Suggestopedia, one of the humanistic approaches was developed in the 1970’s by the Bulgarian educator Georgi Lozanov. It is based on the idea that people, as they get older, inhibit their learning to conform to the social norms and in order to reactivate the capabilities they used as children, teachers have to use the power of suggestion

Stimulates the whole personUndoes blocksGoes rapidly forwardGives creative solution Encourages relaxationStrengthens self-imageTalks to all the senses

Optimizes learning ( 極優化）Propagates talent （繁殖、開發）Enhances learningDramatises materialIncludes pictures, music and movementAddresses the whole person

Suggestopedia, is also known as Desuggestopedia.Suggestopedia is a specific set of learning recommendations derived from Suggestology.Suggestopedia is developed by theBulgarian Psychiatrist-EducatorGeorgi Lozanov.The most important characteristics of Suggestopedia are

• The teacher uses both verbal and non-verbal ways to communicate the learning hypothesis: (X) I am doing this, so (Y) I am learning the language; (X) I did, so (Y) I can use the language. This is a necessary and continuous part of suggestopedic teaching.

• Suggestopedia sees the negative suggestions (Oh, it is too late for me, I am too old,” or “How can I remember that amount? Nobody can!”) from the social-suggestive norm as inhibiting human potential and believes teachers can free their students’ natural potential by replacing existing

• Desuggestopedia (the name of this method changed from Suggestopedia to Desuggestopedia to emphasize the importance on desuggesting limitations on learning),

Teaching speaking for young language learners (YLLs) is an interesting and challenging duty for teachers for some considerations. In one hand, YLLs are individuals of very early age who are interested in many new things such as a foreign language, English. Young language learners (YLLs) are defined here as being school pupils up to around 13 years old (Hasselgreen, 2005). In this level, young learners seem to have the same proficiency in speaking that is novice level. The characteristic of novice level is the students’ ability to communicate minimally with learned material and oral production consists of isolated words and perhaps a few high-frequency phrases essentially no functional communication ability (Brown, 2001). Related to this, Wells (1991:52-53) cited in Hammound (1997) divided the students’ literacy into four levels. They are performative, functional, informative and epistemic level. YLLs are included into performative level. It emphasizes the ability to master speaking skill:

The emphasis at this level its on the code as code. Becoming literate, according to this perspective, is simply a matter of acquiring those skills that allow a written message to be decoded into speech in order to ascertain its meaning and those skills that allow a spoken message to be encoded in writing, according to the convention of letter formation, spelling and punctuation. At the performative level it is tacitly assumed that written messages differ from spoken message only n the medium employed for communication.

On the other hand, teaching YLLs is regarded as the most difficult thing to do in a second language classroom by some teachers. Since YLLs have little or no prior knowledge of the target language.

• Teacher’s goals:

Accelerate process of learning everyday lang; reducing psychological barriers

Roles: teacher as authority figure..embodies trust, respect, easily persuasive

• Process: comfortable, relaxing; students choose “new” identities; whole brain used-; feelings strongly acknowledged, positive reinforcement;

• 2 phases:

Receptive--

Activation

Teacher’s role

Abdelhamid

2-The use of music2-The use of music

3-Peripheral Learning3-Peripheral Learning

4-Free Errors environment4-Free Errors environment

5-Homework5-Homework

6-Music, drama and art6-Music, drama and art

a. AdvantagesAs a particular method, suggestopedia offers some benefit for its use in the second language classroom for YLLs. There are some benefits in utilizing suggestopedia:1. A comprehesible input based on dessugestion and suggestion principleBy using this teaching method, YLLs can lower their affective filter. Suggestopedia classes, in addition, are held in ordinary rooms with comfortable chairs, a practice that may also help them relaxed. Teacher can do numerous other things to lower the affective filter. According to Kharsen (1989) cited in Xue (2005) activities that allow students to get better acquainted with each other may help lower anxieties and make students to adopt new names for the duration of the language course may have a similar effect.

2. Authority conceptStudents remember best and are most influenced by information coming from an authoritative source, teachers.3. Double-planedness theoryIt refers to the learning from two aspects. They are the conscious aspect and the subconscious one. YLLs can acquire the aim of teaching instruction from both direct instruction and environment in which the teaching takes place.

4. Peripheral learningSuggestopedia encourages the students to apply language more independently, take 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.

b. DisadvantagesIt is not fair to analyze only from the benefit aspects. Suggestopedia also has limitation since there is no single teaching method that is chategorized as the best based on some consideration such as: the curriculum, students motivation, financial limitation, number of students, etc. The main disadvantages of suggestopedia are as follow:

1. Environment limitationMost 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 (Adamson, 1997).2. The use of hypnosisSome people say that suggestopedia uses a hypnosis, so it has bad deep effects for human beings. Lazanov strongly denied about it.3. Infantilization learningSuggestopedia class is conditioned be child-like situation. There are some students who do not like to be treated like this as they think that thay are mature.

Techniques

Relaxing Classroom Set-up

Peripheral Learning(posters)

Positive Suggestion(music)

Visualization New Identity Role-Play

Techniques (cont’d)

SECOND CONCERTstudents listen with closed eyes;

content determines rhythm

FIRST CONCERT "receptive phase"

dialog in target lang;music used to dramatize

SECONDARY ACTIVATIONlearning new info;

focus on communicative intent--not form

PRIMARY ACTIVATIONgroup reading dialog;

varying emotion

PHASES