Bill Acton's Embodiment Blog: PCI

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Thursday, February 14, 2013

"Haptic" pronunciation TESOL 2013 pre-convention institute is ON!

Clip art:

Clker

Great news! TESOL is going to allow us to offer the full-day workshop on March 19th before the convention. Early enrolment is still low but I'm confident that it will be fully "embodied" by the time of the convention. Continue to spread the word, please. Cost of full-day PCIs at TESOL is "only" $205; convention cost is around $400 now. (And they wonder why attendance is not growing?) Will propose a similar, less expensive format to the PCI in a number of venues in the coming year, once the entire AH-EPS system is publicly available online.

If you want to host one at your school or in your neighbourhood, let us know. Keep in touch.

Monday, February 4, 2013

TESOL 2013 Haptic Pronunciation PCI

Just heard from TESOL that as of today there aren't enough registered for the Haptic Pronunciation PCI in Dallas to offer it. Registration closes at the end of the week. We had heard last week from one of our grads that it was closed due to enrolment and let everybody know. Not so, apparently!!! If you had planned on signing up or know somebody who might, pass on the word! This is one party that we don't want to miss! If it is cancelled, will try to figure some kind of alternative venue for at least a meeting.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

HICP/Essential Haptic-integrated English Pronunciation (Hiccuping Ape!) system availability!

Have had many inquiries as to when the HICP-EHIEP ("Hiccuping Ape!") system (videos, I-manual, S-workbook and "webcamsultations") will be available, in what form--and what it will cost! The short answer is: as soon as possible, but by March, 2013, in time for the TESOL convention in Dallas. I will post updates here as to specifics as we get the pieces ready to roll out. The "stuff" included and approximate pricing will be as follows:

A. EHIEP Haptic Video System (EHVS)
*9 basic, 30-minute modules, each containing 4 video teaching clips (demonstration, training, practice and classroom protocol version) along with a video scaffolding/review of the practice versions of all previous protocols. A module takes about one week to complete.
*15, 5-10-minute consonant repair modules (th/th, s/sh/z/zh, r/l, w/y, f/v, word-final voiced consonants, etc.) These modules are used as needed.

B. Instructors' manual - Program overview and detailed instructions for introducing the system and using it in the classroom.

C. Student workbook (Probably available through Functionall Books) - Graphic illustrations of the pedagogical movement patterns of each protocol, reference charts, word lists, self-assessment checklist and worksheets for homework assignments for the protocols. (There are a minimum of 3 homework assignments for each protocol, done every-other-day, along with audio recordings for additional practice.)

D. Webcamsultations (Typically, one for each protocol, but more are available, depending on the technology of the school or institution, including,"Teach this protocol to the class for me today - LIVE!")

Current price estimates:

Streamed HICP-EHIEP videos and/or DVD set with Instructors' Manual ~$800 (CAD)

Student workbooks ~$15 (available online)
Student practice videos and audios ~ $40

Webcamsultations: from ~$50 per half-hour
*Participants in the Pre-conference Haptic Pronunciation Institute at TESOL 2013 receive DVD of EVHS

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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.)