Desuggestopedia Summary in Details
Key concept
- The originator of the Desuggestopedia is a Bulgarian psychiatrist and educator, Georgi Lozanov.
- An effective comprehensible input-based method
- Desuggest is the opposite of suggesting. To overcome some learning problems this method puts importance on “desuggesting limitations on learning.”
- Meaning: Suggest => desuggest
“Desuggestopedia” is to eliminate the negative feeling (we do not use full mental powers) & “Suggestopedia” is to reinforce positive learning.
A Brief History
Desuggestopedia is a teaching method that focuses on how to deal with the relationship between mental potential and learning ability. It is very appropriate to use in teaching speaking to young language learners. This method was introduced by a Bulgarian psychologist and educator, Georgi Lazanov in the late 1970s. Lazanov created a suggestopedia for learning that capitalized on relaxed states of mind for maximum retention or memory material.
The goals or objectives
- To help students eliminate and overcome the barriers to learning.
- Increase the communicative ability of the students.
Key features / Key Elements
Some of the key elements of desuggestopedia include a rich sensory learning environment (pictures, color, music, etc.), a positive expectation of success, and the use of a varied range of methods: dramatized texts, music, active participation in songs and games, etc.
- Classroom atmosphere- decorations and posters
- A new name and occupation- to dispel the anxiety. To put it differently, Students are encouraged to be childlike.
- Handout or leaflet for advanced students
- No test, no assignment
- Conversation with translation in music- to activate the ‘whole brain’ of the students
- Games, Songs, and Role Plays help in strengthening the classroom materials
- Vocabulary is emphasized.
- Speaking communicatively is emphasized. Students also read in the target language and write.
The techniques or Principles
Larsen-Freeman in his book “Techniques and Principles of Language Teaching” (2000) has mentioned the techniques or principles of Desuggestopedia. Here we have some of them.
Classroom set-up
Everything is bright and colorful in the classroom setup. To put it differently, it relaxed the classroom.
Peripheral learning
It means when students think or perceive themselves as a part of the environment, they can absorb information effortlessly. It creates such an environment in which students can be more open.
Baroque music
Use of Baroque music for increasing alpha brain waves and decreasing blood pressure and heart rate.
Presentation
A preparatory 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 learned. 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. Such a practice is called creative adaptation.
Others
- A great deal of attention to students’ feelings.
- Trustworthy authority of the teacher in the classroom.
- Errors are corrected gently which means not in a confrontational manner.
Teachers’ and Students’ Roles
Two main roles for a teacher who uses this method:
- Authority: The teacher is seen as being confident and trustworthy
- Security: The teacher provides a cheerful classroom environment
Two main roles for a student:
- Students may relax and tend to follow the teacher’s instructions easily
- Students tend to enjoy doing role plays and are able to enjoy their new identity freely
Advantages of Suggestopedia
There are some benefits to utilizing Desuggestopedia:
Authority concept
Students remember best and are most influenced by information coming from an authoritative source, teachers.
Double-planeness theory
It refers to learning from two aspects. They are the conscious aspect and the subconscious one. Students can acquire the aim of teaching instruction from both direct instruction and the environment in which the teaching takes place.
Peripheral learning
Desuggestopedia encourages the students to apply language more independently, takes more personal responsibility for their own learning and get more confidence. Peripheral information can also help encourage students to be more experimental and look to sources other than the teacher for language input. For example, the students can make some sentences using the grammatical structure placed on the classroom’s wall, describe a particular place in an English-speaking country by looking at the poster on the wall, etc. When the students are successful in doing such self-activities, they will be more confident.
Disadvantages of Desuggestopedia
Desuggestopedia also has limitations since there is no single teaching method that is categorized as the best based on some considerations such as the curriculum, students’ motivation, financial limitation, number of students, etc. The main disadvantages of suggestopedia are as follows:
Environmental limitation
Most schools in developing countries have large classes. Each class consists of 30 to 40 students. One of the problems faced in utilizing this method is the number of students in the class. There should be 12 students in the class.
The use of hypnosis
Some people say that suggestopedia uses hypnosis, so it has bad deep effects on human beings. Lazanov strongly denied it.
Infantilization learning
Desuggestopedia class is conditioned for child-like situations. There are some students who do not like to be treated like this as they think that they are mature.
Though Desuggestepedia is not possible in the context of Bangladesh, the teacher can use techniques or principles of this method while he or she teaches in GTM or CLT.
Study more: Grammar Translation Method Summary
