The silent way approach

THE SILENT WAY APPROACH

Amorella, FantinoBelen, Olivares

Practice II

CALEB CATTEGNO• An European educator.• Best known for his innovative approaches to

teaching foreign languages.• Inventor of The Silent Way Approach in the early

1970s.• Well known for the use of colored sticks called

“Cuisinaire rods”.

THE SILENT WAY APPROACH

• A method of language teaching, which employs silence as a teaching technique.

• It is based on the premise that teacher should be silent as much as possible and the learners should be encouraged to produce language as much as possible.

OBJECTIVE

• To emphasize learners´autonomy and foster active students´ participation.

TECHNIQUES AND MATERIALS

• SOUND AND COLOR CHART

- It consists of blocks of color, with one color representing one sound in the target language.

EXPERIENCE• The teacher and later the students, points to blocks

of colors on the chart to form syllables, words and even sentences. The chart allows students to produce sound combinations in the target language avoiding repetition.

TECHNIQUES AND MATERIALS

• WORD CHARTS

- The word charts contain the functional vocabulary of the target language, and use the same color scheme as the sound-color chart. Each letter is colored in a way that indicates its pronounciation.

EXPERIENCE• The teacher points to words on the wall charts in a

sequence so that students can read aloud the sentences they have spoken.

TECHNIQUES AND MATERIALS

• FIDEL CHARTS

- They consist on a set of charts presenting all the possible spellings of each sound of the language using the same colour code as the Sound /colour rectangle chart and Word charts.

TECHNIQUES AND MATERIALS

• CUISENAIRE RODS

- Rods are used to create clear and visible situations that enable students to understand how a given concept is expressed in the language.

TECHNIQUES AND MATERIALS

• TEACHER´S SILENCE

• PEER CORRECTION

• SELF- CORRECTION GESTURES

• STRUCTURED FEEDBACK

CONCLUSION• LEARNER ROLES:- To develop independence, autonomy and

responsability.- Autonomous choices.- “Inner Criteria”.- Working cooperatively.- Others (teacher, student, part of a support system,

problem solver, self-evaluator).

CONCLUSION• TEACHER ROLES:

• Technician / engineer.• Neutral observer.• Silence (gestures and charts).

CONCLUSION• This method exemplifies many of the

features that characterize more traditional methods, such as Situational Language Teaching and Audiolingualism.

“ Tell me and I forget, Teach me and I

remember, Involve me and I learn.”

Benjamin Franklin