6 Desuggestopedia(pages 73-87)
(1) Why has Desuggestopedia been called an affective-humanistic approach? It has been
called so because there is respect for students’ feelings.
(2) Who is the originator of Desuggestopedia?
Georgi Lozanov is the originator of Desuggestopedia.
(3) What does Lozanov, the originator of Desuggestopedia, believe?
1) Language learning can occur at a much faster rate than ordinarily transpires.
2) The reason for learners’ inefficiency is that they set up psychological barriers
to learning: (a) They fear that they will be unable to perform, that (b) they will
be limited in their ability to learn, that (c) they will fail.
3) Learners do not use the full mental powers that they have. According to
Lozanov and others, we may be using only five to ten percent of our mental
capacity.
4) In order to make better use of our reserved capacity, the limitations we think
we have need to be ‘desuggested.’
(4) Define Desuggestopedia.
Desuggestopedia is the application of the study of suggestion to pedagogy. desuggesting
limitations on learning.
(5) Why has Desuggestopedia been developed?
1) It has been developed to help students eliminate the feeling that they cannot be
successful.
2) It has been developed to help students eliminate the negative association they
may have toward studying and.
3) It has been developed to help students overcome the barriers to learning.
(6) How are the students' mental reserves stimulated?
The students' mental reserves are stimulated through integration of the fine arts.
(7) According to Lozanov, what are the reasons for students’
inefficiency in learning a second/foreign language?
1) Learners set up psychological barriers to learning.
2) They fear that they will be unable to perform.
3) They fear that they will be limited in their ability to learn.
4) They fear that they will fail.
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(8) What is the result of setting up psychological barriers to learning?
The result is that learners do not use the full mental powers that they have.
(9) What should learners do in order to make better use of their reserved
capacity? The limitations they think they have need to be ‘desuggested.’
(10)State the main principles of Desuggestopedia.
1)Students can learn from what is present in the environment, even if their attention is not
directed to it (‘Peripheral learning’).
2) The teacher should recognize that learners bring certain psychological
barriers with them to the learning situation. She should attempt to ‘desuggest ’
these.
3)The dialog that the students learn contains language they can use immediately.
4)The teacher should integrate indirect positive suggestions into the learning situation.
5)The teacher should present and explain the grammar and vocabulary, but not dwell on them.
6)Fine art provides positive suggestions for students.
7)Meaning is made clear is through native language translation.
8)Communication takes place on ‘two planes’: on one the linguistic message is encoded; and
on the other are factors which influence the linguistic message. On the conscious plane, the
learner attends to the language; on the subconscious plane, the music suggests that learning is
easy and pleasant.
9)Dramatization is a valuable way of playfully activating the material.
10)The fine arts (music, art, and drama) enable suggestions to reach the subconscious.
11)The teacher should help the students ‘activate’ the material to which they
have been exposed.
12) In an atmosphere of play, the conscious attention of the learner does not
focus on linguistic forms, but rather on using the language.
13)Errors are corrected gently and indirectly.
(11) What are the goals of teachers who use Desuggestopedia?
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1) Teachers hope to accelerate the process by which students learn to use a
foreign language for everyday communication.
2) More of the students' mental powers must be tapped.
3) desuggesting the psychological barriers learners bring with them to the learning situation.
4) This is accomplished using techniques to activate the ‘paraconscious’ part of
the mind, just below the fully-conscious mind.
12)What is the role of the teacher? What is the role of the students?
1) The teacher is the authority in the classroom.
2) In order for the method to be successful, the students must trust and respect
the teacher.
3) The students will retain information better from someone in whom they
have confidence since they will be more responsive to her 'desuggesting' their
lim-itations and suggesting how easy it will be for them to succeed.
4) Once the students trust the teacher, they can feel more secure. If they feel
secure, they can be more spontaneous and less inhibited.
14) What is the nature of student-teacher interaction? What is the
nature of student-student interaction?
1) The teacher initiates interactions with the whole group of students and
with individuals right from the beginning of a language course.
2) Initially, the students can only respond nonverbally or with a few target
language words they have practiced.
3) Later the students have more control of the target language and can respond
more appropriately and even initiate interaction themselves.
15) How are the feelings of the students dealt with?
1) A great deal of attention is given to students' feelings in this method.
2) One of the fundamental principles of the method is that if students are
relaxed and confident, they will not need to try hard to learn the language. It
will just come naturally and easily.
3) It is considered important in this method that the psychological barriers
that students bring with them be desuggested.
17) What areas of language are emphasized? What language skills are emphasized?
1) Vocabulary is emphasized.
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2) Grammar is dealt with explicitly but minimally.
3) It is believed that students will learn best if their conscious attention is focused
not on the language forms, but on using the language. The 'paraconscious' mind
will then absorb the linguistic rules.
4) Speaking communicatively is emphasized.
5) Students also read and write in the target language.
18) What is the role of the students' native language?
1) Native-language translation is used to make the meaning of the dialog clear.
2) The teacher also uses the native language in class when necessary.
3) As the course proceeds, the teacher uses the native language less and less.
20) How does the teacher respond to student errors?
Errors are corrected gently and indirectly.
22) What are the main techniques of Desuggestopedia?
23)Discuss ……. as a technique of Desuggestopedia.
1- Classroom set-up
The teacher should create a classroom environment which is bright and cheerful.
The teacher should try to provide as positive an environment as possible.
2- Peripheral learning :
(a) Definition: It refers to the claim that we perceive much more in our
environment than that to which we consciously attend. (1) 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. (2) The teacher may or may not call attention to the posters. (3)
They are changed from time to time to provide grammatical information that is
appropriate to what the students are studying.
3-Positive suggestion:
(a)Advantage: It is the teacher's responsibility to orchestrate the suggestive
factors in a learning situation, thereby helping students break down the barriers to
learning that they bring with them.
(b) Types: Teachers can do this through direct and indirect means.
(1) Direct suggestion appeals to the students’ consciousness: A teacher tells
students they are going to be successful.
(2) Indirect suggestion, which appeals to the students' subconscious, is
actually the more powerful of the two. For example, indirect suggestion could be
accomplished through the choice of a dialog’s title
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4-Choose a new identity
The students choose a target language name and a new occupation. As the course
continues, the students have an opportunity to develop a whole biography about
their fictional selves.
5-Role play
Students are asked to pretend temporarily that they are someone else 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.
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