The Silent Way

Contents Goals : The students are : To be able to use the language for self-expressions to express their thoughts, perceptions and feelings To become independent by relying on themselves	Existing Classroom Practice As I once observed : The class is the initial creation of a clear and unambiguous situation using the rods. This allows the students to work on the challenge of finding ways -as many as possible- of expressing the situation in the target language. The teacher is active, proposing small changes so that the students can practice the language generated, always scrupulously respecting the reality of what they see. They rapidly become more and more curious about the language and begin to explore it actively, proposing their own changes to find out whether they can say this or that, reinvesting what they have discovered in new sentences. The teacher can then gradually hand over the responsibility for the content of the course to the students, always furnishing the feedback necessary for the learning process. The content of the course then becomes whatever the students want it to be, usually an exploration of their own lives, their thoughts, feelings and opinions.
Teaching-learning characteristics : Using a language specific sound color chart and rods-sometimes Pronunciation is worked on from the beginning Focus on the structures of the language Vocabulary is restricted at first The student’s native language can be used to give instructions when necessary
Teacher’s activities/roles : The teacher is silent, when the teacher speaks, it is to give clue not to model the language The teacher is very active, setting up situation to force awareness, listening attentively to the students and providing exercises to insure their facility The teacher observes the students
Students’ activities : Make use of what they know to free themselves of any obstacles to actively engage in exploring language Student-student verbal interaction is desirable and is therefore encouraged Students can learn from one another	As I was told : The lesson will start with working simultaneously on the basic elements of the language: the sounds and prosody of the language and on the construction of sentences. The materials described above will be frequently used. At first, the teacher will propose situations for the students to respond to, but very quickly the students themselves will invent new situations using the rods but also events in the classroom and their own lives.
Comments (plusses and minuses to English language teaching today) :
The Silent Way is to optimize the way students exchange their time for experience, but because the teacher is silent, the teacher have to be more creative