CONTENT: Texts

The content of the dialogues - 2 of 5

From a psychological point of view, however, suggestopedic manuals single themselves out from other manuals. In addition to being lively and particularly rich in linguistic content, the story line and situations have all been thought out to avoid triggering negative reactions that cause students to close down.

All of the adventures that the students find themselves embarked on are pleasant or humorous, non-threatening, and even naive. There are some obvious taboos: airplane crashes, bank robberies, suicides, and other situations suggestive of disaster and failure. Suggestopedic texts however go even further: they stay clear of anything that seems disorganised, irrational, unpredictable, or unethical. In this way, Suggestopedia tries to do everything possible not to set into action the natural defences that students (like any other human beings) have, which protect them from the outside world when it appears to jeopardise their well-being.

Some critics, mindful of students' ability to cope with conflict situations in the foreign language once they are in the real world, may feel that Suggestopedia does not prepare its students for the harshness of real life by giving them the functional-notional expressions to convey anger, discontent or fear.