Diane Larsen-Freeman

70 Th e Silent Way
contain the functional vocabulary of English. Although we did not see
them in this lesson, students also work with Silent Way wall pictures
and books to further expa nd their vocab ularies and facility with the language.
Fidel charts
Th e teacher, and later the students, point to the color-coded Fidel charts
in order that students associate the sounds of the language with their
spelling. For example, listed toget her and colored the same as the color
block for the sound ley! are ay, ea, ei, eigh, etc., showing that these are all
ways of spelling the ley! sound in English (e.g. in the words 'sax ,' 'steak,'
'vril,' 'weigh'). Because of the large number ofways sounds in English can
be spelled, there arc eight Fidel charts in all. There are a number of charts
available in oth er languages as well.
Structured feedback
Students are invited to make observatio ns about the day's lesson and
what they have learned. The teacher accepts the students' comments in a
nondefensive manner, hear ing things that will help give him direction for
where he should work when the class meets again. The students learn to
take responsibility for their own learn ing by becoming awa re of and controlling
how they use certain learning strategies in class. The length and
frequency of feedback sessions vary depending on the teacher and the
class.
CONCLUSION
In this chapter we saw a beginning lesson and read about an intermediate
class as well, hut the Silent Way is used with advanced students, too. For
these students the same principles apply,and the same charts ate used. In
addition, there arc pictures for topical vocab ularies, books for American
cultural settings, and an introduction to literature.
We have avoided referring to the Silent Way as a method since Caleb
Gatrcguo says it is not onc. Proponents of the Silent Way claim its principles
arc far-reaching, affecting not only education, but the way one perceives
the living of life itself. Nevertheless, there clearly are implications
for language teaching and )'ou should ask yourself whether there arc
implications for you.
Do )'ou believe teaching should he subordinated to learning? Does it
make sense to you tha t learners should be encou raged to be independent
The Silent Way 7 1
of the teacher and autonomous in making their own choices? Do you
think students can learn from one another? Should a teacher look for
progr ess, not perfection? Arc there any other principles of rhe Silen t W;lY
yo u believe in? Which ones?
Arc there Silent Way materials which wou ld be of use to you? Should a
teacher remain silent as much as possible? Is structured feedback a useful
thing for teachers to elicit from their students? Which techniques can you
adap t to your own approach to language teaching?
ACTIVITIES
A Ch eck your understanding of the Silent Way.
There arc many reasons for the teacher's silence in the Silent Way.
Some of these have been stated explicitly in this cbaprcr, others have
been implied. Can you sta te the reasons?
2 What docs the phra se, 'Teaching is subordinated to learning,' mean ?
3 One of the mottos of the Silent Way is 'The reacher work s with the students;
the students work on the language.' What do yOll think this
means?
B Apply what you have understood about the Silent Way.
t
Teach some students a short target language verse which conta ins
some unfamiliar sou nds. What nonverba l gestures or cues can you
develop to guide your students to produce the correct sounds, intonation,
and rhythm as they learn the verse?
2 Choose a grammar structure. It is pro bably better at first to choose
something elementa ry like the demonstrat ive adjectives (trhis,' 'that,'
'these; 'those' in English) or the possessive adjectives I'my,' 'you r,'
' his,' 'her,' ' its,' 'our,' 'their' in English). Plan a lesson to teach the srructurcs
where:
If You will remain as silent and interfere as litt le as possible.
b The meaning will be clear to the students,
c They will receive a good deal of practice without repetition .
3 Th ink of students with a particu lar native language background. How
will you sequence the sounds of the target language in order to teach
them to these students, building on what they already know?