhaps, mention in passing that boys appear to have greater
use than girls for the quality of being a good sport, and also' to
find it often necessary to mention shyness and bashfulness.
In so far as the great characters of history and literature can
be faithfully represented in the terms set out above, they can
no doubt be made to come alive for children and exercise a
strong .appeal to their interests. But we may observe that much
which is typical of the condugt *pf the great must lie beyond the
descriptive limits imposed by such a vocabulary. If reduced to
explaining what we mean by ambition, honour, imagination,
Moteion, pride, piety, and so forth, in such familiar words .as
oan be understood by the immature child we shall be uujifcefy