Killing Pronunciation 15: Feelings . . . nothing more than feelings?

Finally (what seems to me) a fascinating glimpse, or at least different perspective, into why for many
language learners it can be so difficult to remember how sounds are pronounced in their second language. Fascinating study, by Fandakova, Johnson, and Ghetti of UC-Davis: Distinct neural mechanisms underlie subjective and objective recollection and guide memory-based decision making (summarized by ScienceDaily as "Making decisions based on how we feel about memories, not accuracy.") Now I'm  not sure that SD summary is entirely accurate, but it is close . . . 

Exploring the brain circuits involved in recalling past events, in essence what emerged was the "fact" that one circuit is more responsible for something resembling data, e.g., who, what, where, when; the other, with the emotion or "feeling" associated with the event. What the research demonstrated was that recall was overwhelmingly triggered through the affective/subjective wiring, not the objective circuit(s). In other words, in some very general sense our access to memory is substantially more emotion-based, not visual/objective data-oriented. 

So, other than the fact that there may be some potential gender bias there . . . how does that relate to learning the sound system of a language effectively? Ask yourself: How do you and your students feel about learning pronunciation? Does that answer the question? For many it does. If affect or feeling is that critical to good recall, then pronunciation learned may be especially vulnerable to being inaccessible in varying degrees. 

Now the "feeling" of  pronunciation could come from at least three primary sources: the affective climate of the class where it is studied; the relative engagement or appeal of the instruction to the individual, itself or satisfaction entailed or-- the somatic, physical sensations of what it is mechanically to perform or articulate the sound. 

I, myself, was trained in pronunciation teaching by one amazing speech therapist and early leaders in the field of TESOL. What I learned, which most pronunciation teaching does not take seriously enough or does not really focus on at all is how to help the learner get the richest possible somatic experience (mostly tactile and kinaesthetic) as to how the sound or pattern feels when it is articulated. Part of that, of course, is the metalanguage used in talking about it and to some extent, the procedures and practice routines, themselves. 

In other words, without a good sense of "the feeling of how it happens" (Damasio, 1999), often it just doesn't happen or at least is not anchored adequately to be remembered or recalled efficiently. There are any number of methods or systems for establishing that critical link between the sound and the feeling of the sound, not just its conceptual, visual, auditory and orthographic features. Of course, we FEEL that haptic pronunciation teaching, founded on gesture and touch, has "got that," and more. If your pronunciation work just doesn't feel right . . . get into touch . . . with us, or your local speech therapist! 

Sources: (Cited in ScienceDaily summary)

University of California - Davis. (2021, March 10). Making decisions based on how we feel about memories, not accuracy. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 14, 2021 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/03/210310150347.htm
Yana Fandakova, Elliott G Johnson, Simona Ghetti. Distinct neural mechanisms underlie subjective and objective recollection and guide memory-based decision making. eLife, 2021; 10