Cuisenaire rods small coloured blocks of varying sizes originally intended for the teaching of mathematics are often used to illustrate meaning the physical objects mentioned above. New items are added sparingly by the teacher and learners take these as far as they can in their communication until the need for the next new item becomes apparent. The teacher then provides this new item by modelling it very clearly just once.
The learners are then left to use the new item and to incorporate it into their existing stock of language, again taking it as far as they can until the next item is needed and so on. This is perhaps best illustrated by an example. Let us say that the teacher has introduced the idea of pronouns as in "Give me a green rod". The class will then use this structure until it is clearly assimilated, using, in addition, all the other colours.
One member of the class would now like to ask another to pass a rod to a third student but she does not know the word "her", only that it cannot be "me".
At this point the teacher would intervene and supply the new item: "Give her the green rod" and the learners will continue until the next new item is needed probably "him". This minimalist role of the teacher has led some critics to describe Silent Way teachers as "aloof" and, indeed, this apparently excessive degree of self-restraint can be seen as such. The prominent writer on language teaching, Earl W. Stevick, has described the role of the teacher in Silent Way as "Teach, test, get out of the way".
The apparent lack of real communication in the approach has also been criticized, with some arguing that it is difficult to take the approach beyond the very basics of the language, with only highly motivated learners being able to generate real communication from the rigid structures illustrated by the rods. The fact that, for logistical reasons, it is limited to relatively small groups of learners is also seen as a weakness.
A word that is italicised can be substituted for by another word having the same function. Lesson Vocabulary wood, red, green, yellow, brown, pink, 1. Wood colour red. Using the numbers 1—10 one, two, Wood colour red two pieces. Take pick up wood colour red two give, object pronouns pieces 5. Take wood colour red two pieces hive where, on, under, near, far, over, next him to, here, there Question-forming rules.
Wood red where? Wood red on table. Wood colour red on table, is it? Yes, on. Not adjectives of comparison on. Wood colour red long. Wood colour green longer.
Wood colour orange longest. Wood colour green taller. Wood colour red is it? Students use structures taught in new situations, such as comparing the heights of stu-dents in the class. Joel Wiskin, Personal Communication Types of learning and teaching activities. The teacher's presence in the classroom is limited to providing a model of the language that the students are going to work on.
The sample lesson that follows illustrates a typical lesson format. The language being taught is Thai, for which this is the first lesson. Teacher empties rods onto the table. Teacher picks up two or three rods of different colours, and after each rod is picked up says: [mai]. Teacher holds up one rod of any colour and indicates to a student that a response is required. Student says: [mai]. If response is incorrect, teacher elicits response from another student, who then models for the first student.
Teacher next picks up a red rod and says: [mai sti daeng]. Teacher picks up a green rod and says: [mai sii khiawj. Teacher picks up either a red or green rod and elicits response from student, If response is incorrect, procedure in step 3 is followed student modeling. Teacher introduces two or three other colors in the same manner.
Teacher shows any of the rods whose forms were taught previously and elicits student response. Correction technique is through student modeling, or the teacher may help student isolate error and self-correct. When mastery is achieved, teacher puts one red rod in plain view and says: [mai sii daeng nung an].
Teacher then puts two red rods in plain view and says: [mai sii daeng song an]. Teacher holds up two rods of a different color and elicits student response.
Teacher introduces additional numbers, based on what the class can comfortably retain. Other colors might also be introduced. In Fact, Caleb Gattegno, the founder of the Silent Way,devoted his thinking to the importance of problem solving approach in education. He contends that the method is constructivist and leads the learners to develop their own conceptual models of all the aspects of the language.
The best way of achieving this is to help students to be experimental learners. The Silent Way is characterized by its focus on discovery, creativity, problem solving and the use of accompanying materials. Richards and Rodgers summarized the method into three major features. Douglas Brown Principles of language learning and teaching. Richards, Jack C. Rodgers Approaches and methods in language teaching: A description and analysis.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. I did both. I was taught basic Japanese with them and only wish I would have had the time or rather a local location to study further. Our classroom was set up so that we also worked in pairs and in groups and when we were not everyone was learning from each through watching and taking turns doing what the teacher asked us to do.
We found it quite enjoyable. As far as teaching English with it goes, most students were grammar ladden and could not talk at all in Japan with their hearing of the language quite obstructed. Teaching direct method with the SW tools one is not using a dictionary, relying on grammer or translation methods. When you take this approach with young children who are not indoctrinated into a grammar method learning becomes fun and interesting.
Although I was not well-versed enough to use the mehod exclusively, I did adapt what I knew to use flash cards in a non-memorization way and to teaching phonetics with colors.
It really worked. Speech is not the only way of communicating and anyway Silent Way teachers are not necessarily totally mute. Teacher silence is a tool not a dogma. Do you find Don Cherry appears harsh in his videos on YouTube? Hi, Thank you for the link to the video. Yes, some teachers criticise this method as being harsh and I think that this criticism is based upon the idea that some learners may find themselves unable or might feel discomfort in getting involved in the talking while the teacher is silent.
But that criricism, I agree, may be foundless, especially if we know that the Silent Way method is primarily a method that allows learners construct their learning at their own pace. What is more, a silent method activity can be fun for learners, creating low affective filters as can be seen in the video of Don Cherry mentioned above.
The Silent Way is an unusual approach and some students are initially surprised. Frequent feedback sessions are part of the approach itself — to help learners become aware of their learning process. Other materials will have to be introduced. My experience with the Silent Way, both as a learner and as a teacher, only confirms the latter. Of course in other approaches and methods the same could be said. With access to lots of these ready made materials teachers can too easily accept the status quo.
The very poor results we see in language learning world wide only shows that what we are currently doing is not really working, so continuing to accept and use them is a mistake.
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