6The-Silent-Way

TheSilentWayDuWenhui15502015ContentI.BackgroundII.ApproachIII.DesignIV.ProcedureV.ConclusionI.BackgroundTheSilentWayisamethodoflanguageteachingdevisedbyCalebGattegno.ThepremiseoftheSilentWay:theteachershouldbesilentasmuchaspossibleintheclassroombutthelearnershouldbeencouragedtoproduceasmuchlanguageaspossible.ElementsoftheSilentWay:theuseofcolorchartsandthecoloredCuisenairerods（奎西奈彩色棒）.I.BackgroundThelearninghypotheses:(1)learningisfacilitatedifthelearnerdiscoversorcreatesratherthanremembersandrepeatswhatistobelearned.(2)learningisfacilitatedbyaccompanyingphysicalobjects.(3)learningisfacilitatedbyproblemsolvinginvolvingthematerialtobelearned.I.BackgroundThesourcesofthehypothesesDiscoveringandcreativelearning(1)JeromeBruner,theeducationalpsychologistandphilosopher,distinguishestwotraditions:theexpositorymodeandthehypotheticalmode.(2)Thesilentwaybelongstothehypotheticalmode,viewinglearningasaproblem-solving,creative,discoveringactivity,inwhichthelearnerisaprincipalactor,notabench-boundlistener.(3)Thebenefitsderivedfromdiscoverylearning:a.Theincreaseinintellectualpotency,b.Theshiftfromextrinsictointrinsicrewards,c.Thelearningofheuristicsbydiscovering,d.Theaidtoconservingmemory.Accompanyingphysicalobjects(1)GeorgesCuisenaire,aEuropeaneducatorfirstdevelopedCuisenairerodsandusedthemforteachingofmaths,whichgaveGattegnotheideafortheiruseinlanguageteaching.(2)Therodsandthecolor-codedpronunciationcharts(calledFidelcharts),orthevisualdevicesasassociativemediators,providephysicalfociforlearningandcreatememorableimagestofacilitatestudentrecall.Learningbyproblem-solvingBenjaminFranklinrepresentedproblem-solvingapproachestolearninginthewords:TellmeandIforget,teachmeandIremember,involvemeandIlearn.II.Approach:TheoryofLanguageandLearningTheoryoflanguage(1)Gattegnofeelsthatlinguisticstudiesmaybeaspecialization.(2)Learningalanguageistograspitsspirit—thewayeachlanguageiscomposedofphonologicalandsuprasegmentalelementsthatcombinetogivethelanguageitsuniquesoundsystemandmelody.(3)TheSilentWaytakesastructuralapproachtotheorganizationoflanguagetobetaught.(4)Gattegnoseesvocabularyasacentraldimensionoflanguagelearningandchoiceofvocabularyascrucial.Theoryoflearning(1)Basedontheprocessoflearningafirstlanguage,Gattegnorecommendsthatlearnerneedstoreturntothestateofmindthatcharacterizesababy'slearning–surrender.(2)Theprocessesoflearningasecondlanguageareradicallydifferentfromthoseinvolvedinlearningafirstlanguage.AsuccessfulL2approachwillbeartificialandstrictlycontrolled.(3)Theartificialapproachisbasedontheprinciplethatsuccessfullearninginvolvescommitmentoftheselftolanguageacquisitionthroughtheuseofsilentawarenessandthenactivetrial.Theselfconsistsoftwosystems—alearningsystemandaretainingsystem.Silenceisconsideredthebestvehicleforlearning,becauseinsilencestudentsconcentrateonthetasktobeaccomplishedandthepotentialmeanstoitsaccomplishment.Repetition(asopppsedtosilence)consumestimeandencourgesthescatteredmindtoremainscattered.Awarenessiseducable.Asonelearnsinawareness,one'spowersofawarenessandone'scapacitytolearnbecomegreater.(learningtolearn)III.Design:objectivesThegeneralobjective—togivebeginninglevelstudentsoralandauralfacilityinbasicelementsofthetargetlanguage.Thegeneralgoalsetforlanguagelearningisnear-nativefluencyinthetargetlanguagewithcorrectpronunciationandmasteryoftheprosodicelements.Theimmediateobjective—toprovidethelearnerwithabasicpracticalknowledgeofthegrammar.III.Design:thesyllabusTheSilentWayadoptsabasicallystructuralsyllabus,withlessonsplannedaroundgrammaticalitemsandrelatedvocabulary.(Gattegnodoesn'tprovidedetailsastothepreciseselectionandarrangementofgrammaticalandlexicalitemstobecoverd.Languageitemsintroducedaccordingtotheirgrammaticalcomplexity,theirrelationshiptowhathasbeentaughtpreviously,andtheeasewithwhichitemscanbepresentedvisually.)III.Design:learningactivitiesLearningtasksandactivitiesintheSilentWayhavethefunctionofencouragingandshapingstudentoralresponsewithoutdirectoralinstructionfromorunnecesssarymodelingbytheteacher.Theteachermodelsaword,phrase,orsentenceandthenelicitslearnerresponses.Learnersthengoontocreatetheirownutterancesbyputtingtogetheroldandnewinformation.Charts,rodsandotheraidsmaybeusedtoelicitlearnerresponses.Theteacherdirectsactivities.Responsesarethebasisforclassroomactivities.III.Design:rolesoflearnersLearnersintheSilentWayareexpectedtodevelopindependence,autonomyandresponsibility.Independentlearnersarethosewhoareawarethattheymustdependontheirownresoursesandrealizethattheycanusetheknowledgeoftheirownlanguagetoopenupsomethingsinanewlanguage.Learnersarerequiredtodevelopinnercriteriaandtocorrectthemselves.Learnersmustlearntoworkcooperativelyratherthancompetitively.III.Design:rolesofteachersTeachersilenceistheuniquedemandoftheSilentWay.StevickdefinestheSilentWayteacher'stasksastoteach,totestandtogetoutoftheway.(Byteachingismeanttheprensentationofanitemsonce,typicallyusingnonverbalcluestogetacrossmeanings.Testingfollowsimmediatelyandmightbetterbetermedelicitationandshapingofstudentpronun