BIG news about Haptic Pronunciation Teaching!

Size DOES matter it turns out, according to research by Masarwa, Kreichman, and Gilaie-Dotan of Bar Ilan University and University College London, summarized by NeuroscienceNews.com as "In visual memory size matters." One of the key features of Haptic Pronunciation Teaching (HaPT) is the use of relatively large sweeping gestures across the visual field in front of the class to represent sounds and patterns of the language. (As students do it along with the instructor, typically.) We have known for a couple of decades that that "larger than life" visual representation of the sounds in communicating with the class is highly effective. 

Now we have a little more evidence as to just why. In the study, simply put, under various experimental conditions, it was demonstrated that the larger image was remembered better. The researchers' conclusion:

" Our study indicates that physical stimulus dimensions (as the size of an image) influence memory, and this may have significant implications to learning, aging, development, etc."

Fascinating study, linked below. In other words, our method is "bigger" than your method. There is actually much MORE to the story, of course! Go here to find out!

and, of course, keep in touch!

Bill

Link to original research: Larger images are better remembered during naturalistic encoding

Confident English Speaking, Fluency and Pronunciation--in 10 weeks!

As announced here on the blog, the new KINETIK English Fluency and Pronunciation Course is on. 

Especially designed for students who do not have much opportunity to practice speaking English outside of class! (But great for everybody else, too, of course!)

Gives you confidence to use what you “know” but may not always be able to access in speaking 

• Applicable for literate adult learners, upper beginner level and above
• Online, on Zoom, 2 hours of "live" class per week and about 2 hours of homework (20 minutes a day is best)
• Weekly live Zoom class: Thursdays, 4~5 p.m. (PST) or recorded
• Weekly live Zoom follow up: Wednesdays, in small groups, by appointment
• Cost: $500USD (or $60 per lesson)
• Use of embodied haptic techniques (using gesture and touch) for improving students’ fluency, memory for course content, vocabulary and intelligibility
• Makes you easier to understand and develops better posture and breathing
• Fixes most important pronunciation problems, or at least gets you well on the way.
• Makes self correction easier
• Includes effective system for continued study after the course
• With some slight modifications is also an excellent professional development system for any instructor, native or nonnative speaking. 

Still time to sign up! February 10th ~ April 24th! Contact me: wracton@gmail.com for required initial  Zoom interview.

Improved pronunciation "in the blink of any eye!"

How important is general/not directly task-based body movement, especially the lack of it, to learning pronunciation, creativity or just learning? In haptic pronunciation teaching learners are encouraged or required to move almost constantly, primarily through speech-synchronized gesture, but also through "Mindfulness-like" practices that monitor the state of the muscles and posture of the body, along with breathing patterns. 

But what about the impact on learning when students' bodies are held more in check, with restricted motor engagement? A new study by Murali and Händel of Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Motor restrictions impair divergent thinking during walking and during sitting, summarized by ScienceDaily.com, not only affirms our intuitions about the central role of embodiment in thought and learning, but suggests something more: even while seated, a little movement appears to go a long way in maintaining creativity and attention. (What a shocker, eh? Hope you were sitting down when you read that!)

Ciker.com

The actual protocols of the research, which involved measurement of eye "blinking" responses as indices of degree of engagement, are not described in the summary, but the title of the original piece is interesting. To quote from the summary of the study: "Our research shows that it is not movement per se that helps us to think more flexibly," says neuroscientist Dr Barbara Händel from Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg (JMU) in Bavaria, Germany. Instead, the freedom to make self-determined movements (emphasis, mine there) is responsible for it." 

In other words, messing with the body's incredible range of what appear to be random movements, apparently unassociated with the task being consciously in focus, may have dramatic consequences. An extreme analogy might even be talking with friends who are somewhere on the autism or ADHD spectrums. Their body and eye movements seem to suggest that they are not pay sufficient attention when in fact that is not the case at all. 

Now I am not saying that "thinking more flexibly" at any moment in instructional time is necessarily a good thing, of course, but the principle of allowing the body to also think and create on its own on an ongoing basis, in some sense "non or extra-verbally," if  you will, certainly is. On behalf of all elementary school boys on the planet who have had to sit in/through years of class to learn with girls when we should, instead, have been outside learning with our hands and whole bodies, I can only say, AMEN! 

Think about it. While you were reading this blogpost, what "else" was your body doing? If you can't remember . . . Q.E.D (quod erat demonstrandum)

Keep in touch!

Bill

Original source: 

Supriya Murali, Barbara Händel. Motor restrictions impair divergent thinking during walking and during sitting. Psychological Research, 2022; DOI: 10.1007/s00426-021-01636-w

Body-full-ness and (haptic) pronunciation teaching--make no mistake or at least fewer!

Avoiding, correcting, accepting, embracing errors . . . take your pick in pronunciation (and all) instruction as to how you respond when learners come up with something overly "creative" or slightly outside their optimal L2 target inventory. A 2019 study by Lin and colleagues, "How meditation can help you make fewer mistakes - Meditating just once proves to make a difference," summarized by ScienceDaily.com, draws a fascinating but not surprising connection between meditation (or mindfulness training) and "making fewer errors." 

In essence, subjects that were given 20-minutes of meditation and then, hooked up to brain monitors,  were better at performing an error avoidance task, a "computerized distraction test." This was a simple laboratory experiment, of course, but one implication, for the researchers at least, was more empirical support for the current widespread application of "mindfulness" training in education. 

If you have been following the blog, you'll recall that from a haptic perspective, I see mindfulness training, which basically focuses on body states to hold the conscious, modern neurotic mind at bay, is more accurately described as "body-full-ness" (BFN) training. BFN is the basis of haptic pronunciation teaching, prioritizing body-based rhythm engagement and then changing speech patterns through manipulation of upper body torso movement and gesture. In other words, in Lessac's words, "training the body first," is key to effective and efficient speech change and instruction. 

To learn how to teach more "haptically," in the new KINETIK Method system, goto: www.actonhaptic.com or email me directly: wracton@gmail.com and I'll be happy to Zoom you in!!!

Bill

Source:

Michigan State University. (2019, November 11). How meditation can help you make fewer mistakes: Meditating just once proves to make a difference. ScienceDaily. Retrieved January 9, 2022 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/11/191111124637.htm

Unemotional, improvement in conscientiousness in school (and homework and pronunciation) !!!

Here is a pair of studies just too good to believe which suggest that you can train subjects (students?) to become more conscientious without much if any conscious buy in, but (SURPRISE) to train somebody to greater emotional stability takes genuine commitment on their part. Part of the "trick" apparently is to do the conscientiousness training very carefully and incrementally (and unemotionally?) so that subjects don't catch on and react negatively. 

A quick summary of the studies by Hudson of Southern Methodist University, as further summarized by our friends at Sciencedaily.com. In the first study, college students were, in essence, asked which personality trait they'd like to improve, conscientiousness or emotional stability. They were then randomly assigned to one type of treatment without being informed as to why. The "conscientiousness" training included tasks such as being better organized. 

Regardless of the students initial selection those who were trained in conscientiousness reported improvement. In a second study, students were asked the same question but some were, instead, purposely assigned to "greater emotional stability," even though that was not their choice. Believe it or not, that intervention did not work for some reason . . . 

Now setting aside the "silly" second study, that you can train students to better emotional stability without their active commitment, the idea that getting students to improve in terms of conscientiousness without their active buy in is, of course, worth considering. Highly successful instructional systems all accomplish that. 

The question is how do you "unemotionally" but effectively and consistently promote conscientiousness, especially more autonomous engagement from that perspective, even when that is not initially a conscious priority for leaners? How does your course presentation and instructional system make that work? How does culture play into that type of discipline? Let us know!

In haptic pronunciation teaching, and especially the v6.0 KINETIK Method, effective homework is critical, at least a total of two hours weekly, to achieve substantial improvement. That is accomplished, in part, by first foregrounding disciple as a key feature of the system in the course introduction and then by proscribing almost minute-by-minute, 20-minute practice routines to be done daily, best case. Be delighted to tell you much more about that, in fact: www.actonhaptic.com/KINETIK

 

Ciker.com

New! 2022 Acton Haptic English Fluency and Pronunciation Courses!

As promised, the new (Amazing!) KINETIK Method student and instructor courses are ready to go! 

KINETIK Method: Embodied fluency, content and pronunciation enhancement

Features

• Instructor training certificate courses (12 weeks) 
• Student courses (applicable for literate adult learners, upper beginner level and above--10 weeks)
• Available for individuals or groups
• Online only, on Zoom, 2 hours of "live" class per week and 3~6 hours of homework
• Cost varies, depending on class size, from $200~$1500
• Use of embodied techniques for improving students’ fluency, memory for course content, vocabulary and intelligibility

For the instructor:

• Training in doing effective in-class feedback and correction
• Requires no previous formal training in pronunciation teaching or basic pedagogical phonetics
• Designed for instructors who do not have enough space in their lesson plans for pronunciation and effective homework assignments
• Designed for instructors who value greater engagement of the body in instruction and general body “consciousness and agency.”
• Provides improved personal “pedagogical voice” in classroom and classwork
• A complete method: one adaptable for most learners and contexts

For the student:

• Makes you easier to understand
• Fixes most important pronunciation problems
• Makes correction easier. . . self correction, correction by teachers and peers
• Increases confidence in speaking in conversationi
• Allows you to use what you “know” but may not be able to use in speaking 
• Especially good for students who do not have much opportunity to practice speaking English outside of class
• Includes effective system for continued study after the course

Why rhythm first, using gesture and touch:

• Rhythm is basic to speaking and understanding language!
• Gesture helps us emphasize rhythm and remember language.
• Touch helps us bring our senses together to learn. remember better and control attention and body movement, in general.
• Rhythm is key to integrating changed sound patterns.

Classes are available, beginning February 1st.

For more information: www.actonhaptic.com/KINETIK or email me directly at wracton@gmail.com