Silent way

INTRODUCTION

 The silent way is a language-teaching method created by Caleb Gattegno in 1963. Gattegno introduces this method in his book Teaching Foreign Language in SCHOOLS. This method makes extensive use of silence as teaching method. As far as our topic is concerned we will deal with the principles, the techniques, the goals and teacher-student roles.

                                                      BODY

1.    THE PRINCIPLES

Silence is a tool which helps students to be autonomous. The students are at the center of the activities and the teacher intervenes when it is necessary. The teacher’s silence helps students to learn together through interaction. If the teacher praises or criticizes students, they will be less self-reliant. The teachers’ actions can interfere with students developing their own criteria. Errors are important and necessary to learning. They show the teacher where things are unclear. Language is for self-expression. The teacher should allow students to give answers so that they can never forget them. As the beginning the teacher needs to look for progress not for perfection.

1. THE TECHNIQUES

As the name implies, silence is a key tool of the teacher in the silent way. From the beginning levels, students do 90 percent or more of the talking. Being silent moves the focus of the classroom from the teacher to the students, and can encourage cooperation among them. It also frees the teacher to observe the class. Silence can be used to help students correct their own errors. Teachers can remain silent when a student makes a mistake, he gives them time to self-correct. They can also help students with pronunciation by mouthing words without vocalizing, and by using certain hand gestures.

1. THE GOALS

The general goal of the silent way is to help beginning-level students gain basic fluency in the target language, with ultimate aim being near-native language proficiency and good pronunciation. An importance of this ability is being able to use the language for self-expression; students should be able to express their thoughts, feelings, and needs in the target language. In order to help them achieve this, teachers emphasize self-reliance. Students are encouraged to actively explore the language, and to develop their own inner criteria as to what is linguistically acceptable.

1. TEACHER-STUDENT ROLES

The role of the teacher is that of technician or engineer. The teacher’s tasks is to focus the students’ attention, and provide exercises to help them develop language facility; however, to ensure their self-reliance, the teacher should only help the students as much as strictly necessary. As Gattegno says, “the teacher works with the students; the student works on the language”. For example, teachers will often give students come to correct their own mistakes before giving them the answer to a question. Teachers also avoid praise or criticism, as it can discourage students from developing self-reliance.

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