TESOL (Teaching English to the

Speakers of Other Languages)

Prepared by: Ms. Sharmeen Ismail

 Desuggestopedia
• Desuggestopedia has been called an affective-humanistic
approach because there is respect for students’ feelings.
• The method is developed because of the argument that students
naturally face psychological barriers to learning. The
psychological barriers here refer to a variety of internal
distractions (worry, anxiety, fatigue, boredom, fear, etc.).
• The originator, Georgi Lozanov , believes that language learning
can occur at a much faster rate.
• The reason for our inefficiency is that we set up psychological
barriers to learning: we fear that we will be unable to perform,
that we will be limited in our ability to learn, that we will fail.
• Students do not use their full powers of learning and they have
some limitations in learning.
• These limitations have to be desuggested using some specific
teaching techniques which stimulate them to use their reserved
capacity of learning.
• Teachers need to help students eliminate the feeling that they
cannot be successful and/or the negative association they may
have toward studying.
Key features
• Learning should be characterized by the joy: absence of tension;
cheerful environment
• Language learning is a natural process
• Humans operate on a conscious and subconscious level: a
student can learn from what is present in the environment.
• The role of the teacher: She speaks confidently and gives the
students the impression that learning the target language will be
easy and enjoyable, security provider
• The teacher’s main role is to desuggest psychological barriers.
• The role of students: relaxed, role-play: enjoying in the new
identity freely
• If students are relaxed and confident, they will not need to try
hard to learn the language. It will just come naturally and easily.
• To use the native language to make the dialog clear.
• Little by little the teacher uses the native language less and less.
• The errors of the students are corrected gently, with the teacher
using a soft voice.
• Communicative ability is focused
Teaching Techniques
• Classroom set-up: Armchair, everything is bright and colorful,
posters, music
• Positive suggestion: the teacher speaks confidently
• Peripheral learning: It is claimed that by putting posters
containing grammatical information about the target language
on the classroom walls, students will absorb the necessary facts
effortlessly. They are changed from time to time to provide
grammatical information that is appropriate to what the students
are studying.
• Fine arts (music –paintings)
• Choosing a new identity: It gives to the students’ the feeling of
security and allows them to learn easily.
• Active concert (receptive phase)
• Passive concert (receptive phase)
• Primary activation: The students playfully reread the target
language dialog out loud, as individuals or in groups. Students
are asked to read the dialog in particular manner: sadly, angrily,
and cheerfully. (active phase)
• Creative adaptation: The students engage in various activities,
which include singing, dancing, dramatizations, and games. The
important thing is that the activities are varied and do not allow
the students to focus on the form of the linguistic message, just
the communicative intent. (active phase)
Advantages
• It creates learning environment
• It emphasizes students learning in a relaxed environment
• Can arouse students’ interests and potential to memorize
• The emphasis of interaction
• Focus on students’ feelings and comfort
• The treatments to students’ mistakes is very gentle
Drawbacks
• The use of desuggestopedia is expensive.
• It requires a special classroom set-up, furnished with armchairs,
decorated with colourful materials and posters
• Audio players are also made available in the classroom to provide
background music.
• Another weakness is environment limitation: it will be difficult to
practice this method in developing countries, where we have
more number of students.
• Difficult to accommodate large classes.
• The teacher will find it difficult to control the students due to the
large number of the class.
• Absence of assignments, test and quizzes, which may lead to
students losing motivation in learning because there is no
pressure.
• Time consuming: Students play the roles and read the texts with
different emotions. This is done after the teacher has already
consumed lot of time by reading the text slowly at the pace of
the background music.
Ten Important Questions
 What are the goals of teachers who use this
method?

• To accelerate the process of learning a foreign language

for everyday communication.
• To desuggest learners’ psychological barriers.
• To activate learners’ ‘paraconscious’ part of the mind.
What is the role of the teacher? What is the role of
the students?

• The teacher is the authority in the classroom, security provider.

• The students must trust and respect her.
• To help students eliminate and overcome the barriers to learning
and to help the students develop communicative ability.
• Teachers act as a real partner with the students, participating in
the activities.
• Students’ role: relaxed, enjoying in the new identity freely
 What are some characteristics of the
teaching/learning process?
• The classroom is bright and cheerful; posters displaying
grammatical information about the target language are hung:
peripheral learning.
• A new name and occupation.
• They create whole biographies to go along with their new
identities.
• No test, no assignment
• Games, songs, role-play
• Handouts containing lengthy dialogues along with the
translation in the students’ native language are provided.
• There are also some notes on vocabulary and grammar.
• The receptive phase: two concerts. Firstly, the students follow
the target language dialogue as the teacher reads it out loud.
They also check the translation. In the second one, they listen
calmly while the teacher reads the dialogue at normal speed.
• The active phase: students engage in various activities designed
to help them gain facility with the new material. The activities
include dramatizations, games, songs, and question-and answer
exercises.
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 and with individuals 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.
• Student-student interaction is there: role-plays.
 How are the feelings of the students dealt with?

• A great deal of attention is given to students’ feelings in this

method.
• If students are relaxed and confident, they will not need to try
hard to learn the language. It will just come naturally and easily.
• Indirect positive suggestions are made to enhance students’ self-
confidence and to convince them that success is obtainable.
• A new identity is used to make them feel more secure and thus
more open to learning.
 How is language viewed? How is culture
viewed?
• Communication takes place on ‘two planes’: on one the linguistic
message is encoded; and on the other are factors (nonverbal
factors) which influence the linguistic message.
• For example, the way one dresses or the nonverbal behaviour
one uses affects how one’s linguistic message is interpreted.
• The use of the fine arts is also important in Desuggestopedia
classes.
What areas of language are emphasized? What
language skills are emphasized?

• Vocabulary is emphasized.
• Grammar is dealt with explicitly but minimally.
• Speaking communicatively is emphasized.
 What is the role of the students’ native
language?

• Native language translation is used to make the meaning of the

dialogue clear.
• The teacher also uses the native language in class when
necessary.
• As the course proceeds, the teacher uses the native language less
and less.
 How is evaluation accomplished?

• Evaluation usually is conducted on students’ normal in-class

performance and not through formal tests.
• It is believed that it would threaten the relaxed atmosphere of
the classroom.
 How does the teacher respond to student
errors?

• Errors are corrected gently, with the teacher using a soft voice.
Assignment: Considering the Pakistani context, what are the
limitations to teaching English language using Desuggestopedia?