Silent Way Background

• Decline of Audio-lingualism (1960s)• Theoretical Attack

• Rejection of structural linguistics• Emergence of T-G linguistics• Rejection of Behaviorism • Emergence of Cognitive-code learning theory

Practical Attack• Inability to use L2 habits to communicative situations • Boring & unsatisfying teaching procedures

Alternative Teaching proposals (1980s) Silent Way by Caleb GattegnoTPR by James AsherCLL by Charles A. Curran

ApproachLanguage theory

Structural approacho sentence a basic unit of teachingo teaching & learning grammar inductivelyo teaching functional vocabulary

Learning theory Cognitive-code view of learningo L2 learning radically different from L1 learningo Meaningful, discovery learningo Focus on having an artificial teaching approachoPrimacy of learning to teachingoRejection of repetitionoSilence a powerful tool for mental organization o Inner criteria, self-correction

DesignTeaching Objectives

To attain near-native fluency in L2Objectives for low-level students

To gain oral-aural facility in basic L2 elements To gain a basic practical knowledge of L2 grammar To Perform adequately in reading , and writing

SyllabusRichrds & Rogers: a Structural syllabusLarsen Freeman: Based on learners’ needs

More lexico-grammatical unitsNo precise selection & arrangement of content

- Grammatical complexity- Ease of visual presentation

Types of Teaching / Learning ActivitiesProblem-solving activities

Using charts, rods, other aids Helping Ss develop independence, autonomy, responsibilityDeveloping inner criteria & correct themselvesCooperating with other Ss to solve language problems Cooperative rather than competitive procedures

• Learner Roles Rule discoverers / Language explorers• Working cooperatively not competitively• Correcting themselves & being corrected by others• Making use of their background• Assuming responsibility for their own learning

Teacher Roles Technician / engineer Stimulator / Not a hand holder

• Being silent most of the time• Getting out of the way for Ss to develop inner criteria Cooperative rather than competitive procedures

• Learner Roles Rule discoverers / Language explorers• Working cooperatively not competitively• Correcting themselves & being corrected by others• Making use of their background• Assuming responsibility for their own learning

Role of Instructional Materials A Pointer Cuisenaire rods

To teach Vocabulary (Colors/ numbers/adjectives / Verbs)

To teach syntax ( prepositions, conditionals, word order…)

12 Word Chart

Containing about 500 functional English vocabulary

Having identical color code with sound & Fidel charts

8 Color-Coded Fidel Charts

To associate sounds with spelling

A Sound- color chart

Representing vowels & consonants of L2

To show how to form syllables, words, sentences

To teach stress pattern of words

The Cuisenaire Rods Are used in elementary school Were initially used for mathematics Are used to teach items such as

prepositions of place, sentence and word stress

Used to represent a series of useful situations for a language lesson Are named after their inventor, Georges Cuisenaire (1891-1976),

a Belgian primary school teacher, Are used for both mathematics and language teaching Are 10 rods measuring 1 cm to 10 cm. Rods of equal length are assigned the same color.

Most Cuisenaire rods follow this system: White rod = 1 cm. Red rod = 2 cm. Light green rod = 3 cm. Lavender rod = 4 cm. Yellow rod = 5 cm. Dark green rod = 6 cm. Black rod = 7 cm. Brown rod = 8 cm. Blue rod = 9 cm. Orange rod = 10 c

Effective use of rods depends on efficient teacher training. When used by untrained teachers, the results can be disappointing.

The Cuisenaire Rods Different in color, & size

To teach Vocabulary & syntax ( Colors/ numbers /adjectives / Verbs prepositions,

conditionals, word order…)

Word ChartFunctional words of the language are printed in

color.color code is the same as that of the rectangle chart

and the fidel.Only structural words (about 500 words) is

included: pronouns ArticlesPrepositionscommon adjectives and adverbsConjunctionsauxiliary verbsa few common verbs but very few nouns.

The use of colour enables students to read directly in languages with a different alphabet or characters and to pronounce correctly what they read.

The First English Word ChartOne of the 12 word charts on which the functional words are printed in color.

Sound-Color ChartTo show how to form syllables, words, sentences

To teach stress pattern of words

Color-Coded Fidel ChartThe Fidel is a set of charts presenting all the

possible spellings of each sound of the language using the same color code as the rectangle chart and word charts.

It is particularly useful when the foreign language uses signs unknown to the studentan English person learning Japanese or vice

versathe same signs correspond to different sounds

as in English and Frenchthere are many irregularities in spelling

Color-Coded Fidel ChartTo associate sounds with spelling

Procedure Teaching L2 sounds first

o Using sound-color charto Considering L1 background of Sso Modeling sounds at the beginningo Using pointer to indicate stress/phrasing /intonation

Teaching sentence-patterns & vocabulary o Using colored rods for visual realizationo Modeling utterances by the teacher firsto Having a S model & produce utterances

No encouragement or correction by the teachero Regarding learning as personal responsibilityo Practice with L2 structure without repetitiono Self-correction gestures / peer correction

Structured feedback