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Music and Language
Resources for foreign-language teachers
Teaching and Learning
Languages
We don’t have to forget that, in this case, music is a tool, therefore, music has to be used as a tool, and we don’t have to transform an English lesson into a music lesson. We should be teachers through music not music teachers, and that means that we must use music in a transversal way.
As Salcedo (2002) say, Lozanov's method, called Suggestopedie, has been subject of numerous research articles written on the use of music in the foreign language classroom. In the 70's, Suggestopedie became all the range in foreign language teaching. One of the primary activities was reading with music (Stansell, 2005).
Georgi Lozanov
(Sofia, 1926 - Sliwen, 2012)
Suggestopedie
An unusual foreign language methodology for classroom was introduced in 1978 by the Bulgarian psychotherapist and physician Georgi Lozanov.
Suggestopedie is an holistic method that directed learning to both the left and right hemisphers of the brain. Lozanov (1978) asserts that it is important to create an optimal environment based on soft lighting, Baroque music such as J.S. Bach or Classical music such as W. A. Mozart, cheerful room decorations, comfortable seating, and dramatic techniques. Lozanov (1978) believed that classical music is an essential element for learning.
Lozanov's method creates a type of superlearning identical to subconscious acquisition, that is the result of providing comprehensible input in a low-anxiety situation. It is important, because the language student must have a low level of anxiety in order for the message to be acquired naturally. (Krashen, 1985).
Music resources for Suggestopedie
J. S. Back
W. A. Mozart
