Going beyond Conventional Instruction: Using Desuggestopedia Method to Improve Yemeni Students’ Ability to Understand Collocations

Abstract

Desuggestopedia method takes into account not only students’ intellectual structures, but also their feelings and need for knowledge. Therefore, the current study aims to investigate the impact of using Desuggestopedia method on Yemeni undergraduate students’ ability to comprehend collocations. The researcher used a quasi-experimental design in order to meet the study's aim. The population of this study (43) consisted of all the fourth level students studying in the Department of English at the Faulty of Education, Thamar University during the second semester of the academic year (2024). Due to the small number of the population, the researcher decided to take all the students as the study sample. However, (10) students were chosen as a pilot study and (3) students did not participate because of their sickness. Therefore, the final number of the sample was (30) which was divided into two randomly chosen groups: an experimental group (15 students) that received instruction using Desuggestopedia method, and a control group (15 students) that received instruction using a conventional method. As an instrument for gathering data, the researcher developed an achievement test for collocations with a reliability coefficient (.88). The test was used as pre-post-test. Following data collection, statistical analysis was performed using the independent samples t-test, mean, and standard deviation. The results of the statistical analysis of the data showed that the mean scores of the experimental group (16.67) is greater than that of the control group (11.07) in the post-test. Moreover, the significance value of the observed scores (.000) is less than the predetermined alpha level (.05) set by the researcher. Therefore, it can be concluded that the application of Desuggestopedia has a positive effect as a teaching method on the Yemeni students’ achievement in learning English collocations. Results of this study can be implemented by the teacher to deepen his students’ understanding of other branches of linguistics.