The Silent Way

The Silent Way is the name of a method of language teaching devised by Caleb Gattegno
(1911-1988). Gattegnos name is well known for his revival of interest in the use of colored
wooden sticks called Cuisenaire rods and for his series Words in Color, an approach to the
teaching of initial reading in which sounds are coded by specific colors. The Silent Way
represents Gattegnos venture into the field of foreign language teaching. As applied to
language teaching, a Silent Way lesson progresses through a number of stages, beginning in a
similar way with pronunciation practice and then moving to practice of simple sentence
patterns, structure, and vocabulary. It is based on the premise that the teacher should be silent
as much as possible in the classroom and the learner should be encouraged to produce as
much language as possible. Elements of the Silent Way, particularly the use of color charts
and the colored Cuisenaire rods, grew out of Gattegnos previous experience as an educational
designer of reading and mathematics programs. (Cuisenaire rods were first developed by
Georges Cuisenaire, a European educator who used them for the teaching of math. Gattegno
had observed Cuisenaire rods and this gave him the idea for their use in language teaching.)
Working from what is a rather traditional structural and lexical syllabus, the Silent Way
method exemplifies many of the features that characterize more traditional methods, such
asSituational Language Teaching (Chapter 3) and Audiolingualism (Chapter 4), with a strong
focus on accurate repetition of sentences, modeled initially by the teacher, and a movement
through guided elicitation exercises to freer communication.

It is interesting to speculate that one of the reasons for the early popularity of the Silent Way
in the United States and its use in official US Foreign Officer and Peace Corps training
programs is that silence has been noted to be a stronger inducement to verbalization among
Americans than for many other cultural groups. Americans are said to think of
communication as essentially a verbal activity (hanger 1942; Knapp 1978). Hence, they are
uncomfortable with long periods of silence (Mchrabian 1981). Within the media industries,
for example, merchants buy time for advertising and the metaphor of “ time is money”
becomes a central concern. Dead time (long periods of silence) in radio and television is seen
as a critical vocabulary” is used in communicating more specialized ideas, such as political or
philosophical opinions. The most important vocabulary for the learner deals with the most
functional and versatile words of the language, many of which may not have direct
equivalents in the learners native language. “ Functional vocabulary” includes such areas as
pronouns, numbers, and comparison words that refer to oneself and to others. This functional
vocabulary provides a key, says Gattegno, to comprehending the “spirit” of the language.

Theory of learning

The Silent Way draws on Gattegno’s understanding of a cognitive-code theory of learning

(see Chapter 2; Atkinson 2011). In cognitively based approaches, language learning is
understood as a mental activity - one in which the learner is a lone scientist or explorer,
building up his or her understanding of language from exposure to and experience of it.
Cognitive approaches to learning are an established approach in psychology and are based on
the view that learning reflects properties of the mind and the processes involved in acquiring,
storing and retrieving knowledge.

The learning hypotheses underlying Gattegnos work could be stated as follows:

• Learning is facilitated if the learner discovers or creates rather than remembers and

repeats what is to be learned.

• Learning is facilitated by accompanying (mediating) physical objects.

• Learning is facilitated by problem-solving involving the material to be learned.

The educational psychologist and philosopher Jerome Bruner distinguishes two traditions of
teaching - that which takes place in the expository mode and that which takes place in the
hypothetical mode. In the expository mode “decisions covering the mode and pace and style
of exposition are principally determined by the teacher as expositor: the student is the
listener.” In the hypothetical mode “ the teacher and the student arc in a more cooperative
position. The student is not a bench-bound listener but is taking part in the formulation and at
times may play the principal role in it” (Bruner 1966: 83). The Silent Way belongs to the
latter tradition, which views learning as a problem-solving, creative, discovering activity, in
which the learner is a principal actor rather than a bench-bound listener. In other words, this
type of learning enhances intellect, is more rewarding, develops the individuals ability to
make discoveries, and helps the learner to retain what is learned. As we shall see, Gattegno
claims similar benefits from learners taught via the Silent Way.

The rods and the color-coded pronunciation charts (called Fidel charts) provide physical foci
for student learning and also create memorable images to facilitate student recall. In
psychological terms, these visual devices serve as associative mediators for student learning
and recall. The psychological literature on mediation in learning and recall is voluminous but,
for our purposes, can be briefly summarized in a quote from Earl Stevick: “ 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 students personal investment in them may also have a
powerful effect on memory”

The Silent Way is also related to a set of premises that we have called “ problem-solving
approaches to learning ”. In the languages of experimental psychology, the kind of subject
involvement that promotes greatest learning and recall involves processing of material to be
learned at the “greatest cognitive depth” (Craik 1973) or, for our purposes, involving the
greatest amount of problem-solving activity. Memory research has demonstrated that the
learners“ memory benefits from creatively searching out, discovering and depicting” (Bower
and Winzenz 1970). In the Silent Way, “ the teachers strict avoidance of repetition forces
alertness and concentration on the part of the learners (Gattegno 1972: 80). Similarly, the
learners grappling with the problem of forming an appropriate and meaningful utterance in a
new language leads the learner to realization of the language “ through his own perceptual and
analytical powers” (Sclman 1977). The Silent Way student is expected to become “
independent, autonomous and responsible” (Gattegno 1976) -in other words, a good problem-
solver in language. Like many other method proponents, Gattegno also makes extensive use
of his understanding of first language learning processes as a basis for deriving principles for
teaching foreign languages to adults. Gattegno recommends, for example, that the learner
needs to “ return to the state of mind that characterizes a babys learning - surrender”

Having referred to these processes, however, Gattegno states that the processes of learning a
second language are “ radically different” from those involved in learning a first language.
The second language learner is unlike the first language learner and “cannot learn another
language in the same way because of what he now knows” (Gattegno 1972: 11). The “
natural” or “direct” approaches to acquiring a second language are thus misguided, says
Gattegno, and a successful second language approach will “ replace a ‘natural5 approach by
one that is very artificial5 and, for some purposes, strictly controlled55 (1972: 12). The
“artificial approach” that Gattegno proposes is based on the principle that successful learning
involves commitment of the self to language acquisition through the use of silent awareness
and then active trial. Gattcgnos repeated emphasis on the primacy of learning over teaching
places a focus on the self of the learner, on the learners priorities and commitments.

Awareness is educable. As one learns “in awareness,” one’s powers of awareness and one’s
capacity to learn become greater. The Silent Way thus claims to facilitate what psychologists
call “learning to learn.” Again, the process chain that develops awareness proceeds from
attention, production, self-correction, and absorption. Silent Way learners acquire “inner
criteria,” which play a central role “in one’s education throughout all of one’s life” (Gattegno
1976: 29). These inner criteria allow learners to monitor and self-correct their own
production. It is in the activity of self-correction through self-awareness that the Silent Way
claims to differ most notably from other ways of language learning. It is this capacity for self-
awareness that the Silent Way calls upon, a capacity said to be little appreciated or exercised
by first language learners.

The syllabus

The Silent Way adopts a basically structural syllabus, with lessons planned around
grammatical items and related vocabulary. Gattegno does not, however, provide details as to
the precise selection and arrangement of grammatical and lexical items to be covered. There is
no general Silent Way syllabus. But from observation of Silent Way programs developed by
the Peace Corps to teach a variety of languages at a basic level of proficiency, it is clear that
language items are introduced according to their grammatical complexity, their relationship to
what has been taught previously, and the ease with which items can be presented visually.
Typically, the imperative is the initial structure introduced, because of the ease with which
action verbs may be demonstrated using Silent Way materials. New elements, such as the
plural form of nouns, are taught within a structure already familiar. Numeration occurs early
in a course, because of the importance of numbers in everyday life and the case with which
they can be demonstrated. Prepositions of location also appear early in the syllabus for similar
reasons. Vocabulary is selected according to the degree to which it can be manipulated within
a given structure and according to its productivity within the classroom setting. In addition to
prepositions and numbers, pronouns, quantifiers, words dealing with temporal relations, and
words of comparison are introduced early in the course, because they “ refer to oneself and to
others in the numerous relations of everyday life” (Stevick 1976). These kinds of words, as
mentioned earlier, are referred to as the “ functional vocabulary” of a language because of
their high utility.

Learning tasks and activities in the Silent Way have the function of encouraging and shaping
student oral response without direct oral instruction from or unnecessary modeling by the
teacher. Basic to the method are simple linguistic tasks in which the teacher models a word,
phrase, or sentence and then elicits learner responses. Learners then go on to create their own
utterances by putting together old and new information. Charts, rods, and other aids may be
used to elicit learner responses. Teacher modeling is minimal, although much of the activity
may be teacher-directed. Responses to commands, questions, and visual cues thus constitute
the basis for classroom activities.

The Learner Roles

Learners are expected to develop independence, autonomy, and responsibility. Independent

learners are those who are aware that they must depend on their own resources and realize
that they can use “the knowledge of their own language to open up some things in a new
language” or that they can “take their knowledge of the first few words in the new language
and figure out additional words by using that knowledge” (Stevick 1980: 42). The absence of
correction and repeated modeling from the teacher requires the students to develop “inner
criteria” and to correct themselves. The absence of explanations requires learners to make
generalizations, come to their own conclusions, and formulate whatever rules they themselves
feel they need. Learners have only themselves as individuals and the group to rely on, and so
must learn to work cooperatively rather than competitively. They need to feel comfortable
both correcting one another and being corrected by one another.

The Teacher Roles

Teachers are exhorted to resist their long-standing commitment to model, remodel, assist, and
direct desired student responses. Stevick defines the Silent Way teacher’s tasks as (a) to teach,
(b) to test, and (c) to get out of the way (Stevick 1980: 56). Although this may not seem to
constitute a radical alternative to standard teaching practice, the details of the steps the teacher
is expected to follow are unique to the Silent Way. By “teaching” is meant the presentation of
an item once, typically using nonverbal clues to get across meanings. Testing follows
immediately and might better be termed elicitation and shaping of student production, which,
again, is done in as silent a way as possible. Finally, the teacher silently monitors learners’
interactions with each other and may even leave the room while learners struggle with their
new linguistic tools.

The teacher uses gestures, charts, and manipulatives in order to elicit and shape student
responses and so must be both facile and creative as a pantomimist and puppeteer. In sum, the
Silent Way teacher, like the complete dramatist, writes the script, chooses the props, sets the
mood, models the action, designates the players, and is critic for the performance.
The Role of Instructional Materials

Silent Way materials consist mainly of a set of colored rods, color-coded pronunciation and
vocabulary wall charts, a pointer, and reading/writing exercises, all of which are used to
illustrate the relationships between sound and meaning in the target language. The materials
are designed for manipulation by the students as well as by the teacher, independently and
cooperatively, in promoting language learning by direct association. The pronunciation charts,
called “Fidels,” have been devised for a number of languages and contain symbols in the
target language for all of the vowel and consonant sounds of the language. The symbols are
color-coded according to pronunciation; thus, if a language possesses two different symbols
for the same sound, they will be colored alike.

Just as the Fidel charts are used to visually illustrate pronunciation, the colored Cuisenaire
rods are used to directly link words and structures with their meanings in the target language,
thereby avoiding translation into the native language. The rods vary in length from 1 to 10
centimeters, and each length has a specific color. The rods may be used for naming colors, for
size comparisons, to represent people, build floor plans, constitute a road map, and so on. Use
of the rods is intended to promote inventiveness, creativity, and interest in forming
communicative utterances on the part of the students, as they move from simple to more
complex structures.

Procedure

A Silent Way lesson typically follows a standard format. The first part of the lesson focuses
on pronunciation. Depending on student level, the class might work on sounds, phrases, even
sentences designated on the Fidel chart. At the beginning stage, the teacher will model the
appropriate sound after pointing to a symbol on the chart. Later, the teacher will silently point
to individual symbols and combinations of utterances, and monitor student utterances. The
teacher may say a word and have students guess what sequence of symbols compromised the
word. The pointer is used to indicate stress, phrasing, and intonation. Stress can be shown by
touching certain symbols more forcibly than otherswhen pointing out a word. Intonation and
phrasing can be demonstrated by tapping on the chart to the rhythm of the utterance. After
practice with the sounds of the language, sentence patterns, structure, and vocabulary are
practiced. The teacher models an utterance while creating a visual realization of it with the
colored rods. After modeling the utterance, the teacher will have a student attempt to produce
the utterance and will indicate its acceptability. If a response is incorrect, the teacher will
attempt to reshape the utterance or have another student present the correct model. After a
structure is introduced and understood, the teacher will create a situation in which the students
can practice the structure through the manipulation of the rods. Variations on the structural
theme will be elicited from the class using the rods and charts.

Conclusion

Despite the philosophical and sometimes almost metaphysical quality of much of Gattegno’s
writings, the actual practices of the Silent Way are much less revolutionary than might be
expected. Working from what is a rather traditional structural and lexical syllabus, the method
exemplifies many of the features that characterize more traditional methods, such as
Situational Language Teaching and Audiolingualism, with a strong focus on accurate
repetition of sentences modeled initially by the teacher and a movement through guided
elicitation exercises to freer communication. The innovations in Gattegno’s method derive
primarily from the manner in which classroom activities are organized, the indirect role the
teacher is required to assume in directing and monitoring learner performance, the
responsibility placed on learners to figure out and test their hypotheses about how the
language works, and the materials used to elicit and practice language.

The basic method that underlies this approach is simple but potentially quite powerful: In
contrast to traditional methods, the emphasis is on the student’s learning rather than the
teacher’s teaching.

The method emphasizes the autonomy of the learner; the teacher’s role is to monitor the
students’ efforts, and the students are encouraged to have an active role in learning the
language. Pronunciation is seen as fundamental; beginning students start their study with
pronunciation, and much time is spent practicing it each lesson. Evaluation is carried out by
observation, and the teacher may never set a formal test. The teacher uses silence for multiple
purposes in the Silent Way. It is used to focus students’ attention, to elicit student responses,
and to encourage them to correct their own errors. Even though teachers are often silent, they
are still active; they will commonly use techniques such as mouthing words and using hand
gestures to help the students with their pronunciation. Teachers will also encourage students
to help their peers.

Theory and Characteristics

As the name already suggests, the method is built upon the hypothesis that inside the
classroom the teacher should be as silent as possible, whereas the students/learners should be
encouraged to produce as much language as possible, participate actively in class and in this
way become autonomous learners. Silence is regarded as the best instrument for learning in
the classroom, because “in silence students concentrate on the task to be accomplished and the
potential means for its accomplishment” (Richards & Rodgers 2001: 83). The techniques of
the Silent Way “made it possible for the teacher to say less and less as the lessons advanced,
while the pupils were saying more and more and using their own inner criteria developed in
this approach” (Gattegno 1972: preamble). In general, there are three basic theories on which
Gattegno’s work is founded:

1. Learning is regarded as a “problem-solving, creative, discovering activity”(Richards &

Rodgers 2001: 81), in which the learner rather acts and participates actively than just being
passive and doing nothing but listening to the teacher. If the learner is involved directly, he
automatically benefits from the so called “discovery learning”.
2. The use of special physical objects such as colored wooden rods or color -coded wall charts
facilitates learning. These physical objects “provide physical foci for student learning and also
create memorable images to facilitate student recall” (Richards & Rodgers 2001: 81).

3. Learning is facilitated by involving the learners and letting them solve problems on their
own with the help of the provided materials.

Teacher Roles

The Silent Way is not a teacher- centred approach. While the teacher uses mainly gestures and
facial expressions to address the learners, his/her main task is the teaching of the language by
letting the students test out grammatical forms, etc. and getting out of their way, so that they
can discover these things on their own.

Learner Roles

The learners are expected to participate in class actively. They should be willing to make
mistakes, to test out the basic language elements via the usage of the materials provided and
generally be highly motivated. As a learner, it is important not to get frustrated in case the
Silent Way lesson sometimes may be a little tricky and the meaning of the materials is not
always clear at first sight. Therefore, it is important to be able and willing to think in a rather
abstract way so that the meaning of the provided material can be detected.

Advantage

– The use of the Silent Way enables a very high degree of interaction as well between
the teacher and the students as between the students themselves and additionally raises the
participation of the students in class.

– The self-esteem of the students will be increased and this will enhance learning.

– It embodies a new approach to education in general, a respect for the individual and an
awareness of the individual’s extraordinary cognitive powers.

Disadvantage

– The Silent Way is a very abstract way of learning a language, the learners have to
engage themselves with the artificiality of the approach, which is extremely different from
more commonly used methods of language learning.

– This method can be benefited by the teacher only in small groups of students. The
teacher can gain ability in this method by trying. The teacher is expected to enrich the
materials on his/her own.

– For some learners, one limitation is the approach to language basics which begins with
seemingly irrelevant discussions about rods and which involves silence and concentration and
games with the teacher about meaning. Students’ expectations and need for immediately
relevant language learning may force teachers to abandon the approach (Celce-Murcia 1979).
The three basic tenets of the approach

 that learning is facilitated if the learner discovers rather than remembers or repeats,

 that learning is aided by physical objects,

 that problem-solving is central to learning.

The use of the word “silent” is also significant, as Silent Way is based on the premise that the
teacher should be as silent as possible in the classroom in order to encourage the learner to
produce as much language as possible.

Teachers and Materials

The role of the teacher is to direct students’ focus, facilitate self-reflection and provide verbal
and nonverbal feedback when necessary. Students, on the other hand, are encouraged to speak
as much as possible.

Most of the traditional tools for language instruction (textbooks, worksheets, verb conjugation
tables) are completely absent from this method. In their place, instruction takes place through
the medium of Cuisenaire rods (colored rods traditionally used in the teaching of math to
primary school students) and charts that indicate the correct pronunciation of certain letters
without the teacher having to teach pronunciation through rote memorization or call-and-
response exercises, described by some as a “building-block” approach.

The structural patterns of the target language are presented by the teacher and the grammar of
the language are learnt inductively by the learners.

Cuisenaire rods (small colored blocks of varying sizes originally intended for the teaching of
mathematics) are often used to illustrate meaning (the physical objects mentioned above).
New items are added sparingly by the teacher and learners take these as far as they can in
their communication until the need for the next new item becomes apparent. The teacher then
provides this new item by modelling it very clearly just once. The learners are then left to use
the new item and to incorporate it into their existing stock of language, again taking it as far
as they can until the next item is needed and so on.

To Best Illustrated

This is perhaps best illustrated by an example. Let us say that the teacher has introduced the
idea of pronouns as in “Give me a green rod”. The class will then use this structure until it is
clearly assimilated, using, in addition, all the other colors. One member of the class would
now like to ask another to pass a rod to a third student but she does not know the word “her”,
only that it cannot be “me”. At this point the teacher would intervene and supply the new
item: “Give her the green rod” and the learners will continue until the next new item is needed
(probably “him”).

This minimalist role of the teacher has led some critics to describe Silent Way teachers as
“aloof” and, indeed, this apparently excessive degree of self-restraint can be seen as such. The
prominent writer on language teaching, Earl W. Stevick, has described the role of the teacher
in Silent Way as “Teach, test, get out of the way”. The apparent lack of real communication in
the approach has also been criticized, with some arguing that it is difficult to take the
approach beyond the very basics of the language, with only highly motivated learners being
able to generate real communication from the rigid structures illustrated by the rods. The fact
that, for logistical reasons, it is limited to relatively small groups of learners is also seen as a
weakness.

Student’s Role on the Silent Way

Student-directed learning. We all know what the research says: Students learn better when
they can be active participants in their own learning. It just seems logical that, when it comes
to language, allowing students to do all the talking is the best way to accomplish that.

Students are forced to figure out all kinds of things on their own. While mimicking some of
the real-life problem-solving situations, they might find themselves facing it immersed in the
target language. These are skills that they will not have the opportunity to develop. If the
teacher always does the figuring out for them.

Students are engaged in the learning process, discovering words and sounds instead of having
these drilled into them. Students become more engaged and invested in the process. As they
assume more responsibility for their own learning, and tasks have more relevance.

Limited input from the teacher means almost no criticism means students feel that it is safe to
make mistakes, a necessary step in language learning.

Students may feel that they are not getting enough feedback. Students may feel insecure about
the lack of verbal positive or negative reinforcement in the beginning.

Silent Way aims for quality rather than quantity. It may feel like students spend a lot of time
learning the basics of vocabulary and pronunciation. Rather than progressing quickly through
these topics.

The Silent Way is a language teaching method that focuses on learner independence and
discovery. In simple terms:

1. Teacher Silence: The teacher remains mostly silent during the lesson, allowing
students to actively participate and discover language rules on their own.

2. Use of Props: The teacher may use physical objects or colored rods to represent
language elements, making the learning experience more visual and hands-on.

3. Self-Discovery: Students are encouraged to explore and figure out language patterns
and rules by themselves through interaction and problem-solving.

4. Pronunciation Emphasis: There is a strong emphasis on correct pronunciation from

the beginning, helping learners develop a good accent and sound patterns.
 5. Individual Pace: Students progress at their own pace, and the teacher provides
guidance as needed. The method respects individual learning styles and preferences.

6. Focus on Communication: The goal is to develop practical communication skills

rather than rote memorization of grammar rules. Students learn to express themselves
in real-life situations.

In essence, the Silent Way encourages active student participation, discovery, and self-
directed learning, with the teacher taking a supportive and observant role.

Teacher should be silent as much as possible so that students can be autonomous and
independent. Another name of the method is discovery based learning.

One of the principles of the method is that learning should be accompanied by physical
objects such as chunk charts, fidel charts, colourful rods, sticks, or Cuisenaire rods. They are
colourful because each colour means a unit of sentence; each colour represents a different
spelling of the letter. In sound charts, each colour represents a sound. It contains block of
colors, each color representing a sound.in target language.

Work categories are such as nouns, adjectives, prepositions, adverbs, conjunctions,

interjections. It is easy to code. This type of learning is cognitive learning. Also it is
constructivism way of learning because we expect learners to construct their own
understanding.

If a student makes a pronunciation mistake, first he tries, then his peers correct and then the
teacher corrects. We expect learners to figure out themselves and this is called self-repair. If
others correct you, peer correction, other initiated repair in communication. If nobody
corrects, then it all comes out to teacher, minimum modelling on the part of the teacher.