THE STRENGTHS OF SILENT WAY

The Silent Way is a method of Language teaching devised by Caleb Gattegno.

This method is well-known for its materials such as Cuisenaire rods and Fidel Charts.

Gattegno had taken the idea of Cuisenaire rods which were first developed by Georges

Cuisenaire, a European educator who used them for the teaching of math. The most

prevailing difference of this method from previous ones is giving more importance to

learning.

Apart from that, it 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).

In the mean time, it embodies a new approach to education in general, a respect

for the individual and an awareness of the individual’s extraordinary cognitive powers. In

addition, advocates of the Silent Way feel that more important than the techniques and

more important even than the language learning results, is the process, the change that

occurs in individuals. This includes understanding and tolerance of another and

acceptance of others as contributors to one’s own life.

Other than that, this method fosters cooperative learning between individuals.

Although the teachers does not have to give a formal test, she or he asesses student

learning all the time. One criterion of whether or not students have learned is their ability

to transfer what they have been studying.

REFLECTION-THE SILENT WAY

The Silent Way is a method of Language teaching devised by Caleb Gattegno.

This method is well-known for its materials such as Cuisenaire rods and Fidel Charts.

Gattegno had taken the idea of Cuisenaire rods which were first developed by Georges

Cuisenaire, a European educator who used them for the teaching of math. The most

prevailing difference of this method from previous ones is giving more importance to

learning.

The Silent Way is one of these innovative methods. 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 constuctivist and leads the

learners to develop their own conceptual models of all aspects of the language. The

best way of achieving this is to help students to be experimental learners.

On the other hand, The Silent Way is characterized by its focus on discovery,

creativity, problem solving and the use of accompanying materials. Learning is

facilitated if the learner discovers or creates. The Silent Way belongs to the tradition of

teaching that favors hypothetical mode of teaching as opposed to expository mode of

teaching in which the teacher and the learner work cooperatively to reach the

educational desired goals. The learner is not a bench bound listener but an active

contributor to the learning process. Learning is also facilitated by accompanying

physical objects. The Silent Way uses colourful charts and rods which are of varying

length. They are used to introductive vocabulary colors, numbers, adjectives, verbs and

syntax.

Apart from that, a good Silent Way learner is a good solver. The teacher’s role

only in giving minimum repetitions and correction, remaining silent most of the times,

leaving the learner struggling to solve problems about the language and get a grasp of

its mechanism.

In the mean time, it embodies a new approach to education in general, a respect

for the individual and an awareness of the individual’s extraordinary cognitive powers. In

addition, advocates of the Silent Way feel that more important than the techniques and

more important even than the language learning results, is the process, the change that

occurs in individuals. This includes understanding and tolerance of another and

acceptance of others as contributors to one’s own life.

In addition, this method fosters cooperative learning between individuals.

Although the teachers does not have to give a formal test, she or he asesses student

learning all the time. One criterion of whether or not students have learned is their ability

to transfer what they have been studying.

Since the Silent Way is a very abstract way of learning a language, the learners

have to engage themselves with the artificiality of the approach, which is extremely

different from more commonly used methods of language learning. The Silent Way is

often criticized of being a harsh method. The learner works in isolation

and communication is lacking badly in a Silent Way classroom.

Apart from that, the whole concept of the method and atmosphere in class may

seem too abstract and weird, so that learners may have difficulties in deriving any

benefit from it. 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.

Besides that, the number of learners who can participate in a group is quite

restricted in the Silent Way, and it is unlikely that a large number of learners will be able

to participate in class unless the teacher has provided them a really large quantity of

materials and a suitable location to learn. With minimum help on the part of the teacher,

the Silent Way method may put the learning itself at stake. There is the possibility of

confusion about the meaning of words. Students used to relying on the teacher for

confirmation are sometimes reluctant to place any faith in their own judgement. The

grammatical sequencing, which is crucial, requires a tremendous amount of ability on

the part of the teacher.

Pen ultimately, there is also a certain amount of skepticism on the part of some

teachers who doubt the utility of a teaching method in which the teacher apparently

says nothing. The material (the rods and the charts) used in this method will certainly

fail to introduce all aspects of language. Other materials will have to be introduced in

order to make it more effective and productive. The indirect role of the teacher highlights

the importance and the centrality of the learner who is responsible in figuring out and

testing the hypotheses about how language works. In other words, teaching is

subordinated to learning.

REFERENCES

Bruner, J. (1966). Toward a Theory of Instruction. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

H. Douglas Brown (1987). Principles of language learning and teaching. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, Prentice HallRichards, Jack C. and Theodore S. Rodgers (1986). Approaches and methods in language teaching: A description and analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press