SUGGESTOPEDIA

Suggestopedia, also known as Desuggestopedia, is a method developed by the Bulgarian

psychiatrist-educator Georgi Lozanov. Suggestopedia is a specific set of learning
recommendations derived from Suggestology, which Lozanov describes as a science . . .
concerned with the systematic study of the nonrational and/or nonconscious influences that
human beings are constantly responding to. Suggestopedia tries to harness these influences and
redirect them so as to optimize learning. The most conspicuous characteristics of Suggestopedia
are the decoration, furniture, and arrangement of the classroom, the use of music, and the
authoritative behavior of the teacher. A most conspicuous feature of Suggestopedia is the
centrality of music and musical rhythm to learning.
Lozanov calls upon in his use of music to relax learners as well as to structure, pace, and
punctuate the presentation of linguistic material.
Lozanov further claims that what distinguishes his method from hypnosis and other forms of
mind control is that these other forms lack a desuggestive-suggestive sense and fail to create
a constant set up access to reserves through concentrative psycho-relaxation. There are six
principal theoretical components through which desuggestion and suggestion operate and that
set up access to reserves. We will describe these briefly following Bancroft (1972):

Authority: People remember best and are most influenced by information coming from an
authoritative source.
Infantilization: Authority is also used to suggest a teacherstudent relation like that of
parent to child. In the childs role the learner takes part in role playing, games, songs, and
gymnastic exercises that help the older student regain the self-confidence, spontaneity
and receptivity of the child
Double-planedness: The learner learns not only from the effect of direct instruction but
from the environment in which the instruction takes place. The bright decor of the
classroom, the musical background, the shape of the chairs, and the personality of the
teacher are considered as important in instruction as the form of the instructional material
itself.
Intonation, rhythm, and concert pseudo-passiveness: Varying the tone and rhythm of
presented material helps to avoid boredom through monotony of repetition and to
dramatize, emotionalize, and give meaning to linguistic material. In the first presentation
of linguistic material, three phrases are read together, each with a different voice level and
rhythm. In the second presentation, the linguistic material is given a proper dramatic
reading, which helps learners visualize a context for the material and aids in memorization
.Both intonation and rhythm are coordinated with a musical background. The musical
background helps to induce a relaxed attitude, which Lozanov refers to as concert pseudo-
passiveness. This state is felt to be optimal for learning, in that anxieties and tension are
relieved and power of concentration for new material is raised.

1 What are the goals of teachers who use Desuggestopedia?

Teachers hope to accelerate the process by which students learn to use a foreign language for
everyday communication. In order to do this, more of the students' mental powers must be
tapped. This is accomplished by desuggesting the psychological barriers learners bring with
them to the learning situation and using techniques to activate the 'paracouscious' part of the
mind, just below the fully-conscious mind.

2 What is the role of the teacher? What is the role of the students?
The teacher is the authority in the classroom. In order for the method to be successful, the
students must trust and respect him/her. The students will retain information better from
someone in whom they have confidence since they will be more responsive to him/her
'desuggesting' their limitations and suggesting how, easy it will be for them to succeed. Once the
students trust the teacher, they can feel more secure. If they feel secure, they can be more
spontaneous and less inhibited.

3 What are some characteristics of the teaching/learning process?

A Desuggestopedic course is conducted in a classroom which is bright and cheerful. Posters
displaying grammatical information about the target language are hung around the room in order
to take advantage of students' peripheral learning. The posters are changed every few weeks to
create a sense of novelty in the environment. Students select target language names and choose
new occupations. During the course they create whole biographies to go along with their new
identities. The texts students work from are handouts containing lengthy dialogs (as many as
800 words) in the target language. Next to the dialog is a translation in the students' native
language. There are also some notes on vocabulary and grammar which correspond to boldfaced
items in the dialog. The teacher presents the dialog during two concerts which comprise the first
major phase (the receptive phase). In the first concert (the active concert) the teacher reads the
dialog, matching her voice to the rhythm and pitch of the music. In this way, the 'whole brain'
(Both the left and the right hemispheres) of the students become activated. The students follow
the target language dialog as the teacher reads it out loud. They also check the translation.
During the second concert (the passive concert), the students listen calmly while the teacher
reads the dialog at a normal rate of speed. For homework the students read over the dialog just
before they go to sleep, and again when they get up the next morning. What follows is the
second major phase (the activation phase), in which students engage in various activities
designed to help them gain facility with the new material. The activities include dramatizations,
games, songs, and question-and answer exercises.

4 What is the nature of student-teacher interaction? What is the nature of student-

student interaction?
The teacher initiates interactions with the whole group of students and with individuals right from
the beginning of a language course. Initially, the students can only respond nonverbally or with a
few target language words they have practiced. Later the students have more control of the
target language and can respond more appropriately and even initiate interaction themselves.

5 How are the feelings of the students dealt with?

A great deal of attention is given to students' feelings in this method. One of the fundamental
principles of the method is that if students are relaxed and confident, they will not need to try
hard to learn the Language. It will just come naturally and easily. It is considered important in this
method that the psychological barriers that students bring with them be desuggested. Indirect
positive suggestions are made to enhance students' self-confidence and to convince them that
success is obtainable. Students also choose target language names on the assumption that a
new identity makes students feel more secure and thus more open to learning.

6 How is language viewed? How is culture viewed?

Language is the first of two planes in the two-plane process of communication. In the second
plane are the factors which influence the linguistic message. For example, the way one dresses
or the nonverbal behavior one uses affects how one's linguistic message is interpreted. The
culture which students learn concerns the everyday life of people who speak the language. The
use of the fine arts is also important in Desuggestopedic classes.

7 What areas of language are emphasized? What Language skills are emphasized?
Vocabulary is emphasized. Claims about the success of the method often focus on the large
number of words that can be acquired. Grammar is dealt with explicitly but minimally. In fact, it is
believed that students will learn best if their conscious attention is focused not on the language
forms, but on using the language. The 'paraconscious ' mind will then absorb the linguistic rules.
Speaking communicatively is emphasized. Students also read in the target language (for
example, dialogs) and write (for example, imaginative compositions).

8 What is the role of the students' native language?

Native-language translation is used to make the meaning of the dialog clear. The teacher also
uses the native language in class when necessary. As the course proceeds, the teacher uses the
native language less and less.

9 How is evaluation accomplished?

Evaluation usually is conducted on students' normal in-class performance and not through formal
tests, which would threaten the relaxed atmosphere considered essential for accelerated
learning.

10 How does the teacher respond to student errors?

Errors are corrected gently, with the teacher using a soft voice.

11. Techniques
Classroom set-up: The challenge for the teacher is to create a classroom environment
which is bright and cheerful. This was accomplished in the classroom we visited where the
walls were decorated with scenes from a country where the target language is spoken.
These conditions are not always possible. However, the teacher should try to provide as
positive an environment as possible.
Peripheral learning: This technique is based upon the idea that we perceive much more
in our environment than that to which we consciously attend. It is claimed that, by putting
posters containing grammatical information about the target language on the classroom
walls, students will absorb the necessary facts effortlessly. The teacher may or may not
 call attention to the posters. They are changed from time to time to provide grammatical
information that is appropriate to what the students are studying.
Positive suggestion: It is the teacher's responsibility to orchestrate the suggestive
factors in a learning situation, thereby helping students break down the barriers to
learning that they bring with them. Teachers can do this through direct and indirect
means. Direct suggestion appeals to the students' consciousness: A teacher tells students
they are going to be successful. But indirect suggestion, which appeals to the students'
subconscious, is actually the more powerful of the two. For example, indirect suggestion
was accomplished in the class we visited through the choice of a dialog entitled, 'To want
to is to be able to.'
Choose a new identity: The students choose a target language name and a new
occupation. As the course continues, the students have an opportunity to develop a whole
biography about their fictional selves. For instance, later on they may he asked to talk or
write about their fictional hometown, childhood, and family.
Role play: Students are asked to pretend temporarily that they arc someone else and to
perform in the target language as if they were that person. They are often asked to create
their own lines relevant to the situation. In the lesson we observed, the students were
asked to pretend that they were someone else and to introduce themselves as that
person.