A Comparison of Innovative Training Techniques at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center

: This report documents the results of an evaluation of the comparative training effectiveness of (1) suggestopedia (i.e., a method proposed to accelerate language learning), (2) the standard instructional methodology currently used by the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC), and (3) a flexible-scheduling version of the DLIFLC method (i.e., the flexibly scheduled presentation of material based upon group readiness). The subjects were 40 junior enlisted Army personnel scheduled to take the Russian Basic Course (RBC). They were randomly selected and sorted into two sections each for the suggestopedia and standard groups. One section of 10 junior enlisted Army and Navy personnel comprised the flexibly scheduled group. Analyses of variance, combined with subsequent one-tailed t-tests, found that the suggestopedia group had significantly lower scores than the two DLIFLC groups on the written and oral components of achievement tests. Similar significant differences among the groups were found on the reading and speaking components of the Proficiency Advancement Test (PAT). No significant differences were found among groups on the listening component of the PAT. There were no significant differences between the standard and flexibly scheduled groups on the achievement tests, the PAT, or on the fact-to-face oral interviews. Comparisons among groups on the various attitudinal measures indicated significantly more positive attitudes by the suggestopedia group toward their instructor for the first 4 weeks when compared to the standard group.