Suggestopedia approach

1. SUGGESTOPEDIA
Project № 2014-1-BG01-KA-101-000750
Проект “Професионално развитие на учителите по английски език
в СОУПНЕ”Фридрих Шилер”
по Програма Еразъм +
Ключова дейност 1: Образователна мобилност на училищния персонал
Бабек Мехмедов Раифов

2. SUGGESTOPEDIA IS A TEACHING METHOD
DEVELOPED BY THE BULGARIAN
PSYCHOTHERAPIST GEORGI LOZANOV. IT IS USED
MOSTLY TO LEARN FOREIGN LANGUAGES.

3. HUMANISTIC APPROACHES
HUMANISTIC PROGRAMMES ATTEMPT TO STRESS THE AFFECTIVE IN ADDITION TO
THE COGNITIVE AND THE PERSONAL OVER THE INSTITUTIONAL. MANY EL
TEACHERS ALREADY (AND ALWAYS HAVE) ‘PERSONALISED’ LANGUAGE, ‘HOW
MANY BROTHERS AND SISTERS DO YOU HAVE?; ‘DESCRIBE YOUR BATHROOM’ –
MORE EFFECTIVE QUESTIONS MIGHT BE, ‘HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE THE OLDEST /
YOUNGEST BROTHER / SISTER?’; ‘WHAT SPECIAL OBJECT DO YOU HAVE IN YOUR
ROOM THAT GIVES YOU PLEASANT MEMORIES?’

4. ASSUMPTIONS OF HUMANISTIC EDUCATION:
“BILLIONS OF DOLLARS OF MAN HOURS ARE CURRENTLY BEING EXPENDED IN ATTEMPTS TO REFORM EDUCATION. UNHAPPILY MUCH OF THIS EFFORT
IS FOREDOOMED TO BE WASTED BECAUSE IT CONCENTRATES ON THE WRONG PROBLEM… TEACHERS HAVE LONG BEEN EXPERT IN PROVIDING
INFORMATION… OUR MAJOR FAILURES DO NOT ARISE FROM LACK OF INFORMATION. THEY COME FROM OUR INABILITY TO HELP STUDENTS DISCOVER
THE PERSONAL MEANING OF THE INFORMATION WE PROVIDE THEM.”
(ARTHUR W. COMBS 1970 QUOTED IN MOSKOWITZ 1978 CARING & SHARING IN THE FL CLASS HEINLE & HEINLE – BOLD TYPE ADDED)
B)
A PRINCIPLE PURPOSE OF EDUCATION IS TO PROVIDE INFORMATION AND AN ENVIRONMENT THAT FACILITATE THE ACHIEVEMENT OF THE FULL
POTENTIAL OF STUDENTS.
PERSONAL GROWTH AS WELL AS COGNITIVE GROWTH IS A RESPONSIBILITY OF THE SCHOOL. THEREFORE EDUCATION SHOULD DEAL WITH BOTH
DIMENSIONS OF HUMANS -–THE COGNITIVE OR INTELLECTUAL AND THE AFFECTIVE OR EMOTIONAL.
FOR LEARNING TO BE SIGNIFICANT, FEELING MUST BE RECOGNISED AND PUT TO USE.
SIGNIFICANT LEARNING IS DISCOVERED FOR ONESELF.
HUMAN BEINGS WANT TO ACTUALISE THEIR POTENTIAL.
HAVING HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHER CLASSMATES IS MORE CONDUCIVE TO LEARNING.
LEARNING MORE ABOUT ONESELF IS A MOTIVATING FACTOR IN LEARNING.
INCREASING ONE’S SELF-ESTEEM ENHANCES LEARNING.
(MOSKOWITZ 1978 CARING & SHARING IN THE FL CLASS HEINLE & HEINLE)

5. SOME METHODOLOGIES THAT ATTEMPT TO PUT SOME OF THESE
IDEAS INTO PRACTICE AND THAT ARE COMMONLY DESCRIBED AS
‘HUMANISTIC’: TPR, THE SILENT WAY, CLL AND SUGGESTOPEDIA.
SUGGESTOPEDIA
DEVELOPED IN THE 1970S BY THE BULGARIAN EDUCATOR / PSYCHIATRIST GEORGI
LOZANOV AND DERIVED FROM HIS IDEAS OF ‘SUGGESTOLOGY’, WHICH LOZANOV
DESCRIBES AS A “…SCIENCE CONCERNED WITH THE SYSTEMATIC STUDY OF THE NON-
RATIONAL AND / OR NON-CONSCIOUS INFLUENCES”. COMBINING IDEAS FROM YOGA
(RHYTHMIC BREATHING AND ‘CONSCIOUSNESS RAISING’ TECHNIQUES) AND SOVIET
PSYCHOLOGY (STRESS ON THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT AND A BELIEF THAT ALL
STUDENTS CAN BE TAUGHT A GIVEN SUBJECT MATTER AT THE SAME LEVEL OF SKILL),
SUGGESTOPEDIA ATTEMPTS TO MANIPULATE THESE ‘NON-RATIONAL FEATURES AND /
OR NON-CONSCIOUS INFLUENCES’ TO OPTIMISE LEARNING. THE MOST CONSPICUOUS
FEATURES OF THE SUGGESTOPEDIC CLASSROOM ARE THE FURNITURE / DÉCOR AND
CLASSROOM ARRANGEMENT, THE USE OF MUSIC AND THE AUTHORITATIVE AIR OF THE
TEACHER.

6. SUGGESTOPEDIA IS CONCERNED WITH THE BEST MENTAL STATE TO
BE IN TO AID LEARNING AND RETENTION AND THERE HAS BEEN A
GREAT DEAL OF STUDY INTO THIS – LOZANOV’S CLAIM IS THAT
OPTIMUM LEARNING TAKES PLACE IN A STATE OF ‘RELAXED
ALERTNESS’.
ATTENTION AND MEMORY STUDIES

7. IDEAS CENTRAL TO SUGGESTOPEDIA:
AUTHORITY: PEOPLE REMEMBER BEST AND ARE MOST INFLUENCED BY
INFORMATION COMING FROM A SOURCE THE SEE AS AUTHORITATIVE USING
SCIENTIFIC SOUNDING LANGUAGE.
INFANTILISATION: TEACHER-STUDENT RELATIONSHIP IS LIKE THAT OF
PARENT-CHILD.
DOUBLE-PLANEDNESS: EFFECT OF DIRECT INSTRUCTION COMBINES WITH AND
COMPLEMENTS EFFECT OF THE ENVIRONMENT – COLOUR OF WALLS, SHAPE OF
FURNITURE, ETC.
INTONATION, RHYTHM AND CONCERT PSEUDO-PASSIVENESS: INTONATION
AND RHYTHM CONNECTED TO MUSICAL BACKGROUND.

8. SOME THEORY
• THE APPROACH WAS BASED ON THE POWER OF SUGGESTION IN LEARNING, THE NOTION BEING THAT
POSITIVE SUGGESTION WOULD MAKE THE LEARNER MORE RECEPTIVE AND, IN TURN, STIMULATE
LEARNING. LOZANOV HOLDS THAT A RELAXED BUT FOCUSED STATE IS THE OPTIMUM STATE FOR
LEARNING. IN ORDER TO CREATE THIS RELAXED STATE IN THE LEARNER AND TO PROMOTE POSITIVE
SUGGESTION, SUGGESTOPEDIA MAKES USE OF MUSIC, A COMFORTABLE AND RELAXING
ENVIRONMENT, AND A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE TEACHER AND THE STUDENT THAT IS AKIN TO
THE PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIP. MUSIC, IN PARTICULAR, IS CENTRAL TO THE APPROACH. UNLIKE
OTHER METHODS AND APPROACHES, THERE IS NO APPARENT THEORY OF LANGUAGE IN
SUGGESTOPEDIA AND NO OBVIOUS ORDER IN WHICH ITEMS OF LANGUAGE ARE PRESENTED.
• THE ORIGINAL FORM OF SUGGESTOPEDIA PRESENTED BY LOZANOV CONSISTED OF THE USE OF
EXTENDED DIALOGUES, OFTEN SEVERAL PAGES IN LENGTH, ACCOMPANIED BY VOCABULARY LISTS
AND OBSERVATIONS ON GRAMMATICAL POINTS. TYPICALLY THESE DIALOGUES WOULD BE READ
ALOUD TO THE STUDENTS TO THE ACCOMPANIMENT OF MUSIC. THE MOST FORMAL OF THESE
READINGS, KNOWN AS THE "CONCERT READING", WOULD TYPICALLY EMPLOY A MEMORABLE PIECE
OF CLASSICAL MUSIC SUCH AS A BEETHOVEN SYMPHONY. THIS WOULD NOT BE IN THE FORM OF
BACKGROUND MUSIC BUT WOULD BE THE MAIN FOCUS OF THE READING, WITH THE TEACHER’S
VOICE ACTING AS A COUNTERPOINT TO THE MUSIC. THUS THE "CONCERT READING" COULD BE SEEN
AS A KIND OF PLEASURABLE EVENT, WITH THE LEARNERS FREE TO FOCUS ON THE MUSIC, THE TEXT
OR A COMBINATION OF THE TWO. THE RHYTHM AND INTONATION OF THE READING WOULD BE
EXAGGERATED IN ORDER TO FIT IN WITH THE RHYTHM OF THE MUSIC.

9. MUSIC, AND THIS WOULD TAKE A LESS PROMINENT ROLE. DURING BOTH TYPES OF READING, THE
LEARNERS WOULD SIT IN COMFORTABLE SEATS, ARMCHAIRS RATHER THAN CLASSROOM CHAIRS,
IN A SUITABLY STIMULATING ENVIRONMENT IN TERMS OF DÉCOR AND LIGHTING. AFTER THE
READINGS OF THESE LONG DIALOGUES TO THE ACCOMPANIMENT OF MUSIC, THE TEACHER
WOULD THEN MAKE USE OF THE DIALOGUES FOR MORE CONVENTIONAL LANGUAGE WORK. IN
THEORY AT LEAST, LARGE CHUNKS OF THE DIALOGUES WOULD BE INTERNALIZED BY THE
LEARNERS DURING THE READINGS DUE BOTH TO THE RELAXED AND RECEPTIVE STATE OF THE
LEARNERS AND TO THE POSITIVE SUGGESTION CREATED BY THE MUSIC.
THERE IS, HOWEVER, LITTLE EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT THE EXTRAVAGANT CLAIMS OF SUCCESS.
THE MORE OBVIOUS CRITICISMS LIE IN THE FACT THAT MANY PEOPLE FIND CLASSICAL MUSIC
IRRITATING RATHER THAN STIMULATING (TO SOME CULTURES WESTERN MUSIC MAY SOUND
DISCORDANT), THE LENGTH OF THE DIALOGUES AND THE LACK OF A COHERENT THEORY OF
LANGUAGE MAY SERVE TO CONFUSE RATHER THAN TO MOTIVATE, AND, FOR PURELY LOGISTIC
REASONS, THE PROVISION OF COMFORTABLE ARMCHAIRS AND A RELAXING ENVIRONMENT WILL
PROBABLY BE BEYOND THE MEANS OF MOST EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS.
IN ADDITION THE IDEA OF A TEACHER READING A LONG (AND OFTEN CLEARLY INAUTHENTIC)
DIALOGUE ALOUD, WITH EXAGGERATED RHYTHM AND INTONATION, TO THE ACCOMPANIMENT
OF BEETHOVEN OR MOZART MAY WELL SEEM RIDICULOUS TO MANY PEOPLE.

10. SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE APPROACH
Suggestopaedia People remember best
and are most influenced
by material coming from
an authoritative source.
Anxiety should be
lowered through
comfortable chairs,
baroque music etc
Language is gradually
acquired. No correction.
The teacher starts by
introducing the grammar and
lexis ‘in a playful manner’,
then reads the text while the
students follow or just relax
and listen. Students then use
the language in fun and/or
undirected ways.

11. IN PRACTICE
PHYSICAL SURROUNDINGS AND ATMOSPHERE IN CLASSROOM ARE THE VITAL FACTORS
TO MAKE SURE THAT "THE STUDENTS FEEL COMFORTABLE AND CONFIDENT",[2] AND
VARIOUS TECHNIQUES, INCLUDING ART AND MUSIC, ARE USED BY THE TRAINED
TEACHERS. THE LESSON OF SUGGESTOPEDIA CONSISTED OF THREE PHASES AT FIRST:
DECIPHERING, CONCERT SESSION (MEMORIZATION SÉANCE), AND ELABORATION.[1][3]
DECIPHERING: THE TEACHER INTRODUCES THE GRAMMAR AND LEXIS OF THE
CONTENT. IN MOST MATERIALS THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEXT IS ON THE LEFT HALF
OF THE PAGE WITH A TRANSLATION ON THE RIGHT HALF, I.E. MEANINGS ARE
CONVEYED VIA THE MOTHER TONGUE NOT UNLIKE THE BILINGUAL METHOD.
CONCERT SESSION (ACTIVE AND PASSIVE): IN THE ACTIVE SESSION, THE TEACHER
READS THE TEXT AT A NORMAL SPEED, SOMETIMES INTONING SOME WORDS, AND THE
STUDENTS FOLLOW. IN THE PASSIVE SESSION, THE STUDENTS RELAX AND LISTEN TO
THE TEACHER READING THE TEXT CALMLY. MUSIC (" BAROQUE”) IS PLAYED IN THE
BACKGROUND.

12. ELABORATION: THE STUDENTS FINISH OFF WHAT THEY HAVE LEARNED WITH DRAMAS,
SONGS, AND GAMES.
THEN IT HAS DEVELOPED INTO FOUR PHASES AS LOTS OF EXPERIMENTS WERE DONE:
INTRODUCTION, CONCERT SESSION, ELABORATION, AND PRODUCTION.[1][3]
INTRODUCTION: THE TEACHER TEACHES THE MATERIAL IN “A PLAYFUL MANNER”
INSTEAD OF ANALYZING LEXIS AND GRAMMAR OF THE TEXT IN A DIRECTIVE MANNER.
CONCERT SESSION (ACTIVE AND PASSIVE): IN THE ACTIVE SESSION, THE TEACHER
READS WITH INTONING AS SELECTED MUSIC IS PLAYED. OCCASIONALLY, THE
STUDENTS READ THE TEXT TOGETHER WITH THE TEACHER, AND LISTEN ONLY TO THE
MUSIC AS THE TEACHER PAUSES IN PARTICULAR MOMENTS. THE PASSIVE SESSION IS
DONE MORE CALMLY.
ELABORATION: THE STUDENTS SING CLASSICAL SONGS AND PLAY GAMES WHILE “THE
TEACHER ACTS MORE LIKE A CONSULTANT”.[1]
PRODUCTION: THE STUDENTS SPONTANEOUSLY SPEAK AND INTERACT IN THE TARGET
LANGUAGE WITHOUT INTERRUPTION OR CORRECTION.