Skill of Silence and Non-verbal cues

M.VijayalakshmiAssistant Professor

• Silence means Pause• Teacher remains silent without speaking

anything• Nonverbal Cues includes those behaviours

that convey meaning without wordsSmilesFacial expressionsGestures Body movementsHead movements

Silence - Example - 1

• Silence – Effective tool – make pupil’s participation

• Pause – twofold function –It provides a discussion atmosphereIt eventually helps pupils in learning and

to organize a more complete answer

Silence - Example - 2• Silence –

After introductory statement• Stimulates pupils to think about

what the teacher has just said

Silence - Example - 3• After a question from a pupil,

silence indicates - • Teacher is considering the question• After a momentary Pause –

teacher answers the question or redirects it to another pupil

Silence - Example - 4• Teachers asks a question and

immediately, without giving time to the whole class to think, accepts the answer of the pupil sitting on the first bench

Silence - Example - 5

•Teacher uses silence to -•Encourage the pupil to respond correctly

Silence - Example - 6• Teacher uses silence twice after

the initial answer –• To inform the pupil that he is on

the right track, and should elaborate his answer

Silence - Example - 7• Teacher asked a question and observed

the silence• Followed by a pupil response• Again, teacher asks a question• Followed by a verbal prompt –• To stimulate thinking and formulate

complete and well-worded answer

Verbal Prompts• Consist of phrases –Please think over your answer

carefullyWhen I call on you, I want a

complete answer

Example - 8• Teacher usesLonger silence along with hand

gestures and pre-verbal promptsSmiles, nods his head and gives a

short pause and points to another pupil

Points to next pupil

Example – 9Non-verbal cues• Teacher –

o Looks at all the pupils, uses silence for a few seconds

oGives smileso Says “think it over”oNods his heado Points to pupilo Smiles, nodding his head, hand gestures,

going near pupil, puts the questiono Tilts his head

Example - 10

• Pupil are ready to answer• Teacher ignores and continues • Pupil passively listen to the teacher• Indicates impatient and does not

provide any pauses

Multiple Intelligence

Non-verbal cues• Without non-verbal cues, silence is

meaningless• Behaviours that convey meaning

without words• Classified into four different

categories

Facial Cues• Smile, frown, looking

thoughtfully at the pupil, quizzical look, etc

Head movements• Nodding, shaking and

tilting of the head

Body movements • Moving in the classroom

Hand movements

• Pointing to the student, ‘continue’ cue, ‘anything else’ cue, ‘stop’ cue, pointing from a student to another student, etc

Facial Expressions

Facial Cues

Head Movements• Nodding• Shaking of the head• Cocked Ear• Go near the pupil and Tilt his ear

and listen to his response

Hand Movements

• Pointing to pupil• “Continue” Cue• “Anything Else” Cue• “Stop” Cue• Pointing from student to student

Hand Movements

Hand Movements

Hand Movements

Write an Episode (in not more than ten sentences)

involving the use of the ‘Skill of Silence and Nonverbal Cues’

Exercises

• Suppose a pupil’s answer is incomplete, that nonverbal cues will you use in order that the pupil completes his answer ?

• Suppose a Pupil’s answer is wrong, what nonverbal cues will you use / Mention any three.

OBSERVATION SCHEDULE FOR THE SKILL OF

SILENCE AND NOVERBAL CUES

• Names of the Student ____________________• Roll No.___________• Topic ________________________ • Class________________• Name of supervisor________________________• Date _________________________ • Time Duration _________________ • Teach/ Reteach 

•  The glossary of the terms is given below.• Silence: Mean a pause which stimulates thinking.

• Nonverbal cues represent four types of cue:• Facial cues: A smile, a frown, looking thoughtfully at the pupil, a quizzical look etc.

• Head movement: Nodding, shaking and tilting of the head, etc.

• Body movements: Moving from one place to another in the classroom.

• Hand movements: Pointing to the student, ‘continue’ cue, ‘anything else?’ cue, ‘stop’ cue, pointing from the student to student, etc.

• Instructions: For each of the five aspects of classroom behavior listed below record instance (s) as they occur during the lesson. Now mark the tallies in the appropriate cells.

Components Tallies

Silence

Facial cues

Head movements

Body movements

Hand movements

Comments (if any): 

OBSERVATION SCHEDULE FOR THE SKILL OF

SILENCE AND NOVERBAL CUES

• Names of the Student ____________________• Roll No.___________• Topic ________________________ • Class________________• Name of supervisor________________________• Date _________________________ • Time Duration _________________ • Teach/ Reteach 

• Instructions: This proforma is meant to ascertain the extent to which the student teacher exhibit or uses the skill, namely silence and nonverbal cues. Judgments have to be given on a seven point scale for the various aspects of the skill, Indicate the extent of acquisition of the various aspects of the skill by crossing (X) the appropriate number you deem fit. The scale value ‘0’ indicates that the student teacher did not use the concerned aspect (s) of the skill at all; whereas the scale value ‘6’ means that the student teacher used/ practiced the skill aspect (s) very much. Keeping these two extremes in view, examine carefully the teacher behaviour related to the various given aspects of the skill and cross (‘X) the appropriate scale value ranging from zero to six.

Components Not at Very all much

Teacher used short pauses to stimulate 

thinking.

0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Teacher used facial cues to encourage pupil 

participation

0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Teacher used head movement to encourage 

pupil participation

0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Teacher used body movements to increase 

pupil participation

0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Teacher used hand movements to increase 

pupil participation

0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Comments (if any): 

Writing Lesson Plan

for the Skill of Silence and

Nonverbal Cues