Background
A.
The
pioneer
The
silent Way, devised by Caleb Gattegno, is based on the premise the teacher
should be silent as much as possible, but the learner should be encouraged to
produce as much language as possible. Gattegno (1972) is the originator of the
silent way. He believes that any approach based on the principles of first
language acquisition will not be appropriate for adult second language
learning. He argues that the language environment of the child, learning his
first language is very different from that of an adult learning a second
language. Therefore, he adopts a problem-solving approach to learning and
chooses discovery-learning procedures. The name of the method often makes
people curious; they wonder how people can learn a foreign language in a
“silence”. The name of the method seems to be response to other traditional
method with which language teachers are very active in dominating classroom
activities.
B.
Basic
premise for silent way
v The
method 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.
v The
SW assumes that learners work with resources and nothing else, as they are
solely responsible for what they learn.
v Teaching
should be subordinated to learning.
v Silence
makes students to concentrate on what is to be learned.
C.
Learning
hypotheses
The learning hypotheses underlying
Gattegno's 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.
The silent way views learning as a problem solving, creative, discovering
activity.
·
Learning is facilitated by accompanying
(mediating) physical objects. 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 term,
these visual devices serve as associative mediators for student learning and
recall.
·
The Silent Way is also related to a set
of premises that we call problem soving approaches to learning. These premises
are represented in the word of Benjamin Franklin:Tell me and I forget, teach me
and I remember, involve me and I learn.
Approach
A.
Theory
of language
Silent way takes
a structural approach to the organization of be taught. The sentence is the
basic unit of teaching, and the teacher focuses on propositional meaning,
rather than communicative value. Students learn the grammar rules through
inductive processes. Gattegno sees vocabulary as a central dimension of language
learning and the choice of vocabulary as crucial.
B.
Theory
of learning
Gattegnos states
that the processes of learning a second language are radically different from
these involved learning a first language. The natural or direct approaches to
acquiring a second language are thus misguided, and a successful second
language approach will replace a natural approach by one that is very
artificial and, for some purposes, strictly controlled. Gattegnos repeated
emphasis on the primacy of learning over teaching places a focus on the self of
the learner, on the learners' priorities and commitments. Silence is a tool. In
silence student concentrate on the task to be accomplished and the potential
means to its accomplishment. Repetition (as opposed to silence) consumes time
and encourages the scattered mind to remain scattered.
Silent way
learners acquire inner criteria, which play a central role in ones education
the throughout all of ones life. These inner criteria allow learners to monitor
and self-correct their own production.
Design
A.
Objectives
The general
objective of the silent way is to give beginning level students oral and aural
facility in basic elements of the target language. Near-native fluency in the
target language and correct pronunciation are emphasized.
An immediate
objective is to provide the learner with a basic practical knowledge of the
grammar of the language. This forms the basis for independent learning on the
learner's part.
B.
The
syllabus model
The silent way
adopts structural syllabus, with lessons planned around grammatical items and
related vocabulary. Language items are introduced according to their
grammatical complexity, their relationship to what has been taught previously,
and the ease with items can be presented visually.
C.
Types
of learning and teaching activities
Learning
involves transferring what one knows to new contexts. Learning tasks have the
function often couraging and shaping students oral response. 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. Teaching should
be subordinated to learning, so the teacher must be responsive to immediate
learning needs. The learners in Silent Way are expected to begin learning the
target language through its sounds. It is the duty of the teacher to conduct
structured feedback sessions. Using L1 he invites the learners to make
observations about the lesson and tell him what they have learnt. These
discussions help him focus on certain teaching points that the learners feel
uncertain about. They also provide learners with information about the use of
certain strategies that make them more responsible and independent learners.
D.
Teacher
roles
v The
teacher should be silent as much as possible in the classroom to encourage the
learner to produce as much language as possible.
v The
teacher is expected to create an environment that encourages student’s risk
taking that facilitates learning.
v The
teacher should give only what help is necessary. In other words, the teacher
makes use of what students already know. The more the teacher does for the
students what they can do for themselves, the less they will do for themselves
(Larsen-Freeman 1986).
E.
Learner
roles
v The
learner is expected to become ‘independent, autonomous, and responsible’ in
language.
a.
independent learners 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
b.
autonomous learners choose proper
expressions in a given set of circumstances and situations
c.
responsible learners know that they have
freewill to choose among any set of linguistic choices, the ability to choose
intelligently and carefully is said to be evidence of responsibility
v Learners
are expected to interact with each other and suggest alternatives to each
other. They must learn to work cooperatively rather than competitively. The
teacher’s silence encourages group cooperation.
v In
order not to miss what the teacher says, learners must give the teacher their
attention. Learner-attention is a key to learning.
F.
The role of instructional material
Silent Way materials consist mainly of a
set colored rods, color- coded pronunciation and vocabulary wall charts, a
pointer, and reading / writing exercises, all of which are used t6o illustrate
the relationship between sound and meaning in the target language. The
materials are designed for manipulation by learning by direct association.
This is done with the help of:
Rods: colored rods of one to ten
centimeters long originally used by Cuisenaire for teaching mathematics.
Tow sound-color charts: each containing
rectangular blocks of color: One with L1 and the other with L2 sounds. Similar
sounds in L1 and L2 are represented with the same color. For example, the sound
/i:/ will have the same color in Farsi and English but the sound / / will only
be represent in the L2 chart with a different color.
Eight color coded fidel charts that help
learner associate the sounds with their spelling. For example, for the sound
/s/ the learners may have to associate it with s, ss. C, sc, which are listed
together and colored the same as the sound /s/ in sound-color charts.
The teacher's silence: Gattegno argues
that teaching should be subordinated to learning and the teachers silence is a
tool that helps create an environment in which the students are encouraged to
take risks, develop independence and feel responsible for their own learning.
Word-charts: the charts include between
500 to 800 words of English selected for Silent Way material. The words are put
into different conceptual groups and colored accordingly.
Pointer: The pointer is used by the
teacher or students to indicate a sound or a word on the charts for the
students to produce.
Gestures: Different gestures are used by
the teacher to encourage learners to produce a sound, help their peers,
self-correct, etc.
Wall pictures: Wall pictures are used to
help learners put their knowledge of language into use.
Books: Books include reading and writing
exercises to help consolidate what has been discovered by the learners.
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, or even sentences.
The teacher will model the appropriate
sound after pointing to a symbol on the chart.
The teacher will silently point to
individual symbols and combination of symbol, and monitor student utterances.
the teacher may say a word and have a
student guess what sequence of symbols comprised the word.
The pointer is used to indicate stress,
phrasing and intonation. Stress can be shown by touching certain symbols more
forcibly than others when pointing out a word. Intonation and phrasing can be
demonstrated by tapping on the chart to the rhythm of the utterance
After practicing with the sound of the
language, then 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 attempt to reshape the utterance or have a student attempt to
repair it.
After a structure is introduced and
understood, the teacher will create a situation in which the student 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.
Strength
and weakness
A.
Advantages
This method fosters cooperative learning
between individuals.
It embodies a new approach to education
in general, a respect for the individual and an awareness of the individual’s
extraordinary cognitive powers.
If it is succeeded to teach the language
the by using the rods without repeating too much, it will really save time and
energy for both teachers students. The advocates of the Silent Way claim that
the short-term memory is used artificially but well. The self-esteem of the
students will be increased and this will enhance learning. By this way students
will say ‘I learned instead of I was taught well.’ (Demircan1990).
B.
Disadvantages
It would seem necessary for a teacher to
gain a good deal of training and skill in order to apply the Silent Way to the
teaching of a total grammar in all its complexity, if such a broad application
is, in fact, possible.
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 teachers the rigidity of the
system (no repetitions by the teacher, no answer by the teacher, etc) may be
meaningless
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).
How such a method would in the average
classroom situation, or how successfully it might be used at more advanced
levels is a question mark left in our minds.
Language is separated from its social
context and taught through artificial situations usually by rods.
Conclusion
Despite the philosophical and sometimes
almost metaphysical quality of much of Gattegno’s writing, 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 characterized more traditional method
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
innovation of Gattegno’s method derive primarily from the manner in which
classroom activities are organized, the indirect role of the teacher is
required to assume in directing and monitoring learner performance, the
responsibility placed upon learners to figure out and test their hypotheses
about how the language works, and the materials used to elicit and practice
language
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar