The Silent Method in Language Teaching

In a language classroom, students are sitting and surrounded by desks, whiteboards and some postures. The students are looking towards the front of the classroom where the teacher stands. The teacher is standing in the middle of the room and is not speaking, but instead, is pointing to the whiteboard. On the whiteboard there are several diagrams and equations related to the day’s lesson.

The teacher facilitates the discussion among the students about a fascinating article they all have read. As the students start to generate ideas and make points about their interpretation of the passage, the teacher is attentive, but remains mostly silent.

The teacher begins to gesture and point towards the diagrams and equations, while simultaneously asking questions to the students. The students then have to think of the answers themselves. The teacher stands in front of the class silently, while all the students huddle around a table in the center of the classroom. Each student is in charge of a different task, trying to work through a problem, working together to solve it.

The teacher moves around them, offering a slight nod here, a smile there. All the while, the teacher doesn't say a word, allowing the students to come to their own conclusions, guiding them through the process with only subtle hints. Through this “silent teaching”, the teacher has become the “guide on the side”, encouraging the students to think for themselves, rather than simply being the “sage on the stage”, and lecturing them.

From time to time, the teacher interjects the input, lighting up the discussion and prompting students to further develop their ideas. By acting as a “guide on the side”, the teacher offers assistance and support to allow the students to draw their own conclusions instead of imposing them. That way, the teacher manages to motivate and encourage deep thinking among the students without dominating the conversation.

The students are being given the space to articulate their own unique learning process. At this point, the students are taking a more active role in the learning process and begin to understand the lesson more deeply. By being a guide on the side, the teacher is giving the students the help they need, while not having to take center stage.

In my point of view, this is the essence of the silent method in teaching and the English cliché: “do not be the sage on the stage, be the guide on the side.”