The Silent Way
Adviser: 陳怡真 教授
Reporter：N97C0009 黃尹人
What is the Silent Way ?
 It is the name of a language teaching
method devised by Dr. Caleb Gattegno.
Dr. Gattegno (1911~1988) 是一位精通多國語言的數學、心理
雙博士，生於埃及。
他創新的教學法─默示法，是利用積木與色彩而發展出來；
現今有十九種語言都可以使用默示法中的積木與色彩來配合教學。
特色:
─色彩幫助兒童發音，藉由色彩輔助， 使兒童能找出母音，
並正確地發音。
─彩色積木幫助學習者分析、 熟悉語言結構，奠定語言結構
的基礎。
資料引用自: 1. 默示法教學簡介
2. http://www.silentway.com.tw/
During the process of teaching,
the teacher has to be silent as much
as they could, but the learner has to
be encouraged to produce as much
language as possible.
The teacher uses charts, gestures, and manipulatives
to elicit and shape student responses and so must be
both facile and creative as a pantomimist and
puppeteer.
Within the atmosphere of silence, learners
would concentrate on the task to be
accomplished and the potential means to
its accomplishment.
Basic to the method are simple linguistic
tasks in which the teacher models a word,
a phrase, or sentences and then elicits
learner responses.
Learners go on to create their own utterances
by putting together all the information they have.
Rods, charts, and other aids could be applied to
elicit learner responses.
Learners only have themselves and the group to rely on,
and they need to work cooperatively rather than
competitively.
Though teachers modeling is minimal, learners are
expected to develop independence, autonomy,
and responsibility.
The absence of correction and repeated modeling from
teachers require students to develop “ inner criteria”
and to correct themselves and their peers.
The learners adopting Silent Way obtain
“ inner criteria,” which is very important
“in one’s education throughout all of
one’s life” (Gattegno 1976; 29)
Awareness is educable. As one learns “ in awareness,”
one’s powers of awareness and one’s capacity to learn
become greater.
The materials of Silent Way method mainly include
a set of colored rods
one pointer
,
,
color-coded pronunciation and vocabulary wall
charts, and writing or reading exercises, and so on.
The pronunciation chart, called “ Fidel,” has
been devised for a number of languages and
contain symbols in the target language for all of the
vowel and consonant sounds of the language.
Ex. vowel
cap
nut
lid
net
pot
bat
cup
sit
web
top
The colored Cuisenaire rods are used to link words
structures with their meanings in the target language.
The rods vary in length from 1-10 cm, and each length
has a specific color.
The rods could be used to represent what the
teacher intends to model.
Ex.
1. I walk my dog in the park every afternoon.
2. Mom bought a dress at a shop last week.
3. I like reading.
4. Eight people are in this classroom..
5. It rained this morning.
6. Rita took a shower after work.
Comparison with the traditional teaching methods
Traditional teaching methods strongly focus on
repetition of sentences modeled by the teacher, and a
process through guided elicitation exercises to
freer communication.
In the Silent Way, the indirect role the teacher is
required to assume in directing and monitoring
learner performance, the responsibility placed on
learners to figure out and test their hypotheses about
how the languages work.
臺灣也有默示法的教學補習班，北中南都有。
默示法美語 天母分校
此張圖片轉載自網路：網址 http://www.silentway.com.tw/school01.html
Thank you.
感謝
默示法美語 忠孝分校協助
Lydia 老師指導
楊明倫教授 指導
陳怡真教授 指導
本文資料參考引用自：
1. Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching (2nd edition)
2. 默示法教學簡介(賽能股份有限公司)
3. 英語教學法大全(師德文教股份有限公司)