ADAPTATIONS  OF  THE  LOZANOV  MODEL

While the above represents Lozanov's latest version of Suggestopedia, several adaptations retaining the same name exist throughout Western and Eastern Europe, most notably the Russian model (see Baur 1980) and the version practised in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). The GDR model is particularly interesting since changes that were made to Lozanov's model were the result of published research findings. Research was carried out at the Institute for Mnemology at the Karl Marx University in Leipzig. The music research, to some of which we have access, led to a different selection of musical pieces for the concert session. The choice of music was arrived at by measuring psycho-physiological responses to certain types of music with the use of polarity profiles completed by the students (Lehmann 1982). The music recommended as a result of this research consists mainly of slow movements of orchestral works by Mozart and Haydn which are strung together to form one piece. Baroque pieces are no longer part of the repertoire. The concert session may start with an introductory adagio by Boildieu, for example, and it always ends with an allegro, e.g. by Haydn. The same collection of music (Lehmann & Gassner-Roberts 1988) may be used in every concert session.

According to Gassner-Roberts (1988a:3) in the GDR model the active and passive concerts have been combined into one musical séance. Three level intonation (normal, whisper, loud) is still used. Students have their text in front of them, accompanied by a full translation at the beginning and a partial translation later in the course. The teacher waits until the end of the first adagio in order to give students time to 'tune in' to the music before beginning to read a page or a specific section of the text with the next adagio. The students follow their text with their eyes. At the end of that section the teacher says "Eyes closed" and re-reads the same text while the music continues. At the end of this the teacher says "Eyes open" and reads the next section which is then repeated with the students' eyes closed as before. This cycle continues until all the material has been presented. The teacher then says " You have learned … lexical items in the séances so far". After waiting for the end of the last adagio, the teacher turns on the allegro and the students open their eyes. They leave the room at the end of the music.

Gassner-Roberts (1988a) further reports that while she has experimented with several versions of the concert session over a number of years in the teaching of German to university students, the GDR version was most readily accepted by the students. Although everyone had liked the passive concerts before, the active concerts were sometimes rejected by the students as being artificial and strange. Furthermore, some students, particularly those interested in music, found themselves analysing the different musical pieces presented during the concert session. In the GDR version the students hear the same music throughout the course which means that they become familiar with it and therefore no longer focus special attention on it.