"Fast and furious" pronunciation learning

Clip art: Clker

The Web is filled with sites claiming to have products that accelerate learning of the pronunciation of English. Almost without exception (I haven't reviewed all of them!) they probably work--as long as you are not concerned with developing general ability to communicate intelligibly. In fact, many of them, such as this one, probably serve to even further disconnect pronunciation from spontaneous speech, by relying so heavily on visual engagement. (We have seen in earlier posts the potential impact of that visual bias.)

Although for other reasons, I sort of like the "Eye-speak" name of the program, in the sense that is not far off in concept from any attempt to teach pronunciation as cute little vignettes inserted throughout the curriculum or course without systematic follow up using the skills introduced in  succeeding classes where speaking or listening is involved.

I am beginning to believe that a great deal of what passes for good pronunciation instruction, done for the most part in isolation from basic course content--even with the typical proviso that the students go practice on their own with no further guidance--actually works against acquisition of intelligible speech by either partitioning it off (very successfully) or having little or no impact in the first place. Actually, with a little haptic tweaking, that just might work: int-EYE-gration. What a concept!

What we can learn from (at least) one model of Hypnosis

Credit: The Milton Erickson
Foundation

One of the most important influences on my understanding of how language works, especially the use of voice in therapeutic change and clinical process, was Milton Erickson, considered by many to be the founder of modern hypnotherapy. To quote from the website, "In Ericksonian hypnosis, language is used to direct the attention inwards on a search for meaning or to verify what is being said." Whereas many therapies make extensive use of the visual field with movement or "gadgets,"

Erickson was a paraplegic, who was also apparently somewhat dyslexic, color blind and tone deaf-- and had only one tool to work with: his voice! A book of his collected therapeutic stories, My Voice will go with You, remains a favorite. Note the focus of Erickson's work: (a) direct attention inward . . . and (b) verify what was said. In effect, it is focusing with extraordinary attention on the felt (auditory, kinaesthetic and resonant) sense of a word, phrase or experience.

As earlier posts have explored, the interplay between external visual stimuli and "internal" haptic and auditory is critical to effective anchoring, especially in moderating the effects of both internal and external visual distraction and (often) persistent mispronunciations tied to orthography. In pronunciation teaching (and especially HICP), systematic control of both instructor and student voice quality and expressiveness is key to sound learning. But, as Erickson might have suggested, I need not bother trying to convince you of that . . . you feel (and speak) that way already . . .