The Silent Way a reflection

July 14, 2012 Teresa Bestwick

Im going to split my reflections over two posts as I think its important to think about the Silent Way
and the colour phonics and I dont like writing massively long posts!

I was feeling fairly nervous before the lesson, although I had practised it on my partner the evening
before! It felt quite daunting to spend an hour in the classroom not speaking, especially as I had stuck a
vast number of word charts around the board which I would have to successfully navigate my way
around any time I wanted to say anything!

The students came in, and I started pointing (with a drumstick borrowed from my partner!). They
quickly caught on that I wasnt going to speak and that they would have to say the words for me
though nobody actually voiced these thoughts out loud.

I was able to give instructions clearly and in fact gave more concise instructions as I was very aware that
I was hopping from one side of the board to the other with a drumstick. I feel that instructions were
clear as students were able to read what was being asked of them. Working with native English
speakers, or non-natives with a very good level of English, they understood quickly what was being
asked of them though if I were to use this technique in a normal class, I would have to think carefully
about how I could concept check and confirm comprehension. However, one thing I noticed was that
students began to predict what the next word would be and were also able to recognise when words
needed something extra (an -s or -ed, etc). This would be a fascinating skill for language learners to
master, as it encourages knowledge of lexical chunks and makes them more aware of structures.

Getting the classs attention proved challenging at times when they were very involved in an activity, I
would clap loudly to get their attention, but at times some members of the group were still talking so I
had to glare at them! If I had been able to speak, I probably would have used their name with a polite
intonation, to get their attention.

In terms of the word charts, I think that as with anything, practise makes perfect and if I were to use the
charts regularly, I would be able to find words more quickly. I mentioned yesterday that I felt there
were a number of words missing from the chart, including please. As it happens, though I added it to
my own charts, I didnt use it at all during the session perhaps it is a word which we feel we should
include to be polite when giving instructions, when in fact we dont need it at all? I also found myself
wanting to point to OK a lot so Im very glad that I didnt include it on the charts. Every teacher has
their word; for some its OK, for others, alright or even okey-dokey. Again, using the Silent Way
showed me the vast amount of unnecessary communication that goes on in the classroom.

And did the students benefit from this method? There was an incredible amount of interaction between
students as they helped each other, corrected and explained and they seemed to enjoy the teaching
style as well. Perhaps it would be easy for students to get frustrated if they felt they couldnt ask
questions, but I was able to help with any queries without resorting to speech. It encourages the
teacher to make even further use of the available materials: gestures, the board, flashcards, etc.


"Words can become a reality to which we can relate, but they are retained only when they trigger
images, their meaning ...
... we need to find ways of working that first bring the truth to the fore and then present an associated
sign that can stand for that truth when consistently associated with it.
... it was found that a set of Cuisenaire rods is a very good way of achieving that end." 1

"Working with situations made with the rods... The meanings come from the situations not from the
words... The overall result is that there are no really difficult forms which cannot be illustrated through
the proper situation involving rods and actions on them about which [students] make statements...
whose associated meaning is obvious." 2

This means that the rods can be used by the teacher to create visual situations (or tactile ones for blind
students) which trigger in the students a direct understanding of the meaning and to which they can
give expression through the elements of the language they already know, relying on the teacher for
those items, and only those, which they lack.

On pp 35-44 of The Common Sense of Teaching Foreign Languages Caleb Gattegno gives some examples
(a red rod, two red rods, five yellow rods and two brown ones, pick up, Take a ---- rod, Give it to me,
Take a rod and give it to her, Take a blue rod and a black one, give the blue one to her and the black one
to him, Take seven rods, put one here, two there and give me three, This rod is yellow and that one is
blue, I am here, you are there, Is his rod blue?) of how to achieve this in the very first moments of
learning a language. There are many other possibilities, of which a few are given below.
Some General Considerations

For many of these exercises, the teacher sets out the rods as indicated on a table that can be clearly
seen by all the students. If the class is large, the table can be raised and slightly tilted towards the
students. For other exercises the teacher may or may not distribute rods to one or more students. If the
class is more than about 15 students in size, the teacher often uses the "fish-bowl technique." That is, 2
to 6 students come to the front, take or are given rods and carry out the actions while the other
students learn by proxy. Depending on the situation, the students at the front may be the only ones to
speak or all the students may contribute. Naturally, the students working at the front are rotated
frequently. After a structure has been presented in this way, all the students are given time to practice it
in small groups.

Having set out the rods, the teacher indicates to the students by gesture that s/he is waiting for a
response. In certain cases, the teacher also indicates by gesture that one or more students are expected
to perform a certain action with the rods. In other cases, in addition to setting out the rods, the teacher
might point to a rod or group of rods and say "Mr. Green" or "A street".

The first response from the students may not be the one anticipated by the teacher. If it is appropriate
to the situation, and does not demand a level of language beyond that of the students, the teacher can
accept it and the work will continue in the direction proposed by the students. If the response is
inappropriate, or would involve structures too complex to provide a do-able challenge for the students,
the teacher invites the students to make other suggestions.

The students' first propositions will usually not be wholly correct. The teacher will help the students to
correct themselves in various ways such as through finger correction3, pointing to words on the Word
Charts and indicating pronunciation with the Sound/color rectangles chart and and/or with the Fidel
(spelling charts). From time to time, the teacher may direct the students' attention to a critical aspect of
the situation they have been ignoring by a carefully worded question. The teacher can also ask students
if they are sure of their answers (whether the answers are in fact correct or not) to encourage them to
reflect on their criteria. The teacher's silence is a tool, not a dogma.

The teacher may have to create 2 or 3 parallel presentations with the rods before the situation becomes
unambiguous to all the students. Even when most of the students have shown by their responses that
they understand the situation, the teacher continues creating parallel situations to give the students
time to practice the new words and structures to gain facility and fluency. These new situations can be
suggested by the students and can be done in small groups. The time necessary for this practice will be
very variable depending on the complexity of the new structure and the rapidity of the students.

When students reply to questions, encourage them to give the shortest answers, as these are by far the
most frequent in conversation. The nuances between the different possible answers can be worked on
later. If you wish them to practice saying full sentences, do it in situations where it is most natural to do
so, that is, in making spontaneous affirmative declarations.

At the end of a session the students can write the sentences they have said. At the beginning of the
course this is best done by having several students all writing at once on the board. When they have
finished their sentences, the other students are allowed to come and underline exactly (that is the exact
letters, not necessarily the whole word) where they think they see a mistake. When the students have
underlined all the mistakes they can see, the teacher underlines any others. At first, only the author of a
given sentence is allowed to correct it. Only if s/he is unable to, can other students make corrections
and only if none of them can, does the teacher, as a final resort, make gestures, ask questions, or use
the wall charts to lead them to the answer. Later on, when students have developed most of the criteria
they need for writing and spelling their sentences, this work can be done in small groups or set for
homework.

The teacher may want to write down the students' sentences, type them up, record them on cassette
and give copies and tape scripts to the students. That way students will have something to work on at
home and feel they have "their" course in a tangible form. The English for Beginners course is based on
such notes taken by teachers.

In what follows, the sentences in italics are said by the students only. The teacher provides unknown
words by pointing to them on the word charts, on the spelling charts or on the sound/color chart as s/he
thinks appropriate. S/he may also write the word on the board if it is not on the word charts and will be
used frequently during the lesson. Occasionally, the teacher will point a whole sentence, often to ask a
question, but usually it is the students who are invited to point their sentences on the word charts.
Pointing a sentence on the word charts is a way for the student pointing, and the others watching, to
check their control and understanding of a new structure.