Republic of the Philippines

CEBU NORMAL UNIVERSITY

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COLLEGE OF TEACHER EDUCATION

Center of Excellence (COE)
Level IV Accredited (AACCUP)
Telephone No.( 032) 231 8044
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Website: www.cnu.edu.ph
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ELT 4005 Principles, Methods and Materials of ELT

1st sem SY 2018-2019
Topic: Desuggestopedia
Reporter: Ma. Lovella M. Cagampang

DESSUGESTOPEDIA
 The application of the study of suggestion to pedagogy.
 It is a method to help students eliminate the feeling that they cannot be successful or any negative association
that they may have toward studying.
 Thus, to help them overcome the barriers to learning.

NOTE: It is known before as Suggestopedia but it is changed in order to reflect the importance placed on desuggesting
limitations on learning.

Proponent: Georgi Lozanov

• A Bulgarian psychiatrist-educator.
• He believed that language learning can occur at a faster rate than the usual.
• The problem is that we set up psychological barriers to learning and the result is that we do not use our full
mental potential.
• According to him and the others, we may be using only 5-10 % of our mental capacity.
• In order to make better use of our reserve capacity, the limitations we think we have need to be
“desuggested”.

PRINCIPLES OF DESUGGESTOPEDIA

I. Goals of the Teacher

 To accelerate the process of learning a foreign language for everyday exchanges.
 By tapping more of the students’ mental powers by desuggesting the psychological barriers of
learners and using techniques to activate the paraconscious part of the mind.
II. Role of the Teacher
 He/ She is the authority of the classroom.
 The teacher should recognize that the learners bring certain barriers with them so he/she should
attempt to desuggest them.
 He/She must create situations in which the learner is most suggestible and present linguistic
materials that encourage positive reception and retention.
III. Role of the Students
 To respect and trust the teacher.
Once they trust and respect the teacher, students feel secure, so they can be spontaneous and less
inhibited.
 They must forgo other distractions and immerse in the procedures of the method.
IV. Characteristics of the Teaching-Learning Process
 Bright and colorful classroom.
 Posters displaying grammatical information to help peripheral learning.
 Students choose new identities and create its biographies.
 Study from handouts with lengthy dialogues and with translations next to every dialogue.
 The lesson takes place following two major phases: Receptive and Active Phase
 a. Receptive Phase
First Concert:
 Teacher reads the dialogue, matching the voice to the rhythm and pitch of the
music.
 The students follow the target language dialogue as the teacher reads it aloud. They
also check for translation.
Second Concert:
 The students listen calmly while the teacher reads the dialogue at normal speed.
 Students silently leave the room and not asked to do anything except reading the
dialogue before they go to sleep, and again when they get up.
b. Activation Phase
 The students engage in various activities designed to help them gain facility with the
new material.
 These activities include, dramatizations, games, songs, and question-and-answer
exercises.
V. Interaction between Students and Teachers
 The teacher initiates the interaction with the group and individuals.
 Students: At first, they answer non-verbally or with a few words of the target language that they
already practiced.
 Later on, students have more control of target language and they can respond more appropriately
and also initiate interactions.
VI. Feelings of Students
 Concerned with the students feelings: if they are relaxed or confident, the learning of the language
will just come off easily and naturally.
 Desuggest psychological barriers: positive suggestions are made to enhance self-confidence and to
convince them that success is possible.
 The new identities make the students feel more secure and thus more open to learning.
VII. Views on Language and Culture
 Language: the first two planes in the two- plane process of communication.
 Factors which influence linguistic message: second plane.
 Culture concerns the everyday life of people who speaks the language.
VIII. Areas of Language and Skills Emphasized
 Vocabulary
 Speaking Communicatively
 Grammar (dealt explicitly but minimally)
IX. Role of the Student’s Native Language
 Native language translations are used to make the meaning of the dialogue clear.
 Teacher uses the native language in the class when it is NECESSARY.
X. Evaluation
 Conducted in students’ normal in-class performance and NOT through formal tests.
XI. Response to Errors
 Errors are corrected gently by the teacher using a soft voice.
 Avoiding a direct, confrontational manner.

REVIEWING THE TECHNIQUES

1. Classroom Set-up
 The classroom is bright and cheerful.
 Teachers should try to provide a positive environment.
2. Peripheral Learning
 We perceive much more in our environment than that to which we constantly notice.
 Posters containing grammatical information about the target language so students will absorb the facts
effortlessly.
 This may be changed depending on what the students are studying.
 3. Positive Suggestion
 The teacher must provide the suggestive factors in a learning situation, helping students break the
psychological barriers to learning.
4. Choosing a New Identity
 The students choosing of a target language name and occupation enhance them to be more secure and
help them to be more open.
 They feel less inhibited since whatever they are saying or doing is another person who is doing it.
5. Role Play
 Students are asked temporarily that they are someone and to perform in the target language as if they
were that person.
 They are often asked to create their own lines relevant to the situation.
6. First Concert
 The teacher reads the dialogue in the target language.
 The students look at their copy of the dialogue (both in the TL and their native language) and refer to it
as the teacher is reading.
 Classical music is played. The teacher’s voice rises and falls with the music.
7. Second Concert
 The students are asked to put away their scripts.
 The teacher reads the script at normal speed with the classical accompaniment.
 In this way, the content governs the way the teacher reads the script, not the music.
8. Primary Activation
 The students playfully reread the target language dialogue out loud, individually or in groups.
 They may read the dialogue in different manner: sadly, angrily or cheerfully.
9. Creative Adaptation
 The students engage in various activities to help them learn the new material and use it spontaneously.
 This includes singing, dancing, dramatizations and games.
 The important thing is that the activities are varied and do not allow the students to focus in the
linguistic message, just the communicative intent.

ADVANTAGES
• Peripheral learning
• The music creates a level of relaxed concentration.
• Different class setting which makes the students feel relax during the learning process.

DISADVANTAGES
 Environment Limitation
 Learning Style (not musically inclined learners)

References:
 Anderson, M. & Freeman, D. (2011). Techniques and Principles in Language Learning. Oxford University Press.
 Suggestopedia or Desuggestopedia. Retrieved 15September2018.
https://www.prezi.com/m/d6pdbjifcbwl/suggestopedia-or-desuggestopedia/.