HICPR: (Haptic) English Accent and Pronunciation Improvement Course

(Haptic) English Accent and Pronunciation Improvement Course

Haptic Pronunciation Teaching (KINETIK METHOD)

(EAPIC: pronounced "EPIC!")

Beginning September 25, 2025

(link to training video and feedback clsss will be posted here!)

Better accent or pronunciation
Better expressiveness in speaking
More confidence in speaking
Good method for continuing to improve
Works for anybody with a CLB or IELTS 5 and up

• 10 weeks, online
• (Free) 20~30-minute training video uploaded every Thursday
• 15~30 minutes of homework every day!
• (Optional) live homework follow up meeting on Wednesday at 8-9 p.m. EST ($200 USD)

Weekly syllabus:

1. Basic rhythm 1 (pronunciation grammar)
2. Fluency 1(body rhythm)
3. Consonants 1 (common problems)
4. Vowels 1 (short)
5. Vowels 2 (long)
6. Consonants 2 (students’ “favorites”)
7. Melody 1 (little pieces)
8. Melody 2 (longer pieces)
9. Fluency 2 (Conversation)
10. Rhythm 2 (Public speaking)

A Sample from Lesson 1

Warm up!

1. Upper chest and shoulders stretcher (elbows touch)
2. Nasal resonance BUZZ (Ying! Yang! Young!)

3. Ying, Yang, Young triad
4. Back (‘Oh’ cone) and chest expander (Ooo-Wah!)

Syllable Butterfly Training

*MT4s: Movement (gesture), tone (volume & pitch),
tempo (fast or slow) and touch (several kinds) techniques

Strong tap on the stressed syllable: X

Light tap on unstressed syllables: o

Cool.    X
That’s cool.    oX
Really cool.    ooX
That’s really cool.    oooX

Awesome    Xo
That’s awesome.    oXo
Really awesome.    ooXo
That’s really awesome.    oooXo

Super cool.    Xoo
That’s super cool.    oXoo
Really super cool.    ooXoo
That’s really super cool.    oooXoo

Super awesome.    Xooo
That’s super awesome.    oXooo
Really super awesome.    ooXooo
That’s really super awesome oooXooo

Lesson I – Embodied Oral Reading (EOR)

1A: I THINK | we've GOT it | figured OUT.
•X •X• • •X

B: Oh. Can you TELL me | what it IS?
X X • • •X

2A: Your MUFfler | I THINK | has a small HOLE in it.
• X• •X • • • X • •

B: Oh NO! Does it NEED | to be rePLACED right now?
• X • • X • • • X • •

3A: Yes, it DOES. It ISN’T going to | last much LONger
X • X • X• • • • • X•.

B: Huh. How MUCH | will it COST?
X • X • • X

4A: A-BOUT | a hundred | and fifty DOLlars.
•X • X• • • • X•

Homework:

1. Practice the warm up, training and EOR every day in the morning for 15-30 minutes,

standing (in front of a mirror)
with good posture
and good gesture
using pleasing (beautiful) voice
good breathing
and confident volume

2. Keep a "learning conversation" journal (LCJ) with your favorite AI Bot! I use: Perplexity

Weekly schedule:

Thursday: Do the video along with me (20 minutes) and keep notes!

Friday: Do the warm up, training, embodied oral reading (EOR) and keep notes!

Typical embodied oral reading practice:

a. Do the MT4s of each line (before speaking)
b. Do each rhythm group slowly, with voice and MT4
c. Do entire EOR with comfortable rhythm
d. Do entire EOR with as much expression as you can, 2x.

Saturday: Do the warm up, training, EOR and keep notes!

Notes: Words or phrases you have difficulty pronouncing

Sunday: Take the day off with me!

Monday: Do the warm up, training, EOR, practice your target words and keep notes!

Tuesday: Do the warm up, training, EOR, practice your target words and keep notes!

Wednesday: Come to the live feedback 60-minute class on Google Meet (or practice by yourself!)

a. Go over the EOR, one line at a time.
b. Check students' MT4s for accuracy
c. Questions from students
d. Preview of the next week's lesson

So . . . How does this course work?

Gesture and touch make pronunciation easier to learn and remember
Using your whole body (embodied) makes is easier to pay full attention
Rhythm and gesture together help keep learning both relaxed and energetic
Embodied oral reading is great for bringing what you study into conversation
Practicing the EOR every day trains your mind and body to move and speak more like English speakers do.
Use what you know . . .

Email me: wracton@gmail.com for more information or to enroll.

For a more in depth discussion of the basis of the EAPIC course, go to: https://www.actonhaptic.com/eapic

2 comments:

Bill ActonSeptember 3, 2025 at 1:26 PM
The first training video, Lesson 1, available on 9/25/25, will include a quick general introduction to the course, beginning with outline above. The video will be posted on Vimeo.com and Youtube.
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Bill ActonSeptember 6, 2025 at 6:41 AM
If you are interested in the course, feel free to email me (wracton@gmail.com), especially if you are not sure that it is a good fit. Basically, if you are somebody who is pretty disciplined as far as practicing--daily--and following up later, this course is for you, even if you just do the weekly free training videos.
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What is haptic pronunciation teaching?

Basically, it is using gesture, touch and movement to teach pronunciation of English (or any language). What makes this method unique is that it is based on controlled and systematic use of gesture in doing that. (Often the problem with gesture use in language learning is that it can be "crazy" or random or intimidating or inconsistent, or not well-developed and tied to clear outcomes.)

The earlier "Essential Haptic-integrated English Pronunciation (EHIEP) approach," now KINETIK, does a better job of enhancing presentation, modelling, feedback and correction. The method is simple and easy to follow. Once a 30-minute module is finished, teacher and students have a set of techniques to use in class anytime a pronunciation problem or opportunity comes up!

Haptic Preliminaries

I often begin workshops or papers with the comment that in about 40 years in the field I have had just one idea: that the systematic use of body movement is essential to effective and efficient pronunciation instruction. That has never been more relevant than today, with the general deemphasis on pronunciation and introduction of technology into the field. From both perspectives, the "haptic" perspective approach developed here offers great promise. I can at least promise you a "moving" experience!

What is the KINETIK Method?

KINETIK is the name of the new v6.0 haptic pronunciation teaching system. About six years earlier we were using the acronym, "Haptic Integrated Pronunciation for Other/Extended Circle English Speakers" (HIPOECES)--still there in the url of this blog!

Haptic-integrated clinical pronunciation is:

A different way to learn pronunciation, based in part on Arthur Lessac’s notion of “Training the body first.” It is also based on research in the use of movement and touch in learning and training. It:

Looks somewhat like a combination of aerobics, sign language and Taichi

Provides a basic foundation for continued, self-directed pronunciation learning and classroom instruction

Designed for use by relatively untrained teachers but appropriate for all teachers (and learners) of all levels

Focuses on pronunciation used in conversation (not all words in English)

Is a highly “brain-and-body-friendly” system that promotes efficient learning of integrated tasks in general

Designed to promote integrated classroom pronunciation instruction and enable integration of conscious pronunciation work into spontaneous speaking.

Introduction

This blog was formerly named: HIPoeces (pronounced 'hI-pƏ-cIs), basically an approach to teaching English pronunciation to speakers of "outer and expanding" circle Englishes (including that population commonly termed: non-native speakers) but also compatible with the use of local models other than simply Standard" American" or RP. Using Kachru's "Inner, expanding and outer circles" model to characterize the breadth of Englishes and speakers of those, HIPoeces (now HICP) systems focus on developing haptically-centered pedagogical models and methods which can be adapted for teaching the pronunciation of various Englishes as they are spoken and taught by "owners" of those varieties.

In theory, the underlying principles can be applied to teaching the sound system of any language. Most language instructors intuitively use a great deal of movement and tactile anchoring in the classroom. The essential question is how to use that resource systematically, especially so that those learners who are less "haptic" in nature are also "moved" by the method.

Simply put, the HICP model/method is based on the idea of speaking along with arm and hand movement, not all that different from that used in sign languages. Most movement patterns are taken from either typical classroom pronunciation instruction practice or from related fields, such as psychotherapy or sports.

Most blog posts link to research that relates to the general HICP model, that is studies dealing with the role of gesture, touch, movement, learning modalities, learning in output, use of the visual field in learning, and experiential learning.

DEFINITIONS:

"Haptic" techniques- procedures that involve both movement and touch (Obvious examples include clapping hands, tapping feet, or holding an object and shaking it to the rhythm of a poem.)

"HICP techniques" - procedures that are haptic and also explicitly coordinated with phonological structures and/or discourse prosody (For example, clapping hands on primary stressed syllables in multi-syllable words, or doing a dance step on key words in conversational turns.)

"Haptic integration"- The haptic dimension probably functions as much to anchor visual and auditory material as it does to assist the learner in getting the "felt sense" of the sound or sound process. Lack of integration into spontaneous speech being such a serious potential shortcoming of instruction, haptic engagement seems a promising bridge to more accurate fluency.

"Visual field" - in HICP extensive use is made of the visual field in front of the learner. (For example, a modified version of the IPA vowel chart is anchored haptically in the imagination of the learner, directly in front of the upper body, and used for several purposes throughout the program.)