The benefits of a "silent period" for learners at beginning levels have been well documented. But what about teachers? Can keeping your trap shut actually improve your teaching? Image credits: Adactio
I once had a class of advanced level teenagers. They were all excellent speakers and we were using an IELTS coursebook (which was actually pretty good). After the first couple of weeks, it became clear the class was starting to sort of "rot" - there was less discussion, less involvement, and the old "drawing blood from a stone" impression was starting to set in for me as a teacher. The more I tried to improve the class activities and content and make my teaching approach engaging, the further the students appear to sink into a kind of torpor.
This is, of course, not at all uncommon in many TEFL contexts, and it can be very demoralising for teachers who bust an absolute gut to make their classes as interesting and interactive as possible, only to find their students withdrawing further and further into disinterested shells.
In a lot of cases, I actually think these sorts of classroom environments are often caused (or exacerbated) by the actual efforts of the teacher him/herself - strange as that might sound. Basically, the more reliant the overall environment becomes on the teacher to provide the interest and engagement, the more the students tend to withdraw. They'll answer a question if asked, but won't ask one of their own. They'll tell you the content is boring, but won't (appear to) be able to explain why, and won't offer anything in the way of better suggestions.
In the case of the class I described above, I eventually found the perfect solution: I stopped doing all the talking.
Actually, I stopped doing any talking at all.
I walked into the class one day, and without greeting or addressing any of the students, I wrote (something along the lines of) the following on the whiteboard:
I won't be doing any talking at all in today's class. We need to finish Unit 7 today. It's up to you to get it finished, working in pairs or groups or whatever suits you. If you finish this unit with lots of time to spare it means either (a) you didn't do the activities very well or didn't really discuss them, or (b) you've got plenty of time to extend the unit in whatever way you like.
Please do not ask me any questions. Please don't freak out because I've stopped speaking today. Today's lesson is all about you, and you are going to run it completely on your own.
I will of course observe, and I will be grading your performance. The grade will depend almost entirely on how much talking and interacting you do with your classmates.
GOOD LUCK!
I then sat down and just watched them. For an hour. And said nothing. Nothing at all.
(Though I did smile or flick an eyebrow here and there).
They all sat there for a minute or so like stunned mullets. Their eyes were wider than I'd ever seen them before. It looked for all the world like I'd thrown a cat with shades and a leather jacket right into the middle of a dog pound.
When it was clear I wasn't going to say anything, they all began to glance sheepishly at their coursebooks, and occasionally stole quick shy "this is a bit nuts, isn't it?" looks at the other students sitting near them.
And then, ever so slowly, they began to talk. Quick, furtive queries here and there and some humorous comments. But they started to pair up or form groups and start talking. The looks in my direction gradually became fewer and fewer, and as they did the talking and interacting picked up pace accordingly.
Twenty minutes into the class, and they were all talking. The various little groups each took to the unit in their own way, but they were all discussing. There was laughter. There were suggestions and disagreements of opinion.
For me, I was like that hermit in the Monty Python film Life of Brian - you know, the one who has taken an oath of silence and suddenly has someone step on his foot? I wanted to sing for joy and dash about the classroom telling all these teenagers how awesome it was to see them talking it up. But I couldn't. For the experiment to run its course, I had to stay detached and silent.
From memory, there was more independent and active discussion in that one hour class than I'd heard in almost two weeks of classes prior to that.
And it was all because I simply shut up, and made the class about them. Completely about them.
After that I ensured there were regular lessons like this one in our schedule, and more non-teacher run periods in the other lessons. The class came to life. It worked.
I also found this wasn't just an issue for advanced learners. The same approach worked wonders with intermediate and lower levels as well.
In fact, it worked in any class where the learners were not all that motivated and had come to depend almost entirely on their teacher for the motivation and interest.
So yes, I think silent periods can be good for teachers as well. And very good for their learners!
If we can just let go of the usual role and expectations of teachers, the regular way of going about a lesson, we can in many cases succeed in taking a blanket off the banquet table - and find that the table is already fully laden.
:-)
