THE SILENT WAY METHOD

THE SILENT WAY METHOD

The Silent Way was founded in the early 1970s by the Egyptian mathematician and educator Caleb Gattegno. It is based on the idea that language learning can be enhanced in three main ways: discovery rather than teaching; problem solving in the target language; the use of physical tools. Above all, the teacher should be seen and not heard. In the Silent Way, the teacher is a facilitator, intervening vocally only if absolutely necessary. Learning is achieved through the use of color-coded charts that represent the sounds and spellings of language and small, colored, multi-length blocks of wood called Cuisenaire rods (originally designed for mathematics). An essential tenet of the Silent Way is that the teacher does not teach but helps the learner learn.

TYPICAL FEATURES OF SILENT WAY LESSON:

• target language/some mother tongue.

• learner-centred.

• teacher silence except as last resort.

• TL sounds presented via sound-colour chart.

• Cuisenaire rods represent words in a sentence or express meaning, for example numbers, colours or prepositions.

• co-operative spirit between learners encouraged.

• specific teacher gestures indicate corrections to be made.

THE PRINCIPLES OF THE SILENT WAY.

1. Start with familiar sounds.

2. Give help only if absolutely necessary. Allow students to use their own knowledge of language learning.

3. Do not model the language for the students.

4. Allow students to tap out sounds to show what they have learned.

5. Students work on the language, not the teacher.

6. Teacher takes a back seat. The more you help- the less they learn. 

7. Transfer what students know already to new ideas

8. Silence is used as a tool. The teacher becomes less necessary to the learning process.

9. Errors are important and necessary for learning.

10. Progress is more important than perfection.

11. Student attention to the teacher is important.

12. No homework, as learning continues while we sleep.

BASIC TECNIQUES IN SILENT WAY

1- Sound-color chart: The chart contains blocks of colors, each color representing a sound in T.L. Each sound associates a color. The chart allows students to produce sound combinations in T.L. without doing repetitions. The chart allows students to concentrate on the language not on the teacher. Students try to discover the relationship between sounds and color. They try it until they have the correct sound. Vowels and consonants in different colors.

2- Teacher’s silence: The teacher is not a modal. He has to be silent to force the students discover by guiding, motivating, prompting. Silence is a tool. It helps to faster autonomy or the exercise of initiative. Teacher encourages group cooperation. 

3- Peer-correction: Students should practice the language. Students are encouraged to help another student when he has a difficulty. Any help should be in a cooperative manner, not a competitive. Students can learn from one another. They learn from their peers as well their teacher. 

4- Rods: The students can see by visualized context. Situations with rods can make the meaning clear, to connect the language with the meaning. Rods allow students to be creative and imaginative. 

5- Self-correction gestures: Why? 1. To make the students aware that s\he make an error, 2. To make the students correct the error (it is used both in D.M. and S.W) 

6- Word chart: Contains functional vocabulary of English. It can be used for teaching and correction. There are basic words written. The chart will change when the saints advised.

7- Fidel Chart: Summarizing the spellings of all the different sounds. Discover the relationships between sounds and letters. This is important for the ones who have different writing system. Students discover the sounds that was written in the chart. 

8- Structured (guided) feedback: Students are invited to make observations about the day’s lesson and what they have learned. Hearing thing will help teacher.