Content analysis of two classes of professional periodicals that appeared between 1886 and 1917 provides a comprehensive picture of the evolution of teaching methods in English. Designed specifically to aid the classroom teacher, device journals presented teaching methods or actual lessons with few explanations of the theories underlying practice. Devoted to the study of larger educational issues, general journals offered a detailed picture of both the confusion and the controversies involved in the emergence of English as a major subject in secondary education. These journals explained or debated, rather than simply presented, classroom practices. Although the purposes and content of these two types of journals differed, both addressed the needs of secondary schools' developing English curriculum. (MM)