the-silent-way-默示教学法

TheSilentWay•TellmeandIforget,teachmeandIremember,involvemeandIlearn.——BenjaminFranklin•不闻不若闻之，闻之不若见之；见之不若知之，知之不若行之；学至于行而止矣。——《荀子•儒效篇》TheSilentWayisalanguage-teachingmethodcreatedbyCalebGattegnothatmakesextensiveuseofsilenceasateachingtechnique.Themethodemphasisestheautonomyofthelearner;theteacher'sroleistomonitorthestudents'efforts,andthestudentsareencouragedtohaveanactiveroleinlearningthelanguage.Toputitsimply,theSilentWayisamethodoflanguageteachingwhichisbasedonthepremisethattheteachershouldbesilentasmuchaspossibleintheclassroomandthelearnershouldbeencouragedtoproduceasmuchlanguageaspossible.1.DefinitionSilentWayoriginatedintheearly1970sandwasthebrainchildofthelateCalebGattegno.ThelastlineofBenjaminFranklin’sfamousquoteaboutteachingandlearningcanbesaidtolieattheheartofSilentWay.Thethreebasictenets(原则)oftheapproacharethatlearningisfacilitatedifthelearnerdiscoversratherthanremembersorrepeats,thatlearningisaidedbyphysicalobjects,andthatproblem-solvingiscentraltolearning.2.BackgroundTheuseofthewordsilentisalsosignificant,asSilentWayisbasedonthepremisethattheteachershouldbeassilentaspossibleintheclassroominordertoencouragethelearnertoproduceasmuchlanguageaspossible.Asfarasthepresentationoflanguageisconcerned,SilentWayadoptsahighlystructuralapproach,withlanguagetaughtthroughsentencesinasequencebasedongrammaticalcomplexity,describedbysomeasabuilding-blockapproach.3.Principles•1.Teachersshouldconcentrateonhowstudentslearn,notonhowtoteach.•2.Imitationanddrillarenottheprimarymeansbywhichstudentslearn.•3.Learningconsistsoftrialanderror,deliberateexperimentation,suspendingjudgement,andrevisingconclusions.•4.Inlearning,learnersdrawoneverythingthattheyalreadyknow,especiallytheirnativelanguage•5.Theteachermustnotinterferewiththelearningprocess.4、Aims&Goals•ThegeneralgoaloftheSilentWayistohelpbeginning-levelstudentsgainbasicfluencyinthetargetlanguage,withtheultimateaimbeingnear-nativelanguageproficiencyandgoodpronunciation.•Animportantpartofthisabilityisbeingabletousethelanguageforself-expression;studentsshouldbeabletoexpresstheirthoughts,feelings,andneedsinthetargetlanguage.•Studentsareencouragedtoactivelyexplorethelanguage,andtodeveloptheirown'innercriteria'astowhatislinguisticallyacceptable5.Theroleoftheteacher•Theroleoftheteacheristhatoftechnicianorengineer.Theteacher'staskistofocusthestudents'attention,andprovideexercisestohelpthemdeveloplanguagefacility;however,toensuretheirself-reliance,theteachershouldonlyhelpthestudentsasmuchasisstrictlynecessary.•AsGattegnosays,Theteacherworkswiththestudent;thestudentworksonthelanguage.Forexample,teacherswilloftengivestudentstimetocorrecttheirownmistakesbeforegivingthemtheanswertoaquestion.Teachersalsoavoidpraiseorcriticism,asitcandiscouragestudentsfromdevelopingself-reliance.6.TheroleofthestudentsGattegno:languagelearningisaprocessofpersonalgrowthresultingfromgrowingstudentawarenessandself-challenge.Learnersareexpectedtodevelopindependence,autonomy,andresponsibility.InTheSilentWay,alearneralsomustbeateacher,astudent,partofasupportsystem,aproblemsolver,andaself-evaluator.Anditisthestudentwhoisusuallyexpectedtodecideonwhatroleismostappropriatetoagivensituation.7.Teachingmaterials•1.TheCuisenairerodsarewooden,andcomeintendifferentlengths,butidenticalcross-section;eachlengthhasitsownassignedcolor.TheSilentWaymakesuseofspecializedteachingmaterials:coloredCuisenairerods,theSound-colorchart,Wordcharts,andFidelcharts.•Therodsareusedinawidevarietyofsituationsintheclassroom.Atthebeginningstagestheycanbeusedtopracticecolorsandnumbers,andlatertheycanbeusedinmorecomplexgrammar.Forexample,toteachprepositionstheteachercouldusethestatementThebluerodisbetweenthegreenoneandtheyellowone.Theycanalsobeusedmoreabstractly,perhapstorepresentaclockorthefloorplanofahouse.•2.TheSound-colorchartconsistsofrectanglesofcolor,withonecolorrepresentingonesoundinthelanguagebeinglearned.Theteacherusesthischarttohelpteachpronunciation;aswellaspointingtocolorstorefertodifferentsounds,shecanalsotapparticularcolorsveryhardtohelpstudentslearnwordstress.Laterinthelearningprocess,studentswillpointtothechartthemselvestochecktheirownprogress.Thechartmakesstudentsawareofthenumberofthesoundsinthelanguagebeinglearntandhowmanyarenewtothem.Studentspracticemakingthesesoundswithoutrelyingonmechanicalrepetition.•3.TheWordchartscontainthefunctionalvocabularyofthetargetlanguage,andusethesamecolorschemeasthesound-colorchart.Eachletteriscoloredinawaythatindicatesitspronunciation.TheWordchartsallowtheteachertocreatesentencesillustratinggrammaticalpointswhileremainingsilent.InGattegno'soriginaldesign,thereweretwelvewordchartsinEnglish,containingatotalofaroundfivehundredwords.8.TeachingtechniquesJustasthenameimplies,silenceisakeytooloftheteacherintheSilentWay.Fromthebeginninglevels,studentsdo90percentormoreofthetalking.Beingsilentmovesthefocusoftheclassroomfromtheteachertothestudents,andcanencouragecooperationamongthem.Italsofreestheteachertoobservetheclass.Silencecanbeusedtohelpstudentscorrecttheirownerrors.Teacherscanremainsilentwhe