Total physical response was first invented by Dr. James Asher in the 60’s
and 70’s of the 20. century. Learning a foreign language by the TPR-method is
based on behaviouristic psychol- ogy. TPR students are supposed to learn as
children do when they learn their mother tongue. TPR is meant as a stimulus-
response action, like in the adult’s language adressed to children. This means the
teacher “showing” and “acting” what he has just said before, so that students
understand and internalize the vocabulary, like they did when they learned their
native tounge as their parents talked to them. Furthermore motivation and self-
confidence are increased, due to fast success in the student’s understatement and
oral skills. Ortner puts it as follows:
Anhand zahlreicher empirischer Untersuchungen versucht Asher
nachzuweisen, dass die direkte, physische Involviertheit, die er im sogenannten
Motorlernen für gegeben hält, zu einer besseren kurz- sowie langfristigen
Behaltensleistung und daher zu schnellerem L2 [the new language]- Erwerb führe.
Durch den Einsatz physischer Antworten werde zudem Stress abgebaut, die
Motivation und das Selbstvertrauen erhöhe sich.1
Basically, TPR consists of simple advices, which are given in the very
beginning of the course, and of complex actions, which are taught in the end. For
example in the beginning Students are taken by their teacher’s hand while he or
she gives the students the advice to for instance stand up, as the teacher himself
does the same together with the students. In slide-shows and on pictures the
context for the new vocabulary is presented. Simple advices consisting only of one
word are supposed to be extended at the moment the first one is understood. If it is
not understood it has to be repeated and their order has to be changed. It is possible
to build chains of actions, always taken for granted that the teacher does the new
action simultaneously with the students.
Those advices are to be repeated about ten times by the teacher followed by
the obligatory physical action. The first five times the students have to act
promptly after having received the advice, the following five times the action has
to happen a certain time later. After the first sequence of ten new orders students
have to pass a memory test. They have to react physically to the orders they have
learned until then.
Drama Method. According to Oldfather, West, White, and Wilmarth (1999,
p. 8), social constructivism is "a particular view of knowledge, a view of how we
come to know". In this view, "learning is constructed through interactions with
others, which take place within a specific socio-cultural context" (Oldfather et al.,
ibid.). The most significant base of social constructivism was laid down by
Vygotsky.
Vygotsky (1978) emphasized the importance of social interaction. He
suggested that a child has the potential to reach beyond her present level within a
certain zone, which is called the Zone of Proximal Development (ZDP). Vygotsky
believes that the process of development is dependent on social interaction, which
leads to cognitive development. A child needs to interact with adults and other
children who are more knowledgeable in order to grow. In other words, through
adult guidance and peer collaboration, a child can perform tasks which cannot be
achieved alone. Vygotosky claimed that optimal learning occurred in the ZDP.
EFL lessons, viewed from a Vygotskian perspective, should provide
collaboration, small group interaction, and work space for peer interaction. The
instructional design should be structured to promote student interaction and
collaboration. Thus the classroom can become a community of learning.
Scaffolding, a concept developed by Wood, Bruner and Ross (1976), refers
to the process that "enables a child or novice to solve a task or achieve a goal that
would be beyond his unassisted efforts" (Wood et al., 1976, p. 90). Scaffolding is
said to be an effective way to promote learning in the ZDP. In scaffolding learners
get opportunities to extend their current skills and knowledge. Teachers must know
children's interests and simplify tasks so they are manageable and motivate
children to pursue the instructional goals.
Teaching language through drama is an attractive option because it gives a
context for listening and meaningful language production, forcing the learners to
use their language resources (Chauhan, 2004). Drama is an activity which
establishes human relationships and communication with others. A child performs
drama under teacher guidance and peer collaboration. Drama activity enables
children to work together in groups. That is, the Drama Method appears to promote
interaction in the ZDP and scaffolding (Wagner, 2002) when used appropriately.
Movies in EFL classes. Some researchers (e.g., Edasawa, Takeuchi, and
Nishizaki, 1989) have suggested movies can be a good motivator for English
learners. There have been many studies and reports on movies in EFL classrooms.
For example, Voller and Widdows (1993) show some guidelines of using movies
in EFL classrooms. Carter and Miyauchi (2005) explored socio-cultural motives
for using Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and suggested several ideas to
improve learners' socio-cultural knowledge. Most of the published studies have
focused on adults and adolescents. There have however been few studies on
movies in EFL classes for children. Children learning EFL probably are unable to
understand most the expressions in movies designed primarily for native English
speakers.
An old Chinese proverb says: “I have heard-I have forgotten, I have seen-
have remembered, I have done- I know”. Therefore, in foreign language, teaching
the main thing is to involve all the pupils in activities and exercises, but for it we
need some good planning principles. The two main problems between two daily
planning are variety and flexibility. Variety means involving pupils in a number of
different types of activities and introducing them to a wide selection of materials. It
means planning so that learning is interesting and never monotonous for pupils.
Flexibility comes when the teacher has to change the plan in particular situation. I
want to speak about some hints for lesson management.
Prepare more than you need. It is advisable to prepare an easy activity, ready
in case of extra time.
Make sure you’re aware of how the time is going relatively to your program.
Do not leave the home task to the last moment. At the end of the lesson, the
learner’s attention is at the lowest level and you may run out of time before you
finish explaining. Explain it earlier and then give a quick reminder at the end.
Write your homework on the blackboard.
If you have papers to distribute to a large class, do not try to give every paper
yourself to every student.
If you are doing group work, give instructions and make sure these are
understood before handing out materials.
I want to mention some types of the lessons that are more resentful in foreign
language teaching.
Fantasy lesson. Pupils sit in a circle, make up a story according to the theme,
and draw a picture to it.
Integral lesson. Pupils are given the words, which have been taken from
English dictionary and try to explain their meaning by finding synonyms or using
them in the context. This activity gives an opportunity to students to show their
skills in language learning.
In planning daily lessons, it is used different activities and exercises.
Zhaunbay Karaev’s level tasks are useful for arising interests in learning. It
consists of four levels:
1. Common (pupil’s) level.
At this stage, pupils are given simple and easy tasks, such as:
Fill in the missing letters: weat_er, wh_t, Brit_ in, We_nesday, etc.
These tasks vary according to the students’ level and they help to revise all
learned materials
2. Algorithmic level. At this stage, pupils do various tasks, which make
students to think a lot. These tasks may include the new grammar structures, which
has just been explained or it may be in the form of revising. It is prefered such
exercises as comparing and choosing the tense forms for 7th, 8th grades , making
up the sentences in Subjunctive Mood or changing direct speech into indirect
speech for 9th and 10th grades. There are some examples given below:
Past Perfect or Past Continuous?
Omar had written/ was writing when I came. Jane had cleaned/ was cleaning
the room by 6 o’clock. Victor said that he had translated/ was translating the article
at that time.
Past Perfect Passive or Past Continuous Passive?
The secretary announced that the letters had been written / were being written
at that moment.
The teacher informed that the dictations had been checked / were being
checked before the lesson started.
3. Creative level. It is the most interesting stage for pupils. This level gives
them to show their talents and abilities in poetry and drama. E.g. after reading the
text, I give to the pupils a task to make up a short poem according to the text they
have just read. In this case, I give them a structure to which they will refer:
_________________________________ fox,
_________________________________box.
_________________________________clever
_________________________________never.
Some of the pupils made up such poems: A red fox,
Was sitting in a box
It was so clever,
Eat hares never or
I have a fox,
It is a toy in the box.
I think it is very clever,
I will leave it alone never.
May be in some cases it will be alike more to nonsense than to poems, but it
helps a lot in practicing the vocabulary and grammar.
The last level is search level. It involves students into research works and
projects. For example, by finding the neutral words in the text a pupil may become
interested in the formation of neutral words, such as flight attendant instead of
stuardess, shop assistant instead of sales woman, so on. But this level can not be
done during the lesson, as it needs much time.
John Sores’ method of critical thinking is very useful in teaching foreign
language. I always use “Group strategy”, “Have learnt strategy” and Venn
diagram. Let us take one of the lessons from home reading. The text is about wild
animals, especially wolves.
1. “Group strategy”. What can you say when you hear the word “wild animal
wolf”?
2.2 The Silent Way and Community language learning as the effective methods of
teaching foreign languages
he decade of 1970s was the decade when the audiolingualism era began to fade out
and the language teachers began to think of some alternatives. It was the decade when the
inspiration of the innovative methods for language teaching began to blossom. It was the
time when psychologists began to admit the existence of the affective and interpersonal
nature of all learning. This means that the importance of factors such as the cognitive and
affective ones in the second language learning has affected the new teaching methods.
Some people call those new teaching methods as the innovative and revolutionary
methods because they are compared to the Audiolingual and Grammar Translation
methodology that had been used before 1970s. According to Brown (2000:103) there are
five most popular methods of the 1970s, they are Community Language Learning,
Suggestopedia, The Silent Way, Total Physical Response and The Natural Approach.
The Silent Way is an approach to language teaching designed to enable students to
become independent, autonomous and responsible learners. It is part of a more general
pedagogical approach to teaching and learning created by Caleb Gattegno. It is
constructivist in nature, leading students to develop their own conceptual models of all the
aspects of the language. The best way of achieving this is to help students to be
experimental learners. The Silent Way allows this.
The main objective of a teacher using The Silent Way is to optimize the way students
exchange their time for experience. Gattegno considered this to be the basic principle
behind all education: "Living a life is changing time into experience."
The students are guided into using their inherent sense of what is coherent to develop
their own "inner criteria" of what is right in the new language. They are encouraged to use
all their mental powers to make connections between sounds and meanings in the target
language. In a Silent Way class, the students express their thoughts and feelings about
concrete situations created in the classroom by themselves or the teacher.
The approach is called The Silent Way because the teacher remains mainly silent, to
give students the space they need to learn to talk. In this approach, it is assumed that the
students' previous experience of learning from their mother tongue will contribute to
learning the new foreign language. The acquisition of the mother tongue brings awareness
of what language is and this is retained in second language learning. The awareness of
what language is includes the use of non-verbal components of language such as
intonation, melody, breathing, inflection, the convention of writing, and the combinations
of letters for different sounds. Rods, pictures, objects or situations are aids used for linking
sounds and meanings in The Silent Way.
- Caleb Gattegno based his whole pedagogical approach on several general
observations which therefore underlie The Silent Way
- Firstly, it is not because teachers teach that students learn. Therefore, if teachers
want to know what they should be doing in the classroom, they need to study learning and
the learners, and there is no better place to undertake such a study than on oneself as a
learner.
When Gattegno studied himself as a learner, he realised that only awareness can be
educated in humans. His approach is therefore based on producing awarenesses rather than
providing knowledge.
- When he studied other learners, he saw them to be strong, independent and gifted
people who bring to their learning their intelligence, a will, a need to know and a lifetime
of success in mastering challenges more formidable than any found in a classroom. He saw
this to be true whatever their age and even if they were perceived to be educationally
subnormal or psychologically 'damaged'. For an account of Gattegno working with such
learners, see John Caldwell Holt How Children Learn.
As a teacher, he saw that his way of being in the class and the activities he proposed
could either promote this state of being or undermine it. Many of the techniques used in
Silent Way classes grew out of this understanding, including the style of correction, and the
silence of the teacher -though it should be said that a teacher can be silent without being
mute. Simply, the teacher never models and doesn't give answers that students can find for
themselves.
Secondly, language is often described as a tool for communication. While it may
sometimes function this way, Gattegno observed that this is much less common than we
might imagine, since communication requires of speakers that they be sensitive to their
audience and able to express their ideas adequately, and of listeners that they be willing to
surrender to the message before responding. Working on this is largely outside the scope of
a language classroom. On the other hand, language is almost always a vehicle for
expression of thoughts and feelings, perceptions and opinions, and these can be worked on
very effectively by students with their teacher.
Thirdly, developing criteria is important to Gattegno's approach. To know is to have
developed criteria for what is right or wrong, what is acceptable or inacceptable, adequate
or inadequate. Developing criteria involves exploring the boundaries between the two. This
in turn means that making mistakes is an essential part of learning. When teachers
understand this because they have observed themselves living it in their own lives, they
will properly view mistakes by students as 'gifts to the class', in Gattegno's words. This
attitude towards mistakes frees the students to make bolder and more systematic
explorations of how the new language functions. As this process gathers pace, the teacher's
role becomes less that of an initiator, and more that of a source of instant and precise
feedback to students trying out the language.
- A fourth element which determines what teachers do in a Silent Way class is the fact
that knowledge never spontaneously becomes know-how. This is obvious when one is
learning to ski or to play the piano. It is skiing rather than learning the physics of turns or
the chemistry of snow which makes one a skier. And this is just as true when one is
learning a language. The only way to create a "know-how to speak the language" is to
speak the language.
Materials. The materials usually associated with Silent Way are in fact a set of tools
which allow teachers to apply Gattegno's theory of learning and his pedagogical theory
-the subordination of teaching to learning- in the field of foreign language teaching. The
tools invented by Caleb Gattegno are not the only possible set of tools for teachers working
in this field. Others can and indeed have been invented by teachers doing research in this
area.
Sound / color chart. This is a wall chart on which can be seen a certain number of
rectangles of different colours printed on a black background. Each colour represents a
phoneme of the language being studied. By using a pointer to touch a series of rectangles,
the teacher, without saying anything himself, can get the students to produce any utterance
in the language if they know the correspondence between the colours and the sounds, even
if they do not know the language.
Fidel . This is an expanded version of the Sound/Colour chart. It groups together all
the possible spellings for each colour, thus for each phoneme.
A set of colored Cuisenaire rods. For low level language classes, the teacher may use
Cuisenaire rods. The rods allow the teacher to construct non ambiguous situations which
are directly perceptible by all. They are easy to manipulate and can be used symbolically.
A green rod standing on the table can also be Mr. Green. They lend themselves as well to
the construction of plans of houses and furniture, towns and cities, stations… - However,
the most important aspect of using the rods is certainly the fact that when a situation is
created in front of the students, they know what the language to be used will mean before
the words are actually produced.
Word charts. These are charts of the same dimensions as the Sound/Colour chart and
the Fidel on which are printed the functional words of the language, written in colour.
Obviously, the colours are systematized, so that any one colour always represents the same
phoneme, whether it is on the Sound/Colour chart, the Fidel or the word charts. Since the
words are printed in colour, it is only necessary for someone to point to a word for the
(other) students to be able to read it, say it and write it.
A set of 10 wall pictures These are designed to expand vocabulary for low level
groups.
The pointer. This is one of the most important instruments in the teacher's arsenal
because it allows teaching to be based consciously and deliberately on the mental powers
of the students. It allows the teacher to link colours, graphemes or words together whilst
maintaining the ephemeral quality of the language. It is the students' mental activity which
maintains the different elements present within them and allows them to restitute what is
being worked on as a phonetic or linguistic unit having meaning.
Thus, each of the tools associated with Silent Way plays its part in allowing the
teacher to subordinate his teaching to the students' learning. Each tool exists in order to
allow the teacher to work in a pin-pointed way on the students as they work on the
language. Each exists for the express purpose of allowing the teacher to work on the
students' awareness in order to produce as many awarenesses as possible in the language
being studied. The tools correspond to the theory and stem directly from it.
No Silent Way lesson really resembles another, because the content depends on the
know-how "here and now" of learners who are "here and now."
A beginning or elementary lesson will start with working simultaneously on the basic
elements of the language: the sounds and prosody of the language and on the construction
of sentences. The materials described above will be frequently used. At first, the teacher
will propose situations for the students to respond to, but very quickly the students
themselves will invent new situations using the rods but also events in the classroom and
their own lives.
A recurrent pattern in low level Silent Way classes is the initial creation of a clear and
unambiguous situation using the rods. This allows the students to work on the challenge of
finding ways -as many as possible- of expressing the situation in the target language. The
teacher is active, proposing small changes so that the students can practise the language
generated, always scrupulously respecting the reality of what they see. They rapidly
become more and more curious about the language and begin to explore it actively,
proposing their own changes to find out whether they can say this or that, reinvesting what
they have discovered in new sentences. The teacher can then gradually hand over the
responsibility for the content of the course to the students, always furnishing the feedback
necessary for the learning process. The content of the course then becomes whatever the
students want it to be, usually an exploration of their own lives, their thoughts, feelings and
opinions.
In more advanced courses, the basic way of functioning remains the same. Although
the class might look quite different to an inexperienced observer, the students will be
exploring the language in the same spirit. The rods are seldom necessary and the word
charts are used much less frequently, since the students can usually find their own mistakes
once they become aware that there is a mistake to look for. The students will be invited to
talk to each other on any subject they wish. The lesson will be based on their mistakes -
"the gifts of the student to the class" as Gattegno liked to call them. The teacher will not
correct the mistakes, but help the students to do so themselves by encouraging them to
discuss the problem, and find other similar and/or contrasting examples.
Whatever the level, giving learners the opportunity to explore and capitalize on their
mistakes enables them to work both on the language and on their own functioning as
learners and encourages confidence and the expansion of their know-how. This is an
intrinsically interesting experience as is visible and audible in the intense involvement of
students in Silent Way classes. The fun students have in this type of class is not derived
from extraneous activities imported into language classrooms (games, songs, role-plays...)
but on the sheer pleasure of self discovery though the exercise of their mental capacities
(imagination, intuition, sensitivity, etc.) on the task of language learning itself.
The fun for the teachers is in having to "think on their feet" to see that their students
are constantly faced with do-able linguistic challenges in the "here and now".
The teacher's silence. Firstly, the teacher’s silence is a constant reminder that, in this
approach, the teacher’s role is not to transmit knowledge but to create situations in which
the students can build linguistic know-hows: pronunciation, syntax, morphology... all the
aspects that constitute being able to speak a language.
Secondly, the teacher’s silence forces him to reflect constantly on his own clarity, and
this changes the preparation of his class completely. The teacher always has to try to find
strictly non-ambiguous means of presenting each situation.
Thirdly, the teacher's silence allows him to keep his students in direct contact with the
unknown. It is the teacher's silence which allows the lesson to become an improvisation
played between the students and himself jointly as they advance. For the class to take place
at all, the teacher has to stay with the students wherever they happen to be, following them
in their exploration and working on their errors and mistakes as they are produced.
Community Language Learning. is considered to be an interesting method to discuss
because it was not designed by a language teacher, instead it was created by a counselor
who was also a therapist and a priest. The design of this method is based on a therapeutic
approach in order to facilitate the learners of a new language to enter their independence
and high level of trust in the target language. Since the counseling techniques are applied
on this method, it is also well-known by the name of Counseling Learning. The use of the
counseling techniques is based on the assumption that the counseling relationship without a
threat or unwanted force can create an optimum environment for the learners in learning a
target language.
Community Language Learning is a humanistic-oriented methodology which has
been getting a lot of attention recently and there are many people who call this
methodology as a humanistic approach to language learning. The term humanistic used
here refers to the mixture of all other emotions and feelings of learners in the teaching-
learning process which includes self-esteem and pride after their accomplishment in their
own efforts and the creation of the cooperation atmosphere in the classroom (Subiyakto,
1988:48). Now it is time to discuss the historical and theoretical background, followed by
the basic principles of Community Language Learning along with the ways to apply it in
real life and concluded by the positive and negative sides of this method.
Charles A. Curran was a specialist in the counseling program and a professor in
psychology in Logola University of Chicago, in the United States of America. He came up
with the idea to apply the concept of psychotherapy in the form of counseling to his
students soon after he was inspired by Carl Rogers. According to Brown (2000:103), Carl
Rogers has a way in viewing education that in order to facilitate learning so that each
individual in the group can be valued and prized appropriately, students and teacher should
join together. This is the main reason why Curran created a special method which is called
the Community Language Learning. In this method there are two roles that should be
played in the process of language teaching and learning. The first role is a counselor, which
is played by the teacher and the second role is the clients, which are played by the students.
There are other terms used to refer to the teacher’s role in this method. Besides using the
term counselor, the terms knower, counselor experts and counselor teachers exist as well.
This method is based on several theories. First of all, it is based on the idea that what
is actually learnt by a human being is generally in his cognitive and affective areas
(Subiyakto, 1988). It means that a learner gets all of the inputs from outside world through
his mind, which can be considered as his cognitive ability and also through his feelings,
which can be considered as his affective ability. Creating a learning atmosphere that
facilitates a learner to communicate and interact with others freely seems to be the best way
to maximize a learner’s cognitive ability as well as his affective ability.
The second theoretical base of this approach is quite similar to the first. According to
Pateda (1991:103) who quoted from Atmodarsono (1984:22) as an effort to learn a second
language, Community Language Learning is based on several factors in a learner’s mind
such as attitude, emotion and motivation. It is clear from this statement that this method is
dealing mostly with the internal factors of a language learner. Pateda (1991:103) also
mentions that this method is based on the interactional theory as well. It means that
language can be used by an individual as a mean to have an active interaction with others
in a community.
The next theoretical premise of this approach is basically directed to achieve the
personal needs of the individuals. It is confirmed by Tarigan (1989:232) that this approach
is based on a particular assumption saying that a person as an individual needs to have an
understanding and assistance from others to go through the process of achieving not only
their personal values but their personal goals as well.
Another assumption that has become the basis of this method is that Curran
emphazise that counseling and teaching should be integrated together (Hamied:1987:143).
It is because according to Curran, counseling is concerning with the self-insight and self-
awareness of an individual that can stimulate his personal growth, satisfaction and better
relationship with others, while teaching is exclusively concerning with intelectual learning
process therefore counseling and teaching should not be separated.
1. Basic Principles
There are five important principles in Community Language Learning according to
Stevick (1976:128-131) as quoted by Pateda (1991). Those principles are:
1. Language is a behavior of a learner that is directed towards others. The learner can
talk about things that make him interested and things that he has been experienced before.
2. A learner can learn a new behavior fast if he is not interupted. Therefore a leaner
as the client must have as many opportunities as possible to practice his language
knowledge without many interverence from the teacher as the counselor.
3. The counselor should give assistance the clients in using their language all the
time.
4. The counselor should give assistance in maintaining useful behavior by using
three suggested techniques, they are (1) give the chance to clients to talk much, (2) develop
the language productivity of the clients and (3) give the counseling and then make some
evaluations.
5. In preparing the materials, the counselor should choose the easy ones for both
the clients and counselor which are suitable for the level and goal to be accomplished.
Besides those basic principles above, Curran also has five stages in the learning and
teaching process. Several experts such as Tarigan (1989), Hamied (1987) and Pateda
(1991) have similarities in discussing these five stages while Subiyakto (1988) discusses
the same five stages with different terms and perspectives. The differences and similarities
of the five stages can be seen in the discussion below.
There is a brief explanation made by Hamied (1987) in his book about the five stages
of development in the teaching and learning process of the clients from Curran. Those
stages are:
1. The embryonic stage. In this stage therea is a total dependancy of the clients to
their counselor.
2. The self-assertion stage. In this stage the clients begin to show their independence
and try the language they learn.
3. The birth stage. In this third stage the clients speak independently although not
perfectly. In this stage they tend to get upset whenever they gets the unwanted assistance
from the knower.
4. The reversal stage. In this stage the clients feels safe and they are open to take
correction from others, they are now in the position to exchange the role play periodically
with the knower and they begin to elaborate the warmth and understanding with their
counselor.
5. The independence stage. In this stage interruption from the knower to correct the
clients’ mistakes is not done too often, instead it is only done to enrich and improve the
language style of the clients.
As quoted by Pateda (1991:107) from Dardjowidjojo (1987:186-189), Curran divides
the stages in the language acquisition into five main stages, which are:
1. The embryonic stage. In this stage the dependancy of the clients to their counselor
is nearly or even exactly 100%. The clients do not feel sure of their abilities when they face
their counselor or other people. The counselor’s role is to lose the clients’ anxiety so that
they feel confident to practice the language they are learning.
2. The self-assertion stage. In this stage the clients feel that they already have the
moral support from their friends. The clients begin to free themselves from the dependancy
to their counselor and start to practice the language they are learning to their friends by
using simple words, phrases and sentences.
3. The birth stage. In this third stage the clients lower the use of their first language
gradually. Since the clients are moving towards their independence, they still need some
help from their counselor although they do not realize it, the counselor needs to minimize
his assistance wisely.
4. The reversal stage. This stage refers to the stage where the clients and the counselor
are now in the level of trusting each other. It means that in this stage the clients feel that
now they have become more active and on the other hand they need the counselor to
correct their mistakes.
5. The independence stage. In this stage the client feel that they have master the
materials given by the counselor and they want to elaborate their knowledge by learning
the social and cultural aspects of the language they are learning.
There are also five other stages mentioned by Tarigan (1989) similar to the ones
mentioned by Pateda (1991) above. Those five stages are:
1. First stage. The first client builds sentences in his native language based on
whatever he wants to talk about to others in a group. The counselor then translates the
utterances in the target language and asks the first client to repeat the translation correctly.
The translation is recorded. The second client who wants to respond to the first client says
his sentences in his native language and again the counselor translates them into the target
language. This response is also recorded so in the end of the conversation all data has been
recorded. The script of the recorded data then can be used in the classroom as an input for
the analysis and exercise of the language.
2. The self-assertive stage. In this stage the clients try to say what they want to say
without the interference and constant assistance from the counselor.
3. The birth stage. This is the stage where the clients improve their independence
and freedom from e counselor and speak in the target language without the translation
from the counselor. The counselor gives the translation only when the clients ask for it.
4. The teenage stage or reversal stage. In this stage the clients have become strong
enough to take the corrective feedback from other clients or the counselor.
5. The independent stage. This stage is characterized by the interaction that flows
freely among the clients themselves and the counselor. Here everybody does the correction
work in stylistic areas for each other. In this stage, the level of trust is high and the clients
do not feel nervous or anxious anymore.
Subiyakto (1988:48-49) somehow has a different opinion about the five stages
existing in the learning and teaching process constructed by Curran. Those five stages are
as follows:
1. The stage of birth. In this stage the clients are nurtured in order to have feeling of
“safety” and feeling as “a member of the community”.
2. The stage of accomplishing independence. In this stage the clients learn more and
more through time and they get more experience. With more knowledge and experience
their ability increase as well and they become more independent from the counselor.
3. The stage of speaking freely. In this stage the clients begin to show their identity
by rejecting the unwanted advice and suggestions given by other people.
4. The stage of accepting the constructive criticism. In this stage the clients have
already had the self-confident and they are ready to take the constructive criticism from
others to improve their ability.
5. The stage of improving the language style and knowledge of the normal linguistic
forms. The clients begin to improve their language style in order to make it suitable for
certain situation and also more satisfying for themselves.
2. Application
There are several simple steps of Community Language Learning method that can be
applied in real life. Those simple steps are taken from Brown (2000:104), and they are
shown as follows:
1. The group of clients are seated in a circle with the counselor on the outside of the
circle. Thos clients first of all have to establish an interpersonal relationship and trust in
their native language. The clients may consist of complete beginners in the foreign
language.
2. When one of the clients wants to say something to the group or to an individual,
he say it in the native language.
3. The counselor translates the utterance back to the client in the target language.
4. The client repeats the translation as accurately as possible.
5. When another client responds in his native language, again the counselor
translates his utterance in the target language. This is done over and over again with other
clients who wants to speak.
6. If possible the conversation is taped for later listening, and at the end of each
session the clients try to get information about the new language.
7. The counselor may take a more directive role and explain certain linguistic
explanation rules.
The simple steps of Community Language Learning method that can be conducted in
real life taken from Brown (2000:104) above can be developed further as shown in the
work of Subiyakto (1988:49-50) below:
1. The group of students are limited from 5 to 10 people in order to get a more
effective teaching process. The students are asked to choose a topic based on the general
agreement among them. Once they are ready, they record their sentences or utterances one
by one.
2. After taping for 20 minutes, the teacher stops the activity and ask the students to
listen carefully and play the recorded sentences or utterances of the students.
3. After listening to the tape, the teacher stops the tape to give a chance to the
students to make some suggestions to improve the recorded sentences or utterances.
4. On the next meeting, the students are asked to listen to the record once again and
write down the transcription of the record together.
5. After reading the transcription written by the students, the teacher can determine
which language structures that should be learnt more thoroughly.
6. By using the sentences made by the students, the teacher can give the instruction to
change a form of sentence into another form of sentence, for example from statements into
questions. The teacher can also give other language exercises, for example making
sentences or utterances to invite special responds from the students.
There are also several complete stages of development shown by Charles A Curran
which are in accordance with the stages mentioned before (Tarigan, 1989:239-241). Those
complete stages are as follows:
1. The first stage. This is the stage where the clients still depend on the counselor
almost entirely.
a.. The client expresses what he wants to say only to the counselor in the native
language. Every member of the group listens to what he says but they are not involved in
it.
b. The counselor reflects the client’s ideas back to him in the target language, in a
simple way by using phrases that consist of five or six words.
c. The clients expresses his ideas in the target language and he will get the assistance
from the counselor when he makes a mistake or does not feel sure about a word or a
phrase. This is also called as the client’s maximum security stage.
2. The second stage.
a. The client expresses what he wants to say only to the counselor in the native
language. Every member of the group listens to what he says but they are not involved in
it.
b. The counselor walks around the group and begins to speak directly to the group
in the target language.
c. The counselor only give assistance to the client when he does not feel sure about
a word or a phrase. It is a sign of trust and positive expectation.
3. The third stage.
a. The client speaks directly to the group in the target language. This is a sign that
the group has acquired the ability to comprehend simple phrases.
b. The counselor only give assistance to the client when he does not feel sure about
a word or a phrase. It is a sign of bigger trust, independence and the view of the clients
towards the relationships among phrases, structures and ideas. Translation is given only
when a member of the group needs it.
4. The fourth stage.
a. The client now speaks more freely by using more complicated structures and
expressions in the target language. It is a sign that the group can understand what he says.
b. The counselor interferes directly especially in correcting complicated expressions
to make sure that the clients get satisfying improvement.
5. The fifth stages.
a. The client now speaks more freely by using more complicated structures and
expressions in the target language. It is a sign that the group can really comprehend what
he says.
b. The counselor interferes not only to correct the client’s mistakes but also to give
idioms and more beautiful construction.
c. In this stage, the clients may become the counselor for groups that are still in early
stages of the first, second and the third.
According to Stevick (1976:126) as quoted by Pateda (1991:104-105), there are two
main phases in applying the method of Community Language Learning. The two main
phases are the investment phase and the reflection phase. The description can be seen in
the following:
1. The investment phase. This phase refers to the effort of involving the clients with
the social interaction with others, for example the need to talk to someone else in a certain
community. It consists of five stages as shown below:
a. Stage 1. The client utters short sentences in his native language. The counselor
stands behind him, and translates the client’s utterances to target language. When the clien
makes a mistake, the counselor corrects him.
b. Stage 2. The client begins to utter the previous utterances that were used in his
native language by using the target language.
c. Stage 3. The client directly utters new sentences or utterances in the target
language. He only uses his native language when other clients need him to. In this stage,
making mistake is something that is inevitable.
d. Stage 4. The client utters his utterances or sentences in the target language and he
feels free from anxiety.
e. Stage 5. The clients are capable of using words and sentences in the target
langauge, the counselor gives additional vocabulary and guides them in using the basic
structure.
2. The reflection phase. This phase refers to the effort of doing some introspection to
see whether the clients have acquired and mastered the material and problems in the
language learning. It consists of three steps as shown beow:
a. Step 1. The client expresses his experience in his own words. The counselor listens
to what he says and he can say if he agrees or not to what the client says.
b. Step 2. The client’s utterances are played back with no pause.
c. Step 3. The client’s utterances are played back sentence by sentence. It is also
possible for those utterances to be written down on the whiteboard and the clients copy
them. Then every clients translates the sentences in the target language.
C. Strengths and Weaknesses
Just like any other methods in language teaching the Community Language Learning
method also has some strengths and weaknesses. Those strength and weaknesses are
summarized as follows:
1. Strengths of Community Language Learning
1. Since this method is a student-oriented method it can help students become
independent in doing their activities in the classroom.
2. Having a strong cooperation with other students in learning a target language can
help create a healthy atmosphere, reduce the low self-esteem of the slow learners and
increase the self-confident.
3. The students learn to communicate and use the cognitive knowledge from the
very beginning in order to practice the rules of the target language before they formulate
their individual sentences or utterances.
4. This method offers certain insights to teachers by reminding them to lower the
learners’ anxiety, to create as much supportive group as possible in the classroom, to allow
students to initiate language, and to show learners the autonomous learning as a
preparation to face the day when the teacher is no longer around to guide them.
5. Eventhough this method allows students to move according to their own speed,
the fast learners may push and help the slow ones.
6. This method allows students to identify themselves to language they are learning.
7. This method allows students to have the freedom and inisiative as much as they
want that makes this method as a unique and fascinating learning experience.
2. Weaknesses of Community Language Learning
1. In the beginning when the teacher uses a tape recorder as an audio instrument and
the students build their own sentences and utterances, the process can only go well if the
students have a certain knowledg about the structure and vocabulary of the target language.
If the teacher keeps on giving the translation of the students’ sentences, the presentation in
the classroom tend to be “translation presentation”.
2. The presentation of this method in the classroom is process-based and not
content-based which makes it difficult to build the outline of this method.
3. The possible fixed material to be used in all classrooms may be the instructions
given about the structure of the target language.
4. The recording process can create difficulties to those who are not familiar to the it
and may waste valuable time in doing it.
5. The new role of the teacher may cause a certain feeling of frustation to those who
do not get the teacher-student relationship that they expected before.
6. The evaluation test to see the progress that students have may be more
complicated to be done than in ordinary classroom that does not use this method.
7. The success of this method depends largely on the translation expertise of the
counselor. The counselor must not make any mistakes in doing the translation because if
certain aspects of language are mistranslated there could be a less effective understanding
of the target language.
Community Language Learning is a method which is basically concerning with the
internal aspects of the learners of a new language. In this method, in understanding what
the learners need in the classroom, the teacher must have a high sensitivity to be able to
identify the time when the clients need help in communicating their ideas and the time
when they need to do it on their own. Since the teacher has a role as a translator to guide
the learners on the early stages of this method, the teacher must have a good command of
the target language so that he can make necessary correction to the mistakes that the clients
do.
For those who are interested to apply this interesting method in their classrooms here
in our country, it may be a little difficult since this method not only takes more time and
energy but it also depends on the diversity of the culture and language as well as the clients
themselves. Inspite of that, the role-play in the classroom offered by this method still can
be applied in our country, the teacher may take the part as a counselor and the students as
the clients. As long as the teacher is less active than the learners the use of this method will
give a great advantage and a brand new wonderful learning experience to both the learners
and the teacher.
III. Practical assignments
3.1 Teaching grammar according to The Silent Way
I wish to present an innovative approach to teaching structures of a language to L2
learners. I contend that it is possible to teach any structure in any second language in such a
way that (1) there is no need to resort to metalinguistic vocabulary to explain how to
operate correctly in the new tongue (e.g. "noun," "prepositional," phrase," "do-support"),
and (2) the teacher need not speak at all. Rather, I suggest that grammatical meanings can
be made clear in perceptible situations which force the students to use the language
correctly and understand why they are doing so. Thus, my primary concern is not with
teaching grammar, but in how the students function.
I have found that all of the structures in English can be presented in unambiguous
situations using a set of colored rods and a word chart of necessary vocabulary. For this
paper I will limit myself to a discussion of how ESL students can acquire the articles "a"
and "the." These are often considered a fine point that even advanced students have
difficulty mastering, yet I know that the following lesson can be successfully grasped by
students with only a few hours' exposure to English.
In answer to the question, "Why teach structure at all?" I respond that students need
this kind of work if they are to function in the new language on a par with native speakers.
The vast majority of ESL students today would like to learn English well enough so that
they can exist alongside native speakers in schools and jobs without being penalized for
misuse of the language. To reach this state of attainment they must study the language
consciously.
Thus, when I present a linguistic situation such as the following, I want my students
to see it as native English speakers do, and act accordingly. In this exercise, then, the
students' responsibility is to perceive the situation and work on the appropriate language.
My responsibility is to make sure the meaning is clear, and to make sure the students work
properly. (I mention this last point because at times I have observed students who did not
know how to look very well-they trained their eyes on the teacher or a student sitting next
to the, rather than on the rods.)
I put a collection of colored rods someplace where they can be seen by everyone.
They may be lying in a shallow box that is tilted slightly, or they may stand up on a table or
desk. A sample collection would look like this:
In this lesson I am assuming that the students are familiar with the names of the
colors, the word "rod," and the imperative "take." They have most likely have also met the
words "a" and "the," although it is not necessary. On the wall is a chart with all of these
words located in random order. If I don't have a chart, I can easily write the words on the
board. Here is an example of this chart:
Miming, I convey to the students that I want them to tell me to take a red rod. I
listen to the students' output and work with what they say. If someone says, "Take a red
rod," I have the entire class listen to and repeat. My work can be done via gestures, so I do
not have to speak at all.
If no one says anything correctly, I work with a statement with errors in it. For
example, if I hear, "You take a rod red," I can stop the class, have the student repeat the
sentence while I put it, word by word, on the outstretched fingers of my right hand. "You"
is placed on my thumb, "take" on my index finger, "a" on my middle finger, "rod" on the
ring finger, and "red" on my pinky. When this has been established, I fold my thumb
down, indicating that the first word should be dropped. The student responds with, "Take a
rod red." Then I cross my last two fingers, to show a change in word order, and the student
says, "Take a red rod." At last we have a correct, working sentence. The class repeats the
sentence and I take a red rod.
I mime that the class should tell me to take a green rod. They say, "Take a green
rod," and I do. I point to a black, they say, "Take a black rod," and I do.
Then I point to the sole yellow rod. Many students will naturally say, "Take a
yellow rod." I shake my head "no" at this, which perhaps perplexes them. I let them try
again, making other guesses. If someone is right ("Take the yellow rod"), I indicate this
and have the rest of the class listen. If not, I go to the word chart, cover the word "a" with
one hand while pointing to "the" with the other. This should be sufficient for the students to
say, "Take the yellow rod," though some may still be perplexed. I then take the yellow rod.
The remaining rods look like this:
I have the students tell me to take a white rod. Some may be confused between
saying "a" or "the," but as a class we decide on "a". I point to a red rod and we do the same.
Next I point to the blue rod, and hope that some of the students will realize that it is time to
say, "Take the blue rod." I nod my head "yes" to them, shake my head "no" to the others.
As we continue to remove rods from the table, I work with the students who have
still not caught on to the rules of this game. Perhaps I stop all of the class from speaking,
while one confused student and I work alone. Usually this is enough not only to bring this
one student "into the light," but also the other uncertain ones who were just watching.
By the time we are through, it should be clear that "a" is used to indicate any one out
of a group of like objects, while "the" is used for something unique.
To test the students, and to provide practice, I can put up a new set of rods, and
repeat the exercise. If both the students and I have been doing our jobs correctly, this
second set should present no problems, and we can complete it easily. As well, if the
students are enjoying the activity, I can expand it by having them work on the distinction
between "Take two blue rods" and "Take the two red rods." Also, we can work on
sentences like "Take a blue rod and a white one; give the blue one to me and put the white
one back."
Since the class will continue to use the rods to learn other structures, additional
practice on the items just learned will naturally arise in subsequent lessons. Working with
rods can occur as a whole class activity, or in small groups. Perhaps the former is best for
provoking linguistic awareness, while the latter allows practice to gain facility.
The point of working in this way is to let students study the language analytically
while developing a synthetic feel for it. To my mind, this is not teaching grammar at all, it
is teaching students. The grammatical structures of English are something I must have
conscious knowledge of, yet foremost in my mind when I teach is that I must be in contact
with what the students are doing. The "model" lesson presented above can be modified
when working with a single ESL student in a class of native English speakers, or when
working with a group of mixed-level L2 learners. I liken teaching language to teaching
music - to be good at either, one must provide the right exercises based on the student's
needs at that moment.
FOOTNOTES
1 Accountability in Education, ed. Leon M. Lessinger and Ralph W. Tyler.
Worthington, Ohio: Charles A. Jones Publishing Co., 1971, pp. 21, 22.
2 This address wcs published in the Modern Language Journal, 1965, 49, pp. 273-
281.
3 For an informative discussion of this view, see Arthur W. Staats, "Verbal Habit-