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Effect of Suggestopedia Method on Teaching Vocabulary to Primary School

Pupils

Article · October 2018

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Alhaji Malah Galti

Yobe State University
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AL-MUQADDIMAH, A Journal of the Humanities, Law, Social & Management Sciences, VOL., 1 (1). April, 2017. ISSN: 2616-0455

Effect of Suggestopedia Method on Teaching Vocabulary to Primary School Pupils

Alhaji Malah Galti

Yobe State University, Damaturu, Nigeria

Abstract

Suggestopedia method is considered as effective method for teaching vocabulary. The claim by
Lozanov on suggestopedia method is that it accelerates learning faster than the conventional
teaching methods. For this reason, this study experiments the suggestopedia method among 18
primary five school age children in Maiduguri-Borno State, Nigeria to examine its
effectiveness. Pre-test and post-test were conducted to collect data. Two related sample t test
was calculated to see whether there is any difference on the learners’ performance. The
findings of the study revealed that suggestopedia method significantly improves the
performance of the learners. Thus, suggestopedia method could be an effective method to teach
vocabulary to primary school pupils of Abbaganaram Primary School in Maiduguri, Borno
state of Nigeria.

Keywords: Suggestopedia, Teaching Method, Vocabulary, Primary School Learners,

Learners Performances

Introduction

Many teachers face difficulty in teaching young learners vocabulary (Sökmen, 1997). The
language learner could survive well in school with a good amount of vocabulary knowledge.
Vocabulary teaching and learning, though, important element in second language learning and
as well as acquisition, receive little attention in the field of English Language Teaching for a
long time (Meara, 1980). The pupils were virtually left to learn the vocabulary of the target
language by themselves or with little assistance from their instructors (Zimmerman, 1997). As
a result, vocabulary learning seems to be very difficult for the learners (Croll, 1971; Meara,
1980). Many English language teachers in Nigeria are still using the word list method to teach
vocabulary to primary school pupil (AKPOJOTOR, 2013). The word list method is manifest
when list of words are presented to learners and their meaning are explained (Mehta, 2009). In
other words, word list method could be described when teacher selects the target words (most
times, in a passage) and teach their meaning in isolation to the students in the class (Laufer &

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AL-MUQADDIMAH, A Journal of the Humanities, Law, Social & Management Sciences, VOL., 1 (1). April, 2017. ISSN: 2616-0455

Shmueli, 1997). Consequently, this has not yielded the desired result in vocabulary teaching
and learning (Mehta, 2009). Because the presentation of a list of words in isolation could not
be enough and cannot provide the students with the required vocabulary knowledge to function;
word list in isolation is considered not effective (Laufer & Shmueli, 1997) as a method for
building language vocabulary. However, suggestopedia method is considered one of the
effective methods for teaching language vocabulary (Priyatmojo, 2009) which could accelerate
learning (Lozanov, 1988).

In the light of the above, this study aims to examine pupils’ performance in learning vocabulary
using suggestopedia in Abbaganaram primary school, Maiduguri-Borno State.

Method
This experiment was carried out in Nigeria, among primary five school pupils in Abbaganaram
Primary School, Maiduguri-Borno State. The average age of the pupils is 12 years. To the best
of my knowledge, this is the first time this method is experimented in the setting. The students
were subjected to suggestopedia class where the class was provided with relevant pictures,
posters, flashcards, with a music in the background. The teacher immediacy approach was
maintained throughout the four lessons (twice a week) for two weeks. Two teachers from the
school were selected and briefly guided on the process and the procedure of conducting a
suggestopedia class. The students were subjected to a pre-test and post-test (using the school
English text) which served as data for this study. The results of the pre-test and the post-test
were calculated to see whether there is effect of suggestopedia method on vocabulary learning.
Using SPSS, two related sample t test was calculated and the result was interpreted and
discussed.

Results and Discussion

Table 1 first presents the descriptive analysis used to determine the mean difference between
the two related samples and table 2 below presents the mean difference.
Table 1 Paired samples statistics

Mean N Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean

Pair1 Control group post test 9.11 18 3.324 .783
Suggestopedia group pretest 2.56 18 1.580 .372

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AL-MUQADDIMAH, A Journal of the Humanities, Law, Social & Management Sciences, VOL., 1 (1). April, 2017. ISSN: 2616-0455

Table 2 Paired sample test

95%
confidence
Std. Std. interval of the Sig.
Mean deviat error Difference T Df (2tailed
ion Mean Lower Upper )

Pair 1
classBpost-classBpre 6.556 3.959 .933 4.587 8.524 7.025 17 .000

Tables 1 and 2 above present the pre-test and post-test mean difference of the experimental
group (N=18). This is to examine whether the use of suggestopedia method has significantly
helped in improving the performance of the respondents in the post-test. First the descriptive
statistics of the paired sample is presented in table 1 which shows the pre-test mean (M=2.56,
SD= 1.580) and the post-test mean (M= 9.11, SD= 3.324). Also the paired mean difference
(post-test - pre-test) is presented in table 2. The mean difference between the pre-test and the
post-test is M= 6.556 (SD= 3.959). Thus the students’ performance in the post-test appeared to
be statistically significantly larger, t (17) = .933, p< 0.05 at .000 significant level. This indicates
a statistically significant difference of the students’ performance before and after the treatment
condition.
The result indicated that the suggestopedia method significantly improve vocabulary learning.
The result of the mean difference between the pre-test and the post-test of the experimental
group shows that the performance of the post-test is higher than that of the pre-test. This could
possibly be due to the nature of the class environment and the teacher’s positive attitudes
towards the pupils and the teaching process. This is supported by what (Stansell, 2005) states
that in suggestopedia class information are presented in an interesting and appealing way. So,
the learners’ attention and interest would be captured with such presentation, thus, improves
performance. This statement further agrees with what (Krashen, 1982) observes when he
postulates that presenting what students want to hear in a way they like reduces anxiousness
and this positively affects performance. Since suggestopedia class is considered by the students
as motivating and comforting, therefore, the affective filter of the students in this class might
be very low; thus, leading to better performance. This is supported by what (Heimberg,
Mueller, Holt, Hope, & Liebowitz, 1992; Kirova, Petkovska, & Koceva, 2012) describe as the
effect of affective elements in language learning. When students are presented with an enabling
learning environment they tend to perform better. Equally, Lozanov (1978) claims that

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AL-MUQADDIMAH, A Journal of the Humanities, Law, Social & Management Sciences, VOL., 1 (1). April, 2017. ISSN: 2616-0455

suggestopedia can be a mean in which learners’ affective factor might be handled and also
boost their intellectual ability. Agreeing with this, Priyatmojo (2009) stresses the importance
and effectiveness of suggestopedia method by emphasising suggestopedia as an appropriate
method to teach young language learners.

Conclusion
Based on the result, suggestopedia seems to be one of the methods that assist young language
learners in primary school to learn vocabulary easily. This method has improved the learners’
performance as revealed in the post-test result. Supporting how effective suggestopedia in
learning vocabulary, many studies have concluded that using of suggestopedia method to teach
young learners positively affect learners’ performance (Kharismawati, 2014; Priyatmojo, 2009;
Schaefer, 1980). Thus, when suggestopedia method is effectively employed in teaching
vocabulary to primary school pupils, it may improve learning as well make the
teaching/learning interesting. Therefore, suggestopedia classroom setting should be provided
and the method should be employed to assist the young language learners to learn in an ambient
environment. This could boost their interest and motivate them to learn vocabulary easily.

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 AL-MUQADDIMAH, A Journal of the Humanities, Law, Social & Management Sciences, VOL., 1 (1). April, 2017. ISSN: 2616-0455

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