Desuggestopedia Method

INTRODUCTION

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 as
memorizing the new vocabularies. This situation encourages teacher to be
creative and use an effective method on teaching. According to Lozanov and
others, we may be using only five to ten percent of our mental capacity. In
order to make better use of our reserved capacity, the limitations we think we
have need to be ‘desuggested’. Desuggestopedia, the application of the study
of suggestion to pedagogy, has been developed to help students eliminate the
feeling that they cannot be successful or the negative association they may
have toward studying and, thus, to help them to overcome the barriers to
learn. One of the ways the students´ mental reserves are stimulated is
through integration of the fine arts.Lozanov states that communication takes
place on “two planes”: on one the linguistic message is encoded; and on the
other are factors which influence the linguistic message. On the conscious
plane, the learner attends to the language; on the subconscious plane, the
fine arts (it could be classical music) suggests that learning is easy and
pleasant. When there is a unity between conscious and subconscious,
learning is enhanced.

 
 

THE PRINCIPLES OF DESUGGESTOPEDIA

                        Observations                              Principles

1. The classroom is bright and cheerful. Learning is facilitated in a cheerful

environment.

2.Among the posters hanging Students can learn from what is present in the

around                       environment, even if their attention is not

directed to it (‘Peripherallearning’).
the room are several containing

 
Grammatical information.
 

3. The teacher speaks confidently. If students trust and respect the teacher`s

authority, they will accept and retain

information better.

4. The teacher gives the students the The teacher should recognize that learners

impression that learning the target language bring certain psychological barriers with them

will be easy and enjoyable. to the learning situation. She should attempt to

‘desuggest’ these.

5. The students choose new name and Assuming a new identity enhances students`

identities. feeling of security and allows them to be more

open. They feel less inhibited since their

performance is really that of a different person.

6. The students introduce themselves to the The dialog that the students learn contains

teacher. language they can use immediately.

7. They play rhythmic instruments as they sing Songs are useful for ‘freeing the speech

a song. muscles’ and evoking positive emotions.

8. The teacher distributes a lengthy handout to The teacher should integrate indirect positive

the class. The title of the dialog is ‘To want to suggestions (`there is no limit to what you can

is be able’. do`) into the learning situation.

9. The teacher briefly mentions a few points The teacher should present and explain the

about English grammar and vocabulary. grammar and vocabulary, but not dwell on

These are in bold print in the dialog. them. The bold print allows the whole text to
 the details before they return to the whole text

again. The dynamic interplay between the

whole and the parts is important.

10. There are reproductions of classical Fine art provides positive suggestions for

paintings throughout the text. students.

11. In the left column is the dialog in the target One way that meaning is made clear in native

language and in the right column is the native language translation.

language translation.

12. The teacher reads the dialog with a Communication takes place on ‘two planes’: on

musical accompaniment. She matches her one the linguistic message is encoded; and on

voice to the rhythm and intonation of the the other are factors which influence the

music. linguistic message. On the conscious plane,

the learner attends to the language; the music

suggests that learning is easy and pleasant.

When there is a unity between conscious an

subconscious, learning is enhanced.

13. The teacher reads the script a second time A calm state, such as one experience when

as the students listen. This is done to different listening to a concert. Is ideal for overcoming

music. psychological barriers and for taking advantage

of learning potential.

14. For homework, the students are read to At these times, the distinction between the

the dialog at night and in the morning. conscious and subconscious is most blurred,

therefore, learning can occur.

15. The teacher gives the students hats to Dramatization is a particularly valuable way of
wear for the different characters in the dialog. playfully activating the material. Fantasy

The students take turns reading portions of the reduces barriers to learn.

dialog.

16. The teacher tells the students that they are The fine arts (music, art and drama) enable

auditioning for a play. suggestions to reach the subconscious. The

arts should integrate as much as possible into

the teaching process.

17. The teacher leads the class in various The teacher should help the students `activate

activities involving the dialog. For example, the material to which they are been exposed.

question and answer, repetition and The means of doing this should be varied so as

translation. to avoid repetition as much as possible.

Novelty aids acquisition.

18. She teaches the students a children`s Music and movement reinforce the linguistic

song. material. It is desirable that students achieve a

state of ‘infantilization’ so that they will be more

open to learn. If they trust the teacher, they will

reach this state more easily.

19. The teacher and students play a question In an atmosphere in play, the conscious

and answer game. attention of the learner does don focus on

linguistic forms, but rather on using the

language.

20. The student makes an error by saying, Errors are corrected gently, not in direct

‘How you do?’. The teacher corrects the error confrontational manner.

in a soft voice.
  

REVIEWING THE PRINCIPLES

1. What are the goals of teachers who use Desuggestopedia?

Teachers hope to accelerate by process to the students by using a foreign

language for everyday communication. The students` mental power must be
tapped by desuggesting the psychological barriers learners bring with them to
the learning situation and using techniques to activate the ‘paraconscious’
part of mind, just below the fully conscious mind.

1. 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 their teacher.

Once the students trust the teacher, they can feel more secure. If they feel
secure, they can be more spontaneous and less inhibited.

1. What are some characteristics of the teaching/learning process?

The posters are change 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.

1. 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 with
individual’s 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.

1. How are the feelings of the students dealt with?

A great deal of attention is given to the students` feeling in this method. One
of the fundamental principles of the method is hat if the students are relaxed
and confident, they will not need to try hard to learn the target language. It will
come naturally and easily.

The important thing in this method is 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.

1. How is language viewed? How is culture viewed?

Language is the first of two planes in the two planes of communication. In the
second plane are the factors which influence the linguistic message.
 The culture which students learn concerns the everyday life of people who
speak the language. The use of fine arts is also important in Desuggestopedic
classes.

1. What areas of language are emphasized? What language skills are

emphasized?

Vocabulary is emphasized. Claims about the success of the method often

focus in a 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 absorb the linguistic rules.

Speaking communicatively is emphasized. Students also read in the target

language (for example, dialogs) and write (for example, imaginative
compositions).

1. 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 naïve language n the class when necessary. As the
course proceeds, the teacher uses the native language less and less.

1. 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

1.  How does the teacher respond to the student errors?

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

 
 

THE TECHNIQUES OF DESUGGESTOPEDIA

In Desuggestopedia, there are some techniques that we can use in the

classroom:

Classroom set-up

The challenge of 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
The students learn English not only from direct instruction but also from
indirect instruction. It is encouraged through the presence in the learning
environment of posters and decoration featuring the target language and
various grammatical information. They are changed from time to time. By
doing this, the students can learn many things indirectly in the classroom or
outside classroom. The teacher may or may not call attention to the posters.
For example, students can produce simple sentence by using the posters or
grammatical information on the wall.

Positive suggestion

It is the teacher`s responsibility to orchestrate the suggestive factors in a

learning situation, by helping students break down the barriers to learning that
they bring with them. Teacher can do this through direct and indirect means.
Direct suggestion appeals to the students` consciousness by telling the
students that they are going to be successful. But indirect suggestion appeals
to the students` subconscious, is actually the more powerful of the two. It was
achieved through the dialogue, “Be self-confident”.

Choose a new identity

The students choose a target language name and a new occupation. As the
course continuous, the students have an opportunity to develop a whole
biography about their fictional selves.

Role play

Students are asked to present temporarily that they are 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.

 
First concert (active concert)

The two concerts are components of the receptive phase of the lesson. In the
first concert, the teacher reads the dialog in the target language. Music is
played. After a few minutes, the teacher begins a slow, dramatic reading and
synchronized in intonation with the music.

Second concert (passive concert)

In the second phase, the students are asked to put their script aside. They
simply listen as the teacher reads the dialog at the normal rate of speed. The
teacher is seated and reads with musical accompaniment. The content
governs the way the teacher reads the script, not the music.

Primary activation

This technique follows components of the active phase of the lesson.

Students playfully reread the target language dialog out loud, as individuals or
in group. In the lesson we observed, three groups of students read parts of
the dialog in a particular manner: the first group, sadly; the next, angrily; the
last, cheerfully.

Creative adaptation

The students engage in various activities designed to help them learn the new
material and use it spontaneously. Activities particularly recommended for this
phase include singing, dancing, dramatization and games. The important
thing is hat the activities are varied and do not allow the students to focus on
the form of the linguistic message, just the communicative intent.

 
 

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.