Suggestopedia, Silent way

Question 1

Suggestopedia basics

Answer 1

• music central to this method (soft Baroque music with its 60 beats per minute and specific rhythm – superlearning)
   LLs can learn a language three to five times as quickly as through conventional methods
   learning huge amounts of vocabulary
   reading, dialogues, role-plays, games, drama
   Ss encouraged to be as childlike as possible
   homework limited – Ss reread materials given in the classroom once before they go to sleep at night and once in the morning before they get up

Question 2

The Lesson of Suggestopedia

Answer 2

1. Introduction: the T teaches the material in a “playful manner“ instead of analyzing lexis and grammar of the text in a directive manner
2. Concert Session (active and passive)
    Active Session – the T reads with intoning as selected music is played (the Ss read the text together with the T and listen only to the music as the T pauses in particular moments)
    Passive Session (done more calmly)
3. Elaboration: the Ss sing classical songs and play games while the T acts more like a consultant
4. Production: the Ss spontaneously speak and interact in the target language without interruption or correction

Question 3

Suggestopedia courses

Answer 3

-According to Lozanov (1978) a first suggestopedic language course is taught over 24 days with four 45 minute sessions daily.
- It can also be taught in 10 days with the equivalent hours of daily teaching.
- Approximately 2000 lexical items are presented during such a course.
- Lozanov does not specifically recommend any distribution for teaching and claims that the suggestopedic cycle can be tailored to normal school or university time tables if block teaching is not possible, without any loss in effectiveness.

Question 4

The Silent Way Basics

Answer 4

 a problem-solving approach to learning
 “Discovery learning“ = less learning by being told and more learning by discovering for oneself various facts and principles.
 independence, autonomy, responsibility of a learner

Question 5

The theory of learning behind The Silent Way

Answer 5

 Learning is facilitated if the L discovers or creates rather than remembers and repeats what is to be learned.
 Learning is facilitated by accompanying (mediating) physical objects.
 Learning is facilitated by problem solving involving the material to be learned.
 T – a simulator but not a hand-holder – silent much of the time, to “get out of the way“ while Ss worked out solutions
 T provided single-word stimuli or short phrases and sentences once or twice
 Ss refined their understanding and pronunciation among themselves with minimal corrective feedback from the T

Question 6

The Silent Way Materials

Answer 6

 a set of coloured rods of varying lengths (to introduce vocabulary, adj., verbs, syntax)
 series of colourful wall charts (to introduce pronunciation models, grammatical paradigms, etc.)