The Silent Way

The Silent Way

The term is slightly misleading, as the lessons were certainly not silent, and everybody spoke, including the teacher. It was developed in the 70s by Caleb Gattegno, who had previously worked as an educational designer of reading and mathematics programmes. there doesn’t seem to be one precise “Silent Way”; various interpretations exist. Very generally, the learning hypothesis underlying Gattegno’s work could be stated as the following:

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 learnt.
Adapted from: p.81 Richards & Rodgers 2001 Approaches & Methods in Language Teaching Cambridge

Gattegno used a variety of materials, notably Cuisenaire rods (originally designed for maths by Cuisenaire, whom Gattegno had observed) and Fidel charts. Cuisenaire rods could be used to indicate word order, word and sentence stress, to learn colours, shapes, sizes, comparatives etc. – so abstract ideas and concepts as well as tangible. Fidel charts are ones containing words, letters, pictures and symbols, all supported by bright colours.

In one approach, the teacher might sit down with the class and only give instructions, e.g. “Take the blue rod” until this was done. if something else happened (e.g. a student takes a red one) the teacher might just say “no” unemotionally until the correct action happened. This is how colours could be introduced, then numbers etc. The teacher would say things only once; students could repeat things if they wanted to, for themselves or for others, but they had to concentrate on everything the teacher said, since he / she would say it only once. This was quite a ‘cold’ method.

Visuals / Cuisenaire rods were used extensively. This was due to Gattegno’s, and others’, opinions that visuals could help memory:

If the use of associative mediators produces better retention than repetition does, it seems to be the case that the quality of the mediators and the student’s personal investment in them may also have a powerful effect on memory.
Stevick 1976, quoted in Richards & Rodgers 2001 Approaches & Methods in Language Teaching Cambridge

There was a structured syllabus. The sentence was the basic unit of teaching, and grammar was only dealt with inductively. Vocabulary was considered central in language learning, and the choice of vocabulary to be introduced was crucial.

Students were encouraged to talk amongst themselves and peer-correct, trying out the new language.