2. A. Understanding
According Soendjono berkembsng Dardjow Suggestopedia (USA
English) or Suggestopaedia (UK English) is a teaching method developed by
the Bulgarian psychotherapist Georgi Lozanov. It is used in different fields, but
mostly in the field of foreign language learning. Lozanov has claimed that by
using this method a teacher's students can learn a language approximately
three to five times as quickly as through conventional teaching methods.
Suggestopedia has been called a "pseudo-science". It strongly depends on
the trust that students develop towards the method by simply believing that it
works.
The theory applied positive suggestion in teaching when it was developed
in the 1970s. However, as the method improved, it has focused more on
“desuggestive learning” and now is often called “desuggestopedia.”
Suggestopedia is a portmanteau of the words “suggestion” and “pedagogy". A
common misconception is to link "suggestion" to "hypnosis". However,
Lozanov intended it in the sense of offering or proposing, emphases student
choice.
3. Suggestopedia is a method of learning the English language that was
created by an educator from Bulgaria named Georgi Lozanov. Lozanov
believes that the things that surround us can be a suggestion in the learning
process, both positive and negative suggestion suggestion.
Today has five cutting-edge approaches in language teaching, namely:
Community Language Learning, Total phisycal Response, The Natural
Approach, The Silent Way, and Suggestopedia.
According Sadtono word suggestion comes from the Latin word suggero,
suggesi, which means placing suggestum, whispering or notify indirectly. In
English, the meaning has developed into offers or proposes. He also argues
that suggestopedi suggestologi comes from, namely the systematic study of the
effects of non-rational or influences the unconscious. So, suggesti is a
communicative factor used to suggest that other people make choices in a
rational and intuitive in accordance with their respective personalities in
learning another language.
Suggestopedia is a teaching model developed by a Bulgarian, Dr. Georgi
Lozanov, at the University of Sofia in Bulgaria in the 60's. Dr. Lozanov was a
pioneer in that Suggestopedia was the first of the various cutting-edge brain
friendly learning techniques which are utilized in progressive classrooms
today.[]
Bambang. Suggestopedia. accessed October 21, 2009.
4. B. The Purpose
The purpose of Suggestopedia method is to liberate the mind of students
from the negative assumptions that have been established (Lozanov, 1978, p..
252). Many students are affected by negative assumptions. The assumption in
question is negative sayings such as "learning is boring," "English grammar is
difficult" and others. Assumptions such as this will limit human potential. By
replacing these negative assumptions with the assumption that positive. We
can exploit the tremendous human potential to learn.
In the method Suggestopedia, classrooms are also exploited to the
maximum. Environment in which students learn is very important. According
to Walberg and Greenberg (1997), the condition of the class is the main
psychological determinants that will affect the academic learning process.
A unique, Suggestopedia method uses classical music in the learning
process. The use of classical music is based on the results of research that says
that the brain will be in the best conditions to learn when she was in Alpha.
Classical music is touted as music that can condition the brain into the Alpha
state (Webb, 1990).[]
(Http://www.bambangehc.files.wordpress.com/2008/11).
5. C. Problems Teachers And Students
Teacher should be creative in using different kinds of teaching method. They have
to choose an appropriate method to transfer the knowledge because they will find
different situation and different students in the class.
Generally, students would not be able to believe that they could be successful in
learning language. This lack of motivation has made students do not have confidence to
speak in the target language because they do not want to make mistakes. Moreover,
they find difficulties to recall the previous lesson, such us memorizing the new
vocabularies. This situation encourages teacher to be creative and to use an effective
method on teaching.
In addition, students have different type of learning style. They learn through
their own learning style which are visual, auditory, or kinesthetic style. Those who are
visual learn trough seeing and they need to see the teacher’s body language and learn
best from visual displays. Then, those who are auditory learn through listening and they
learn best through verbal lectures, discussions, talking things through, and listening to
what others have to say. Besides, those who are kinesthetic learn through moving,
doing, and touching, and learn best through a hands-on approach and actively exploring
the physical world around them. In the class room, teacher will meet these three types
of students. In order to make students could learn well through their own learning style,
teacher is supposed to use an effective method of teaching different types of students.
6. Teacher should choose appropriate method of teaching different types of
students, to cultivate students’ motivation, and to increase students’
memorizing ability. Suggestopedia is one of methods that can be used by
teacher. It is a method that desuggests the limitations that students have to help
them to believe that they could be successful in learning, so it can cultivate
students’ motivation in learning. Then, it is one of methods which concerns to
students’ learning style because there are visual display, audio, and physical
involvements during learning process. Moreover, it involves emotional
meaning in given the lesson which help students’ better in memorizing.[3]
7. Teacher’s Roles
Teacher should create situations in which learners are most suggestible and
then to present linguistic material in a way most likely to encourage positive
reception and retention by learners. Lozanov lists several expected teacher
behaviors as follows:
Show absolute confidence in the method.
Display fastidious conduct in manners and dress.
Organize properly, and strictly observe the initial stages of the teaching
Process-this includes choice and play of music, as well as punctuality.
Maintain a solemn attitude towards the session.
Give tests and respond tactfully to poor papers (if any).
Stress global rather than analytical attitudes towards material.
Maintain a modest enthusiasm.
Learners’ Roles
The learners as well are should have “faith in the system and accept that
they are in a childlike situation where they follow the teacher / parent”
(Knight, 2001, p. 154). The students should not be critical, but simply absorb
what is presented to them.
Stages of Suggestopedia
There are three stages in using suggestopedia method. They are:
8. 1. Presentation
Presentation is the basis of conducting Suggestopedia in class successfully. The
main aim in this stage is to help students relaxed and move into a positive frame of
mind, with the feeling that the learning is going to be easy and funny. Desuggestion
and suggestion happen at this stage at the same time.
2. Concert
First Concert
This involves the active presentation of the material to be learnt. 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 will be read aloud to
students to the accompaniment of music.
Second Concert
The students are now guided to relax and listen to some Baroque music. The
best choice of music according to Lozanov, with the text being studied very quietly in
the background. During both types of reading, the learners will sit in comfortable
seats, armchairs rather than classroom chairs, in a comfortable environment. After the
readings of these long dialogues to the accompaniment of music, the teacher will then
make use of the dialogues for more conventional language work. The music brings the
students into the optimum mental state for the effortless acquisition of the material.
The students, then, make and practice dialogue after they memorize the content of
the materials.
3. Practice
The use of a range of role-plays, games, puzzles, etc. to review and consolidate
the learning.[]
9. 4. Conclusion
Teacher will find different situation and different types of students in
learning. Therefore, teacher should be creative and smart in choosing and
using different types of methods in teaching different skill of language.
Teacher can use suggestopedia as teaching method in their teaching. Using
suggestopedia is very interesting but challenging to do. It can be seen from
some considerations. In one side it has some benefits, but on the other side it
also has some weaknesses. In addition, the key factors of effective teaching are
not the approaches and methods in language teaching themselves but the
teacher’s deliberate selection of different approaches and methods and the
devoted practice of putting theories into real teaching activities in a
corresponding social-cultural context. It is a fact that no approach or method is
perfect. However, there is no end for teacher to seek the perfection of the
approaches and methods in language teaching. The language teaching method
known as Suggestopedia provides some valuable insights into the power of
cognition and creates techniques that make students feel comfortable, relaxed
and suggestible to the material being learned.