Suggestopedia or Desuggestopedia By Ashwag AlFahd Supervised by

Suggestopedia or Desuggestopedia By Ashwag Al-Fahd Supervised by: Dr. Hind Al-Fadda

Desuggestopedia *Suggestopedia is now called Desuggestopedia to reflect the importance placed on desuggesting limitations on learning *Desuggestopedia has been called an affectivehumanistic approach.

The originator of Desuggestopedia § It was created by the Bulgarian educator Georgi Lozanov in 1979. § ” Learning is a matter of attitude, not aptitude. ” § Lozanov himself declaring that memorization in learning through De-suggestopedia would be accelerated by up to 25 times over that in conventional learning methods. .

Learning Theory People use 5 -10% of their mental capacity. In order to make better use of our mental reserves, limitations need to be desuggested. Students should eliminate the feelings that they cannot be successful and thus, to help them overcome the barriers to learning. Psychological barriers should be removed.

Language Theory Lazanov does not articulate a theory of language. However according to this method communication is a two-plane process. Language is the first of the two planes. In the second plane, there are factors, which influence the linguistic message (e. g. the way one dresses, nonverbal behaviours that affect the linguistic message).

The main principles of Desuggestopedia 1) In an atmosphere of play, the conscious attention of the learner does not focus on linguistic forms, but rather on using the language. 2) Students can learn from what is present in the environment. (Peripheral learning)

3) Fine art provides positive suggestions for students. 4) Errors are corrected gently and indirectly.

5) The teacher should integrate indirect positive suggestions into the learning situation.

Key Elements of De-Suggestopedia 1. Rich sensory learning environment 2. Positive expectation of success 3. Varied range of methods

Techniques § Classroom set up: dim lights, soft music, comfortable armchairs, and posters on the walls. § Positive Suggestion: *Direct Suggestion: The teacher tells students they are going to be successful to create self-confidence. *Indirect Suggestion: This is provided by music and comfortable physical conditions of the classroom.

§ Visualisation: Students are asked to close their eyes and concentrate on their breathing. Then the teacher describes a scene or an event in detail so that students think they are really there. When the scene is complete, the teacher asks students to slowly open their eyes and return to the present. This can be done just before students write a composition in order to activate their creativity. § Choose a New Identity: Students can be asked to write about their fictional new identity, new home town, family, etc. § First Concert: Music is played. The teacher begins a slow, dramatic reading, synchronised in intonation with the music. The music is classical. Teacher's voice is usually hushed, but rises and falls with the music. § Second Concert: Students put their scripts aside. Students close their eyes and listen as the teacher reads with musical accompaniment. This time the content that is read by the teacher is emphasised by the way the teacher reads the text. Music is secondarily important. At the end of the concert, the class ends for the day.

Four Stages of De-Suggestopedia： 1. Presentation 2. First Concert - "Active Concert“ 3. Second Concert - "Passive Review“ 4. Practices

PRESENTATION A first stage in which students are helped to relax and move into a positive frame of mind, with the feeling that the learning is going to be easy and fun.

FIRST CONCERT - "ACTIVE CONCERT" This involves the active presentation of the material to be learnt. For example, in a foreign language course there might be the dramatic reading of a piece of text, accompanied by classical music.

SECOND CONCERT - "PASSIVE REVIEW" The students are now invited to relax and listen to some Baroque music, with the text being read very quietly in the background. The music is specially selected to bring the students into the optimum mental state for the effortless acquisition of the material.

PRACTICE The use of a range of games, puzzles, etc. to review and consolidate the learning.

Class example § First class: § The teacher greets and explains what she is going to do in native language with enthusiasm. § The teacher listens to the music that is recorded in the radio. § Teacher reads a dialogue in intonation with the music. § The students follow the dialogue in their scripts.

§ § The students put dawn their scripts. The teacher reads the dialogue in a normal rate and the students listen to her. § The students read the dialogue in particular manners (sad, angry, cheerful way). § The students get in a circle. The teacher throws a ball to one student and she asks a question. Then this student has to throw the ball to another student and asks another question. § The class is finished. § The students do not have any homework.

Literature Review about De-Suggestopedia

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. § 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.

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 the teacher. § The students will retain information better from someone in whom they have since they will be more responsive to 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.

RELAXATION An examination of the Suggestopedia literature revealed that in studies where relaxation is a major independent variable, rather than just one element of Suggestopedia, only one study indicated a clear improvement in performance for the experimental group over the control group

Table 1: The results of studies utilising relaxation as a major independent variable Study Major independent variables Control group Random allocation Results Biggers & Stricherz, 1976 Relaxation yes Negative effect Martin & Schuster, 1977 Relaxation and tension induction yes No significant difference Alexander, 1982 Relaxation, music no no No significant difference Gamble et al. , 1982 Relaxation, music yes Limited support Johnson, l 982 Relaxation yes Positive effect Wagner & Tilney, 1983 Relaxation, music, "mind-calming" yes No significant effect Render, Hall & Moon, 1984 Relaxation, music yes No significant effect Zeiss, 1984 Relaxation, music oral intonation yes Limited support

Music Another one major independent variables is Music. Of the nine studies examined, four achieved significant increases in performance while the remaining studies demonstrated no clear advantage with music (see Table 2).

Table 2: The results of studies utilising music as a major independent variable Study Major independent variables Contro l group Random allocatio n Results Bordon & Schuster, 1976 Music, breathing, suggestion positive atmosphere yes Positive effect Schuster & Vincent, 1980 Music no no Positive effect Alexander, 1982 Music, relaxation no no No significant effect Gamble et al. , 1982 Music, relaxation yes No significant effect Schuster & Mouzon, 1982 Music, suggestion yes Positive effect Stein et al. , 1982 Music, imagery yes No significant effect Wagner & Tilney, 1983 Music, relaxation yes No significant effect Render et al. , 1984 Music, relaxation yes No significant effect Zeiss, 1984 Music, relaxation, oral intonation yes No significant effect

ADVANTAGES 1/ LEARNING ENVIRONMENT 2/ THINKING HIGHLY OF STUDENTS’ FEELING 3/ THE EMPHASIS OF INTERACTION 4/ THE TREATMENTS TO STUDENTS’ MISTAKES

At the beginning levels, errors are not corrected immediately because the emphasis is on communication. When errors of form occur, teachers uses the correct form later on during class, because immediate interference by the teacher may destroy the relaxed atmosphere in classes.

Disadvantages 1/ LACK OF FLEXIBILITY De-suggestopedia emphasizes the relaxed, no pressure learning environment, but it is indeed lack of flexibility to some students who are difficult to learn spontaneously, and cause indolence on their learning.

OVER-EMPHASIZED OF LANGUAGE USE De-suggetopeia emphasizes that it is more important to let students learn a large amount of vocabularies than grammars. It believes that teacher should focus on the use of language rather than type of language. However, it may be overemphasized the use of language. And will lead students to ignore the importance of grammars. (styles of language)

ABSENCE OF TESTS De-suggestopeia emphasizes to let students learning in a relaxed environment. The teachers will grade students by their performance in class but not the traditional test mode. However, it may lead students lack pressure and may lose the motivation on learning.

Review

Theory of Language Method communication is a two-plane process: language and linguistic message. Role of the Students To be childlike, participate in the activities, trust and respect the Teacher. Moreover, Ss should be relaxed following teacher’s instructions. Role of the Teachers To provide feeling of security for students eliminating the barriers to learning; increase their communicative ability. Role of the content To seem enjoyable and easy (vocabulary, grammar and speaking). Role of the objectives To help students to learn to use a foreign language for everyday communication. Role of the activities To carry out creative adaptation. Role of the methodology Desuggest the Students ‘s limitation in learning Role of the assessment To check students’ knowledge in-classperformances. Role of the materials and resources To engage learning by lowering the affective filter of students.

Evaluation is conducted on students' "in-class-performances" and not through formal tests, which would threaten the relaxed atmosphere, which is considered essential for accelerated learning. Interactions St-st” and “T-st” interactions occur. Students often do "pair work" and "group work". Vocabulary Teaching Vocabulary is emphasised. Claims about the success of the method often focus on the large number of words that can be acquired. Comments and explanations about the meanings can be provided in student's L 1 Grammar Teaching Grammar is taught explicitly but minimally. Explicit grammar rules are provided in L 1. Skills Oral communication is emphasised. Speaking and listening are important. Writing and reading are also important.

~Thank You ~