Silent Way

The Silent Way is a language-teaching approach created by Caleb Gattegno that is notable for the "silence" of the teacher. (Who is not actually mute, but who rarely, if ever, models language for the students.) Gattegno first described the approach in 1963, in his book Teaching Foreign Languages in Schools: The Silent Way. Gattegno was critical of mainstream language education at the time, and he based the Silent Way on his general theories of education rather than on existing language pedagogy. It is usually regarded as an "alternative" language-teaching method; Cook groups it under "other styles", Richards groups it under "alternative approaches and methods" and Jin & Cortazzi group it under "Humanistic or Alternative Approaches". Gattegno continued to develop and describe the Silent Way until his death in 1988. Others have continued to develop the approach, particularly for intermediate and advanced students.

The method emphasizes learner autonomy and active student participation. Silence is used as a tool to achieve this goal; the teacher uses a mixture of silence and gestures to focus students' attention, to elicit responses from them, and to encourage them to correct their own errors. Pronunciation is seen as important, with time spent on improving pronunciation as needed in each lesson. The Silent Way uses a structural syllabus and concentrates on teaching the uses of the functional vocabulary of the language. Translation and rote repetition are avoided, and the language is practiced in meaningful contexts. Evaluation is carried out by observation, and the teacher may never set a formal test.

One of the hallmarks of the Silent Way when used with beginners is the use of Cuisenaire rods, which can be used for anything from simple commands ("Take two red rods and give them to her.") to representing objects such as clocks and floor plans. The approach also employs a color code to help teach pronunciation; there is a sound-color chart which is used to teach the sounds of the language, colored word charts which are used for work on sentences, and colored Fidel charts which are used to teach spelling. While the Silent Way is not widely used in its original form, its ideas have been influential, especially in the teaching of pronunciation.