_rote_
Noun.
Plural: rotes.
Pronunciation: rəʊt.
Etymology: of uncertain origin.
Definition: routine,
custom, habit. This acceptation was rare and now is obsolete except in the
idiom by rote, which is intended to mean: “By routinary memorization
or iteration, but with little or no intelligence, attention or reflection”;
this is, “with little or no attention or intelligence, the thing in action
being routinary”.
Translation: irreflexivamente, in Spanish; inconsidérément, in French; inconsideratamente, in Italian.
We
are like children who repeat by rote the
sentences of grandames and tutors.
Ralph Emerson… Essays
I
suspected that my gentleman talked by rote.
Hester Piozzi… Observations and Reflections…
"Good-bye,
John," returned Caleb.
He
seemed to say it by rote, and to wave his hand in the
same unconscious manner; for he stood observing Bertha with an anxious
wondering face, that never altered its expression.
Charles Dickens… The Cricket…
[Parrots,
apes and jackdaws] act by rote, as the others speak by it,
and equally make me silent: nay, my dog and my cat, though I value them both.
Oliver Goldsmith… A history of the earth…
The
absence of comprehension, or information to the understanding, is the
characteristic, the essence of learning by
rote.
George Moody… The English journal…
‘What,
sir,’ she repeats, ‘are we to make our children learn things by rote like parrots […]?’
The Knickerbocker, v. 8
These
liberal directions Mr. Grewgious issued with his usual air of reading an
inventory, or repeating a lesson, or doing anything else by rote.
Charles Dickens… The Mystery of Edwin Drood
[…] both those who talk by rote, and those who
sing by rote, are often proficients in
practice, without knowing that those arts are capable of rules and of very
subtil analyzation, any more than a child of five years old comprehends, or can
explain, how he stands and walks.
Joshua Steele… Prosodia rationalis
-) This
adverbial use may be employed attributively or adjectively, by omitting the
preposition by: rote learning is a learning
adquired by rote; rote
knowledge is a knowledge acquired by rote, etc.
She likely often relies on her rote memory skills.
Sam Goldstein… Managing attention…
Much more common than rote knowledge is what
I call shallow knowledge, meaning
that students have some understanding of the material but their understanding
is limited.
Daniel Willingham… Why Don’t Students Like School
[…] rote learning (or memorization) occurs when learners store new
information in their short-term memory in a disjointed manner, without
integrating that information within schemas in their long-term memory.
Lawrence Tomei… Integrating information…
Rote-learned songs.
Brian Richards… Language development…
Rote learning is a teaching or learning
method based on telling students information directly, which they then memorise
and reproduce in the examination.
Mary Waters – A. Waters… Study
tasks in English
Taking
students to an entirely new learning environment may augment memory. Field
trips that include interactive experiences and hands-on learning are more
dynamic and interesting than a rote lesson in the class-room.
Sheryl Feinstein… The Praeger handbook of learning…
“We
must hold on,” Annie repeated, as if she were obediently reciting a rote lesson, “until they come for us.”
Rosie Thomas… Strangers
[Students] learned history and geography by
accumulating information in a rote-like manner.
Paul Axelrod… The promise of schooling
Another
memorisation technique which has a long history in language learning is rote learning. This involves repetition of target language items
either silently or aloud. […] These items commonly appear in list form; typical
examples being items and their translation equivalent (e. g. door = die Tür),
items and their definitions (e. g. nap = short sleep) […]
Ruth Gairns… Working with words
Other
English words derived from ROTE: rote
(verb), roting.
