Although techniques of autosuggestion in personal development have a long history in some Eastern cultures, suggestibility as a character trait first came into focus in the West with the "animal magnetism" of Franz Mesmer. The uncovering of the nature and phenomena of hypnosis resulted in a steady and enduring interest in this state of…

The suggestopedic technique of second language instruction is sketched. Recent efforts to adopt the technique in parts of the American West are reviewed. The historical precedent of suggestopedia and the interpretation of the technique by two linguists at the 1979 TESOL convention are investigated. Hypnosis is compared to suggestopedia, and…

A thorough investiqation is attempted of efforts to apply hypnosis and suggestive learning techniques to education in general and specifically to second language learning. Hypnosis is discussed in terms of its dangers, its definition, and its application. Included in this discussion is a comparison of auto- and hetero-hypnosis, an overview of the…

In "Suggestologiia," Georgi Lozanov discusses his theories of Suggestology, the scientific study of suggestion, and Suggestopedia, the application of suggestion to pedagogy. The Lozanov thesis cannot properly be understood in isolation, however, and Suggestology and Suggestopedia should be considered in relation to yoga, Soviet and…

This is the tenth annual issue of the UCLA TESL (teaching English as a second language) workpapers. It includes the following papers: (1) "An Attempt to Model the Role of Cognitions in Language Learning," by R.L. Allwright; (2) "A Comparison of Language Proficiency Tests," by J. Donald Bowen; (3) "Language Study Through…