In addition to affective theories relative to language learning, another challenge to the Audiolingual Method was under way already in the sixties in the form of the Cognitive Code and an educational trend known as "Discovery Learning." These concepts most directly challenged the idea that language learning was all about mimicry and good habit-formation. An emphasis on human cognition in language learning addressed issues such as learners being more responsible for their own learning - formulating independent hypotheses about the rules of the target language and testing those hypotheses by applying them and realizing errors.
Objectives
Teachers using the Silent Way want their students to become highly independent and experimental learners. Making errors is a natural part of the process and a key learning device, as it is a sign that students are testing out their hypostheses and arriving at various conclusions about the language through a trial and error style approach. The teacher tries to facilitate activities whereby the students discover for themselves the conceptual rules governing the language, rather than imitating or memorizing them - Brown (1994:63) expresses this as being a process whereby "students construct conceptual hierachies of their own which are a product of the time they have invested."
In addition to the idea that students become more autonomous learners and "develop their own inner criteria for correctness" (Larsen Freeman, 1986:62), another key objective was to encourage students to work as a group - to try and solve problems in the target language together.
Based on these principles and using the techniques described below, it was hoped that students would eventually be able to actively use the language for self-expression, relating their thoughts, feelings and perceptions.
Richards and Rodgers (1986:99) describe the key theories underlying the Silent Way:
(1) Learning is facilitated if the learner discovers or creates rather than remembers and repeats
what is to be learned.
(2) Learning is facilitated by accompanying (mediating) physical objects.
(3) Learning is facilitated by problem-solving involving the material to be learned.
Cuisinere rods (small rods of varying color and length) are typically used in this method to introduce vocabulary and syntax, along with colorful wall charts. Instruction in this method typically starts with sounds, the basic building blocks in any language. The teacher usually provides single words or short phrases to stimulate the students into refining their knowledge of the language with as little correction/feedback from the teacher as possible.
Larsen-Freeman, in her book Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching (1986:66-68) provides expanded descriptions of some common/typical techniques closely associated with the Silent Way. The listing here is in summary form only.
(1) Sound-Color Chart - click here to see an example
(The teacher refers students to a color-coded wall chart depicting individual sounds in the target
language - students use this to point out and build words with correct pronunciation)
(2) Teacher's Silence
(Teacher is generally silent, only giving help when it is absolutely necessary)
(3) Peer Correction
(Students encouraged to help each other in a cooperative and not competitive spirit)
(4) Rods
(Rods are used to trigger meaning, and to introduce or actively practice language. They can
symbolize whatever words are being taught and be manipulated directly or abstractly to create
sentences)
(5) Self-correction Gestures
(Teacher uses hands to indicate that something is incorrect or needs changing - eg. using fingers as
words then touching the finger/word that is in need of correction)
(6) Word Chart
(Words are depicted on charts, the sounds in each word corresponding in color to the Sound-Color
Chart described above - students use this to build sentences)
Like almost all methods, this one has had its fair share of criticism. The method encourages the teacher to assume a distance that prevents him/her from providing direct guidance when at times such guidance would be helpful. It is criticized as being too focused on building structure, and misses out on cultural input through the language, and the silence of the teacher can prevent students from hearing many active models of correct usage that they may find useful. In trying to create a less teacher-orientated classroom, many say that the Silent Way goes too far to the opposite extreme.
Other problems are a little more practical in nature. Getting together the "classic SW" prerequisite materials can take a lot of time and money - there is the sound-color chart, 12 word charts each containing around 500 words, and 8 Fidel Charts for the English language alone. And don't forget the actual cuisinere rods as well! In order to maximize the learning potential of students using the Silent Way, teachers would have to be prepared to invest quite heavily in materials.
A lot can be taken from the method, however, if adapted and combined with elements from other methods. Viewing language learning as an "exploratory" process for students, of hypothesis building and trying out, is a very valuable teaching principle. Having tried various SW-style techniques with Young Learners, I would have to say that they are amazingly effective, and students appear to enjoy the learning process much more when they have such an active role in it. You can see various "Discovery Learning" principles in a lot of the materials I have created for this site, especially Sentence Building, Sentence Navigation and Conversation Creation Cards. However, I usually like to combine the cognitive elements with a lot of contextual language input, initial models, and peripheral language pointers/stimulators. "Finding out for oneself" is a very important part of my overall teaching philosophy, but not the be-all and end-all.
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Some of Cattegno's basic theories were that "teaching should be subordinated to learning" and "the teacher works with the student; the student works on the language". The most prominent characteristic of the method was that the teacher typically stayed "silent" most of the time, as part of his/her role as facilitator and stimulator, and thus the method's popular name. Language learning is usually seen as a problem solving activity to be engaged in by the students both independently and as a group, and the teacher needs to stay out of the way in the process as much as possible.
The Silent Way is also well-known for its common use of small colored rods of varying length (cuisinere rods) and color-coded word charts depicting pronunciation values, vocabulary and grammatical paradigms. It is a unique method and the first of its kind to really concentrate on cognitive principles in language learning.
When students create their own sets of meaningful language rules and concepts and then test them out, they are clearly learning through a discovery/exploratory method that is very different from rote-learning. This appears to have much more in common with the way people learn their native language from a very early age, and can account for the way children come out with new language forms and combinations which they have never heard before. The underlying principles here are that learners become increasingly autonomous in, active with and responsible for the learning process in which they are engaged.
Caleb Gattegno founded The Silent Way as a method for language learning in the early 70s, sharing many of the same essential principles as the cognitive code and making good use of the theories underlying discovery learning.
