CHAPTER 5: THE SILENT WAY
Textbook:
Larsen-Freeman, D. (2000). Techniques and Principles in
Language Teaching. (2th ed.). Oxford University Press.
INTRODUCTION
•
The universal opinion of learning languages

People learn languages by means of the Audio-Lingual Method.

Learning a language means forming a set of habits.
•
The different opinion of linguist Noam Chomsky

Speakers have a knowledge of underlying abstract rules, which allow them to
understand and create novel utterances.

Language is a product of rule formation.

Language acquisition is a procedure whereby people use their own thinking
processes, or cognition, to discover the language they are acquiring.
INTRODUCTION
•
The Cognitive Approach
Language learners were seen to be much more actively
responsible for their own learning, and engaged in
formulating hypotheses to discover the rules of the target
language.
CALEB GATTEGNO’S SILENT WAY

The Silent Way it is based on the premise that the
teacher should be silent as much as possible in the
classroom and the learner should be encouraged to
produce as much language as possible.” (Richards;
ROGERS, 2007, p.81).

Learning is a process which we initiate by ourselves by
mobilizing our inner resources (perception, awareness,
cognition, imagination, intuition, creativity) to meet
challenge at hand.

BASIC PRINCIPLE
Teaching is to serve learning process rather than to
dominate it.
TEACHING METHODS & PRINCIPLES -1
1. The
teacher remains silent and points to five blocks of
color, which represent the sounds of five English vowels
(/a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, /u/) close to the five simple vowels of
Portuguese.
• Principle1: Students are intelligent and learn the
new language with their experience. The teacher
should give help when necessary.
TEACHING METHODS & PRINCIPLES -2
2. The
teacher does not model the new sounds, but uses
gestures to show the students how to modify the sounds.
e.g. /e//ey/
Principle 2: Language is not learned by
repeating a model. Students have to
develop their inner criteria for
correctness.
TEACHING METHODS & PRINCIPLES -3
3.When some students cannot tap out and pronounce sounds correctly,
the teacher just remains silent. The students have to help one another
by themselves.
Principle 3: Students can learn from one
another. The teacher’s silence encourages
group cooperation.
TEACHING METHODS & PRINCIPLES -4
4.
In the English class, the students have to learn actively.
The teachers only remains silent and listens attentively.
Principle 4: Teachers’ silence free them
to closely observe the students’
behavior. And silence also helps foster
autonomy.
TEACHING METHODS & PRINCIPLES -5
5.When the students have trouble pronouncing new sounds and phrases,
the teacher only uses gestures to point out students’ errors.
Principle 5: If teachers praise or criticize
students, they will be less self-reliant. Using
gestures, teachers help point out the error
for students.
TEACHING METHODS & PRINCIPLES -6
6. After learning new sounds and phrases, some students choose to tap
out simple commands; others tap out more complex ones.
Principle 6: Language is for self-expression.
TEACHING METHODS & PRINCIPLES -7
7. In the end of the class, the teacher asks the students for their reactions
and comments to the lesson.
Principle 7: The teacher can gain valuable
information from the students’ feedback.
TEACHING METHODS & PRINCIPLES -8
• 8. There
is no homework assigned.
Principle 8: Some learning takes place
naturally as we sleep. Students will
naturally work on the day’s lesson.
~REVIEW AND QUESTIONS~
1.What are the goals of teachers who use the Silent Way?
- self expression
- developing the inner criteria for correctness
2. What is the role of the teacher? What is the role of the
students?
- The teacher play as a technician or engineer . guider,
controller, facilitator, helper..
- Students’ role is active learners.
- To use what they know
- To free themselves any obstacles
- To engage in exploring the language.
3. What are some characteristics of the teaching/
learning process?
- Building up a whole set of sounds by sound-color chart
-Teacher will give situation from which students can have
a structure of language.
- Practice of using a new language
4. What is the nature of student-teacher interaction?
What is the nature of student-student interaction?
The teacher has to remain silent. And students’
cooperation is important.
5. How are the feelings of the students dealt with?
- Teachers are responsible to help students overcome
the obstacles.
- There will be a feedback session in the end of the
class.
6. How is language viewed? How is culture viewed?
-Each language has its unique feature.
-Culture is always inseparable from language.
7. What areas of language are emphasized? What
language skills are emphasized?
- Sound: students have to acquire the melody of a language
- Focus on the structures of a language
-Vocabulary acquisition may be restricted
-There is no fixed syllabus
- Pronunciation
- All four skills
8. What is the role of the students’ native language?
The students’ native language can used to give instructions
and help them with their pronunciation and perception.
During feedback sessions
To introduce new sounds in the target language.
9. How is evaluation accomplished?
-Teachers rarely give test, so their observation on
students’ learning process is important.
-Teachers should not praise or criticize students.
10. How does the teacher respond to student errors?
-Teachers work with students in getting them to selfcorrect.
-If students cannot do it for themselves, teachers will
aid them by supplying the correct answers.
Techniques and Materials
-Sound-color chart:
The color chart can draw
students’ attention.
~ remind
Color chart can
students what they learned
and what they yet need to
learn.
-Teacher’s silence:
The teacher gives help, and
then is silent when the teacher
is setting up a situation for
language structure.
For example: Tale a ___ rod.
TECHNIQUES AND MATERIALS~
-
Peer correction:
• Students are encouraged to help another.
Their relationship is based on cooperation,
not competition.
-RODS:
•
•
•
•
Rods can be used to provide visible
actions or situations for any
language structure, to introduce it,
or to enable students to practice
using it.
Rods are used to teach colors,
numbers, and statements with
prepositions and conditionals.
Rods can be used abstractly as well.
The teacher can use rods to
represent each word in a sentence
or to elicit the sentence from the
students.
CUISENAIRE RODS FOR STORY TELLING AND
VOCABULARY
-SELF-CORRECTION GESTURES
•
•
The teacher put his palms
together and then moved
them outwards to signal to
the students the need to
lengthen the particular
vowel.
The teacher indicated that
each of his fingers
represented a word in a
sentence and used this to
locate the trouble spot for
the student.
-WORD CHART
. There are twelve English
charts containing about
500 words. The charts
contain the functional
vocabulary of English.
• 2. The teacher points to
words in word chart in a
sequence to let students to
read aloud the sentences.
The way the letters are
colored helps students with
their pronunciation.
•
1
-FIDEL CHARTS
1.
There are eight Fidel charts
for learning English.
2. The teacher, and later the
students, point to the colorcoded Fidel charts in order
that students associate the
sounds of the language with
their spelling.
e.g. /ey/ ay, ea, ei, eigh
(‘say,’ ‘steak,’ ‘veil,’ ‘weigh’)
SILENT WAY PICTURE FOR VOCABULARY STUDY
-STRUCTURED FEEDBACK
•
Students make observations about what
they have learned and express their
opinion and comments to the teacher.
•
The teacher has to accept the students’
comments in a non-defensive manner,
hearing things that will help give him
direction for where he should work
when the class meets again.
CONCLUSION
• The Silent Way can be
used with elementary,
intermediate, and advanced students.
• Its principles are far-reaching. It not only
affects education, but the way one
perceives the living of life. There are
clearly implications for language
teaching.