The Silent Way

1. The SilentWay

2. Background The Silent Way is the name of a method of language teaching devised by Caleb Gattegno. Gattegno's name is well known for his revival of interest in the use of colored wooden sticks called Cuisenaire rods and for his series Words in Color, an approach to the teaching of initial reading in which sounds are coded by specific colors. 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. Elements of the Silent Way, particularly the use of color charts and the colored Cuisenaire rods, grew out of Gattegno's previous experience as an educational designer of reading and mathematics programs. (Cuisenaire rods were first developed by Georges Cuis­enaire, a European educator who used them for the teaching of math. Gattegno had observed Cuisenaire and this gave him the idea for their use in language teaching.)

3. The Silent Way shares a great deal with other learning theories and educational philosophies. Very broadly put, the learning hypotheses underlying Gattegno's work could be stated as follows: • Learning is facilitated if the learner discovers or creates rather than remembers and repeats what is to be learned. 2. Learning is facilitated by accompanying (mediating) physical objects. • Learning is facilitated by problem solving involving the material to be learned.

4. Let us consider each of these issues in turn. • The Silent Way belongs to a tradition that views learning as a problem-solving, creative, discovering activity, in which the learner is a principal actor rather than a bench-bound listener. Bruner discusses the benefits derived from "discovery learning" under four headings: • the increase in intellectual potency, • the shift from extrinsic to intrinsic rewards, • the learning of heuristics by discovering, and • the aid to conserving memory (Bruner 1966: 83). • The rods and the color-coded pronunciation charts (called Fidel charts) provide physical foci for student learning and also create mem­orable images to facilitate student recall. In psychological terms, these visual devices serve as associative mediators for student learning and recall. • The Silent Way is also related to a set of premises that we have called "problem-solving approaches to learning." These premises are succinctly represented in the words of Benjamin Franklin: Tell me and I forget, teach me and I remember, involve me and I learn.

5. Approach Theory of Language According to Gattegno; • Learning is a problem-solving, creative and discovering activity in which the learner is a very important and principle actor rather than a passive listener. • Learning will be more motivating and permanent if physical objects such as rods and wall-charts are used. These objects gather students’ attention and create memorable images for student recall. • At the beginning, the teacher needs to look for progress, not perfection, Learning takes place in time. Students learn at different rates. • Only the learner can do the learning.

6. Theory of Learning • A structural syllabus is used to organize the language to be taught. Language is seen as groups of sounds arbitrarily associated with meanings and organized into sentences by grammar rules. • Language is taught artificially through artificial situations. Language is separated from its social context. • Phonological and suprasegmental (stress, intonation, pitch, etc.) elements are emphasized. Pronunciation is focused. • Vocabulary has a great importance in this method. There are two types of vocabulary which are: • Semi-luxury vocabulary: expressions that are common in the daily life in the target language culture. These include food, clothing, travel, family life and so on. • Luxury vocabulary: more specialized vocabulary. For example words used in talking about politics and philosophy (Richards and Rodgers 1986).

7. Design Objective • The general objective of the Silent Way is to give beginning level students oral and aural facility in basic elements of the target language. The general goal set for language learning is near-native fluency in the target language, and correct pronunciation and mastery of the prosodic elements of the target language are emphasized. • An immediate objective is to provide the learner with a basic practical knowledge of the grammar of the language. This forms the basis for independent learning on the learner's part. Gattegno discusses the following kinds of objectives as appropriate for a language course at an elementary level (Gattegno 1972: 81-83). • Students should be able to: • Correctly and easily answer questions about themselves, their education, their family, travel, and daily events. • Speak with a good accent. • Give either a written or oral description of a picture, "including the existing relationships that concern space, time and numbers.“ • Answer general questions about the culture and the literature of the native speakers of the target language. • Perform adequately in the following areas: spelling, grammar (production rather than explanation), reading comprehension, and writing.

8. Syllabus The Silent Way adopts a basically structural syllabus, with lessons planned around grammatical items and related vocabulary. Gattegno does not, however, provide details as to the precise selection and arrangement of grammatical and lexical items to be covered. There is no general Silent Way syllabus. But from observation of Silent Way programs developed by the Peace Corps to teach a variety of languages at a basic level of proficiency, it is clear that language items are introduced according to their grammatical complexity, their relationship to what has been taught previously, and the ease with which items can be presented visually.

9. Types of learners and teaching activities Learning tasks and activities in the Silent Way have the function of encouraging and shaping student oral response without direct oral instruction from or unnecessary modeling by the teacher. Basic to the method are simple linguistic tasks in which the teacher models a word, phrase, or sentence and then elicits learner responses. Learners then go on create their own utterances by putting together old and new information. Charts, rods, and other aids may be used to elicit learner responses. Teacher modeling is minimal, although much of the activity may be teacher directed. Responses to commands, questions, and visual cues thus constitute the basis for classroom activities.

10. Teacher Role • 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 help only if is necessary. In other words, the teacher makes use of what students already know.

11. Learner Role • The learner is expected to become ‘independent, autonomous, and responsiblein 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. As Long (1987) states under the skillful direction of the teacher, learners will provide each other with correct models and encourage each other’s initiative. Thus, this method fosters interdependence and cooperation among learners at the same time it promotes independence from the teacher and reliance on what knows to learn what one does not know. 

12. Role of Materials Teachers are responsible for designing teaching sequences and creating individual lessons. Colored-Cuisenaire Rods: They link words and structures to avoid translation into the native language. At the beginning level, the rods can be used to teach colors and numbers. Then more complicated structures such as place prepositions, conditionals, comparatives and superlatives will be taught. 2. Pronunciation Charts (Fidel Charts): The chart contains blocks of color, each one representing a sound in the target language. Sometimes it is used to compare the sounds in students’ native language and target language. 3. Vocabulary Chart 4. Metal Pointer (for teacher): The pointer is used to indicate stress and intonation. Other materials which of secondary importance are books, worksheets for practicing reading and writing skills, picture books, tapes, videotapes, films and other visual aids.  

13. Principles and 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.

14. 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.

15. Advantages and Disadvantages 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). • 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.

16. 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.