The effects of music, relaxation and suggestion on tertiary students' affect and achievement in learning Japanese as a foreign language

This study investigates the effects of the three major factors of Suggestopedia music, relaxation and suggestion on the students affect and development of communicative competence in tertiary Japanese language classes. A review of literature on Suggestopedia, the original form of Accelerated Learning (AL), shows that its effects are controversial, surrounded by misunderstanding and lack of appropriate evaluation. There is a need to clarify the nature of AL and the effects of its factors. Two existing classes were randomly assigned as a control group (n = 29) and an experimental group (n = 25). This quasi-experimental study lasted for 12 weeks with 3 stages of 4 weeks each. The results of t-tests showed that there existed no major significant differences between the two groups. When differences between each stage were examined carefully, however, it was found that self-concept increased significantly with the introduction of suggestion. The findings did not support the general claims that AL has positive effects on language learning, but it was found that among the three independent variables suggestion influenced students affect positively. The finding implies that the teachers positive messages are powerful tools to enhance students affect in learning a foreign language. Copyright 2008 Kuninori Shimbo. No part of this article may be reproduced by any means without the written consent of the publisher.