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October 26, 2011





What is the Audio-lingual Method

What is the Theory of language in Audio-lingual Method

Introduction

The audio-lingual method was widely used in the United States and other countriesin the 1950's and 1960's. It is still used in some programs today.

What is the Approach of Audio-lingual Method

What is the Theory of language in Audio-lingual Method


The Structural view of language is the view behind the audio-lingual method. Particular emphasis was laid on mastering the building blocks of language and learning the rules for combining them.

What is the Theory of learning in Audio-lingual Method


Behaviorism, including the following principles:

·                     language learning is habit-formation
·                     mistakes are bad and should be avoided, as they make bad habits
·                     language skills are learned more effectively if they are presented orally first, then in written form
·                     analogy is a better foundation for language learning than analysis
·                     the meanings of words can be learned only in a linguistic and cultural context

What is the design in Audio-lingual Method


What are the objectives in Audio-lingual Method


Here are some of the objectives of the audio-lingual method:

·                     accurate pronunciation and grammar
·                     ability to respond quickly and accurately in speech situations
·                     knowledge of sufficient vocabulary to use with grammar patterns.

What is the syllabus in Audio-lingual Method


Audiolingualism uses a structural syllabus

What are the types of learning techniques and activities in Audio-lingual Method


·                     dialogues
·                     drills

Procedure

Here is a typical procedure in an audio-lingual course

·                     Students hear a model dialogue
·                     Students repeat each line of the dialogue
·                     Certain key words or phrases may be changed in the dialogue
·                     Key structures from thedialogue serveas the basis for pattern drills of different kinds.
·                     The students practice substitutions in the pattern drills


What is the Situational Language Teaching
Introduction: Situational language teaching is a term not commonly used today, but it is an approach developed by British applied linguists in the 1930s to the 1960s, and which had an impact on language courses which survive in some still being used today.
What is the Approach in Situational Language Teaching
What is the Theory of language in Situational Language Teaching
: The Structural view of language is the view behind the Oral Approach and Situational Language Teaching. Speech was viewed as the basis of language and structure as being at the heart of speaking ability. This was a view similar to American structuralists, such as Fries, but the notion of the British applied linguists, such as Firth and Halliday, that structures must be presented in situations in which they could be used, gave its distinctiveness to Situational language teaching.
 
What is the Theory of learning in Situational Language Teaching
: The theory of learning underlying Situation Language Teaching is behaviorism, addressing more the processes, than the conditions of learning. It includes the following principles:
a) language learning is habit-formation
b) mistakes are bad and should be avoided, as they make bad habits
c) language skills are learned more effectively if they are presented orally first, then in written form
d) analogy is a better foundation for language learning than analysis
e) the meanings of words can be learned only in a linguistic and cultural context

What is the Design in Situational Language Teaching:  
What is the Objectives in Situational Language Teaching
 Here are some of the objectives of Situational Language Teaching: 
a) a practical command of the four basic skills of a language, through structure
b) accuracy in both pronunciation and grammar
c) ability to respond quickly and accurately in speech situations
d) automatic control of basic structures and sentence patterns.
 
What are the Types of learning techniques and activities in Situational Language Teaching:  

a) A situational presentation of new sentence patterns
b) drills to practice the patterns

Procedure : 
Here is a typical procedure in Situational Language Teaching:
a) Procedures move from controlled to freer practice of structures
b) Procedures move from oral use of sentence patterns to their automatic use in speech, reading and writing.


WHAT IS COMMUNITY LANGUAGE LEARNING ?

In the early seventies, Charles Curran developed a new education model. He has called his model as “Counceling-Learning”. This was an example of an innovative model. Carl Rogers considered the learners not as a class, but as a group. Curran’s philosophy dictated that students were to be thought of as “clients” – their needs being addressed by a “councelor” in the form of the teacher.  Curran was best known for his extensive studies on adult learning, and some of the issues he tried to address were the threatening nature of a new learning situation to many adult learners and the anxiety created when students feared making “fools” of themselves.  Curran believed that the counceling-learning model would help lower the instinctive defenses adult learners throw up, that the anxiety caused by the educational context could be decreased through the support of an interactive community of fellow learners.  Another important goal was for the teacher to be perceived as an empathetic helping agent in the learning process, not a threat.
Community Language Learning encourage the teachers to consider their students as “whole” persons, where their feelings, intellect, interpersonal relationships, protective reactions, and desire to learn are addressed and balanced.  Students typically sit in a circle.  The teacher (as councelor) sits outside the ring.  They use their first language to develop an interpersonal relationship based on trust with the other students.  When a student wants to say something, they first say it in their native language, which the teacher then translates back to them using the target language.  The student then attempts to repeat the English used by the teacher, and then a student can respond using the same process.  This technique is used over a considerable period of time, until students are able to apply words in the new language without translation, gradually moving from a situtation of dependence on the teacher-councelor to a state of independence.



What is the Objective of The Community Language Learning 
The Objective of The Community Language Learning method does not just attempt to teach students how to use another language communicatively, it also tries to encourage the students to take increasingly more responsibility for their own learning, and to “learn about their learning”, so to speak.  Learning in a nondefensive manner is considered to be very important, with teacher and student regarding each other as a “whole person” where intellect and ability are not separated from feelings.  The initial struggles with learning the new language are addressed by creating an environment of mutual support, trust and understanding between both learner-clients and the teacher-councelor.

What are the techniques of The Community Language Learning CLL
Larsen-Freeman, in her book Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching (1986:45-47) provides expanded descriptions of some common/typical techniques closely associated with Community Language Learning.  The listing here is in summary form only.

(1)  Tape Recording Student Conversation: (Students choose what they want to say, and their target language production is recorded for later listening/dissemination)
(2)  Transcription: (Teacher produces a transcription of the tape-recorded conversation with translations in the mother language – this is then used for follow up activities or analysis)
(3)  Reflection on Experience: (Teacher takes time during or after various activities to allow students to express how they feel about the language and the learning experience, and the teacher indicates empathy/understanding)
(4) Reflective Listening: (Students listen to their own voices on the tape in a relaxed and reflective environment)
(5)  Human Computer: (Teacher is a “human computer” for the students to control – the teacher stating anything in the target language the student wants to practice, giving them the opportunity to self correct)
(6)  Small Group Tasks: (Students work in small groups to create new sentences using the transcript, afterwards sharing them with the rest of the class)

What are the advantages and disadvantages of The Community Language Learning CLL

CLL has both advantages and disadvantages. 
The affective advantages are evident. CLL is an attempt to overcome some of the threatening affective factors in L2 learning. The threat of the teacher, of making blunders in the foreign language in front of classmates, of competing against peers---all threats which can lead to a feeling of alienation and inadequacy---are presumably removed. It creates a warm, sympathetic and trusting relationship between the teacher and learners and recognizes that language learning is a sensitive process. The counselor allows the learner to determine the type of conversation and to analyze the foreign language inductively. The learner-centered nature of the method can provide extrinsic motivation and capitalize on intrinsic motivation. In addition, the cultural aspect of the target language learning is enhanced in that students are found to have freedom and high motivation in the community language learning class. 

But there are some practical and theoretical problems with CLL. The counselor-teacher can become too non-directive. The learner often needs direction, especially in the first stage. Supportive but assertive direction from the counselor could strengthen the method. Another problem with CLL is its reliance upon an inductive strategy of learning. Inductive learning in the early stage of language learning is not effective and less successful. The third problem is the success of CLL depends largely on the translation expertise of the counselor. Translation is an intricate and complex process that is often easier said than done. If subtle aspects of language are mistranslated, there could be a less than effective understanding of the target language. The fourth problem is communication under way in class is constrained by the number and knowledge of fellow learners. The fifth problem is CLL method is too demanding for language teachers who must be proficient in the culture of the target language and have knowledge in many other fields. Therefore, it places high demands on language teachers, who must be highly proficient and sensitive to nuance in both L1 and L2. They must be familiar with and sympathetic to the role of counselors in psychological counseling. They must also be relatively non-directive and be prepared to accept even encourage the “attack” from the learners. They must operate without conventional materials, depending on student topics to shape and motivate the class. They must be culturally prepared to deal with different learners.
Despite its weaknesses CLL is a potentially useful method for the foreign language teaching if the
teachers adapt it properly to their curricula.






What is Total Physical Response
TPR (total physical response) is a language teaching method. In this method teachers use physical movement to react to verbal input. Aim is to reduce student inhibitions and lower their affective filter. TPR allows its students learning a language without thinking too much and reduces student stress and anxiety .

What are the key features of Total Physical Response TPR
There are some of the key features of the Total Physical Response method:
(1) Grammar and vocabulary are emphasized over other language areas. Spoken language is emphasized over written language.
(2) Physical response skills and Listening are stressed on oral production.
(3) Students are not required to speak. They speak when they feel naturally ready or confident enough to speak.
(4) Humor is injected into the lessons In this way the learners enjoy more.
(5) The imperative mood is the most common language function employed, even well into advanced levels. Interrogatives are also used much.
(6) The teacher directs and students "act" in response.

What are the Techniques of Total Physical Response TPR
(1) Using Commands to Direct Behavior  : major teaching technique is the use of commands requiring physical actions from the students in response.
(2) Role Reversal  :Students direct the teacher and classmates
(3) Action Sequence :Teacher gives interconnected directions which create a sequence of actions [also called an "operation"] - as students progress in proficiency, more and more commands are added to the action sequence. Most everyday activities can be broken down into a sequence of actions

What are the ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES of Total Physical Response TPR
TPR is a lot of fun because it encourages the learners and their mood by having enjoy. Sometimes we have kinaesthetic learners. They need to be more active in the class or some left and right-brained learning or teenagers and young learners and mixed-ability classes TPR works very well with the above mentioned groups. An advantage for the teacher is, no need to have a lot of preparation or materials using the TPR. For TPR, class-size is not matter.

What are the DISADVANTAGES of Total Physical Response TPR
It is only really suitable for beginner levels. The students not familier with this might be embarrassed. By using TPR, the teacher cannot teach everything. If the teacher uses a lot this methot, it would become repetitive.




What is SUGGESTOPEDIA?

What is the prime objective of SUGGESTOPEDIA
The prime objective of Suggestopedia is to tap into more of students’ mental potential to learn, in order to accelerate the process by which they learn to understand and use the target language for communication.  Four factors considered essential in this process were the provision of a relaxed and comfortable learning environment, the use of soft Baroque music to help increase alpha brain waves and decrease blood pressure and heart rate, “desuggestion” in terms of the psychological barriers learners place on their own learning potential, and “suggestibility” through the encouragement of learners assuming “child-like” and/or new roles and names in the target language.

What are the key features of SUGGESTOPEDIA

Here are some of the key features of Suggestopedia:
(1)  Learning is facilitated in an environment that is as comfortable as possible, featuring soft cushioned seating and dim lighting.
(2)  “Peripheral” learning is encouraged through the presence in the learning environment of posters and decorations featuring the target language and various grammatical information.
(3)  The teacher assumes a role of complete authority and control in the classroom.
(4) Self-perceived and psychological barriers to learners’ potential to learn are “desuggested”.
(5)  Students are encouraged to be child-like, take “mental trips with the teacher” and assume new roles and names in the target language in order to become more “suggestible”.
(6)  Baroque music is played softly in the background to increase mental relaxation and potential to take in and retain new material during the lesson.
(7)  Students work from lengthy dialogs in the target language, with an accompanying translation into the students’ native language.
(8)  Errors are tolerated, the emphasis being on content and not structure.  Grammar and vocabulary are presented and given treatment from the teacher, but not dwelt on.
(9)  Homework is limited to students re-reading the dialog they are studying – once before they go to  sleep at night and once in the morning before they get up.
(10)  Music, drama and “the Arts” are integrated into the learning process as often as possible.


What are the Techniques of SUGGESTOPEDIA
Larsen-Freeman, in her book Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching (1986:84-86) provides expanded descriptions of some common/typical techniques closely associated with Suggestopedia.  The listing here is in summary form only.
(1)  Classroom Set-up: (Emphasis is placed on creating a physical environment that does not “feel” like a normal classroom, and makes the students feel as relaxed and comfortable as possible)
(2)  Peripheral Learning: (Students can absorb information “effortlessly” when it is perceived as part of the environment, rather than the material “to be attended to”)
(3)  Positive Suggestion: (Teachers appeal to students’ consciousness and subconscious in order to better orchestrate the  “suggestive” factors involved in the learning situation)
(4) Visualization: (Students are asked to close their eyes and visualize scenes and events, to help them relax, facilitate positive suggestion and encourage creativity from the students)
(5)  Choose a New Identity: (Students select a target language name and/or occupation that places them “inside” the language language they are learning)
(6)  Role-play: (Students pretend temporarily that they are someone else and perform a role using the target language)
(7)  First Concert: (Teacher does a slow, dramatic reading of the dialog synchronized in intonation with classical music)
(8) Second Concert: (Students put aside their scripts and the teacher reads at normal speed according to the content, not the accompanying pre-Classical or Baroque music – this typically ends the class for the day)
(9)  Primary Activation: (Students “playfully” reread the target language out loud, as individuals or in groups)
(10) Secondary Activation: (Students engage in various activities designed to help the students learn the material and use it more spontaneously – activities include singing, dancing, dramatizations and games – “communicative intent” and not “form” being the focus)





What is Grammar -Translation Method 
This method applied the study of Latín and Greek grammars to the 
study of foreign languages from the XVIIth to the XXth centuries. In the 
112 19th century this method was rather widespread for learning  foreign 
languages, though by the end of the century moves towards the Direct 
Method were noticed. Even today, in spite of its obsolescence, it has not 
entirely died out as some textbooks still in use and the practice of some 
classes are there to prove. 

 What are the  principles of  the Grammar - Translation  
The most relevant principies of this method can be summarised as follows 
(based on Larsen-Freeman 1986, and Richards and Rodgers 1986): 
1) It emphasises the study and translation of the written language, as it is 
considered superior to spoken language. 
2) Successful learners are those who transíate each language into the 
other, though they cannot communicate orally. 
3) Reading and writing are the main language skills. 
4)  T e a c h e rs play an  a u t h o r i t a r i an role in  the  c l a s s r o om and  t he 
predominant interaction is between teacher-student. 
5) Students must learn grammat ical rules overtly and deduce  their 
applications to exercises. 
6) Students have to know verb conjugations and other grammat ical 
paradigms. 
7) The basic unit of teaching is the sentence. 
8) The student's native language is the médium of instruction and used 
as well to compare with the language studied. 
b) The main techniques used by the Grammar-Transiation iVIethod. 

The Grammar-Transiation Method focuses on the teaching of the 
foreign language grammar through the presentation of rules together with 
some except ions and lists of vocabulary  t ranslated into the mother 
tongue. Translation is considered its most important classroom activity. 

The ma in  p r o c e d u re of an  o r d i n a ry  l e s s on  f o l l o w ed  t h is  p l a n: a 
presentation of a grammatical rule, followed by a list of vocabulary and, 
finally, translation exercises from selected texts (Stern 1983: 453). 

Other activities and procedures can be the following: 
-reading comprehension questions about the text; 
-students find antonyms and synonyms from words in the text; 
-vocabulary is selected from the reading texts and it is memorised; 
sentences are formed with the new words; 
-students recognise and memorise cognates and false cognates; 
-fill-in-the-blank exercises; 
-writing compositions from a given topic. 

What are the disadvantages  of the Grammar-Translation Method
The major dísadvantages  of the Grammar-Translation Method. 
Retrospectively, there are some very obvious disadvantages of this 
method, which are summarised next (see Roulet 1975): 
1 No account of present-day language usage is presented. Norms are 
imposed from the great literaiy authors. 
2 Secondary grammatical points, lists of forms and examples receive a lot of 
attention; some definitions and explanations are often incoherent because of 
their heterogeneous críteria. As a result facts about the language are 
confusing for the students. 
3 It gives a predominant place to morphology but neglects syntax. Therefore, 
rules enabling the leamers to c»nstruct systematically correct complex 
sentences are not presented. 
4 It gives an exaggerated importance to faults to be avoided by the leamer and 
to exceptions, emphasising the prescriptive and mechanical aspect of 
language. 
5 Translations are often unsatisfactory as they are done word by word. 
6 Students have to leam a lot of grammatical tenns and too much weight falls 
on their memories. Frustration on the part of students and lack of demands 
on teachers are effects of this method. 





What is the Objectives of Situational Language Teaching (Oral Approach)
 Here are some of the objectives of Situational Language Teaching: 
a) a practical command of the four basic skills of a language, through structure
b) accuracy in both pronunciation and grammar
c) ability to respond quickly and accurately in speech situations
d) automatic control of basic structures and sentence patterns.





What is the the role of instructional materials in Audiolingual 
Irtstructional ma t e r i a l s  i n  t h e  Audiolingual M e t h o d  assist t h e  t e a che r  to develop  language  ma s t e ry  in  the   l e a rne r .  They  a r e   pr ima r i ly  t e a c h e r oriented. A student  t e x t b o o k  is of t en n o t  used in t h e  e l ement a ry p h a s e s  
of  a  cour s e   wh e r e   s t u d e n t s   a r e   pr ima r i ly  listening,  r epe a t ing,   a n d   re- 
s p o n d i n g .  At thi s  s t a g e  in  learning,  e x p o s u r e  t o  t h e  p r i n t e d  w o r d   may 
n o t  b e  cons ide r ed desirable, because i t  di s t r a c t s  a t t e n t i o n  f r o m  t h e  a u r a l  
input .   T h e  teacher,  howeve r ,  will  h a v e  access t o  a  t e a che r ' s   b o o k   t h a t  
c o n t a i n s  the  s t r u c t u r e d  sequence of  lessons t o  b e  fol lowed a n d  t h e  d i a -  
logues, drills, a n d  o t h e r  practice activities. W h e n   t e x t b o o k s   a n d  p r i n t e d  
ma t e r i a l s   a r e  int roduc ed  t o   the  s t u d e n t ,   they  p r o v i d e  t h e  t ext s   of  dr a -  
logues  a n d  cues ne eded for  drills  a n d  exercises.





What are the Objectives of audio-lingual method

Here are some of the objectives of the audio-lingual method:

·                     accurate pronunciation and grammar
·                     ability to respond quickly and accurately in speech situations
·                     knowledge of sufficient vocabulary to use with grammar patterns.






What is the learners and teachers role in silent way
The method emphasises the autonomy of the learner; the teacher's role is to monitor the students' efforts, and the students are encouraged to have an active role in learning the language. Pronunciation is seen as fundamental; beginning students start their study with pronunciation, and much time is spent practising it each lesson.






The Silent Way uses a structural syllabus. The teacher will typically introduce one new language structure at a time, and old structures are continuously reviewed and recycled. These structures are chosen for their propositional meaning, not for their communicative value. The teacher will set up learning situations for the students which focus their attention on each new structure. For example, the teacher might ask students to label a floor plan of a house in order to introduce the concepts of inside and outside. Once the language structures have been presented in this way, learners learn the grammar rules through a process of induction

 

 

 

 

short notes


The Silent Way uses a structural syllabus. The teacher will typically introduce one new language structure at a time, and old structures are continuously reviewed and recycled. These structures are chosen for their propositional meaning, not for their communicative value. The teacher will set up learning situations for the students which focus their attention on each new structure. For example, the teacher might ask students to label a floor plan of a house in order to introduce the concepts of inside and outside. Once the language structures have been presented in this way, learners learn the grammar rules through a process of induction



What are the learners and teachers role in silent way
The method emphasises the autonomy of the learner; the teacher's role is to monitor the students' efforts, and the students are encouraged to have an active role in learning the language. Pronunciation is seen as fundamental; beginning students start their study with pronunciation, and much time is spent practising it each lesson.



What are the objectives of audiolingual method

Here are some of the objectives of the audio-lingual method:

·                     accurate pronunciation and grammar
·                     ability to respond quickly and accurately in speech situations
·                     knowledge of sufficient vocabulary to use with grammar patterns.
What is the role of instructional materials in Audiolingual 
Irtstructional ma t e r i a l s  i n  t h e  Audiolingual M e t h o d  assist t h e  t e a che r  to develop  language  ma s t e ry  in  the   l e a rne r .  They  a r e   pr ima r i ly  t e a c h e r oriented. A student  t e x t b o o k  is of t en n o t  used in t h e  e l ement a ry p h a s e s  
of  a  cour s e   wh e r e   s t u d e n t s   a r e   pr ima r i ly  listening,  r epe a t ing,   a n d   re- 
s p o n d i n g .  At thi s  s t a g e  in  learning,  e x p o s u r e  t o  t h e  p r i n t e d  w o r d   may 
n o t  b e  cons ide r ed desirable, because i t  di s t r a c t s  a t t e n t i o n  f r o m  t h e  a u r a l  
input .   T h e  teacher,  howeve r ,  will  h a v e  access t o  a  t e a che r ' s   b o o k   t h a t  
c o n t a i n s  the  s t r u c t u r e d  sequence of  lessons t o  b e  fol lowed a n d  t h e  d i a -  
logues, drills, a n d  o t h e r  practice activities. W h e n   t e x t b o o k s   a n d  p r i n t e d  
ma t e r i a l s   a r e  int roduc ed  t o   the  s t u d e n t ,   they  p r o v i d e  t h e  t ext s   of  dr a -  
logues  a n d  cues ne eded for  drills  a n d  exercises.

What are the Objectives of Situational Language Teaching (Oral Approach)
 Here are some of the objectives of Situational Language Teaching: 
a) a practical command of the four basic skills of a language, through structure
b) accuracy in both pronunciation and grammar
c) ability to respond quickly and accurately in speech situations
d) automatic control of basic structures and sentence patterns.


 What is the Grammar -Translation Method 
This method applied the study of Latín and Greek grammars to the 
study of foreign languages from the XVIIth to the XXth centuries. In the 
112 19th century this method was rather widespread for learning  foreign 
languages, though by the end of the century moves towards the Direct 
Method were noticed. Even today, in spite of its obsolescence, it has not 
entirely died out as some textbooks still in use and the practice of some 
classes are there to prove. 

  What are the principles of  the Grammar - Translation  
The most relevant principies of this method can be summarised as follows 
(based on Larsen-Freeman 1986, and Richards and Rodgers 1986): 
1) It emphasises the study and translation of the written language, as it is 
considered superior to spoken language. 
2) Successful learners are those who transíate each language into the 
other, though they cannot communicate orally. 
3) Reading and writing are the main language skills. 
4)  T e a c h e rs play an  a u t h o r i t a r i an role in  the  c l a s s r o om and  t he 
predominant interaction is between teacher-student. 
5) Students must learn grammat ical rules overtly and deduce  their 
applications to exercises. 
6) Students have to know verb conjugations and other grammat ical 
paradigms. 
7) The basic unit of teaching is the sentence. 
8) The student's native language is the médium of instruction and used 
as well to compare with the language studied. 
b) The main techniques used by the Grammar-Transiation iVIethod. 

The Grammar-Transiation Method focuses on the teaching of the 
foreign language grammar through the presentation of rules together with 
some except ions and lists of vocabulary  t ranslated into the mother 
tongue. Translation is considered its most important classroom activity. 

The ma in  p r o c e d u re of an  o r d i n a ry  l e s s on  f o l l o w ed  t h is  p l a n: a 
presentation of a grammatical rule, followed by a list of vocabulary and, 
finally, translation exercises from selected texts (Stern 1983: 453). 

Other activities and procedures can be the following: 
-reading comprehension questions about the text; 
-students find antonyms and synonyms from words in the text; 
-vocabulary is selected from the reading texts and it is memorised; 
sentences are formed with the new words; 
-students recognise and memorise cognates and false cognates; 
-fill-in-the-blank exercises; 
-writing compositions from a given topic. 

The major disadvantages  of the Grammar-Translation Method. 
Retrospectively, there are some very obvious disadvantages of this 
method, which are summarised next (see Roulet 1975): 
1 No account of present-day language usage is presented. Norms are 
imposed from the great literaiy authors. 
2 Secondary grammatical points, lists of forms and examples receive a lot of 
attention; some definitions and explanations are often incoherent because of 
their heterogeneous críteria. As a result facts about the language are 
confusing for the students. 
3 It gives a predominant place to morphology but neglects syntax. Therefore, 
rules enabling the leamers to c»nstruct systematically correct complex 
sentences are not presented. 
4 It gives an exaggerated importance to faults to be avoided by the leamer and 
to exceptions, emphasising the prescriptive and mechanical aspect of 
language. 
5 Translations are often unsatisfactory as they are done word by word. 
6 Students have to leam a lot of grammatical tenns and too much weight falls 
on their memories. Frustration on the part of students and lack of demands 
on teachers are effects of this method. 



SUGGESTOPEDIA
The prime objective of Suggestopedia is to tap into more of students’ mental potential to learn, in order to accelerate the process by which they learn to understand and use the target language for communication.  Four factors considered essential in this process were the provision of a relaxed and comfortable learning environment, the use of soft Baroque music to help increase alpha brain waves and decrease blood pressure and heart rate, “desuggestion” in terms of the psychological barriers learners place on their own learning potential, and “suggestibility” through the encouragement of learners assuming “child-like” and/or new roles and names in the target language.

Here are some of the key features of Suggestopedia:
(1)  Learning is facilitated in an environment that is as comfortable as possible, featuring soft cushioned seating and dim lighting.
(2)  “Peripheral” learning is encouraged through the presence in the learning environment of posters and decorations featuring the target language and various grammatical information.
(3)  The teacher assumes a role of complete authority and control in the classroom.
(4) Self-perceived and psychological barriers to learners’ potential to learn are “desuggested”.
(5)  Students are encouraged to be child-like, take “mental trips with the teacher” and assume new roles and names in the target language in order to become more “suggestible”.
(6)  Baroque music is played softly in the background to increase mental relaxation and potential to take in and retain new material during the lesson.
(7)  Students work from lengthy dialogs in the target language, with an accompanying translation into the students’ native language.
(8)  Errors are tolerated, the emphasis being on content and not structure.  Grammar and vocabulary are presented and given treatment from the teacher, but not dwelt on.
(9)  Homework is limited to students re-reading the dialog they are studying – once before they go to  sleep at night and once in the morning before they get up.
(10)  Music, drama and “the Arts” are integrated into the learning process as often as possible.


Techniques 
Larsen-Freeman, in her book Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching (1986:84-86) provides expanded descriptions of some common/typical techniques closely associated with Suggestopedia.  The listing here is in summary form only.
(1)  Classroom Set-up: (Emphasis is placed on creating a physical environment that does not “feel” like a normal classroom, and makes the students feel as relaxed and comfortable as possible)
(2)  Peripheral Learning: (Students can absorb information “effortlessly” when it is perceived as part of the environment, rather than the material “to be attended to”)
(3)  Positive Suggestion: (Teachers appeal to students’ consciousness and subconscious in order to better orchestrate the  “suggestive” factors involved in the learning situation)
(4) Visualization: (Students are asked to close their eyes and visualize scenes and events, to help them relax, facilitate positive suggestion and encourage creativity from the students)
(5)  Choose a New Identity: (Students select a target language name and/or occupation that places them “inside” the language language they are learning)
(6)  Role-play: (Students pretend temporarily that they are someone else and perform a role using the target language)
(7)  First Concert: (Teacher does a slow, dramatic reading of the dialog synchronized in intonation with classical music)
(8) Second Concert: (Students put aside their scripts and the teacher reads at normal speed according to the content, not the accompanying pre-Classical or Baroque music – this typically ends the class for the day)
(9)  Primary Activation: (Students “playfully” reread the target language out loud, as individuals or in groups)
(10) Secondary Activation: (Students engage in various activities designed to help the students learn the material and use it more spontaneously – activities include singing, dancing, dramatizations and games – “communicative intent” and not “form” being the focus)


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