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The effect of music on acquiring vocabulary with technically gifted students Resulting from the international co-operation in the field of technology there is a growing demand for foreign language skills and, consequently for optimizing language acquisition processes of students of technical subjects. This paper describes the role of music in language learning processes with technically gifted students, in the realm of the alternative teaching concept of suggestopaedia. The documented empiric study on the influence of several genres of music on sug-gestopaedic learning is designed to contribute to the increase of the efficiency of language acquisition processes with students with technical giftedness. The main aims of the study are:- to demonstrate the effect of various background conditions (genres of music; silence) on cognitive and affective variables during group learning;- to describe specific background effects in interaction with selected students' characteristics (gender, foreign language learning ability, musicality, average feeling state). 1. The role of music in learning vocabulary Suggestopaedia is an effective way of teaching foreign languages to students of technical subjects. As this teaching method is referred to as a holistic approach towards learning, emotional 12, Gifted Education International and social factors play an important role in suggestopaedic instructional processes. Therefore artistic means with their high emotional potential are involved in suggestopaedia. Being one of the basic artistic means, music (preferably baroque music or classical music) is used as a background at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 17, 2016gei.sagepub.comDownloaded from stimulus while the foreign language text is read by the teacher in the "learning concert " (séance). In this context music fulfils the following functions: a) Mental hygiene effect of music The intended mental hygiene effect is based on the use of trophotropic music. This kind of music is charac-terised by features like legato, "gentle flow of the tune", low dynamics, no accentuated rhythm. Trophotropic music causes the effects of relaxation and calm. Slow movements of baroque or clas-sical music evolve this effect (cf