The silent way is a methodology of teaching language
based on the idea that teachers should be as silent as possible during a class
but learners should be encouraged to speak as much as possible. There are three
basic principles:
- The learner needs to discover or create
- Learning is made easier by the use of physical
objects such as Cuisenaire rods
- Learning is made easier by problem-solving using
the target language
Example
The teacher shows the learners a small red
Cuisenaire rod and a bigger blue one and says ‘The blue one is bigger than the
red one'. The learners repeat this. The teacher then substitutes the rods to
produce other models, and finally encourages the learners to produce their own
comparisons.
In the classroom
Areas of target language where Cuisenaire rods can
be useful include word boundaries, contracted forms, prepositions, word order
and word stress. Learners can use the rods to first represent and then to manipulate
language.
