Importance of applying the Suggestopedia method to teach language
to young learners
Sitora Khalilova Zarifovna
1
Tashkent University of Applied Sciences, Gavhar Str. 1, Tashkent 100149, Uzbekistan
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10449319
Keywords:
Suggestopedia, Method, Teaching Process, and Learning Process.
Abstract:
It is vitally important for young learners to learn English from an early age in this fast-growing modern world.
The knowledge in English will help to open a wide range of opportunities for them in the future and it will be
beneficial for their future career development. On the other hand, educating young children is quite
challenging. Most teaching processes involve teaching children a significant experience that is both
challenging and entertaining. As opposed to adults, young learners, especially primary school students, are
more energetic, have shorter attention capacity, and learn a language based on particular developmental
stages. The most effective way of teaching English to children is to realize the principles of language
acquisition and employ them in ways that keep children engaged in learning. The present paper deals with the
following subjects: the importance of applying the Suggestopedia method to teach children; and the
explanation of how to use this method during the teaching process.
1 INTRODUCTION
Suggestopedia is a teaching method that was
presented
by
Georgi
Lozanov
in
1970s.
Suggestopedia is a teaching way which makes use of
all the possibilities tender suggestion can offer [1].
The suggestion here is about something that can make
students, in particular children, feel enjoy in teaching
and learning process. Lozanov introduced this
method in the hope of stimulating students in
learning, particularly learning foreign language.
Suggestopedia was originally used mainly in foreign
language teaching and it is often claimed that it can
teach languages effectively and productively rather
than traditional methods. For this reason, this paper
gives information about the significance of
Suggestopedia and the use of this method in teaching
and learning process. Suggestopedia is a teaching
method, which makes it possible for people to learn
three times as fast as they can under normal
circumstances. It entails the creation of a very
positive and silent environment in which children are
allowed to explore, but they have to feel safe.
Learners tend to acquire fast when they allow
themselves to be a little out of their comfort zone. A
Suggestopedia instructor creates an environment
where anything that is negative is from the space and
the students get enough lot of positive reinforcement
through the use of suggestion. Suggestion is any data
that comes to you beneath the level of your conscious
perception. The goal of Suggestopedia is to
accelerate the process of language learning [2]. The
relationship between the teacher and the students in
suggestopedic instruction is like parents and children.
The teaching- learning process is "learner-centered".
2 Methodology
To write this research paper, the following ways:
observations, questionnaires, studies of linguists are
effectively used. For a start, various research papers
were investigated in order to identify the reasons why
the use of the Suggestopedia method is attractive to
teach English to young learners. Apart from the
outcomes of these research papers, students are
questioned regarding which method is fun and
understandable for them. Based on the results of the
questionnaires, this paper is planned to give clear
reasons to prove the importance of this method.
Moreover, students’ learning and teaching processes
are regularly observed some period of time in order
to find the most effective methods and approaches to
deliver the input. The use of Suggestopedia can help
students realize that learning a foreign language is not
as challenging as they may have initially believed.
When students perceive learning as enjoyable and
effortless, they can achieve the highest level of
proficiency in the foreign language. The study aimed
to examine the use of Suggestopedia in language
learning and collected data through observation of the
teacher's activities during different stages of the
method. The data were classified and analyzed to
answer research questions related to the teacher's
activities in the presentation, concert, elaboration, and
practice stages of Suggestopedia. The researcher used
no-participant observation and field notes to collect
data and analyzed them descriptively using a step-by-
step process of organization, selection, classification,
and conclusion. The goal was to understand how
Suggestopedia was used to enhance language
learning effectiveness and enjoyment for students.
3
RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS
Through
the
results
of
observations,
questionnaires, and research papers in this method
this article provides with advantages of implementing
Suggestopedia method in language classes. The first
and biggest advantage is about the results. In fact,
Suggestopedia speeds the acquisition process up by at
least 6 times (up to 10 times, in many cases). This
means people learn much faster and the acquisition is
deeper compared to the acquisition process taking
place with other methods. The study collected data on
the use of Suggestopedia in language learning. The
researcher observed the teacher's activities during the
presentation and concert stages of the method and
classified the data to answer research questions. The
first set of data pertained to the teacher's presentation
stage activities, while the second set focused on their
activities during the concert session. The concert
session was divided into two parts: the active concert
and the passive concert. The goal was to understand
how suggestopedia was used to make language
learning more enjoyable and effective for students.
In terms of how it works there are seen four basic
principles. They are presentation, concert session
(active and passive), elaboration, and practice. In the
presentation stage, the students are helped to get
positive mind that learning is easy and fun. In this
stage, the teacher sets the environment of the class as
comfortable and cheerful as it could be for the
students. In the active concert, the teacher reads a text
and is repeated by the students. After that, in the
passive concert, the teacher plays some baroque
music in the background and she/he reads the text
again and the students listen carefully. In the
elaboration, the teacher tells the students that they
will do something like making film, gaming, etc. after
the concert session. In the practice stage, the teacher
uses games, puzzles, etc. to review the students
understanding. The activities in Suggestopedia
method seem fun for the students. By applying this
method in the class teacher hopes that the students
will enjoy learning English. The Suggestopedia
method has six key features that are important in the
teaching and learning process using this method. The
six key features of Suggestopedia are:
1. Comfortable environment
2. The use of music
3. Peripheral Learning
4. Free Errors
5. Homework is limited
6. Music, drama and art are integrated in the
learning process [3]
This article offers one key feature of
Suggestopedia. According to the use of music, in the
classroom, the chairs are arranged semicircle and
faced the black or white board in order to make the
students pay more attention and get more relaxed. The
teacher arranges the students’ chair into semicircle to
make the students feel more relax. The teacher uses
nature, relaxation music in the Suggestopedia
teaching and learning process. This type of music is a
classic music. In the Suggestopedia method baroque
music is used to make the students more relax. If the
students are relaxed, their feeling of fear will be
decreased and it can make the students easier to
understand while studying English [4]. The teacher
asked the students to listen to the music and feel more
relax. This music creates level of relaxed
concentration that facilitates the intake and retention
of huge quantities of materials while teacher is
reading a text which is appropriate to students’ level,
age, and grade.
4 DISCUSSSION
The data were taken through the observation and
only focused on teacher activities during the
implementation of Suggestopedia method in the
teaching and learning process. As a result of the
observation, it was realized that in the Suggestopedia
method teacher also did not give too much homework
to the students. It was not because she did not want
the students to study at home but it was because the
teacher wanted the students to study their last material
once they want to go to bed and once, they get up in
the morning. In the dialogue, the teacher did not
forget to remind the students to read their last material
once they want to go bed and once, they get up in the
morning. Students reread materials given in the
classroom once before they go to sleep at night and
once in the morning before they get up. This
assignment was more appropriate than giving the
students much homework to do at home. If the teacher
gives much homework to do at home, the students
will think that English is frustrating lesson with much
homework. The result of this study was the teacher
did well in the presentation stage. The focus was on
the teacher's activities in the concert session of
Suggestopedia, which followed the presentation
stage. The concert sessions included active and
passive
concerts.
The
data
were
analyzed
descriptively using a step-by-step process to draw
conclusions about the teacher's activities in this stage
of the method. The study found that playing soft
baroque music during language learning can lead to
increased alpha brain waves and decreased blood
pressure and pulse rate, allowing students to absorb
large amounts of material. This suggests that listening
to baroque music can help students feel more relaxed
and improve their cognitive abilities.
CONCLUSIONS
The study found that teachers were not actively
involved in the Suggestopedia method of language
learning, which could have affected its effectiveness.
The issue was divided into four categories: the
teacher's activities during the presentation, concert
session, elaboration, and practice stages of the
method.
The study identified a significant issue with
the role of teachers when implementing the
Suggestopedia method in language learning.
Specifically, the study found that teachers were not
actively involved in the process, which may have
impacted the effectiveness of the approach. Based on
the findings the presentation stage of the
Suggestopedia method was used to create atmosphere
that makes learning English is fun and enjoyable. The
instructor arranges the learner’ seats into semicircle
to make the students more comfortable and can see
the board well. The teacher also asks the students to
sing together to make the students pleasant. Second,
in the concert session, the teacher asks the students to
listen and repeat after her in the first concert (active
concert) and asks the students to feel relax, close their
book, and listen to the teacher reading the material.
Third, in the elaboration stage, the teacher reminds
the students for the first time that they are going to do
game and drama. This stage was to make the students
more concentrated to the lesson. And fourth, the final
stage or called practice stage, the teacher uses games
and drama to give practice to the students. In the
practice stage the teacher uses games and drama to
make the students think that practice is not something
stressful.
REFERENCES
[1]
Avezova, N.B. (n.d.). (2022). Methods of teaching
English to young learners. ISSN-2410 35-86
[2]
Kharismawati, R. (2021). Suggestopedia Method in
the Teaching and Learning Process. State University
of Surabaya.
[3]
Lozanov, G. (1979). Suggestology and outlines of
suggestopedy. New York: Gordon and Breach Science
Publishers.
[4]
Nosrati, et.al. (2013). Investigation of Language
Teaching Methodologies in Second Language
Learning.
International
Journal
of
Economy,
Management and Social Sciences.
