The case for slightly boring pronunciation classes

It is not easy to come up with a reason to justify mind-numbing, repetitive decontextualized pronunciation drill, but maybe here is one . . . This 2001 study by Martin at the University of Missouri, summarized by a UK Daily Mail reporter, "discovered" that if you are having too good a time, it may affect your ability to remember "data." As the summary of the research notes, that could be caused by several factors, but one connection to haptic work is what others refer to as the Hansel and Gretel effect: context is encoded with the stuff to be remembered. If the trace back to a word is only "bread crumbs," chances are you won't get there; if the path back involves getting in a party mood first, that can be almost as bewildering later it turns out.

Clip art:
Clker

Clip art:
Clker

The trick, of course, is to create an event or experience that is anchored as efficiently as possible (with "noticing" in overdrive), with attention limited to the target, not the visual or emotional setting--or even unduly "thick" memories of past events. The immediate linguistic context of a sound or word, however, must also remain as a permanent part of the package. To do that for most learners requires momentary, conscious control of mind, brain, body and immediate surroundings: from our perspective, a "haptic-integrated" felt sense that is both highly energized and relaxed at the same time. In such a heightened state of awareness it is, of course, relatively easy to stay "in touch"-- and nearly impossible to be bored--or miss the party.