1. Diane Larsen-Freeman second edition

50. 80 Desuggestopedia Observations 14 for homework , the students are (0 read the dialog at night and in the morning. Principles At these times, the distinction between the conscious and the subconscious is most blurred and, therefore, learning ca n occur. Observations 20 The student makes an error by saying, ' How you do?' The teacher co rrects the error in a soft voice. Desuggestopedia 8 1 Principles Errors are cor rected gently, nor in a direct, confrontational manner. I I 15 Th e teacher gives the students hats [0 wea r for the different characters in the dialog. The students take turns reading portions of the dialog. 16 The teacher tells the students that they are auditioning for a play. 17 T he teacher leads the class in various activities invol ving the dialog, for example, question- and-a nswer, repetition, and translation. 18 She teaches the students a children's song. 19 The reacher and students pla y a question-and-a nswer game. Dramatization is a particularly valuable way of playfully acti vating the ma terial. Fantas y reduces barriers to learning, Th e fine arts (music, art, and drama) ena ble suggestions to reach the subc onscio us. Th e arts shou ld, therefore, be integrat ed as much as possible into the teaching process, T he teacher should help the stude nts 'activate' the material to which they have been ex posed. Th e means of doing this should he varied so as to avoid repetition as much as pos sible. Novelty aid s acquisition, M usic and movement reinforce the linguistic ma terial. It is desirable that stu dents achieve a state of 'mfanrilizarion' so tha t they will be more open to learning, If they trust the reacher, theywill reach this state more easily. In an atm os ph ere of play, the conscious attention of the learner does not focus on linguistic forms, but rather on using the langua ge. Learning can he fun. REVIEWING THE PRINCIPLES Let us now follow our usual procedure of reviewing the principles of a met hod by answering our ten questions. 1 What are the goals of teachers who use Desuggestopedia? Teachers hope to accele rate the process by which stu dents lear n to lise a foreign langua ge for everyda y conuuunication. In order to do this, more of the st udents' mental power s must be ta pped. T his is accom- plished by dcsuggcsring th e psychological bar riers learners bring with them to till' learning situation and using techniques to activate the 'paracouscious' part of the mind, just below the fully-conscious mind. 2 What is the role of the teacher? What is the role of the students? Th e teacher is the authority in the classroom. In order for the met hod to be successful, the students must tr ust and respect her. The st udents will retain information better fro m someone in whom the y have co nfi- dence since they will be more responsive to her 'desuggesting' their lim- itations and suggesting hocv, easy it will be for them to succeed. O nce the stu dents tru st the teacher, they ca n feci more secure. If they feel secure, they ca n be more spontaneous and less inhibited. 3 What are some characteristics of the teaching/teaming process? A Desuggesropcdic course is con ducted in a classroom which is bright and cheerful. Posters displaying grannnarical information about the target lan guage arc hung around the room in order to ta ke advantage of students' peripheral learn ing. T he posters arc changed every few weeks to create a sense of novelty in the environment. Students select target language names and choose new occupations. During rhe course they create whole biographies to go along with their new idcnrincs. The texts students work from are handouts containing lengthy dialogs (as man y as 800 words) in the ta rget language. Next 10 the

51. 82 Desuggestopedia dialog is a translation in the students' native language. There are also some notes on vocabulary and grammar which correspond to bold- faced items in the dialog. The teacher presents the dialog during two concerts which comprise the first major phase (the receptive phase). In the first concert (the active concert) the teacher reads the dialog, matching her voice to the rhythm and pitch of the music. In this way, the 'whole brain' (both the left and the right hemispheres) of the students become acti- vated. The students follow the target language dialog as the teacher reads it out loud. They also check the tran slation. During the second concert (the passive concert), the students listen calmly while the teacher reads the dialog at a normal rate of speed. For homework the students read over the dialog just before they go to sleep, and again when they get up the next morning. What follows is the second major phase (the activation phase), in which students engage in various activities designed to help them gain facility with the new material. The activities include drama tizations, games, songs, and question-and-answer exercises. 4 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 nonverhally or with a few tar- get language words they have practiced. Later the students have more controlofthe target language and can respond more appropriately and even initiate interaction themselves. 5 How are the feelings of the students deaLtwith? A great deal of attention is given to students' feelings in this method. 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 [an- guagc. Jr will just come naturally and easily. It is considered important in this method that the psychological bar- riers that students bring with them be dcsuggesrcd. Indirect positive suggestions arc made to enhance students' self-confidence and to con- vince them that success is obtain able. Students also choose target language names on the assumption that a new identity makes students feel more secure and thus more open to learning. Desuggestopedia 83 6 How is language viewed? How is culture viewed? Language is the first of two planes in the two-plane process of corn- munication. In the second plane arc the factors which influence the linguistic message. For exa mple, the way one dresses or the nonverbal behavior one uses affects how one's linguistic message is inter preted. The culture which students learn concerns the everyday life of peo- pte who speak the language. The use of the fine arts is also important in Desuggestopedic classes. 7 What areas of language are emphasized? What Language skiLls are emphasized? Vocabulary is emphasized. Claims about the success of the method often focus on the large number of words that can be acquired. Grammar is dealt with explicitly hut minimally. Tn fact, 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 'paracon- scious' mind will then absorb the linguistic rules. Speaking comm Linicativcly is emphasized. Students also read in the target language (for example, dialogs) and write (for example, imagi- native compositions ). 8 What is the role of the students' native language? Native-language translation is used to make the meaning ofthe dialog clear.The teacher also uses the native language in class when necessary. Asthe courseproceeds, the teacher usesthe native language lessand less. 9 How is evaluation accomplished? Evaluation usually is conducted on students' normal in-class per- formance and not through forma l tests, which would threa ten the relaxed atmosphere considered essential for accelerated learn ing. 10 How does the teacher respond to student errors? Errors are corrected gently, with the teacher using a soft voice. REVIEWING THE TECHNI QUES AND THE CLASSROOM SET-UP If you find Dcsuggcsropcdia's principles meaningful, you may want to try some of the following techniques or to alter your classroom environment.

52. 84 Desuggestopcdia Even if they do not all appeal to you, there may he some elements you could usefully adapt to your own teaching style. Classroom set-up The challenge for the teacher is to create a classroom environment which is bright and cheerful.This was accomplished in the classroom we visited where the walls were decorated with scenes from a country where the tar- get language isspoken. These conditions arc not always possible. How~ver, the teacher should try to provide as positive an environment as possible. Peripheralleaming This technique is based upon the idea that we perceive much more in our environment than that to which we consciously attend.It is claimed that, by putting posters containing grammatical information about the target language on the classroom walls, students will absor b the necessary facts effortlessly. The teacher may or may not call attention to the posters. They are changed from time to time to provide grammatical information that is appropriate to what the students arc studying. Positive suggestion It is the teacher's responsibility to orchestrate the suggestive facto rs in a learn ing situation, thereby helping students break down the barriers to learning that they bring with them.Teachers c<1O do this through direct and indirect means. Direct suggestion appeals to the students' consciousness: A teacher tells students theyare going to be successful. But indirect suggestion, which appeals to the students' subconscious, isactuallythe more powerful of the two. For example, indirect suggestion was accomplished in the class we visited through thechoiceof a dialogentitled, 'To wanr ro isto beableto.' Choose a new identity The students choose a target language name and a new occupation. As the coursecontinues, the students havean opportun ity to develop a whole biog- raphy about their fictional selves. For instance, later on they may he asked to talk or write about their fictiona l hometown, childhood, and family. Role play Stude nts are asked to pretend temporarily that they arc someone else and ro perform in the target language as if they were that person. They are Desuggestopedia 85 often asked to create their own lines relevant to the situation. In the lesson we observed, the students were asked to pretend that they were someone else and to introduce themselves as that person. First concert (active concert) The two concerts are components of the receptive phase of the lesson. After the teacher has introduced the story as related in the dialog and has called students' attention to some particular grammatical points that arise in it, she reads the dialog in the target language. The students have copies of the dialog in the target language and their native language and refer to it as the teacher is reading. Music is played. After a few minutes, the teacher begins a slow, dra- matic reading, synchronized in intonation with the music. The music is classical; the early Romantic period is suggested. The teacher's voice rises and falls with the music. Second concert (passive concert) In the second phase, the students arc asked to pur their scripts aside. They simply listen as the teacher reads the dialog at a normal rate of speed. The teacher is seated and reads with musical accompaniment. The content governs the way the teacher reads the script, not the music, which is pre- Classical or Baroque. At the conclusion of this concert, the class ends for the day. Primary activation This technique and the one that follows arc components of the active pha se of the lesson. The students playfully reread the target language dia- log out loud, as individuals or in groups. In the lesson we observed, three groups of students read parts of the dialog in a particular manne r: the first group, sadly; the next, angrily; the last, cheerfully. Creative adaptation The students engage in various activities designed to help them learn the new material and use it spontaneously. Activities part icularly recom- mended for this phase include singing, dancing, dramatizations, and games. The important thing is that the activities arc varied and do not allow the students to focus on the form of the linguistic message, just the commuuicanve intent.

53. 86 Desuggestopedia CONCLUSION What connection, if any, can you make between Desuggesropedia and yo ur approach to teaching? Does it make sense [0 yOll that when y.o.ur stu- dents are relaxed and comforta ble, their learning will be facilirarcd ? Should the teacher's role be one o f being a respected and trusted author- ity? Shou ld direct and indirect suggestions be used ? Should I~a r?i ng be made as enjoyable as possible? Whi ch, if any, of th e other principl es of Desuggestopedia do you accept? Do you think students can learn periphera lly? Would it be useful for your student s to develop a new ta rget-langua ge identity? Would you con - sider presenting new material with a musical accompaniment? Arc any of the activities of the activation phase of use to you? ACTIVITIES A Check your understanding of Desuggestopedia. What are some of the ways that direct positive suggestions were pres- ent in the lesson? Indi rect positive suggestions? 2 How are the arts integrated into the lesson we observed? B Apply what you have understood about Desuggestopedla. Most teachers do not have cont rol of the classrooms in which they teach. Thi s docs not mean that they cannot provide an environment designed [0 redu ce the bar riers their students bring with them, how- ever. Can you thi nk of ways that you might do this? 2 Make a list of ten gramm atical points about the ta rget language that you would want to display on posters to encourage beginning stu- dents' peripheral learning. REFERENCES AND ADDITIONAL RESOURCES Cclcc-Murcia, Mariann e. 1991. ' Language teaching approaches: An overview' in Cclcc-M urcia, Marianne. (ed. ]. Teaching Eng/ish as a Second or Foreign Language. (2nd cdn.) Boston , MA: Heinle & Heinle. Dhority, Lynn . 1991. The ACT Approach: The Use of Suggestion for Integrative Learning. Yverdon, Switzerland: Gordon and Breach. " . Gateva, Evclyna. 199 1. Creating Vholeness through Art. Global Artistic Dcsuggestopedia 87 Creation ofthe Educational Training Process. Aylesbury, UK: Acceler- ated Learning System". lki, Sersuko. 1993. Interview: Georgi Lozanov and Evelyna Garcva. The Language Teacher 1717:3-17. l.ozanov, Georgi. 1978. Suggestulogy and Outlines of Suggestopedy. Philadelphia. PA: Go rdo n and Breach. Lozanov, Georgi and Evelyna Catcva. 1988. The Foreign Language Teacher'sSuggestopcdic Manual. New York: Gordon and Breach. Schiffler, Ludgcr, 1992. Suggestopcdic Methods and Applications. (English edition) Yverdon, Switzerland : Gordon and Breach. Stevick, Earl W. 199 8. Working with Teaching Methods: What's at Stake? Boston, MA: Heinle & Heinle.

54. 7 Community Language Learning INTRODUCTI ON The method we will examine in this chapter advises teachers to consider their students as 'whole persons.' Whole-person learning means that teachers consider not only their students' intellect, bur also have som e understanding of the relationship among students' feelings, physical reac- tions, instinctive protective reactions, and desire to learn. The Community Language Learning Method takes its princip les from the more general Counseling-Learning approach developed by Ch arles A. Curran. Cu rran studied adult learning for many years. He was also influ- enced by Carl Rogers' humanistic psycho logy (Rogers 1951; Brown 1994), and he found that adults often feel threatened by a new learning situation. Th ey arc rhrcnrcncd by the change inherent in learning and by the fear that they will appear foolish. Curra n believed that a way to deal with the fears of students is for teachers to become 'language counselo rs.' A langua ge counselor does not mean someon e trained in psychology; it mea ns someone who is a skillful undcrstandcr of th e struggle students face as they attempt to internalize another language. The teac her who ca n 'understa nd' can indicate his acceptance of the student. By understanding students' fea rs and being sensitive to them, he can help students overcome their nega tive feelings and turn them into posit ive energy to further their learning. Let us see how Curran's ideas are put into practice in the Community Language Learning Method. We will observe a class in a private language institute in Indonesia. Mo st of the stu dents work during the day and com e for language instruction in the evening. Th e class meets two evenings a week for two hours a session. Th is is the first class. EXPER IENCE Th e stude nts arri ve and take their seats. The chairs arc in a circle aro und a table that has a tape recorder on it. After greeting the students, the teacher introduces himself and has the studen ts introduce themselves. In

55. 90 Community Language Learning Indonesian, he tells the students what they will be doing that evening- They are going to have a co nversation in Englis h with his help. Th e conversa- tion will be tape-recorded, and afterward, they will create a wr itten form of the conversation-a transcript. lie tells the class the rest of the evening will he spent doing various activities with the language on rhc transcript. He then explains how the students arc to have the conversation. 'Whenever one of you vould like to say something, raise your hand and I will come behi nd you. I will not be a participant in the conversation except to help you say in English wha t you want to say. Say what you want to say in Indonesian; I will give you the English translation. I will give you the translation in phrases, or "chunks." Record on ly the chunks, one at a time. After th e conversation, when we listen to the recording, your sentence ,vill sound whole . O nly your voices in English will be on the rape. Since this is your first English conversation, you may wan t to keep it simple. We have ten min utes for thi s activity.' No one spea ks at first. T hen a young woma n raises her ham!' T he teacher walks to her cha ir, He stands beh ind her. 'Selamat sore,' she says. T he teacher translates, 'Good .. , .' After a little co nfusion with the switch on the microphone, she puts 'Good' 0 11 the tape and turns the switch off. T he teacher then gives 'evening,' and she tries to say 'evening' in the microphone bur only gets ou t 'eve ... .' T he teacher says again in a clear and warm voice, somewhat exaggerating the word, 'Eve ... ning.' Th e woman tries again. She shows some signs of her discomfort with the experience, hut she succeeds in putting the whole word 'evening' on to the recording. Another student raises his hand. The teacher wa lks to him and sta nds beh ind his chair. 'Selamat sore,' the second stude nt says to the fi rst stu- dent . 'Apa Kabar?' he asks of a [hird. The tea cher, already sensing that th is student is a bit more secure, gives the entire translation, 'Good evening.' 'Good evening; the stude nt says, putting the phrase on the tape. 'How arc you?' the teacher continues. 'How .. . " the student says into the microphone, then turns, obviously seeking help for the rest of the phrase. T he teacher, realizing he needed to give smaller chunks, repeats each word separately, ' How,' repeats the teacher. 'How,' says the stude nt into the microphon e. 'Are,' repeats the teacher. 'Are,' the stude nt says. 'You,' com pletes the reacher, ' You,' the student records. Th e stude nt to whom the question was directed raises his hand and the reacher sta nds behind him. 'Kabat baik. Teritna KasilJ,' he responds. 'Fine; the teacher says . 'Fine,' the student records. 'Thank you,' the teacher com pletes. 'T hank you; the st udent confide ntly puts on the tape. A fourth students asks of anot her, 'Nama sal/dam siapaf' T he reacher Community 1. anguage Learning 91 steps behind her and says, 'What's .. , your .. , nam e?' pausing after eac h word to give the stude nt time to put her question successfully on the ta pe, Th e ot her student replies, 'Nama saya Saleh.' ' My name is Saleh; the reacher says in English, 'A pa lsabari" another st udent asks Saleh. 'How arc you?' the teacher translates. 'Saya tidal: seIJat,' Saleh answers. ' I am not well,' the teacher translates. 'Mellgapa?' asks another student 'Why?' says the teacher. 'Sebab kepala saya pusing,' Saleh replies. 'Beca use I have a headache; translates the teacher. Each of these English uttera nces is recorded in the manner of the earlier ones, the reacher tr ying to he sensi- tive to what size ch unk each student can handle with confidence. Th e reacher then announces that they have five minutes left. Du ring this time the students ask questio ns like why someone is studyi ng English, what so meone docs for a living, and what someone's hobbies are. In this con- versation, eac h student around the table records some English utterance 011 the tape. After the conversation has ended, the teacher sits in the circle and asks the stude nts in Indonesian how they feel about the ex perience. O ne stu- dent says that he docs not remem ber any of the English he has just heard. T he teacher accepts wha t he says and responds, 'You have a concern that you haven't learned any English.' Th e stude nts says, ' Yes.' Another st ude nt says he, too, has nor learned any English; he was just involved in the co nversation. T he reacher acce pts this co mment and replies, ' Your

56. 92 Community Language Learning attention was on the conversation, not on the English.' Another student says that she docs not mind the fact that she cannot remember any English; she has enjoyed the conversation. The teacher accep ts her com- ment and reassures her and all the students that the)' will yet have an opportunity to learn the English words-that he does not expect them to remember the English phrases at [his time. 'Would anyone else like to say anything?' the reacher asks. Since there is silence, the teacher continue.'), 'O K, then. Let's listen to your conversation. I will play the ta pe.Just listen to your voices in English.' The students listen. 'OK,' the teache r says. 'I am going to play the rape again and stop it at the end of each sentence. See if yOllcan recall what you said, and say it again in Indonesian to be sure that everyone understand s what was said. If you can't recall your own sen- tence, we can all help out.' They have 110 trouble recalling what was said. Next the teacher asks them to move their chairs into a semicircle and to watch as he writes the conversation on the blackboard. The teacher asks if anyone would like to ope rate the tape rec order and stop it at theend ofeach sentence. No one volunteers, so the reacher ope rates it himself. The teacher then writes line by line, numbering each English sentence. O ne student asks if he can copy the sente nces. The teacher asks him to stay focused on the words being written up at this point and reassures him that there will he time for copying later, if nor in this class session, then in the next. The teacher writes all the English sentences. Before going back to put in - Community Language Learning 93 the Indonesian equivalents, he quietly underlines the first English word and then pauses. He asks the students to give the Indonesian equivalents. Since no one volunteers the meaning, after a few seconds he writes the lit- eral Indoncsian translation. He continues this way unt il all the sentences arc translated, leaving out any unnecessary repetition. Next, the teacher tells the students ro sit back and relax as he reads the transc ript of the English conversation. He reads it three times, varying the student task each time. The first time, students just listen. The next time they dose their eyes and listen. The last time they silently mouth the words as the teacher reads the conversation. For the next activity, the 'Human Computer,'TM the students are raid in a warm man ner, 'For the nexr five to ten minutes I am going to turn into a "human computer" for you. You may use me to practice the pronuncia- tion of any English word or phrase or entire sentence on the transc ript. Raise your hand and I'll come behind you. Then you say either the sen- tence number or the word in English or Indonesian you want to practice. As the computer I am programmed to give back an i)' correct English, so you will have to listen carefully rc see if what you say matches what I am saying. You may repeat the word, phrase, or sente nce as man y times as you want. I will stop only when you stop. You control me; you turn the computer on and off: A student raises his hand and says, 'Thank you.' He has trouble with the sound at the beginning of 'thank.' The reacher repeats the phrase after him and the student says it again. The teacher repeats it. Three more times the student starts the computer by saying, 'Thank you.' After the teacher has said it for the third time, the student stops, which in turn stops the computer. Another student raises his hand and says, 'What do you do ?' a question from the transcript. Again the teacher moves behind the student and repeats the question the student has chosen to practice. The student works on this question several times just as the first student did. Several others practice saying some part of the transcript in a similar mann er. The teacher then asks the students co work in groups of three to create new sentences based upon the words and phrases of the transcript. Each group writes its sentence.') down. The teacher walks from grou p to group to help.The fi rst group writes the sentence 'Adik not work in a bank.' The teacher gives the correct sentence to the group: 'Adik docs not work in a bank.' The second group writes 'What is my name?' 'O K,' says the teacher. After the teacher finishes helping the group, each group reads its sente nces to the class. The teacher replays the tape two times more while the students listen.