SUGGESTOPEDI

A
TEFL Course
6 TBI
Dr. Georgi Lozanov
the Bulgarian
psychiatrist- 2

educator who
developed the
method
SUGGESTOPEDIA
▹ Derived from Suggestology which
Lozanov described as “a science
concerned with the systematic study of
the nonrational and/or nonconscious
influences that human beings are
constantly responding to.”
▹ Suggestopedia tries to harness these
influences and redirect them so as to
optimize learning
▹ The most conspicuous characteristics of
Suggestopedia are the:

Decoration

Music

Furniture and Arrangement of

classroom

Authoritative behavior of the

teacher
Claims for Suggestopedic
Learning are dramatic:
▹ There is no sector of public life where
suggestology would not be useful.
▹ Memorization in learning by suggestopedic
method seems to be accelerated 25 times over
than in learning by conventional methods.
▹ It works well whether or not students spend time
on outside study.
▹ He promises success through Suggestopedia to
academically gifted and ungifted alike.
A most conspicuous
feature of
Suggestopedia is the
centrality of music
and musical rhythm
to learning – uses it
for therapy.
One of the earliest attested uses of
music therapy is recorded in the OLD
TESTAMENT of the BIBLE:
▹ When the [evil] spirit from God was upon Saul, David
took up his harp and played with his hand; so Saul
found relief; it was well with him, and the evil spirit
departed from him. [1 Sam. 16:23]
￭ (Lozanov): the use of music to assist the
liberation from discrete micro psychotrauma,
for destruction of incompatible ideas about the
limits of human capabilities – (in other words)
the relief provided by music will vanquish the
evil spirit.
Gaston (1968) defines 3
functions of music in therapy:
1. To facilitate the establishment and
maintenance of personal relations
2. To bring about increased self-esteem
through increased satisfaction in musical
performance
3. To use the unique potential of rhythm to
energize and bring order
 APPROACH
• Theory of LANGUAGE
• Theory of LEARNING
Theory of Language
▹ Lozanov does not articulate a theory of language
▹ However, he does occasionally refer the
importance of experiencing language
material in “whole meaningful texts” and
notes that the suggestopedic course
directs the student not to
vocabulary memorization and
acquiring habits of speech, but to
acts of communication
Theory of Language
▹ He recommends home study of recordings of
whole meaningful texts (not of a fragmentary
nature) that are “above all, interesting.”
▹ These are listened to for the sake of the music
of the foreign speech
▹ The texts should be lighthearted stories with
emotional content In class, the focus of the
lesson is a dialogue – supported by music and
other soothing accompaniments, as mentioned.
Hansen (2011) highlights the roles of
grammar
▹
in working with texts:
The major slot for overt grammatical presentation in the Lozanov cycle [of
imitation and reading] is in the first elaboration during the choral reading of the
text. After the repetition of a certain sentence, there will be a momentary and
apparently spontaneous (but carefully planned and prepared) focus on a
grammatical item. This must:

￭ Come from the text, so that the learner’s mind remains

focused on the drama rather than on the linguistic structure
￭ Be brief so that the learners do not get a chance to switch into
analytical mode. Thus, it is never followed by an exercise or
drill, which may occur at a later stage
￭ Be incomplete so that there is still material for the
unconscious to puzzle over and work on; the mind is a
compulsive pattern maker, positively stimulated by challenge.
 “
Grammar never appears
to be dwelt upon for its
sake, but to arise
spontaneously as a
textual puzzle
Theory of Learning
▹ Suggestion is the heart of Suggestopedia
▹ Lozanov claims that his own views separate
Suggestopedia from the narrow clinical
concept of hypnosis as a kind of static,
sleeplike, altered state of consciousness
▹ He further claims that what distinguishes his
method from hypnosis and other forms of mind
control is that these forms lack a desuggestive-
suggestive sense and fail to create a constant
set up access through concentrative psycho-
relaxation
Theory of Learning

Authority Infantilization

Double-
Intonation
planedness

Concert
Rhythm pseudo-
passiveness
Authority
▹ People remember best and are most influenced
by information coming from an authoritative
source.
▹ Lozanov talks of choosing a “ritual placebo
system” that is most likely to be perceived of by
students as having high authority.
▹ He appears to believe that scientific-sounding
language, highly positive experimental data, and
true believer teachers constitute a ritual placebo
system that is authoritative appealing to most
learners
Infantilization
▹ Authority is also used to suggest a teacher-
student relation like that of parent to child.

▹ In the child’s role the learner takes part in role

playing, games, songs, and gymnastic exercise
that help “the older student regain self-
confidence, spontaneity and receptivity of the
child”
Double-planedness
▹ The learners learn not only from the effect of
direct instruction but from the environment in
which the instruction takes place.
 
▹ [The bright décor of the classroom, the musical
background, the shape of the chairs, and the
personality of the teacher are considered as
important in instruction as the form of the
instructional material itself.]
Intonation, rhythm, and concert
pseudo-passiveness
▹ Varying the tone and rhythm of presented
material helps both to avoid boredom through
monotony of repetition and to dramatize,
emotionalize, and give meaning to linguistic
material.
￭ 1st presentation of linguistic material – 3
phrases read together with different voice
level and rhythm.
￭ 2nd presentation linguistic material is
given proper dramatic reading, which helps
learners visualize a context for the material
and aids in memorization
Intonation, rhythm, and concert
pseudo-passiveness
▹ Lozanov refers to the relaxed attitude by
music as concert pseudo-passiveness
￭ With this anxieties are relieved and
power of concentration for new
material is raised.
Intonation, rhythm, and concert
pseudo-passiveness
The type of music is critical to learning
success:
The idea that music can affect your body and mind
certainly isn’t new… The key was to find the right kind of
music for just the right kind of effect… The music you use
in superlearning [the American term for Suggestopedia] is
extremely important. If it does not have the required
pattern, the desired altered states of consciousness will not
be induced and results will be poor… It is specific music –
sonic patterns – for specific purpose.
(Ostrander, Schroeder, and Ostrander 1979:73 – 4)
Intonation, rhythm, and concert
pseudo-passiveness
▹ Lozanov refers to the relaxed attitude by
music as concert pseudo-passiveness
￭ With this anxieties are relieved and
power of concentration for new
material is raised.
Intonation, rhythm, and concert
pseudo-passiveness
▹ Lozanov recommends a series of slow
movements (sixty beats a minute) in 4/4 time for
Baroque concertos strung together into about a
half-hour concert. He notes that in such concerts
“the body relaxed, the mind became alert”
(Ostrander et al. 1979:74)
￭ Researchers of Suggestopedia from Karl
Marx University in Germany observed that
slow movements from Baroque
instrumental music featuring string
instruments gave the very best results.
Intonation, rhythm, and concert
pseudo-passiveness
▹ The rate of presentation of material to be learned
within the rhythmic pattern is keyed to the
rhythm.

￭ Superlearning uses an 8-second cycle for

pacing out data at slow intervals (1st four
beats – silence; 2nd four beats the dialogue
– “the material” is presented by the teacher)
Intonation, rhythm, and concert
pseudo-passiveness
▹ Ostrander et al – Musical rhythms affect body
rhythms, such as heartbeat. “With slow heartbeat, mind
efficiency takes a great leap forward.”
￭ Several instances of the use of the 60 beats per
minute were studied by researches and found
them to have positive results. They even have a
study that not only human but vegetable subjects
thrive under sixty beat stimulation. Plants grown
in the chambers given Baroque Music by Bach
and Indian music by Ravi Shankar rapidly grew
lush and abundant. The plants getting rock music
shriveled and died.
 DESIGN
• Objectives • Learner Roles
• The Syllabus • Teacher Roles
• Types of Learning • The Role of IM’s
and Teaching
Activities
Objectives
▹ Suggestopedia aims to deliver
conversational proficiency quickly
▹ Bases its learning claims on student
mastery of prodigious lists of vocabulary
pairs
￭ Suggests to the students that it is
appropriate that they set such goals
for themselves
Objectives
▹ He emphasizes that increased memory
power is not an isolated skill but a result
of positive, comprehensive stimulation of
personality
▹ The main aim of teaching is not
memorization but the understanding and
creative solution of problems
Objectives
▹ As learner goals, he cites increased access
to understanding and creative solutions
and problems
￭ However, because students and
teachers place a high value on
vocabulary recall, memorization of
vocabulary pairs continues to be seen
as an important goal of the
suggestopedic method.
The Syllabus
▹ The course lasts 30 days and consists of 10
units of study.
▹ Held 4 hours/day, 6 days/week
▹ Central focus of each unit is a dialogue
￭ 1,200 words or so
￭ With an accompanying vocabulary list
and grammatical commentary
￭ Graded by lexis and grammar
The Syllabus
▹ There is a pattern of work within each unit
and a pattern of work for the whole course:
▹ Unit study is organized around 3 days:

1st Day 2nd Day

• Half day • Full day

3rd Day
• Half day
1st Day
• Half day
a) The teacher discusses the general content of
the unit dialogue
b) the learners then receive the printed dialogue
with a native-language translation in a
parallel column
c) The teacher answers any questions of interest or
concern about the dialogue
d) The dialogue then is read a 2nd and 3rd time in
ways to be discussed subsequently
2nd Day 3rd Day
• Full day • Half day

These are spent in primary and secondary

elaboration of the text
▹ PRIMARY elaboration – consists of imitation,
question and answer, reading, etc. of the
dialogue and of working with the 150 new
vocabulary items presented in the unit
▹ SECONDARY elaboration – involves
encouraging students to make new
combinations and productions based on the
dialogues
The Syllabus
▹ The whole course also has a pattern of
presentation and performance:
￭ 1st day
Step 1: A test is given to check the
level of student knowledge and to
provide a basis for dividing students
into two groups:
⬝ New beginners
⬝ Modified (false) beginners
The Syllabus
▹ 2 opportunities for generalization of
material:

middle of the course last day of the

–practice course
• language in a • performance in
setting where it which every student
might be used participates;
(such as hotels and students construct a
restaurants) play and are
expected to speak
extempore rather
than from
memorized lines.
Types of Learning and
Teaching Activities
▹ The types of activities that are more
original to Suggestopedia are the listening
activities
￭ which concern the text and text
vocabulary of each unit
￭ part of the pre-session phase (1st day
of a unit)
Types of Learning and
Teaching Activities
▹ The types of activities that are more
original to Suggestopedia are the listening
activities
￭ which concern the text and text
vocabulary of each unit
￭ part of the pre-session phase (1st day
of a unit)
 3rd reading – the material is acted
out by the instructor in a dramatic
manner over a background of the
special musical form described
previously.

2nd reading – students relax

comfortably in reclining chairs
and listen to the teacher read the
text in a certain way

students look at and discuss a

new text with the teacher (who
answer and questions about the
dialogue)
Learner Roles
▹ They are expected to be committed to the
class and its activities
￭ their mental state is critical to success
▹ They must avoid distractions avoid
distractions and immerse themselves in the
procedures of the method
▹ They must not try to figure out, manipulate,
or study the material presented but must
maintain a pseudo-passive state
Learner Roles
▹ They are expect to tolerate and in fact encourage
their own infantilization
▹ (to help them detach themselves from their past learning
experiences) they are given a new name and
personal history within the target culture
▹ Groups of learners are ideally socially
homogeneous, 12 in number, and divided
equally between men and women. Learners sit
in a circle, which encourages face-to-face
exchange and activity participation
Teacher Roles
▹ PRIMARY ROLE: to create situations in
which the learner is most suggestible and
then to present material in a way most
likely to encourage positive reception and
retention by the learner
EXPECTED TEACHER
BEHAVIORS
Organize properly and
strictly observe the initial
Show absolute Display fastidious
stages of the teaching
confidence in the conduct in manners and
process Maintain a
method dress
solemn attitude toward
the session

Stress global rather than

Give tests and respond Maintain a modest
analytical attitudes
tactfully to poor papers enthusiasm.
toward material
 The Role of Instructional
Materials
Materials consisting of direct
support materials, primarily text
and audio and indirect support
materials, including classroom
fixtures and music.
Traumatic themes and
distasteful lexical material
should be avoided.
Textbooks should have
emotional force, literary quality,
and interesting characters.
Language problems should be
introduced in a way that does
not worry or distract students
from the content.
Learning environment plays a
central role in Suggestopedia:
the classroom, the furniture and
the music
PROCEDURE
PROCEDURE
First, an informal, dramatized introduction to the vocabulary of the
text, is followed by two formal but very different “concerts,” (when the
teacher reads the text aloud slowly)

Second, the “elaboration” of the text begins, at first a decoding and then a freer
and more creative session.. each student takes on a new personality and name,
framed in the target language, for the duration of the course.

Teacher take on roles from time to time: authority figure, then fading into the
background as students gain confidence, and finally retreating to a back seat to
let them take over.

Third part – the séance or concert session – is the one by

which Suggestopedia is best known. To quote Lozanov:
Reflection
1. For further reading:
http://www.srjis.com/pages/pdfFiles/150184789930.%
20saideep%20shikare.pdf
2. Please watch this video of teaching practice using
Suggestopedia: https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rkrvRlty5M
46
3. After you read the article and watch the video, please give
your comment about
a. Do you agree or disagree that Suggestopedia is
applicable on teaching English in Indonesian context?
And why?
b. What is the most suitable material delivered using
Suggestopedia?
4. Give your comments in the WA group. All of you have to
comment. Don’t forget to write your name too.