Listening and Learning Without Talking

Recognizing the Silent Period of Language Acquisition

Transcript

There's something called a silent period in ESL, which means that they're listening, they are comprehending, they're watching you and just because they are not communicating verbally, it doesn't mean they don't understand. They're actually absorbing and taking in all the language that you are presenting to them. What I find is when they show a little bit of interest even if it's just a smile, I have to show that I am just as interested in what they like, what they do, what their home life is like, what were they interested in, their music, their movies. If I don't show that interest how do I expect them to be motivated to see me and talk to me?

Summary

An ESL teacher discusses the importance of identifying and validating students' subtle forms of participation during the Silent Phase of language acquisition. Even something as small as a student's smile is a sign of interest.