Sunday, November 11, 2012

The value of haptic pronunciation teaching

Clip art: Clker
 How would you convince your students or colleagues as to the advantages of going "haptic?" Now assuming that the list of features in the recent blogpost doesn't quite do the job, what will work? We know that getting a learner or instructor new to the idea to come along with us and experience a couple of the protocols in a demonstration is best, but, at least up to now that has required that one of us be physically present to lead that experiential introduction. Ultimately, to get the word out, the appeal or "pitch" must be delivered by video.

Research by Usher of Tel Aviv University's  and colleagues, summarized by Science Daily, suggests something of the way to do that. (The catchy title of the SD summary: "Going With Your Gut Feeling: Intuition Alone Can Guide Right Choice, Study Suggests.") Subjects were required to watch a fast moving video focusing on two alternative products or actions, presented with no clear logical, linear or conceptual organization, and then asked to quickly pick one, in effect using their "intuitions." What they found was that judgments were amazingly accurate, the better alternative being selected. The point being that perception of value goes on in very complex ways, in addition to careful, conscious calculation. (Subsequent research will apparently further examine just where and how in the brain that happens.)

Clip art: Clker
I have been using the model of the short (6-minute or so), high-impact TED talk for sometime now in trying to develop a new approach to introducing EHIEP, one that "moves" the viewer, in several senses. Preliminary efforts have met with some limited success. The key is to present the viewer with a (seemingly unordered) set of images that produce an immediate, less conscious response of high quality and value, not simply a reasoned, thoughtful, metacognitive assessment. Here is a great 4-minute promotion of TED 2012, A taste of TED, that does it very well, not surprisingly. A little more work to do before I audition for TED, but will post a "TED-wanabee" video here for your "gut reaction"---once I get one that feels right.


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