Suggestopedia I . Introduction—basis: how【T1】______ works and how we learn mos

Suggestopedia
    Good morning, everyone. As a learner of foreign languages and a language teacher in the future, you might have tried many approaches to language learning and teaching but were finally depressed that none of them would make a difference. So in today’s lecture, we will introduce an excellent method called suggestopedia to help you learn and teach foreign languages.
    (1) It is a teaching method developed by a Bulgarian psychotherapist, Georgi Lozanov, based on a modern understanding of how the human brain works and how we learn most effectively. (2) The term "suggestopedia", derived from suggestion and pedagogy, is often used loosely to refer to similar accelerated learning approaches. It is often claimed that it can teach languages approximately three times as quickly as conventional methods.
    (3) The intended purpose of suggestopedia was to enhance learning by lowering the affective filter of learners. It is a system for liberation—(4) liberation from the preliminary negative concept regarding the difficulties in the process of learning; liberation of previously suggested programs to restrict intelligence and spontaneous acquisition of knowledge, skills and habits. The method implements this by working not only on the conscious level of human mind but also on the subconscious level, the mind’s reserves. Since it works on the reserves in human mind and brain, which are said to have unlimited capacities, one can teach more than one method in the same amount of time.
    (5) Some of the key elements of suggestopedia include a rich sensory learning environment, a positive expectation of success and the use of a varied range of methods. And it adopts a carefully structured approach, using four main stages as follows. (6) The first stage is Presentation. In this stage, students are helped to relax and move into a positive frame of mind, with the feeling that learning is going to be easy and fun. The second stage is called Active Concert. This involves the active presentation of the material to be learnt. For example, in a foreign language course, there might be the dramatic reading of a piece of text accompanied by classical music. The third stage is Passive Review. In this section, 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. (7) The last stage is Practice. A range of games and puzzles will be used to review and consolidate the learning.
    Then what should be paid attention to?
    The first aspect is the music. (8) The music should have slow tempo, regular patterns, voices and instruments should not stand out against the orchestra, because they are likely to distract the students. Ideally, the orchestra must have a neutral color—that is why the best choice is string orchestras. That is to say, (9) the intonation and rhythm need to be coordinated with a musical background, which will help to induce a relaxed attitude.
    The second aspect is the teacher. The teacher in a suggestopedic course not only radiates effective suggestive stimulation, but also coordinates environmental suggestive stimulation in a positive way for students to learn. What should teachers do? (10) Firstly, they should cover a huge bulk of learning materials in class. Secondly, they can structure the materials in the suggestopedic way, which means they have to put the materials in golden proportion. (11) Thirdly, they should be highly prestigious, reliable and credible. Fourthly, they are also willing to establish good human relations in the class with students. (12) Lastly, teachers usually act as authority and security in this learning method. They should be confident and trustable to their students and afford a cheerful classroom atmosphere.
    (13) The third aspect that we should pay attention to is the activities. (14) The activities consist of acting out portions of the text, singing specially prepared songs and playing games, telling stories, carrying on short conversations and psycho-dramas. Throughout this portion, Lozanov calls it elaboration, the teacher carefully structures the activities so that the language used in them by the students comes mainly from the present text.
    It is true that if we can use some of the suggestopedic methods in teaching a foreign language, it will greatly accelerate our students’ progress. Certain elements of the approach can be taken and incorporated into the more comprehensive approach to language teaching widely in evidence today. The use of music both in the background and as a companion to certain activities can be motivating and relaxing. (15) Creating conditions in which learners are alert and receptive has a positive effect on motivation. It is so significant that this method can be used with a remarkable mixture of students from different grades and courses.
    Now, to sum up, in today’s lecture, we have a general understanding of using suggestopedia in teaching a foreign language. There is no doubt that suggestopedia has raised some interesting questions and some of its techniques can be successfully used to achieve good results in the areas of both learning and memory. I hope it will do you good in the future. Thank you for your attention.