Silent Way method

THE SILENT WAY
(Early 1960’s)

Origin:
The Silent Way method was created by Caleb Gattegno. The approach is called the Silent Way because the teacher remains mainly silent, to give students the space they need to learn to talk. In this approach, it is assumed that the students' previous experience of learning from their mother tongue will contribute to learning the new foreign language.

Characteristics:

√ A cardinal principle of the Silent Way is respect for the students’ capacity to work out language problems and recall information on their own with no verbalization and minimal help from the teacher.

√ Errors are indispensable and natural part of the learning process. Self-correction and peer-correction are emphasized. The teacher corrects the language only as a last resort.

√ Teachers can help more frequently and more effectively if they stop interfering.

√ Repetition consumes time and encourages the scattered mind to remain scattered. If the teacher avoids repetition strictly, this will force alertness and concentration on the part of the learners. By this way the efficiency in learning will be increased and the time will be saved for further learning (Gattegno 1972 as cited in Oller and Amato: 1983). This principle is against ALM.

√ Type of interaction: student-student verbal interaction is desired and encouraged. The teacher’s silence is one way to achieve this.

√ Students’ native language: native language can be used to give instructions when necessary. Also native language can be used during the feedback sessions (at least for beginner levels). If the native language is not very essential then it is avoided.

√ Evaluation: although the teacher does not have to give a formal test, s/he assesses student learning all the time. One criterion of whether or not students have learned is their ability to transfer what they have been studying to new contexts.

a) Advantages

√ This method fosters cooperative learning between individuals.

√ It embodies a new approach to education in general, a respect for the individual and an awareness of the individual’s extraordinary cognitive powers.

√ If it is succeeded to teach the language the by using the rods without repeating too much, it will really save time and energy for both teachers students. The advocates of the Silent Way claim that the short-term memory is used artificially but well. The self-esteem of the students will be increased and this will enhance learning. By this way students will say ‘I learned instead of I was taught well.’ (Demircan1990).

b) Disadvantages

√ It would seem necessary for a teacher to gain a good deal of training and skill in order to apply the Silent Way to the teaching of a total grammar in all its complexity, if such a broad application is, in fact, possible.

√ This method can be benefited by the teacher only in small groups of students. The teacher can gain ability in this method by trying. The teacher is expected to enrich the materials on his/her own.

√ For some teachers the rigidity of the system (no repetitions by the teacher, no answers by the teacher etc.) may be meaningless.

√ For some learners, one limitation is the approach to language basics which begins with seemingly irrelevant discussions about rods and which involves silence and concentration and games with the teacher about meaning. Students’ expectations and need for immediately relevant language learning may force teachers to abandon the approach (Celce-Murcia 1979).

√ How such a method would in the average classroom situation, or how successfully it might be used at more advanced levels is a question mark left in our minds.

√ Language is separated from its social context and taught through artificial situations usually by rods.

a) Teacher Roles

√ The teacher should be silent as much as possible in the classroom to encourage the learner to produce as much language as possible.

√ The teacher is expected to create an environment that encourages student’s risk taking that facilitates learning.

√ The teacher should give only what help is necessary. In other words, the teacher makes use of what students already know. The more the teacher does for the students what they can do for themselves, the less they will do for themselves (Larsen-Freeman 1986).

b) Learner Roles

√ The learner is expected to become ‘independent, autonomous, and responsible’ in language.

√ Learners are expected to interact with each other and suggest alternatives to each other. They must learn to work cooperatively rather than competitively. The teacher’s silence encourages group cooperation.

√ In order not to miss what the teacher says, learners must give the teacher their attention. Learner-attention is a key to learning.