A new video from the Hiroshima International University project

[Laurence Howells]

Dear All

We think this is a particularly interesting video, so please take a look.  You'll see in the video how a whole 90 mins lesson unfolded, interspersed with commentary from the teacher and reactions from some of the students ... plus some really cool ways to manage a large class of 30 first-year University students, get them 'hooked' and hold their attention for a full 90 minutes.  A master class in teaching ...

With thanks to Don for his amazing work and his willingness to share it with the world!

Please share it with anyone you think might be interested.

https://silentway.online/teaching-english-as-a-foreign-language-working-on-prepositions-of-place/

Laurence

[Piers Messum]

Hi Laurence

I'm bowled over! This might just be the very best video of a language class on the internet. (I'd love to hear about a better one.) Everything was just right: great teaching, great commentary, and great filming/editing. 

おめでとう and best wishes

Piers

[Laurence Howells]

Piers

いいえいえ！

I like it too!  The really cool thing about the commentary is that none of it was scripted or pre-prepared or filmed in post ... it's all just Don talking to me and Sylvain about his work plus some students' off-the-cuff reactions ... 

Laurence

[Luigi Magnano]

Bravo on your recent demonstration! It perfectly showcased the importance of not only training students to hear foreign language sounds, but also to actively produce them. You've captured a key element: effective listening is the foundation for language learning, especially those subtle nuances native speakers use.

The students' comments are a true testament to your achievement. They've clearly grasped the importance of pronunciation!

Thank you for your excellent work.

[don cherry]

I feel it is worth mentioning that following what the students do in this lesson, they eventually work on non-referential ‘there’ and a couple other things to create descriptions like, ‘There is a table in front of a chair. Behind the chair is a floor lamp.’ I feel it is also worth mentioning that the students all eventually do pairwork with a file folder between their desks, one student given a photo of a furniture configuration and the other student given the rods to create the configuration on the photo described to them by their partner. Finally, I cannot help but note that all this stuff I do in these videos is either outright stolen or inspired by my many mentors, like Fusako Allard, Roslyn Young, and John Beary. And I encourage others to steal, and more importantly improve, whatever they see here.

[Michiko Watabe]

My notes and a Question from Don's Class 

Hello, it's my first time posting a message on this forum. I'm Michiko Watabe from Japan and teach English and Japanese to adults. I encountered the Silent Way decades ago. Since then, I've been trying to incorporate the approach into my textbook class. I'm also considering launching new Japanese class(es) with a 100% SW approach, so I'm thrilled. I'm eager to exchange ideas and learn from all of you.

Today, I'd like to share my notes from Don's 90-minute university English class. 

Video: Teaching English as a Foreign Language at University: A complete lesson (youtube.com) 

1.    Overall: The students progressed step by step, practicing phrases that ranged from short and simple, such as "Take a straw in the red cup," to more complex ones like "Take two straws off the large clear cup. Put one in the red cup and the other on the white cup." New phrases were built upon the original ones, gradually reaching mastery in articulating those sentences, especially the usage of 'put,' 'take,' 'in,' 'on,' and 'off.' I observed that this is one of the characteristics of this approach, where a new target is introduced and practiced alongside previously learned material. This reinforces the earlier acquired basics, making them very solid. 

2.    Presence: The students consistently engaged with each situation. The practice progressed based on the responses of students or Don to what others said. For example, if a student said, "Take a red rod and put it in the paper cup," Don followed the instruction, demonstrating cause and effect. Then, the next student had to provide a direction with a new scenario. This approach ensured that students were constantly challenged to think and formulate sentences in new contexts, leading to a high level of engagement. 

Video: From 1:50 to 4:45, within about four minutes, there were 10 activities. These activities demanded that students maintain focus at a rapid pace. There was no time to consider anything else. I found this approach very effective. Additionally, the students appeared to be enjoying it very much.    

3.    Awareness-raising: In the video from 7:58, particularly from 8:29 to 9:14, the students were practicing "Take a/the straw out of the cup." Straws were removed from the cup one by one until only one remained. One of the students was tasked with giving a direction to Don. She said, 'Take a straw out of the cup.' Suddenly, Don's facial expression changed! I'm sure they were thinking, 'Why not ‘a’?!' as they tried to figure it out. The student attempted a couple of times and finally said a correct sentence using 'the,' which made Don smile. Without an explanation of the rule, they grasped it from the context and the practice before and after the activity. 

I experienced something similar as a learner in a situation in a Silent Way class years ago. I had known the grammar rule of ‘the’, but I distinctly remember the rule becoming tangible/real when I saw only one rod in a box and had to ask one of my classmates to hand it to me. The realization was somewhat shocking. Since becoming aware of its usage, it has never left me. 

4.    Question: the video from 47:00 to 56:40

“We’ll tell you to do what Don does, OK?” This is a pretty difficult sentence for the Ss to understand. Don provided the Ss with hints such as writing short lines (indicating the number of words) on the board and practicing saying it many times. After that, Don moved on and invited two Ss to the front of the classroom, then had the other Ss say the sentence to them. I was not sure if class understood the meaning of the sentence. I guess Don thought that the Ss would understand it if they look at the scene in front of them. I’ve seen a similar scene before. I wonder Don uses such challenging sentences intentionally to encourage understanding through visual cues. 

Michiko Watabe

[Laurence Howells]

Michiko さん

Thanks for posting, it's really good to hear your reflections.  The point you make about building 'step-by-step' is a really good one.  And it is surprising how these small steps cumulate and the whole thing snowballs isn't it?  But making sure that each small step is properly consolidated before moving on is key, isn't it.  I suspect that because the students played the game of 'We'll tell you to do what Don does' enough times with changing situations, they got the meaning and then the 'grammar' kind of rubbed off on them.  It's certain that the students at the front understood what they were being asked to do - because we could see them doing what they were asked.  

'The/a' is one of those things that English speakers find completely uninteresting and so obvious it is hardly noticed when we speak ... until we are confronted with how strange it seems to people learning English!  But as you say, the 'rule' is abstract and it's only when the reality hits you that you actually know it.  

My experience as a student is that often I know how to say a sentence before I am certain what it means; and even then I often don't know 'how it is that the words mean what I know they mean' ... that unravelling often happens after a few slightly varied experiences ... and sometimes a few days later ... and quite often several lessons later ... and sometimes even months later - an example, I met つもり months ago and have used it a many times since then, but suddenly last week, after someone used it in a TV programme I was watching, did something new about it click into place - it's like an onion ... there are layers and layers to be gradually uncovered, and the mind does this by itself through enough cumulating experiences that we have paid attention to.

Please keep telling us about what you discover!

Laurence

[don cherry]

Thanks for sharing your notes and question, Michiko. I am especially interested in your question. It’s an excellent one for me. It has brought up some thoughts I’ve had for a good long while regarding my effort to make meaning clear for students. My conclusions, after taking several long walks and getting lost more than once in a city I’ve lived in for almost 20 years now, is the following:

 

I cannot be sure the students understand all the language put into circulation, and it’s important that I admit that to myself. I will continue to plumb the depths of my creativity to make all the language clear to students, but I cannot take it for granted that they will all grasp it all. For example, in a situation where I am manipulating straws or rods or whatever behind one student while the class looks on, I can put into circulation language where the class gives the student directions (Take a blue rod out of the green cup) or the class gives the student past tense narration (Don took the blue rod out of the green cup) in order for the student to perform the same action. Either type of activity can be introduced with the student up front saying to the class either “Tell me to do what Don does” or “Tell me what Don does, and I’ll do the same” (both sentences would be practiced by the whole class first, then a student would be chosen to come to the front of the classroom, face the students, and say it, prompting the beginning of the activity). These sentences are very difficult, and I know they would likely not be completely understood by everybody, but I think they’re worthwhile sentences to practice anyway. But back to the meat of the activity, with the class either giving the student directions or past tense narration, it’s entirely possible that it would be lost on students whether or not they are giving directions or narration, but even if it is, they are working on “take a/the ____ out of a/the ___” (and then later “…and put it/them in/on a/the ___”) and this is very challenging for Japanese learners. So important work is being done. Still . . . it concerns me that they MAY be missing some meaning, and I am always on the lookout to make things clearer, but I cannot kid myself that I will always make things clear for everyone. Excellent question, Michiko. Thank you so much!

[Michiko Watabe]

Laurence and Don, 

Thank you for your responses.

(Don, I’m glad you were able to find your way home from your long walk, thinking over my question. 😊) 

After reading Don’s lines: “I think they’re worthwhile sentences to practice anyway. But back to the meat of the activity, with the class either giving the student directions or past tense narration, it’s entirely possible that they would be lost on students, whether they are giving directions or narration. However, even if they are, they are working on “take a/the ____ out of a/the ___” (and then later “…and put it/them in/on a/the ___”), which is very challenging for Japanese learners.” 

I understand that the difficult sentence “We’ll tell you to do what Don does, OK?” is linked with their target sentence. Practicing it enhances their ability to use the targets better. I agree with Laurence saying, "I suspect that because the students played the game of 'We'll tell you to do what Don does' enough times with changing situations, they got the meaning and then the 'grammar' kind of rubbed off on them.

I wondered why we don’t provide translations or analyze the sentence to help the students understand it. If we do so, we deprive them of the opportunity to figure out the meaning themselves. In trying to understand it, students pay attention to the speaker’s tone, intonation, the situation, what they are looking at, and their own experiences related to its meaning. They gather this information and use it to comprehend the sentence, alongside their English skills. We do this in daily conversation, and it’s a very important skill. If we provide translations or start to analyze the sentence, the entire class stops building this skill. (This view is new to me.)

I thought that even if students don’t understand the sentence clearly, it’s worth practicing, as Don mentioned. 

After decades of studying English, I still need to gather information to understand some difficult sentences. The students have a long way to go in their journey of learning English. There is another benefit in practicing difficult sentences.

Thank you for your thoughts.

[Cedric Lefebvre]

I'm following all this with a keen interest.

About the "We’ll tell you to do what Don does!" again, I'd make one more tiny distinction, that doesn't take away anything from what has been said so far. The way I see it, it's best if some sentences are completely clear and transparent; whereas others can be roughly "guessed from context". When working on "Take a straw off of the cup", we try hard to work with a visual setup that will make clear any tiny change in the sentence. Just getting the gist of it won't cut, it has to be clear so that students can tell that saying "a" or "the", for instance, isn't the same. On the other hand, since "We’ll tell you to do what Don does!" won't really be tweaked and changed in subtle details by the students, they can just accept it the way it is, and connect it to what's going on: someday they'll be able to create such sentences and understand them easily, but it doesn't need to be today.

In a way, these 'instruction type' sentences, such as "one chair clockwise!" too, could be said in Japanese and the most important work would still be done (with the "take a straw" sentences). But as Michiko pointed out, when speaking a foreign language, not everything will always be made clear by a clever Silent Way teacher: students will need to observe finely what's going on and, yes, guess a bit and accept that some doubt may remain. That's an important teaching as well, and quite a different skill to develop. 

Cédric Lefebvre

Creating Within You a Mastery of French  

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[Laurence Howells]

Dear All

This discussion reminded me of Gattegno talking about his 1977 TV series.  Here’s a small extract from that interview : https://youtu.be/qIHCJR8gRSM  showing just that part.  What do you all think?

(BTW I just uploaded a version of the whole interview with improved sound over the version we uploaded before - the sound still isn’t brilliant but it is better than the original … here is the link to the whole interview: https://youtu.be/HxYi2lJIejw)

Laurence

[Michiko Watabe]

Cedric and Laurence, 

Cedric, thank you. How nice it is that someone made my floating ideas into 'language'! 

The lesson targets and something else. Maybe we don’t need to deal with them equally. The students could 'suspend judgment' in understanding the meaning of the sentence, 'We will tell you...' They don’t have to seek perfection.

…………………………………

I would like to write a bit more about my experience with 'How nice it is that someone made my floating ideas into 'language'!' Before Cedric gave us his opinion, there were some ideas in me, but they didn’t come to my awareness level. As soon as I read his post, I found that was the thing I was vaguely feeling. 

Before I become aware of something, I have a hunch or some signs. When I spot it, I try to force myself to become aware of it by thinking or focusing more. I didn’t try hard enough to make it happen this time.

I think this is a valuable experience for myself and my teaching. As a teacher, I need to force students' awareness in their learning. The more I practice it myself, the better I can sense students' floating ideas just before they reach an awareness level and help them. 

Laurence, thank you for the video link. I need to watch it with captions many more times to understand Dr. G’s idea. However, I feel like in this discussion, my invisible thoughts became visible.

Michiko

[Laurence Howells]

Michiko さん

This is a really interesting discussion.  Thanks for getting it going.  

You are right we all need to go away and think about what Gattegno was saying in that tiny bit of video: it isn’t at all obvious or surface-level.  I don’t know if it helps, but I’ve just added accurate English captions to the small clip so it might be a bit easier to follow, and maybe the automatic translation might be a bit better now?

I’m personally particularly interested in the whole of this interview because, way back in 1977, he was thinking about and trying to produce something on video that people can learn from, and that gives us lessons for what we can do nowadays with videos.  There is an enormous amount in the whole 1977 Television project that has never been picked up, in fact.

Laurence

[Luigi Magnano]

Dear Colleagues,

I am writing to you today to share some of my reflections on the TSW approach, prompted by the recent filming of SW classes given by Don Cherry and filmed by Laurence Howells.

I have been using the TSW approach in my classes for a few years now, and I have found it to be a very effective way to teach young students. The recent videos have provided me with valuable insights into how the TSW approach can be adapted to meet the needs of different learners.

In particular, the videos have highlighted the challenges of teaching English to students with varying levels of prior experience. First-time students often find that the TSW approach provides them with a strong foundation in the language. Students who have some prior experience with English may find that the TSW approach seems too elementary. However, these students may also benefit from the approach, as it can help them to develop a deeper understanding of the underlying structure of the language.

Adults who have been studying English for many years may find that they have not been able to achieve fluency. The TSW approach can help these students to identify and address the gaps in their knowledge.

The videos have also led me to contemplate the importance of tailoring the TSW approach to the specific needs of each learner. There is no one-size-fits-all approach that will be effective for all students. However, by carefully considering the needs of our students, we can use the TSW approach to help them achieve their language learning goals.

I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on the TSW approach and how you have adapted it to meet the needs of your students.

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