Teaching methodology : An overview of desuggestive learning and accelerated learning

Second language teachers are faced with an array of teaching methods and approaches and often find a mix of methodologies insures a successful language learning experience for their students. One such methodology available is suggestopedia. Dr. Georgi Lozanov, the creator of suggestopedia and the science of suggestology, reported his initial research findings in 1966 as a method to accelerate the learning of foreign languages. Continued research by Lozanov led to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) announcing in 1978 that “Suggestopedia had the potential to rid the world of illiteracy and raise the standards of education around the world”. While there appears to be little support of suggestopedia within second language classrooms, the last 30 years and particularly the 1980’s have seen an explosion in interest and development of learning methods loosely based on suggestopedia. Methods such as Accelerated Learning, Super-learning, Speed-learning and the Einstein Factor are examples. Variants of suggestopedia however have often misinterpreted Lozanov’s work and have failed to take into account Lozanov’s ongoing research. During the 1980’s Lozanov was placed under house arrest and prevented from overseeing the directions his methodology was taking. Many presumed Lozanov had died (Lozanov, 1999). This paper presents an overview of the teaching methodology proposed by Lozanov along with subsequent variants. It also considers how such methodology could benefit adult foreign language learners and highlights components that are already being used in the classroom.研究ノートResearch Not