Suggestopedia

Suggestopedia, developed in the 1970s by Georgi Lozanov, is a method for learning languages. Lozanov, a Bulgarian psychotherapist and educator, developed the method based on suggestology principles of desuggestion and suggestion, claiming that the method could accelerate language learning to unparalleled levels for adults. Suggestopedia has been connected to other language teaching methods such as superlearning and accelerated learning. Suggestopedia has met criticism because results have not been replicated in other studies.

Keywords Accelerated Learning; Approach; Critical Period Hypothesis; Desuggestion; Language Ego; Learning Hypothesis; Lozanov, Georgi; Method; Second Language Learning; Suggestion; Superlearning

Overview

Suggestopedia, developed in the1970s, is a method of learning languages. Developed by Georgi Lozanov, a Bulgarian psychotherapist and educator, suggestopedia was cultivated as a learning tool to augment an individual's ability to learn foreign languages, specifically in adulthood (Brown, 1994). Suggestopedia makes use of suggestion and desuggestion techniques, removing barriers to learning, and using these techniques to convey to the learner that learning is easy and natural.

Georgi Lozanov was born in 1926 in Sofia, Bulgaria. He attended the University of Sofia, where he studied medicine and worked as a psychotherapist and psychiatrist. In 1966, he published his doctoral thesis, "Suggestology," which many designate as the founding of the suggestopedia methodology. In his research, Lozanov claimed to have developed a method for learning languages in which extensive brain capacity was used, leading to greater learning in a shorter period of time. In 1981 the suggestopedic manual was published and translated into English by 1998 (Baur, 2000).

The profession of teaching a language has only emerged in the last century, in the early 1900s (Rodgers, 2001). Until recently, languages were taught using the 'Classical Method,' which consisted of learning to translate texts, vocabulary memorization, and exercises in writing (Brown, 1994). During the 1960s, the motivation for learning a new language changed; teaching began to emphasize being able to communicate with others effectively (Rodgers, 2001). Furthermore, since the 1970s, language teaching methodologies have emphasized the importance of cooperative learning and the importance of self esteem. Since the emergence of language teaching specialization, there have surfaced a multitude of perspectives on the best way to teach a language, and many teaching methods have risen and died out in popularity. About every twenty-five years, a new method emerges which combines new aspects of teaching with some prior ones (Brown, 1994).

Language Teaching Methods & Approaches

Language teachers recognize two types of teaching: the "method" and the "approach." Methods are defined as predetermined teaching structures that stipulate particular techniques. Approaches are more philosophical - they are schools of thought that can be interpreted in various ways, and applied through different activities in a classroom. The 1950s to the 1980s saw an increase in the search for methods, and this perspective prevailed throughout much of the 20th century (Rodgers, 2001). The 1970s especially saw an era in which research and exploration in second language acquisition led to a large number of original and research-based methods for learning languages. This era labeled the cognitive process as increasingly important in learning a second language (Brown, 1994). Suggestopedia came out of this time period as a popular method, based upon the idea that language learning should be largely interactive (Rodgers, 2001). Other popular methods included community language learning, the natural approach, and the silent way (Brown, 1994).

The Learning Hypothesis

Suggestopedia is largely based on the Acquisition or Learning hypothesis. The learning hypothesis states that adults can progress their language proficiency for two reasons: using the language to communicate with others and understanding and integrating the language (Krashen & Terrel, 1983). This is a departure from other schools of thought in which the analysis of language is key. Suggestopedia also draws heavily from ideas regarding how consciousness and the subconscious affect individuals and their ability to process information.

While suggestopedia is often used to refer to other teaching methods such as accelerated learning approaches, Lozanov's method is specific and requires several unique elements throughout the approach. The teaching environment, the range of methods used, and the behavior and personality of the instructor and students are critical to the success of the students.

Further Insights

The Critical Period Hypothesis

Central to any second language learning method is the idea of the critical period. Psychologists and other researchers have long puzzled over how children learn a first language so quickly, in the first few years of life, and why learning a second language becomes so much more difficult to learn as we grow older. The critical period hypothesis claims that there is a biological basis to why language acquisition occurs so naturally in these first few years - that there is a critical window where achieving language fluency is possible. Researchers who study second language acquisition have expanded this argument to include a window for acquiring proficiency in a second language, with the window closing around the time puberty hits. However, other researchers contest this argument (Brown, 1994).

Suggestopedia challenges this assumption, and uses principles of suggestology throughout the learning method. Central to understanding this method is research on the brain and its functions.

The Brain in Suggestopedia

Research on the brain and its functions has contributed heavily to the literature on language acquisition and second language learning. Many scientists have studied how the brain functions as an individual learns his or her first language. There is evidence that as the human brain matures, it organizes itself and "assigns" certain functions and capabilities to the left hemisphere or right hemisphere of the brain. Scientists call this procedure lateralization, and many researchers believe that understanding this process is key to understanding how languages are learned. The left hemisphere controls functions that are logical and analytical, while the right hemisphere is the emotional center of the brain. Researchers who study second language acquisition are concerned mostly about when lateralization occurs and how it affects the way that individuals learn a language. Many researchers believe that lateralization begins to occur around the age of two, and is completed by puberty. Some speculate that once the brain is organized in this way, it becomes difficult for individuals to acquire fluency in another language because the flexibility and plasticity of the brain is diminished (Brown, 1994).

Research on brain development and learning languages has also focused on right brain activity, and the role of the right hemisphere. For example, studies on post-pubescent students found heavier right brain activity in the earlier phases of learning a second language, which could suggest that adults and older children may benefit in right brain based activities in learning a second language (Brown, 1994).

The suggestopedia method asserts that the human brain is capable of enormous feats, and Lozanov (1982) claims that teaching methods often hinder the brain from reaching these capabilities. Specifically, the brain is responsible not only for learning and storing information, but also controls emotive responses and motivation. When learning occurs, activity in the brain is not only storing information, but having an emotional response to it. However, teaching methods often only address the facts and figures - ignoring the emotional and motivational aspects of learning, and failing to engage and address all parts of the brain. Too often, learning occurs through exercises that are disconnected, tiring for the individual, and mistakes that are rarely corrected through the learning process.

Lozanov (1982) additionally argues that in teaching languages, individuals are often taught so that elements are independent from each other, isolated from the whole. Often this "unnatural" way of learning leads to inhibitions, a loss in confidence, and a fear of learning. Suggestopedia combats these ideas through a methodology that enables the individual in a variety of ways: by removing barriers that society teaches individuals that are present - that their aptitude for learning is limited, and releasing the individual's dormant capabilities.

Suggestology

The term suggestology encompasses the science of suggestion - the ability to bring out an individual's dormant capacities that lie in the mind and the body. Lozanov (1982) defines suggestion as "a communicative factor which is expressed in proposing that the personality should make its choice, should choose both rationally and intuitively, and according to its structure and disposition from among a wide range of possibilities among complex stimuli" (pp. 146).

Suggestology proposes that when suggestion is applied in a positive manner, and is systematic in its approach, the method can bring out assets and capabilities that have been lying dormant in the individual's personality, and that bringing these capacities to the surface through desuggestion and suggestion can increase an individual's ability to learn, and encourage the creative process (Lozanov, 1982).

The first step in suggestology is desuggestion - removing the barriers and emancipating the learner so that he or she may overcome the barriers that prevent the learner from tapping into reserve capabilities. These capabilities are closely tied to personality; suggestology allows the individual to revert back to two personality characteristics - infantilization and pseudopassivity. Infantilization is characterized by extreme plasticity - the ability to adapt and change as well as amplified awareness and insight; psuedopassivity is characterized by a relaxed state in which stressors are lacking, and the mind and body are free of extraneous thought or action. Suggestology purports that when an individual can harness these two characteristics, they are able to use these underlying skills to increase their learning (Lozanov, 1982).

Suggestopedia is largely guided by the facets and beliefs that underlie suggestology. While the conditions that will bring out these types of dormant abilities may happen naturally, they can also be created in a learning situation. Furthermore, suggestology purports that learning is an incredibly complex process that involves the conscious and paraconscious, and that the harmonization of these two realms of the mind is critical for learning. The paraconscious is defined as all things that are happening in the brain and the mind that occur outside of consciousness, including making links, coding information, and analyzing symbols and symbolic meanings. The paraconscious also triggers the individual's long-term memory (Lozanov, 1982).

Major Characteristics of Suggestopedia

There are several features that are characteristic of suggestopedia that form the basis for the teaching method. They include:

• Use of suggestion and desuggestion,

• A nurturing and dynamic teacher, and

• The complexity of the teachers' and peers' suggestions to the learning student (Schuster, 1979).

The critical component of suggestopedia is to release students from the social norms that obstruct their capabilities, freeing individuals from the idea that their capabilities for learning are limited, and uniting the conscious and paraconscious functions of the brain to increase learning capacity (Lozanov, 1982).

In addition to suggestion and desuggestion, a successful suggestopedic approach also relies on certain personality characteristics and capabilities of the teacher, and the atmosphere created by that teacher and the individual's peers. It is also important to note that suggestopedia is supposed to be an easy process for the learner. Learning is not forced; it is a positive, satisfying, and creative experience. Furthermore, it is important that the individuals learning the language are not exhausted, as learning cannot occur at the individual's maximum capacity when they are feeling drained of energy (Lozanov, 1982).

Applications

The Suggestopedia Method

The atmosphere and classroom in which the suggestopedia method takes place is a central facet of the method. Suggestopedia makes heavy use of classical music, and students are seated in comfortable seats, as relaxed and comfortable as possible. These elements set the stage for the possibility of desuggestion and suggestion to occur, and even make it probable (Brown, 1994).

The Three Phases

Suggestopedia, as it was used and taught by Lozanov, has three distinct phases:

• Presession,

• Session, and

• Postsession.

The first phase lasts about fifteen to twenty minutes. The presession is marked by introduction to the new material, and the teacher suggesting through their behavior and language to the students that learning the language will be pleasant and easy. The first stage is about bringing the class to the correct state of mind. Learning a language using the suggestopedia method requires individuals to be in an "optimal" state - one in which they are relaxed but focused, and confident in their abilities (Lozanov, 1982).

During the session, lasting about forty-five minutes, the text for the class is read twice - once by the teacher with students following along, and the second time by only the teacher. During the first read-through, students listen to classical or early romantic music, while the second read through is accompanied by pre-classical music. Suggestopedia heavily employs the use of music to relax and focus individuals. Throughout the session, it is extremely important that the instructor continue to convey to the students that the material they are learning and hearing is very easy to learn, and that they are capable of mastery (Lozanov, 1982).

During the postsession, the teacher and the class elaborate on the material presented in the session. Students and teacher may re-read or translate the text, play games, sing songs, role play, or converse about the themes of the text. It is important that activities in the postsession are spontaneous and do not tire out the students. Following the postsession, there is no additional work given, although students may choose to continue exploring what they have learned post-classroom session (Lozanov, 1982).

Textbooks

The textbook is an important component of suggestopedia, and should complement the suggestopedic process. The textbook should hold light and pleasant stories that introduce between 600 and 850 new words and a significant portion of the language's grammar. In this way, students are exposed to a great diversity of the language from the vary beginning, and are unlimited from the start. Any illustrations in the textbook should connect to the lesson's subjects. While the elements of the suggestopedic process are well defined, there is no particular order of instruction in terms of how the language is presented or learned. An enormous amount of information is offered in these lessons, and the object is not to limit a student's capabilities (Lozanov, 1982).

The major principles of suggestopedia can clearly be related to the major principles of suggestology. Teachers attempt to create an atmosphere where intellectual activity is unfettered and creativity is encouraged, without causing exhaustion. The teachers' role in this method is a difficult one - to bring about in each individual calmness and confidence in one's abilities, and absolute trust that they will learn the language. The process and the relationships that are established within the process can be likened to those that emerge within group therapy sessions - safe spaces, unwavering trust, and a lack of fear (Lozanov, 1982). The relationship between the teacher and learners is critical and complex. The teacher takes on a role most equated with an authority figure or hypnotist; the learner is a believer in the teachers' methods (Rodgers, 2001). The student yields to the teacher, becoming like a child, and as a result, extremely suggestible to the teacher's methodology and to learning and absorbing the information being presented (Brown, 1994).

Viewpoints

The suggestopedia method has made way for many other approaches and methods to learning languages, including superlearning and accelerated learning. The superlearning approach has similar phases - the pre-session, active, concert, passive concert, and post-session - throughout which many of the same elements are used as in suggestopedia. Language textbooks, music, and "play" activities such as singing or skits are liberally employed throughout the various segments (Baur, 2000).

Lozanov (1982) has claimed that when the suggestopedic method is carried out properly (over the course of twenty-five days, for four hours per day, with no additional outside work required), students of the method see far better results and increased retention than with traditional methods. They also experience a lack of fear of speaking the language and a desire to further their study of it. Other research has found that classes that used suggestopedia as a method covered twice as much material as a control group at the same university. Education researchers in the 1970s in the United States found that there were three critical elements to successfully employing the method:

• The classroom atmosphere,

• A dynamic and motivational teacher, and

• Relaxed and alert students (Bancroft, 1995).

However, many of Lozanov's claims have been unable to be replicated elsewhere. As a result, many researchers question the validity of the experiments and the method. The method has also been criticized as being based upon pseudo-scientific principles (Bauer, 2000).

When new teaching methods surface, the developers strive to prove that they work. It is important to point out that many methods do work remarkably well in experimental conditions in which the teachers are well qualified and brilliant, the students are tractable and receptive to learning new information, and the classes are small and intimate. Transferring the methodology to classrooms with less than ideal situations can certainly lead to failure; the context is of utmost importance (Decoo, 2001).

Brown (1994) reminds us that while suggestopedia is not necessarily an empirically supported method of language learning, certain aspects of the method may certainly prove fruitful in language classroom practices, and are employed in various classrooms throughout the United States and around the world. Role playing, games, and relaxation techniques may be beneficial for many students who are learning languages.

Another interesting question brought to light by suggestopedia is how an individual perceives learning, and how emotions affect the learning process. Brown (1994) states "at the heart of all thought and meaning and action is emotion...It is only logical, then, to look at the affective (emotional) domain for some of the most significant answers to the problems of contrasting the differences between first and second language acquisition" (p. 61). The affective domain includes all facets of human emotion: empathy, anxiety, self-esteem, and attitude. Research regarding the affective domain has increased in recent years because researchers believe that these factors may be connected in some way or another to learning another language besides an individual's native tongue.

For example, Guiora et al (1972, as cited by Brown, 1994) coined the term language ego to suggest that individuals not only gain words and sounds and grammar when learning a language, but also an identity that is tied to that language. Researchers hypothesize that children are still developing this ego, and as a result do not feel threatened when new languages are introduced; rather they can make this language acquisition part of their identity. Adolescents and adults on the other hand have formed their identity, and changing that identity represents a far greater hurdle.

The concept of identity and challenging one's identity can certainly be applied to other learning situations. It has been proposed that many children, by the time they hit puberty, believe that they are or are not successful at school, and this perception can be difficult to overcome. Certainly, elements of the suggestopedia method address this concern - that adults or adolescents may need to overcome greater internal barriers than pronunciation or grammar rules in order to learn a new language. These challenges may also be mirrored in other educational settings and subjects.

Suggestopedia has little empirical backing. However, Lozanov's method is related to other teaching methods, and several of the tactics that he used in suggestopedia may be beneficial to the learner, in learning languages or in other subject areas.

Terms & Concepts

Accelerated Learning: Accelerated learning is based on suggestopedia. The term now refers to various educational methods that increase learning, often using elements of music or drama.

Approach: Approaches are philosophical schools of thought that can be interpreted in various ways, and applied through different activities in a classroom.

Critical Period Hypothesis: The critical period hypothesis claims there is a critical window where achieving language fluency is possible.

Language Ego: Language ego is the hypothesis that individuals not only learn vocabulary, sounds, and grammar when learning a language, but also an identity that is tied to that language.

Learning Hypothesis: The learning hypothesis states that adults can gain language proficiency by using the language to communicate with others, and understanding and integrating the language.

Lozanov, Georgi: Georgi Lozanov, a Bulgarian psychotherapist and psychiatrist, was the founder of suggestopedia in the 1970s.

Method: Methods are predetermined teaching structures that stipulate particular techniques in teaching a subject matter.

Superlearning: Superlearning is another method to language learning influenced by suggestopedia. The method has four similar phases, throughout which music and other activities are used liberally to induce the learning process.

Bibliography

Bancroft, W.J. (1995). From research and relaxation to combination and creativity: American versions of suggestopedia. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 379919). Retrieved December 20, 2007, from Educational Resources Information Center, Web Site: http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content%5fstorage%5f01/0000019b/80/13/b1/79.pdf

Bauer, R.S. (2000). Lozanov, Georgi. Routledge Encyclopedia of Language Teaching & Learning, pp.392-393. Retrieved December 20, 2007, from EBSCO Online Database, Education Research Complete, http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=17365747&site=ehost-live

Brown, H.D. (1994). Principles of language learning and teaching, third edition. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall Regents.

Guiora, A.Z., Beit-Hallami, B., Brannon, R.C., Dull, C.Y., & Scovel, T. (1972). The effects of experimentally induced changes in ego state on pronunciation ability in second language: An exploratory study. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 28 , 143-148.

Lozanov, G. (1982). Suggestology and Suggestopedia. In R.W. Blair (Ed.), Innovative approaches to language teaching (pp. 146-159). Boston, MA: Heinle & Heilne Publishers.

Rodgers, T.S. (2001). Language teaching methodology. Retrieved December 20, 2007, from Center for Applied Linguistics, Website: http://www.cal.org/resources/Digest/rodgers.html.

Krashen, S.D., & Terrell, T.D. (1983). The natural approach: Language acquisition in the classroom. Hayward, CA: The Alemany Press.

Schuster, D. (1979). The Journal of Suggestive-Accelerative Learning and Teaching, 4 . (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 362044). Retrieved December 20, 2007, from Educational Resources Information Center Website: http://eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content%5fstorage%5f01/0000019b/80/13/17/3a.pdf.

Suggested Reading

Kaplan, R., Jones, R.L., & Tucker, G.R. (1981). Annual review of applied linguistics. Rowley, MA: Newbury House Publishers.

Lozanov, G. (1979). Suggestology and outlines of suggestopedy. New York: Gordon and Breach Science Publishers.

Gardner, R.C. (1985). Social psychology and second language learning: The role of attitudes and motivation. London: Edward Arnold.