Silent way of teaching

Subject of the work:
Introduction to ELT: Basic beliefs & concepts
Main ELT methods and approaches
1. Grammar Translation Method
2. Direct Method
3. Audio-lingual approach
4. Cognitive Code Approach
5. Humanistic Approaches (CLL, Silent Way, Suggestopedia and TPR)
6. The Communicative Approach
Teaching Techniques
How to teach listening
How to teach speaking
How to teach reading
How to teach writing
How to prepare lesson plans
Task of the work: Teaching Methodology
 Active participation in class
 Whole class discussion
 Pair and group work
 Giving presentations
An analysis and evaluation of a book of choice, focusing on its approach to the teaching of the four language skills. Length required: 1000 words
Preparing a plan for a 45 minute lesson, focusing on the teaching of a specific language skill taken from English for Palestine for ant group of Palestinian learners from Grade 1-12. The lesson plan should be accompanied by a rationale drawing on concepts and principles explored during the course unit. Length required:1000 words


THE SILENT WAY METHOD
THE SILENT WAY
Silent way method isa method to language teaching designed to enable students to become independent, autonomous and responsible learners. This method was devised by Caleb Gattegno to the teaching of initial reading in which sounds are coded by specific colors with Cuisenaire rods (developed by Georges Cuisenaire, a European educator who used them to teach math). He believed that learning is best facilitated if the learner discovers and creates language rather than just remembering and repeating what has been taught.
Silent Way method discovered since The Audio-lingual Method has the problem that students are unable to transfer the habits they have mastered in the classroom to communicate use outside it. Furthermore, the idea that learning a language meant forming a set of habits was seriously challenged in the early 1960s, particularly by Linguist Noam Chomsky. He proposed that speakers have knowledge of underlying abstract rules, which allow them to understand and create new utterances.
In addition, in the early 1970s, the emphasis on human cognition led to see learners in a more active role to formulate hypotheses to discover the rules of the target language. When errors occur, they are signs that learners are testing their hypotheses. The general objective of this method is to give beginners oral and aural facility in basic elements of the target language such as near-native fluency, correct pronunciation and mastery of the prosodic elements of the target language.
It adopts a basically structural syllabus, with lessons planned around grammatical items and related vocabulary. Language items are introduced according to their grammatical complexity. The “function” because of their high utility such as numbers, prepositions, pronouns, quantifiers and so on is introduced early in the course. The Silent Way shares certain principles with the Cognitive Approach.
The Silent Way 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. It assumes that learners work with resources and nothing else, as they are solely responsible for what they learn.