Love it or leave it: 2nd language body, voice, pronunciation and identity

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Recall (if you can) the first time you were required to listen to or maybe analyze a recording of your voice. Surprising? Pleasing? Disgusting? Depressing? There are various estimates as to how much of your awareness of your voice is based on what it "feels" like to you, not your ears, but somewhere around 80% or so. Turns out your awareness of what your body looks like is similar.

A new study by Neyret, Bellido Rivas, Navarro and Slater, of the Experimental Virtual Environments (EVENT) Lab, University of Barcelona,  “Which Body Would You Like to Have? The Impact of Embodied Perspective on Body Perception and Body Evaluation in Immersive Virtual Reality” as summarized by Neuroscience News, found that our simple gut feelings about how (un)attractive our body shape or image is is generally more negative  than if we are able to view it more dispassionately or objectively "from a distance," as it were. Surprise. Using virtual reality technology subjects were presented with different body types and sizes, among them one that is precisely, to the external observer what the subject's body shape is. Subjects rated their "virtual body" shape more favorably than their earlier pre-experiment self-ratings presented in something analogous to a questionnaire format.

In psychotherapy, the basic principle of "distancing" from emotional grounding is fundamental; all sorts of ways to accomplish that such as visualizing yourself watching yourself doing something disconcerting or threatening to you. It is the "step back" metaphor that the brain takes very seriously if done right.

In this case, when visualizing the shape of your body (or your voice, by extension as part of the body,) you'll see it at least a little more favorably than when you describe it based on how it "feels" internally, the reason "body shaming" can work so effectively in some cases, or in pronunciation work, "accent shaming."

So, how can we use the insights from the research? First, systematic work by learners in critically listening to their voice should pay off, at least in some sense of resignation or even "like" so that the ear is not automatically tuned to react or aver.  (I'm sure there is research on that someplace but, for the life of me, I can't find it! Please help out with a good reference, if you can on that!) Is this some long overdue partial vindication of the seemingly interminable hours spent in the language lab? Could be in some cases.

Second, once a learner is able to "view" their L2 voice/identity relative to some ideal more dispassionately, it should be easier to work with it and make accommodations. That is one of the central assumptions of the "Lessac method" of voice development, which I have been relying on for over 30 years. It also calls into question the idea that aiming toward an ideal, native speaker accent is necessarily a mistake. You have to "see" yourself relative to it as more of an outsider, not  just from your solar plexus out . . . through your flabby abs, et al. . . .  My approach to accent reduction always begins there, before we get to changing anything. Call it: voice and body "re-sensitization."

See what I mean? If not, have somebody you don't know read this post to you again at Starbucks . . .

Original Source:
“Which Body Would You Like to Have? The Impact of Embodied Perspective on Body Perception and Body Evaluation in Immersive Virtual Reality”. Solène Neyret, Anna I. Bellido Rivas, Xavi Navarro and Mel Slater. Frontiers in Robotics and AI doi:10.3389/frobt.2020.00031.

Affluent pronunciation: not so fast!

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Will improving your accent or pronunciation enhance your chances of making more money later? That is a study that has not been done to my knowledge. but just ask anybody other than a prominent pronunciation researcher or methodologist (or one of their students) and the answer is a resounding: Well, of course! I did just that, in fact, an informal poll around the building last week: Yes (22) No (0).

The distinction between "accent" and "pronunciation" instruction is important in the field today. It is essentially this: The goal of pronunciation instruction should be intelligible speech; the speaker is understandable without unduly taxing the ear of the listener. Accent reduction, on the other hand, appears to go beyond this "intelligibility threshold" aiming at more and more native-like pronunciation. There may be any number of reasons to "go near there," of course, including working at an international call center, managerial or executive positions where public speaking persona may still require a certain degree of conformity, such as consular representatives--or, of course, secret agent types!

So, how fast can a learner's accent or pronunciation change and get to a goal or model?

Purely anecdotal evidence from about 40 years of working with accent, suggests that for most students it is a relatively long and incremental process--if attempted at all. There are those of amazing natural ability who almost chameleon-like appear to absorb the second language in all its multifaceted dimensions, accent being just part of the picture, of course. In truth, however, most of those who approach a native-like accent work at it, often for years--or longer. If it is worth doing, for only some, mind you, how do you get there?

One way, of course, could be to go to SpeakMoreClearly and help them become more affluent in getting you there quickly. Or . . . you might, however, want to consider this new research by Hampton, Asadi and Olson at Temple University, Good Things for Those Who Wait: Predictive Modeling Highlights Importance of Delay Discounting for Income Attainment." (Summarized by ScienceDaily.com.)

What their research demonstrated was some validation of the old saw, Good things come to those that wait! In essence, children who were trained to postpone the natural drive for more instant gratification (had more self control), later in life made significantly more money. From the ScienceDaily summary:

"Unsurprisingly, the models indicated that occupation and education were the best predictors of high income, followed by location (as determined by zip code) and gender -- with males earning more than females. Delay discounting was the next most-important factor, being more predictive than age, race, ethnicity or height."

So how does that work for predicting success at obtaining great pronunciation or accent?

(occupation and education) -- (zip code and gender) -- delay discounting. i.e., self control/delayed gratification -- (age, race, ethnicity or height)

That actually might work, as long as you flip the gender (from male in the affluence study to female!) and begin the study at age 12 or so. That would be particularly the case if you factor in DD.  

When it comes to training the body in the gym, the DD principle is a given. Self control and persistence is the only way to get to excellence--and stay there. And what that entails is adopting a commitment to the process, over time, not some abstract goal in the future. In most respects, quick fixes are only temporary, at best. For a great perspective on that, check with my favorite source on such topics, James Clear, here or here!

So, what is your best plan to achieve "a fluent" accent or pronunciation?

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DD-based practice over time (done as embodied and
haptically as possible, of course!) . . . and you can take that to the bank!

Killing pronunciation 3: Grit

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To the "gritty" student, there can be nothing more frustrating than pointless, unproductive pronunciation homework--or even worse, none at all.

If you are a follower of this blog, you know I am a big fan of James Clear. If you need to change something--most anything--and you still don't need a coach or therapist to help get you there, his website is worth a visit. His latest post on "building mental toughness" linked to an earlier piece: Grit: a complete guide on being mentally tough. (Embedded in that post is a TED talk by Duckworth, on "grit" which you should also watch if you haven't already.)

Grit is defined in a number of ways but, basically, it means having the strength of character to persevere to ones goals. 

Grit is a key variable in success in pronunciation, I'm sure, although I have been unable to find a good study to verify that. My own experience with accent reduction clients is that to fix their accent  they need just two thing: grit and money (and time, of course.)

Where that especially comes into play is in homework--my current area of research in preparation for a panel at the 2017 TESOL Convention later this month. If you have a student who has real grit, in terms of pronunciation homework, can you provide him or her with sufficient direction as to what to work on and practice outside of class? I have been asking that question repeatedly of late and the overwhelming response from instructors is . . . No!

In fact some instructors have replied that monitored and required practice outside of class, such as drill and repetition and oral reading is probably not worth the effort. And even if it is, "how am I to know whether it was done well or productively?"

There you have it. One of Clear's key principles, based on current research, is that in developing grit the learner must NOT rely on motivation but on habit, on discipline. But for a student to do that, there must be clear guidance and assignments.

How do your homework assignments and guidance to your students on how to improve their pronunciation stack up with that criteria? Probably not all that well, right? This is big, actually. We are just coming out of a period where focus on motivation and meta-cognition (thought and planning about pronunciation change) have been enormously influential.

One of Clear's other principles in developing it is to: Build grit with small physical wins. There are any number of ways to do that, of course, but it takes a consistent, coherent method at least. In pronunciation work, that is or should be a "gimme!"

EHIEP is based on the idea that embodied (gesture-based) homework/practice is key. The success of the system relies on establishing cognitive schema (haptic cognition) such that subsequent in class or incidental learning or correction of pronunciation will happen efficiently, as the learn relates back to the model or rule learned earlier. (That is one of the most important findings in research on incidental correction in class of pronunciation.) In general, homework is carefully prescribed to help create such schema and students need to "homework" at least 3 times a week for 30 minutes to facilitate that, preferably every day.

It takes "true grit" to do that -- and manage it. If that is not part of your current method and "growth mindset" (Dweck, 2016), "Clear" up your current pedagogical habits and grit back to us!

You CAN teach old dogs new pronunciation!!!

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Can't resist this one . . . New study by Wallis, Virányi, Müller, Serisier, Huber, and Range, University of Vienna, on how age effects learning in (pet) dogs, border collies, to be precise. What they found, according to the ScienceDaily summary,  was that with older dogs:

• they learn more slowly and exhibit lower cognitive flexibility
• their logical reasoning improves with age
• their long-term memory for touchscreen stimuli (emphasis, mine) is not affected by age

Now the research was looking at memory and using touch screen technology as the media. Turns out, in part what they may have actually "discovered" is the effect of touch on old dog memory. The report of the study does not mention that possible "confounding" variable or other studies using different media. Really . . .

For the last 40 years of so one of my main interests has been the fossilized pronunciation of "old dogs", always trying to figure out how to undo seemingly intractable errors in pronunciation. That led me to gesture and then a decade ago to touch and embodiment theory. One of the most consistent "findings" of my (haptic-integrated) clinical work has been that for the fossilized, at least, gesture + touch is a remarkably effective antidote. In other words, "more mature" learners can change and remember new pronunciation (in English, for the most part) if you anchor it with . .. (ready?) TOUCH! Like the touch screen in the "old dogs" research.

That model has been extended to all learners with v1.0, v2.0, v3.0 and (soon) v4.0 of the EHIEP approach (Essential Haptic-integrated English Pronunciation). For puppies and younger dogs there are, of course, all kinds of possibly effective ways to change pronunciation. But, at least if you are working with "older dogs" the haptic approach is . . . well . . . logical!

We don't use a touch screen yet, but we could, of course. We, instead, use hands touching each other or other strategic body locations, e.g., shoulders, bachio radiali, on stressed syllables. This new research gives hope to the fossilized and those still seriously out of touch . . .

Wallis, L., Virányi, Z., Müller, C., Serisier, S., Huber, L., and F. Range. Aging effects on discrimination learning, logical reasoning and memory in pet dogs. AGE, 2016; 38 (1).

20 contexts for haptic pronunciation teaching

I am often asked in what contexts or classrooms haptic pronunciation teaching works. Assuming enthusiastic, full-body buy-in by the instructor and student, here is a new list of contexts and

Credit: Anna Shaw

classrooms where features of the AHEPS - haptic pronunciation system are being or have been used so far.

Keep in touch!

(info@actonhaptic.com)

Workshop on stressing and de-stressing unstressed vowels: the haptic “thumb-flick” technique

On the 22nd of November at the local BCTEAL regional conference, I'll be doing a new haptic workshop on unstressed vowels, with Aihua Liu of Harbin Institute of Technology and Jean Jeon, a graduate student her at Trinity Western University. You can see an introduction to the technique here.

Summary:

Clip art:
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This participatory, experiential session presents a haptic (gesture + touch) procedure for helping learners produce and better “hear” unstressed vowels in English. In essence, as words are articulated, learners touch hands at specific points in the visual field on stressed vowels and “flick their thumbs” on the unstressed vowels.

Proposal:

Working with unstressed vowels in English is often neglected. The problem is often “solved” by avoiding the issue entirely or by emphasizing suprasegmentals (rhythm, stress and intonation) which, research suggests, do indeed help to determine the prominence of unstressed syllables to some extent. In addition, there may be some limited, indirect attention to unstressed vowels in oral practice of reduced forms, especially in fixed phrases (e.g., “salt ‘n pepper) and idioms.

Research has recently demonstrated that disproportionate attention to suprasegmentals (rhythm, stress and intonation) without a balanced, production-oriented treatment of key segmentals (vowels and consonants) may be very counter-productive, undermining intelligibility substantially. That is especially the case with learners whose L1 is Vietnamese, for example.

This technique helps to address that issue by facilitating more appropriate, controlled focus on the vowel quality in unstressed syllables.  It involves the use of two types of pedagogical gestures, one that adds additional attention to the stressed vowel of the word and a second that helps learners to better approximate the target sound and maintain the basic syllabic structure of the word.

The session is experiential and highly participatory. Participants are provided materials and links to Youtube.com videos demonstrating the technique.

NEW! Put some "PIP!" in your Pronunciation! (AH-EPS, one-on-one, Pronunciation Improvement Program!)

New! Acton Haptic Individual (1x1), online Pronunciation Improvement Program (AH-PIP)

In this program (AH-PIP) you do a module in AH-EPS with workbook and DVDs or on Vimeo.com, and then can connect up with an AH-EPS instructor to review what you have done and discuss what to do next. (Followed up by an email report on the consultation within 24 hours.)

We recommend doing an optional 30-minute SKYPE consultation after each module, at least at the beginning of the program.

Course package ($129 CAD, plus shipping) includes: 

(1)  A set of Teacher DVDs, plus one download of the Instructor's Guide.

(2)  A set of Student DVDs, plus one download of the Student Workbook. (You do need a hard copy of the workbook to do the course.) A hardcopy of the workbook is also available for $20 plus shipping: https://www.getonic.com/Popshop/130062/7535

(3)  One Initial, introductory 30-minute SKYPE consultation to evaluate your pronunciation work and explain the program.  

(4) The first, 30-minute SKYPE consultation (To be done after Module #1 work is completed.) 

One module takes about a week to complete, 1.5~2 hours. It is best to do one module per week, followed by an optional consultation, but do at least one module every two weeks.  SKYPE consultations are an additional $25 each. Total cost for the program, doing consultations after every module is $350, plus shipping. 

Also available is the AH-EPS Accent Reduction program for nonnative English speaking professionals and instructors.
For more information, email: info@actonhaptic.com

(AH-EPS) Instructor Accent Enhancement Course!

Have just finished work on a new course for nonnative English-speaking instructors--or native English speaking instructors who would like to add a more "standard" (North American) dialect to their speaking repertoire. It focuses on accent, rather than general pronunciation or intelligibility. It involves the following:

ACTONHAPTIC
                                             

• Done individually; requires SKYPE or similar video chat technology
• 10 modules; 4, 30-45 minute assignments per module 
• 10, 30-minute post-module SKYPE sessions (5 with Bill Acton; 5 with one of his colleagues)
• Includes all materials (both books and DVD sets)
• Initial screening questionnaire submission and 5-minute narrative video speech sample required. 
• You can begin at any time, and, with approval, may take one break in the course of up to 3 weeks.
• Once the course commences, however, its effectiveness depends critically upon consistent regular practice. (Just like you demand of your students!) 

The main differences between this course and one we use with non-instructional professionals are that
(a) Assignments from the Instructors Guide are included with each module.
(b) More attention is paid to vowel quality, secondary and unstressed syllables, word-level segmentals, and personal, professional word list development.
(c) Completion of minimum of 3 (of 4) assignments per module is required before the post-module SKYPE video consultation. (In the professional version, only one assignment is required.)

Cost: $960 CAD. Interested?  Email us (info@actonhaptic.com) for further information. Enrolment is limited to 10 at any one time. 

The pitch for teaching prosody first

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There are numerous examples of methods where either intonation is taught first in pronunciation work or shortly thereafter using techniques such as "reverse accent mimicry" or computer assisted verbal tracking or imitating actors without attending to the meanings of words. Anecdotally, they all seem to work. From a research perspective, intonation or pitch change has been employed extensively in exploring neuroplasticity, the ability of the brain "learn" and adapt. For most learners, mimicking simple pitch contours in English is not that difficult. If you examine student course books, what you find is that they all include pitch contour work but where it occurs and how much is done seems completely random.

A new study by Sober and Brainard of UCSF (summarized by Science Daily) of how song birds correct their singing draws an interesting conclusion: they fix the little mistakes and ignore the big ones. The Bengalese finches provide us with an intriguing clue as to how to organize L2 pronunciation work as well: begin with the easy stuff--not the messy articulatory problems or complex phoneme contrasts or conflicts. The arguments for establishing prosody (intonation, rhythm and stress) first are compelling at one level (theoretically) but from the perspective of measuring tangible progress, it is still difficult at best to demonstrate what has been learned, given the tools we have available today.

Children clearly learn prosody first. (In the EHIEP system intonation is now in module four but I am considering introducing it earlier, in part based on this research.) Practically speaking, doing early prosody work is relatively straightforward and not costly. You can do it for a song, in fact.  

Pronunciation literacy

Clipart: Clker

To learn the pronunciation of a language, what do you need? Basic literacy? Phonetics? A reason? A context for use? A model? A dictionary? I have always assumed that the answer will largely depend upon the learner population and necessity for varying degrees of intelligibility and accuracy demanded by the surrounding culture. (The EHIEP system, for example, is designed to be relatively context-free, that is just as applicable for pre-literate work as it is for "high end" accent reduction.) That is until I stumbled upon the "amazing claims" made in the linked video for the "DD-CODE-English." (For some reason in over 4 years out there it has only been viewed less than 5,000 times.) It is promos like that one that make you realize just how little you have accomplished in about 40 years in the field--and how much there remains to be done . . . 

Eliminating the "FATuous" from pronunciation teaching: the Jenny Craig approach

Good behavior change and integration systems all share certain basic features. If you have ever been on a serious diet, you know that most are simply useless. (New research seems to suggest that many actually make matters much worse in the long term.) Once you slip off the formula, you are "cooked." The systems that do "work" are those that effectively integrate lifestyle changes that persist once you are off "life support."

The Jenny Craig method, one of the oldest and most successful, has a well-tested "theory" or model. Its basic principles:
(1) Sensitizing the client to portion size--what amounts feel like in the hands,
(2) Establishing physical exercise regimen,
(3) Training in time (and priorities) management, scheduling in essentials,
(4) Providing (virtually) all food to the client initially--both taking away the "problem" of selecting/thinking about what to eat, and modelling effective nutritional meals and snacks, and
(5) Gradually establishing a new "thin" identity that embodies and integrates 1-3 as "permanently" as possible.

See the nice parallel there to EHIEP work--or any effective language instruction program? Pronunciation teaching advice in methods texts typically assumes that the "sweet, addictive, engaging, enlightening, and mind-blowing" classroom experience is where it is at. Not so. Simply the expectations created without clear strategies for accomplishing them run the gamut from frustrating to "FATuous," to put it mildly. For most--given the limited amount of time now recommended for pronunciation instruction, unless you have trained students in better managing their pronunciation work outside of the classroom, the chances of efficient integration happening are often "slim to none . .. "  

Giving online pronunciation teaching a good "promo!"

Have been trying to figure out how to promote HICP work lately. Recently checked out the "competition" online. Here are a few of my favorites:

Clip art: Clker

A. Wow! How do they do that?  "WE WILL FIX YOUR ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION PROBLEMS PERMANENTLY IN MINUTES! Our approach is Simple, Easy, Painless and Fun!"

B. Have yet to figure out how to make this easy, but some have: "Do You Want to Speak with Confidence, Clarity & Conviction? 
It’s easy with Ms X,  International Executive Voice and Accent Reduction Coach!"

C. Have never succeeded in totally extinguishing an accent, but apparently some do regularly: "Enhance your chances of success in the working world as well as in social situations by reducing your accent or getting rid of your accent completely."

D. HICP works for all languages, of course, but 24 sounds even more impressive! "Our newest product, "XYZ," provides content suitable for individuals learning American English pronunciation from more than 24 first languages!"

E. Wish we had done enough research to be able to make this claim! "ABC is the powerful, proven system that will help you lose your foreign accent in weeks — not months or years. Practice 30 minutes a day for 4 weeks and greatly improve your pronunciation."

F. When you read stuff like this, you realize just how little you have accomplished in 40 years of work in this field: "DEF offers the most comprehensive accent reduction programs on the market today! Based on results from an in-depth speech assessment and your goals, we will develop a customized program that meets your specific needs and goals. Learn everything you need to be a confident, effective speaker!"

Apparently no need to stick too close to data or the body of research and practice in the field, but we clearly have some work to do in getting out the word on HICP teaching.

Future pronunciation: Hands-free "optic" anchoring (with eye tracking)

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Ever since seeing the Clint Eastwood 1982 film, Firefox, I have been intrigued with the idea of using eye tracking for teaching pronunciation. In the film, Eastwood flies a stolen, high tech Russian fighter--controlled by his eyes and a few spoken Russian commands-- back to the US. As noted in the right column, the work of Bradshaw and Cook in developing "Observed Experiential Integration,", which involves extensive, therapeutic use of eye tracking, was fundamental to much of the early development of the HICP/EHIEP framework. Here is, basically, a marketing piece for a company that has developed (from my perspective) an amazing range of eye tracking-based software applications. As I read the product list, it would take only two or three applications to allow a learner to do almost all of the protocols or procedures that we have developed, hands free.

In fact, the "optic anchoring" created simply by tracking the eyes across the visual field in roughly the same patterns that we do with arms and hands would be at least as effective, if not more so. Although we do use some eye tracking techniques in working with accent reduction, in general EHIEP work, no explicit eye tracking is used, in part because of the inherent potency of eye tracking procedures and the absolute necessity of being formally trained in working with it. This technology is certainly worth "taking a look at" now. It is clearly integral to the future of virtual reality-based language instruction.

New Accent Reduction Seminar for International Professionals (ARSIP) format

ARSIPTM Accent Reduction Seminar for International Professionals, offered by AMPISys. Inc.  The provocative (but factually accurate) tag line is: "Dramatically improve your English accent in just 24 hours!"

A new format has been developed: 12 weeks of systematic individualized work, done 30 minutes a day, four times a week. The four weekly self-directed practice sessions involve the basic 9 EHIEP protocols, a model conversation, target-sound practice and professional word list protocols. There are optional feedback mechanisms available also, such as webcam consultations, audio recording evaluations and creation of workplace specific conversations and word listings-- the basic cost, about $400.

 If you are interested, keep in touch. Final announcement as to availability will be announced in conjunction with the 2013 TESOL Convention in Dallas in late March.