Silent period refers to the phenomenon, when children remain silent, or say very little even after considerable exposure to the target language. In many cases, children may remain silent in the class, but after coming home, they reveal to their parents what they have learned. If there is any output it oftentimes consists of memorized phrases that are usually learned as a whole word and the child may not understand their meaning completely. On a bright note, silent period is not anything pathological, but normal pre-production stage of language acquisition. Much to our surprise, the explanation of the silent period is not mind-boggling. Second language learners are either unable or unwilling to produce their developing second language. The children are simply building up competence via listening. After developing enough competence, speaking ability emerges on its own like a fountain of delight.
The length of silent period can be impinged upon by many factors, including psychological withdrawal or frequent interruptions and resumptions in the language acquisition processes.
Nevertheless, the length of silent period is determined very individually. In very early second language learning, the emanation of language production processes might arise at different times and very individually, which is one of the reasons why we should pay individual attention to each learner.
In teaching practice,the learners’ roles are primarily the ones of listener and performer, whereas the teacher serves as a language model. In this respect, the following points should be remembered:
- Teachers ought to respect the silent period.
- It is imperative that comprehension should precede production. Children respond to teacher's commands by action before they start with oral production.
- Teachers need to provide learners with a comprehensible input, e.g. communicate the meaning of commands with the help of physical actions.
- At no time should children be forced to produce utterances in the target language before they internalize with it and develop the receptive vocabulary.
Written & Edited by E.Kerr
The length of silent period can be impinged upon by many factors, including psychological withdrawal or frequent interruptions and resumptions in the language acquisition processes.
Nevertheless, the length of silent period is determined very individually. In very early second language learning, the emanation of language production processes might arise at different times and very individually, which is one of the reasons why we should pay individual attention to each learner.
In teaching practice,the learners’ roles are primarily the ones of listener and performer, whereas the teacher serves as a language model. In this respect, the following points should be remembered:
- Teachers ought to respect the silent period.
- It is imperative that comprehension should precede production. Children respond to teacher's commands by action before they start with oral production.
- Teachers need to provide learners with a comprehensible input, e.g. communicate the meaning of commands with the help of physical actions.
- At no time should children be forced to produce utterances in the target language before they internalize with it and develop the receptive vocabulary.
Written & Edited by E.Kerr
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