English Accent, Pronunciation and Identity Improvement Course begins next week!

The recorded, 30-minute free weekly training lesson will be available on Youtube, Thursday, September 17th  to be precise! (That link will be posted in a blogpost here that includes the lesson materials.)

The next week on Wednesday, on the 24th at 8 p.m. EST there is a live Zoom feedback session on that lesson for students who are also enrolled in the course (for $300 USD)

For complete details, see the course announcement! 

For more information or to sign up: wracton@gmail.com

See ME next week on Thursday!

www.williamacton.legalshieldassociate.com

Fall 2026 (Haptic) English Accent and Pronunciation Improvement Course (EAPIC)

 You will never find a more moving and touching course than this one! Promise!

September 17th ~November 2nd!

In about three months make good progress in improving your English accent or pronunciation and be trained in how to keep on improving after the course. 

It has been offered online three times a year for over 12 years! This fall's course, as usual, will be different, filled with new features, such as AI. Here is how the course works: 

• The course is "haptic." That means that we use a great deal of movement, gesture and touch to make learning more effective and memorable! 
• In each lesson, after a quick warm up, you are trained in new sounds or patterns, sometimes almost "dancing" along, and then you use those gesture-patterns in practicing a conversation. 
• You do the warm up and conversation several different ways as you practice every day for the rest of the week.
• Using AI you also create new conversations and word lists to practice that are just what you, personally need to improve it!
• The recorded, 30-minute weekly training lessons are free, available on Thursdays on Youtube. 
• There is a 30-minute daily homework practice assignment with each lesson.
• The next week on Wednesday at 8 p.m. EST there is a live Zoom feedback session on that lesson for students who are enrolled in the course (for $300 USD)
• During the feedback sessions students are
• Guided in using AI to manage their homework practice and progress.
• Given guidance on improving and protecting their online language identity (For example. how you look on Zoom and how to make sure nobody steals your identity!!!) 
• The feedback sessions are recorded, so you can always access them later if necessary.
• To really benefit from the course, you should (1) have a minimum IELTS of 4.5, (2) do the homework, and (3) enroll for the Wednesday feedback sessions.

The instructor, Bill Acton (me!), has been teaching pronunciation and training English language teachers  for about 50 years using the KINETIK Method. It is an unusual course, using lots of movement and special gestures and touch--and humor and music!

(This is a good course for an instructor who wants an introduction to haptic pronunciation teaching. You can sit in for the same course fee, plus we have a weekly instructor meeting!) 

Please pass on to anybody who could use this course!!!

For more information or to sign up: wracton@gmail.com

My websites:

www.actonhaptic.com

www.williamacton.legalshieldassociate.com

Moving and touching, EAPIIC course begins next week, 6/18!

 Here is the Link to the course announcement!

English Accent, Pronunciation and Identity Improvement Course (EAPIIC) is  . . . unique!  Guaranteed, this will be the most "embodied" pronunciation course you have taken. The two new features are use of AI for homework and integration of accent and identity.

As the description says, the course is free. the 30-minute lesson is uploaded on Youtube every Thursday, with daily assigned homework. If you want feedback on your pronunciation or your teaching, you can sign up for that, too, at a minimal fee. 

See me next week! (If you sign on, I'll see you, too!)

Bill, Haptician-in-Chief

wracton@gmail.com

(423) 660-7400

Summer 2026 Haptic English Accent, Pronunciation and Identity Improvement Course!

 June 18th ~August 26th!

In about three months make ecellent progress in improving English accent or pronunciation and be trained in how to keep on improving after the 10-week course.

• The recorded, 30-minute weekly training lessons are free, available on Thursdays on Youtube
• There is a 30-minute daily homework practice assignment with each lesson.
• The next week on Wednesday at 8 p.m. EST there is a live Zoom feedback session on that lesson for students who are enrolled in the course (for $250 USD)
• During the feedback sessions students are guided in using AI to manage their homework practice and progress.
• The feedback sessions are recorded, so you can always access them later if necessary.
• To really benefit from the course, you should (1) have a minimum IELTS of 4.5, (2) do the homework, and (3) enroll for the Wednesday feedback sessions.

The instructor, Bill Acton, has been teaching pronunciation for about 50 years. His method is "haptic," that is it uses a great deal of gesture and touch to make learning easier and more enjoyable. This course also makes extensive use of AI and identity protection training.

(This is also a good course for an instructor who wants an introduction to haptic pronunciation teaching. You can sit in for the same course fee, plus we have a weekly instructor meeting!) 

Please pass on to anybody who could use this course!!!

For more information or to sign up: wracton@gmail.com

Spring 2026 English Accent and Pronunciation Improvement Course (EAPIC)

Beginning two weeks from today! 

Spring 2026 English Accent and Pronunciation Improvement Course (EAPIC)

(EAPIC: pronounced "EPIC!") 

Beginning February 5, 2026 

• 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 (plus Introduction video on 2/5/2026)
• (Free) 20~30-minute training video uploaded to YouTube every Thursday
• 15~30 minutes of homework every day!
• (Optional) live homework follow up meeting on Zoom Wednesday at 8-9 p.m. EST. 

•      15-minute Zoom interview required to enroll
•     $250 USD additional fee. 

Weekly syllabus:

1. Basic rhythm 1 (pronunciation grammar) 
2. Fluency 1 (body rhythm)
3. Consonants 1 (common problems, such as 'th' and 'r/l')
4. Vowels 1 (short)
5. Vowels 2 (long)
6. Consonants 2 (students’ “favorite” problems)
7. Melody 1 (little pieces, phrases)
8. Melody 2 (longer pieces, sentences)
9. Fluency 2 (Public speaking and classroom stye)

10. Rhythm 2 (Conversation style)

Typical 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!
   Saturday: Do the warm up, training, EOR and keep notes!
              Notes: Other words or phrases you have difficulty pronouncing well
    Sunday: Take the day off with me!
   Monday: Do the warm up, EOR, practice your target words (with MT5s) and keep notes!
   Tuesday: Do the warm up, EOR,  a new one-page story you have found with MT5s, practice your target words and keep notes!
   Wednesday: Come to the live feedback 60-minute class on Zoom (or practice by yourself!) 

       Here is what goes on in the feedback session: 

                       a. Go over the EOR
                       b. Check students' individual MT5s for accuracy
                       c. Questions from and help with target words of 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 (via Paypal or Venmo). To enroll requires brief Zoom chat (just to make sure the course is for you!) 

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

The Summer 2026 EAPIC course is being revised to include identity protection. Students will also be using IDentityshield system. For a preview of IDentityshield go to: IDentityshield introduction, or  www.williamacton.legalshieldassociate.com 

Homework for next week 

A. Tell me a little about yourself and why you think this course would be helpful for you.

B. Give me some idea of your weekly schedule, how much time you have to practice!

C. Tell me about your experience with music, playing an instrument, etc., or just enjoying it!

D. Tell me if you'd like to join the Wednesday Zoom feedback class. (If so, I'll set up a Zoom interview just with you as soon as possible. If I do, what would be a good time for you?)

14 reasons, according to Perplexity.ai, to do an English Accent and Pronunication Improvement Course - other than pronunciation!

Our terrific haptic English Accent and Pronunciation Improvement Course begins next week. (Go here for details on the course!) 

In preparing the introductory video, focusing on the "embodied, full-body nature" of the haptic pronuciation course, I gave Perplexity.ai the following prompt. Although most of the conclusions do have backing, more or less, in the current research literature in the field, as will be obvious, some of the sources cited by Perplexity (listed below) are not the ones most frequently cited! Nonetheless, in it's defense, the references cited within the sources listed are generally credible. 

What follows is copied directly from the Bot's answer, with only some slight formatting changes. Notice that I did not refer directly to the EAPIC course, just the generic, well designed and taught!

"In addition to improving one's accent in a second language, what are some of the important other physiological, psychological and socio-cultural benefits to the individual that accompany systematic study of the pronunciation of the language?"

Physiological Benefits

• Enhances speech motor control, strengthening articulatory muscles and coordination for clearer, more accurate speech production.
• Improves auditory discrimination, enabling learners to perceive subtle phonetic distinctions, which benefits overall listening skills.
• Supports cognitive development through increased neural flexibility and adaptation, fostering improved phonological processing abilities.

Psychological Benefits

• Builds self-confidence as clearer pronunciation reduces communicative anxiety and fear of misunderstanding.
• Reduces stress, with research showing that better pronunciation correlates with decreased anxiety and better emotional well-being.
• Boosts motivation for language learning and social interaction, as learners feel empowered to speak up and connect with others.
• Enhances self-awareness, helping individuals monitor and improve their own speech patterns, leading to greater language mastery.

Socio-Cultural Benefits

• Improves comprehensibility and intelligibility, facilitating smoother integration into new communities and broader social circles.
• Fosters cross-cultural sensitivity and respect by enabling learners to better grasp speech nuances, intonation, and cultural aspects of communication.
• Opens professional and academic opportunities, as strong pronunciation skills are valued in presentations, interviews, and global workplaces.
• Reduces bias and stereotyping, enabling learners to express ideas without undue focus on accent, thus promoting equity and inclusion.
• Supports positive identity formation, allowing learners to navigate sociolinguistic factors and decide how much of their native accent to retain or adapt for context.

Additional Benefits

• Cultivates more meaningful relationships, with clearer pronunciation leading to fewer barriers in personal and professional communications.
• Promotes lifelong learning and adaptation, as pronunciation study encourages ongoing personal growth and language refinement.
• These multifaceted benefits develop resilient, confident communicators who are better equipped for successful second-language use across diverse contexts.

Sources consulted by Perplexity:

EFL Magazine. (2025, January 21). Pronunciation in ESL - Why It Should Be Top Priority. Retrieved from https://eflmagazine.com/pronunciation-esl-why-it-should-be-top-priority/

Frontiers in Psychology. (2023, August 15). The impact of automatic speech recognition technology on second language pronunciation learning. Retrieved from https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1210187/full

Frontiers in Education. (2023, May 17). The efficacy of the type of instruction on second language pronunciation learning. Retrieved from https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/education/articles/10.3389/feduc.2023.1182285/full

McCollege. (2024, June 6). The Importance of Pronunciation in English Language Learning. Retrieved from http://mccollege.edu/english-as-a-second-language/about-english-as-a-second-language/the-importance-of-pronunciation-in-english-language-learning/

Nature Humanities and Social Sciences Communications. (2025, March 26). A scientometric study of computer-assisted pronunciation training in English as a Foreign Language. Retrieved from https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-025-04474-y

OJS SIN-CHN. (2024, December 18). Dynamic relationship between oral English pronunciation standard and psychological well-being. Retrieved from https://ojs.sin-chn.com/index.php/mcb/article/view/833

QQEnglish. (2023, August 14). Learn English Pronunciation Online: Top 7 Reasons to Improve it. Retrieved from https://qqeng.net/reasons-to-improve-your-english-pronunciation/

SciEduPress. (2024, June 2). Exploring Pronunciation Development Strategies for Learners of English as a Second Language. Retrieved from https://www.sciedupress.com/journal/index.php/wjel/article/download/25480/16099

Tandfonline. (2025, August 4). Effects of Anxiety Levels on English Pronunciation Learning in Different Classroom Environments. Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10447318.2025.2539457?src=

5 Minute English. (2025, June 25). The Impact of Cultural Experiences on English Pronunciation. Retrieved from https://5minuteenglish.com/the-impact-of-cultural-experiences-on-english-pronunciation/

IDC.edu. (2025, January 20). The Importance of Pronunciation and Accent Reduction. Retrieved from https://idc.edu/blog/importance-accent-reduction-pronunciation/

You'll get all that and more,  promise!

Haptic English Accent and Pronunciation LITE!

This is an 8-week, weekend version of the regular English Accent and Pronunication Course. (See the description of the full 12-week course here.) 

• The recorded, 30-minute training lesson is available on a Thursday
• The next week there is a live feedback lesson on that lesson 8~9 p.m. EST 
• Both are recorded, so you can always access them later. 

To get your money's worth from the course, $200 USD, you should do the assigned homework, about 30 minutes per day. 

The difference between the regular course and this LITE version is that you need to do more homework during the course and follow up, yourself, for about 2 months after the course with regular practice. (This is a good course for an instructor who just wants a good introduction to haptic pronunciation teaching, too. Instructors are also provided with a copy of the full course with teachers notes, etc.) 

The course officially begins this coming Thursday February 6th, but you can join it anytime for the next month and still get cuught up! The lesson videos are free; you only need to pay ($200) for the weekly feedback lessons.  

 All lessons are recorded and available later in day after the lesson. 

A  Zoom interview is required to enrol for the course. For more info or to sign up for an interview: william.acton@twu.ca.

Keep in touch!

Bill

A new, short--but terrific-- course in Haptic Pronunciation Teaching

For all of you whose bodies are just dying to teach pronunciation "whole-bodily" and haptically . . .good news! I'll be offering a special 6-hour KINETIK Method seminar, four saturdays, 12-1:30 EST, October 19th to November 9th. $200 USD. There will be a couple of hours of optional homework assigned and all sessions will be recorded in case you miss one. Here are the topics covered:

• October 19th - Fluency and rhythm
• October 26th - Stress and vowels
• November 2nd - Intonation and consonants
• November 9th - Integration of change in spontaneous conversation

This would be especially good for those teaching CLB levels 4~6. The course will follow the first half of the coming 10-week (Haptic) English Accent and Pronunciation Course.  Will also be offering courses for CLB 1~3 and 7~9 levels next spring. 

Course includes pre-publication draft of "Manual of Haptic Pronunciation Teaching," including access to new v7.0 instructional videos. 

For more information, get in touch--soon!

 wracton@gmail.com. 

More detail shortly! 

A Super Somewhat "Solipsistic" Solo Method for Greatly Improving English Speaking Fluency!

COURSE closed! But we are opening another soon! Keep in touch!

I know what you are thinking . . .well, actually,"solipsistically" speaking, I probably don't, of course! But, anyway, this is a remarkable new course offering,  one designed for learners in a somewhat unique but actually very common niche: 

The 9-week online course, Acton Haptic English Fluency Training (HFT), is designed especially for non-native English-speaking adults who 

1. Do not have the opportunity for much, if any English, face-to-face conversation in their daily lives but 
2. Who want to keep improving, nonetheless, 
3. Who have an IELTS reading ability of about 4.0 or above, and 
4. Do not have a lot of cash to work with!

• HFT features Embodied Oral Reading to develop English fluency and confidence 

·       Embodied Oral Reading is done out loud, in private, using stories that are accompanied by special gestures which use concepts and vocabulary that students are already familiar with, essentially, what they can understand, but perhaps may not be able to talk about fluently.  

·     HFT provides the student with a set of skills which once learned they can continue improving with beyond the course. It is especially recommended, for example, for students who do not have access to conversational English currently, such as

o   Undergraduate and graduate students in programs not taught primarily in English

o   Parents whose spoken English is not strong and whose children are in public schools in North America

o   New immigrants and family members who cannot currently access English instruction

o   Students who are in religious studies where they will serve in a language other than English, but where being able to read Scripture in English in public is essential,

o   Retired “senior” English L2 speakers who may be “home alone” in some sense much of the time but would value spending 3-4 hours weekly to develop the clarity of their spoken English.  

·    It is based on extensive research (and decades of teaching experience) in oral reading methodology and the well-known "Lectio Divina" tradition in meditation practice, using extensive oral reading as homework—not in a class.

·    The key neuroscience-based innovation of HFT is the precise use of gestures and touch in the visual field. Synchronized with speech, these multimodality gestures create optimal conditions for attention, learning, retention and recall.

·    Course work is done individually, with four or five, 30-minute homework assignments and a live 75-minute zoom feedback meeting weekly, usually on Friday evening. (which is also recorded for later access, if necessary.)

• The emphasis is on improving the English that learners understand well but do no speak with the same level of success. 

• Learners finish the course being able to speak more rhythmically, more expressively, more precisely and with greater confidence.

• There are several possible story and text types that students can choose to use in their embodied oral readings (EORs):
• General academic English (for high school learners and older)
• General business English (for adults)
• General workplace English
• General seminary/Bible-based English (for students in Christian ministry or training)
• General informal conversation-based English (especially good for parents whose children's English is better than theirs!) 
• General instructional language used in teaching (for non-native English speaking teachers)
• Personalized, story-based English (for those want to improve just for the love of English)
• Course includes:
• Introduction and 8, 1-week lessons which include
• Weekly 30-minute recorded lessons
• Weekly 60-minute follow up, live (or recorded) lesson
• Daily, 20-30 minute homework assignments
• Syllabus
• Week 1 - Introduction
• Week 2 - Rhythm 1
• Week 3 - Fluency 1
• Week 4 - Vowels 1
• Week 5 - Vowels 2
• Week 6 - Consonants (th, w/y,  r/l and f/v)
• Week 7 - Intonation
• Week 8 - Rhythm 2 (Rhythm, linking and pausing) 
• Week 9 - Fluency 2 (Expressiveness and confidence)
• Example Unit:
• Monday, view recorded lesson
• Tuesday, do homework
• Wednesday, do homework
• Thursday, do homework
• Friday, follow up lesson live on Zoom (usually, 18:00 PST)
• Saturday, do homework
• Sunday: TAKE THE DAY OFF!!!
• Homework format:
• Review one part of the video (5 minutes)
• Practice the haptic gesture featured in the weekly lesson (5 minutes)
• Practice the Embodied Oral Reading (EOR) in the course materials (10~15 minutes)
• Record your last practice (about 2 minutes)
• Review your recording (about 2 minutes)
• Find some words or phrases that are not in the lesson to practice the lesson's  haptic gesture with! (5 minutes)
• (Optional) personalized Zoom meetings available for additional fee upon request
• Customized course versions tailored for organizations of almost any size. 
• (Optional) Professional development credit available through Trinity Western University

• Next course: October 9th ~ December 9th. 
• Cost: $350 USD, materials included. 
• To enroll or for more info, contact Bill Acton at wracton@gmail.com

• Further details are available at: www.actonhaptic.com/hft
• Instructors with training in haptic pronunciation teaching are invited to apply to be a collaborating instructor in these HFT courses. (Or offer the course through their school!)

Using gesture and movement to avoid "Pop Outs" in (pronunciation) teaching!

I like this study. One of the biggest obstacles in effective teaching (of anything) are sudden distractions, when what should have "popped in" easily in a lesson . . . doesn't . . . because of what just "popped out or up." Interesting piece of research by Klink et al,  on visual distraction--and a potential strategy for dealing with it, summarized by Neurosciencenews.com, Trained Brains Rapidly Suppress Visual Distractions. Title of the original study, published on PNAS: Inversion of pop-out for a distracting feature dimension in monkey visual cortex, (Ignore that term "monkey" in the original there!)

In essence the "subjects" were trained as followed (from the summary):

"The researchers trained monkeys to play a video game in which they searched for a unique shape among multiple items, while a uniquely colored item tried to distract them. As soon as the monkeys found the unique shape, they made an eye movement to it to indicate their choice. After some training, monkeys became very good at this game and almost never made eye movements to the distractor."

So what is a potential application of that "discovery" in teaching? What visual distractions are your students subject to in the classroom? On a task by task basis, how do you maintain student attention to the focus of the activity? 

For example, in haptic pronunciation teaching, instructor and students do a great deal of repeating words, phrases, sentences and dialogues together (not repeating after) while using speech-synchronized gestures continuously. In this choreographed technique, what we call "movement, tone and touch techniques" (MT3s) it is essential that instructor and student gesturing is constantly synchronized, throughout. You can "SEE" just how disruptive a visual distraction in the room in the visual fields of students could be. 

On the flip side, however, you can also "SEE" how MT3 training, itself--or even typical gesture use in teaching or communication, whether designed or impromptu, can, in principle, serve to enhance general visual attention in the classroom. 

How free of distraction or immune to it is the visual field in your classroom? Can you manage it better, more "movingly?" 

Source: Klink, P., Teeuwen, R., Lorteije, J. and P. Roelfsema. (2023). Inversion of pop-out for a distracting feature dimension in monkey visual cortex. PNAS February 22, 2023  https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2210839120

A "Scanpath" down Memory (for pronunciation) Lane: The Eyes have it!

"Eye catching" new study on the function of eye scanning movements in memory creation and access, Eye-movement replay supports episodic remembering, by Johansson, Nystrom, Dewhurst and Johansson in the recent Proceedings of the Royal Society of Biological Sciences. (Also summarized informally in Neurosciencenews.com). The general concept is that eye movement patterns ("scanpaths") that accompany creation of a memory are virtually the same as those used in recalling features of the memory later. 

From the abstract:

Our findings provide direct evidence that such scanpaths are replayed to assemble and reconstruct spatio-temporal relations as we remember and further suggest that distinct scanpath properties differentially contribute depending on the nature of the goal-relevant memory.

In other words, at some level the eyes, at least in episodic memory creation, as part of the overall visuo-spatial processing system of the brain, move in minute scan patterns of millisecond duration, which are not only accessible in recall of that event/episode, but are integral to it. How that relates to internal "events" inside the brain is not entirely clear, of course, but the research again confirms the correlation between path and event-in-time. As the research literature review in the research report relates, those eye movements and related phenomena have been the object of research and various therapeutic applications for over 70 years. 

And how does this relate to remembering or learning pronunciation? The key idea is what constitutes an "episode" in this context " . . . that the sequential replay of eye movements serves to facilitate pure episodic reconstruction in the absence of visual input." (from the article) According to that model, when a gesture is used, for example, associated with a new sound or perhaps an intonation contour, the two are "stored" together in a sense. Either may, in principle, then prompt recall of the other. If the pair are practiced together, the components of the two, the sound, itself, the kinesthetic "track" of the gesture, the "trail" in the visual field can be further joined and strengthened. 

That is, in effect, the basis of the KINETIK Method, as well having gotten its early inspiration from what is known as Observed Experiential Integration Therapy.  

From about 30 years of experience in working with gesture and sound change, the connection between what we call the "movement, tone and touch technique," the MT3, the complex of sound and gesture (and touch), when mapped onto a sound or word or phrase or clause or passage, is incredibly powerful. At times the eyes are actually tracking a gesture across the visual field; at others, the MT3 is out of direct line of sight, but, as the research reveals the "episode" is still embodied, in part, by one or more eye movements that are associated with it. How to exploit those complexes effectively is the question, of course. To learn more about how that works, go to www.actonhaptic.com/kinetik. 

Source: 
Eye-movement replay supports episodic remembering
Roger Johansson, Marcus Nyström,Richard Dewhurst and
Mikael Johansson
Published:15 June 2022 https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.0964

Proceedings of the Royal Society of Biological Sciences

"Content-Based Haptic Oral Reading: Enhanced Memory for Text and Pronunciation,":

Workshop to be presented at the TESOL Convention, Wednesday, 23 March, 14:00-15:45 US EST in Room 333 at The David L. Lawrence Convention Center. 

Here is the summary and the proposal: 

This workshop presents an innovative technique, the haptic, embodied oral reading, based on use of adjusted or enhanced targeted language present within typical, written course content or a structured “recast” of spontaneous classroom conversation. The procedure, relying on special gestures and touch, is applicable to learners of all proficiency levels.

Abstract:

Oral reading in its various incarnations may be the oldest and still most frequently employed language teaching and literacy development technique, for both learning and testing. For some learners and classroom contexts, reading out loud can be effective; for others, its applicability is limited. Its place in literacy and early reading instruction with children is well established, unequivocal. Although research on the efficacy of oral reading in language instruction with adult skill development is mixed, it is still seen as essential in oral proficiency testing. The “problem” with oral reading, in part, is that, unless done with attention to more than simply reading the text out loud, there is little empirical evidence that much is gained by the exercise.

This workshop focuses on “embodied” oral reading, that is the practice of performing an oral reading of a “regular” course text excerpt or stretch of spontaneous conversation, such that (a) the rhythm and stress grouping/structure is identified prior to the actual oral reading of the text. Next, (b) some feature of the text, such as intonation or a problematic consonant is briefly “adjusted” or modified. And (c) finally that stretch of speech (typically between 10 and 50 words) is read out loud, synchronized with some type of fluency-oriented gesture, such touching hands on the stressed words in the rhythm groups, creating a more memorable, fluent and semantically anchored experience for the learner, encouraging integration of the adjusted content material.

KINETIK (Haptic Pronunciation Teaching) Method Certification Course

 Three ways to take the course!

1. (FREE) Attend the weekly Haptic(web)inars, Tuesdays at 6 p.m. PST. Learn one technique per week. Tomorrow is Week 2. The technique this week is the "TaiChi - Finger-flow-fluency,," a great procedure for encouraging overall fluency and integrating new or changed sounds into spontaneous speaking. To join, go to www.actonhaptic.com and sign up! 

2. Attend the webinars and also get the student training videos and teaching handouts. (at very minimal cost!) 

3. Take the Certification Course (available beginning August 1st!) Here are the details:

KINƐTIK METHOD™applies the basic Movement, Tone and Touch Techniques (MT3 - gesture plus touch routines) of HaPT to enhancing learning and memory for any class content and language, not just specifically pronunciation. It also promotes general intelligibility, using more pronunciation-oriented techniques. The haptic gestures serve to “complement” instruction in all skill areas, speaking, listening, reading, writing, vocabulary, grammar . . . and even pronunciation!

The course contains four modules, three lessons each. (Each lesson takes about a week to complete)

• Module 1

• Lesson One - Syllable Butterfly and rhythm

• Lesson Two - Finger-flow Fluency

• Lesson Three – Haptic phonetics: th/th, f/v, p/b, y, w, consonant clusters

• Module 2

• Lesson One - Single vowels, word stress, and word-final consonants

• Lesson Two - Double vowels and phrasal and sentence stress.

• Lesson Three – Haptic phonetics: n/ng, l, r, s/z/sh/zh, tsh/dzh

• Module 3

• Lesson One - Basic intonation

• Lesson Two - Advanced intonation

• Lesson Three - Baton integration and linking

• Module 4

• Lesson One - Advanced rhythm and fluency

• Lesson Two - Tense, unstressed vowels and secondary stress,

• Lesson Three – KINƐTIC review, advanced integration, and Certification test

The structure of a typical lesson is something like this:

(A) Attend the weekly Hapticanar on that lesson or do the video of it. (About 30 minutes),

(B) Do the training video for that lesson, the same one you would use to train you students (5-10 minutes, but you might want to do it two or three times),

(C) You identify a short section of a text of some kind from your current course content or a previous course, and figure out how you could use the MT3 of that leson with in a short embodied oral reading, usually about 25-50 words.

(D) At the end of the week, you meet for an hour or so with 3 or 4 other instructors like yourself, hopefully who are teaching the same type of students, and ME (or another experienced Haptician) to go over the Embodied Oral Readings that the four of you have come up with.

After Module 4, you take a REALLY easy little certification test where you create a video showing that you can do some of the MT3s and write up a couple of pages telling me how you would sell your KINETIK MT3s to your students, your colleagues and your boss!

The cost will vary, depending on how many students there are in a course. If there are 6 students, the cost will be about $300 per student. (There are a maximum of 6 students per course,) If there are 2 students, the cost will be $800 per student. Special programs are available for schools and larger groups.

For more information, contact info@actonhaptic.com.

The course will be rolled out in Auguet 1, 2021. It will be featured and discussed in Acton Haptic Community on Locals.com. Stay tuned here for more information as it is released!

Haptic Webinar #2: How can a little "TaiChi" enhance uptake and speaking fluency?

Come to the next Haptic(web)inar and find out! To get there, go to the website and register. While you are there, check out videos of the Introduction to KINETIK Method and Webinar #1: The Syllable Butterfly technique!  (And, of course, Keep in Touch!

Where does really great pronunciation teaching begin? "GrammaRhythm-ing!"

Note: This is definitely NOT your "grandma's way" of teaching pronunciation or grammar!

Classroom work using the KINETIK Method of Haptic Pronunciation Teaching always begins with a  grammar and rhythm process, what we call "GrammaRhythm-ing."

1. Breaking up a written text / of some kind / into rhythm groups / of up to seven syllables, / based primarily on grammatical structure./ In other words, /you pause at places / where one grammar structure begins / and another leaves off. 
1. You also identify / what is probably the syllable / in the word with the strongest energy / or stress, usually the one off to the right. 
2. Reading the text together, once through, with hands touching in some way on each stressed syllable--to get the rhythm of the text.

THEN: You work on something in there using gesture and touch, maybe some vowels or consonants, intonation, expressiveness, or maybe just so that the text is remembered better. 

FINALLY: Use a different fluency and integration-oriented gesture as you read the passage together one last time to help encourage uptake of the haptic work. 

To get a good idea of how this done, join us at Hapticanar #1, Tuesday, June 15th at 6 p.m. (PST). Click HERE to reserve a spot for that!  

In case you missed the Introductory Hapticanar this week, check HERE or earlier the Haptic Story Promo, check HERE.

Greatest Hapticanar Ever! Tomorrow!

 Well . . . first one, actually! Just a little over 24 hours before the  Introductory free Hapticanar. No need to register in advance for this one, just go to the Acton Haptic website, and click the button! You can also view the new KINETIC Method video while you are there. 

The weekly free Hapticanars (Haptic Webinar) go live every Tuesday at 6 p.m. (PST). 

The format of the Hapticanar is generally:

• 6-6:30 - Training workshop on one or two haptic pronunciation teaching techniques
• 6:30 - Q&A until 7 or when we are done, whichever comes first!

If you can't make it, email me at wracton@gmail.com and I'll put you on the list to have access to the recording later this week. 

Haptic: The future of Pronunciation Teaching (and technology!)

Nice piece on some of the areas of new development in virtual and augmented reality using haptic technology, Touching the air may be possible with new research on haptics, by Verris at Youris.com. From the beginnings of our work in haptic pronunciation teaching, the obvious "embodiment" of the gesturing and TOUCHING hands at multiple points across the visual field connected to sounds and sound processes would one day be in virtual/augmented reality. To get a glimpse of the haptic "future" of pronunciation teaching, join us at our first FREE weekly Haptic Pronunciation Teaching Webinar, this coming Tuesday, June 8th at 6 p.m. (PST). For details and to sign up, got to the Acton Haptic website until June 6th!

Source: 

https://www.youris.com/society/future-tech/touching-the-air-may-be-possible-with-new-research-on-haptics.kl

KINETIK Method Roll Out Video and What's Next!

Go to the Roll Out Video

The development of the KINETIK Method was inspired by classroom teachers who not only had little or no background in pronunciation teaching but also were given no space for it in their lessons and, in many cases, had been “ordered” not to waste time on it. Given the generally disembodied and “out of context” nature of much of what passes for pronunciation work in integrated textbooks today and advice from leading methodologists on how to “work in” pronunciation or just teach it in a class by itself, it can be difficult to justify carving out time and resources for it.

 

The KINETIK innovation: Aspects of what is traditionally thought of as pronunciation, when “delivered” by the body, primarily with gesture and touch, actually become more immediately valuable and relevant to the learner by:

• · Greatly enhancing memory for the text as it is spoken
• · Allowing a broader range of expressiveness to be attended to
• · Providing greater attention, or emphasis to places of interest in the text
• · Improving clarity—what is normally thought of as the role of pronunciation

Of course, in reality all those, and more, are the “job” of the sound system of the language, especially rhythm, stress and intonation.

KINETIK employs the “Movement, Tone and Touch Techniques” (MT3s) developed by Haptic Pronunciation Teaching, in working with any and all texts, stories, narratives, dialogues, word lists, instructions (and even drills!) Any time or place one of those functions is needed during a lesson or homework, the KINETIK Method consistently . . . delivers, through use of a variety of “Embodied Oral Reading” frameworks. The MT3s serve as a “handy,” integrated “complement” to your lesson content.

After watching the four-part video, I hope you’ll not only join us at the weekly “Hapticanar” (Sign up on the Actonhaptic.com mailing list to be updated on that.), but also become part of the Acton Haptic Community on Locals (Actonhaptic@locals.com), even if you are not teaching in the classroom now. Membership is free but supporters get all kinds of goodies, and our eternal gratitude!

Please do pass on the word, forward this email on to friends and colleagues. Invitations for the June 8th Hapticanar will be sent shortly!

And above all, just KEEP in TOUCH!

 
Bill

KINETIK Method Roll Out Day: The Course, of course!

 The Roll Out Video will be "out" later today. You can engage with it here and on other social media, of course! I'll be on Locals.com (actonhaptic@locals.com) for my follow up for the  most  part. The bottom line of the previous post, and the "bottom line" of the KINETIK Method is the Certificate course (of course!) Just to give you an idea of what the content of this content-based teaching certificate course is about, here is a sketch of the curriculum: Module One (Basic Rhythm, Basic Fluency, and some basic consonants; Module Two (Single vowels, double vowels and some basic consonants; Module three (Basic intonation, Advanced intonation, Basic integration, and linking); Module Four (Advanced rhythm and fluency, Secondary and unstressed vowels, Advanced/spontaneous integration) The course ends with brief review and certification test modules. Each module takes three weeks or so. (See the previous post for more details.) Classes begin whenever 3-5 students sign up who can meet together weekly for an hour on Zoom! Bring along 2 or 3 friends from work and you are ready to roll!

Today's post from Locals.com (actonhaptic@locals.com) is also listed here on the Roll Out blog page, along with the previous 22 posts! Here are links to the recent blogpost with details on the method, and more on the Acton Haptic Community on the new, upgraded actonhaptic.com website.

Penultimate KINETIK Method Roll Out Day 22: Your KINETIK TBD List!

 The KINETIK Method Roll Out video will be out tomorrow! (Tomorrow's blog post will include all details on the video.) Here's your Haptic TBD list:

1. Watch and share the Introductory Video with your network!

2. Go to actonhaptic.com and get on our mailing list. (We'll automatically send you invitations for the weekly Hapticanars.) While you are there, check out all the information there on KINETIK and the Acton Haptic Community.

3. Join us every Tuesday at 5 p.m., beginning June 8th, for Dr Bill's Weekly Haptic Technique Hapticanars (30 minute workshop and 20 minute Q&A) on Webinarjam.com. 

4. Sign up for the Acton Haptic Community at actonhaptic@locals.com. Signing up is free but if you become a supporter for $5 monthly or more, in addition to being able to be involved in the conversation there you get:

• Downloads of Hapticanars
• Downloads of 5-minute student training videos for each lesson
• Downloads of special features, including interviews with experienced "Hapticians"

5. Sign up for the 3-month, KINETIK Method Teacher Certification Course. (For details, go to the website, www. actonhaptic.com.) 

6. Keep in touch!

Bill

Today's post from Locals.com (actonhaptic@locals.com) is also listed here on the Roll Out blog page, along with the previous 21 posts! Here are links to the recent blogpost with details on the method, and more on the Acton Haptic Community on the new, upgraded actonhaptic.com website.