We have met the enemy (of pronunciation teaching in TESOL), and he is us!

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Am often reminded of that great quip in the political cartoon Pogo, by Walt Kelly, embellished in the title of this post. In workshops we often encounter the following three misconceptions about pronunciation teaching, based vaguely and incorrectly on "research" in the field. Recently, in the comments of one reviewer of a proposal for a workshop on teaching consonants for the 2016 TESOL convention--which was rejected, by the way--all three showed up together! Here they are, with my responses in italics:

Currency/Importance/Appropriateness 
"Most learners have access to websites that model phonemes, such as Rachel’s English and Sounds of Speech by the University of Iowa."

Really? "Most" learners? What planet is that on? Billions of learners don't have web access, including the preponderance of those in settlement programs here in Vancouver. And even those that do still need competent instruction on not only to use them effectively, but find them in the first place. Furthermore, those sites are strongly visual-auditory and EAP biased, better suited to what we term "EAP-types" (English for the academically privileged). For the kinaesthetic or less literate learner, those web resources are generally of little value. There are half a dozen other reasons why that perspective is excessively "linguini-centric."

Theory, Practice and Research Basis ·      
"There has been much research, which has shown the central importance of the peak vowel in a stressed syllable. The focus on consonant articulation is less important."

That represents an "uninformed" consensus from more than a decade ago. Any number of studies have since established the critical importance of selected consonants for intelligibility of learners of specific L1s. Think: Final consonants in English for some Vietnamese dialects or some Spanish L1 speakers of English. 

Support for Practices, Conclusions, and/or Recommendations ·      
"The article made a nice specific connection between haptic activities, and acquisition of consonant sounds. However, there was only one source."

Good grief. The workshop was proposed as a practical, hands-on session for teachers, presenting techniques for dealing with specific consonants.(The one reference is a published conference paper linked off the University of Iowa website.) Have heard similar reports from other classroom practitioners, such as myself, who had  proposals rejected: Only "researcher certified" proposals welcome. So much for our earlier enthusiasm in TESOL for teacher empowerment . . .

What teachers must know about pronunciation teaching!

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Found an interesting 2012 study by Wahid and Sulong entitled, "The Gap Between Research and Practice in the Teaching of English Pronunciation: Insights from Teachers’ Beliefs and Practices." Their conclusion is that teachers need to know more and researchers need to be better at talking to them. Amen. One interesting finding was that the teachers in that study identified their "pronunciation" work as follows. (Frequency of teaching activity chart from page 136):

Repeating a sound after the teacher (as in error correction) - 23; Reading aloud - 22; Dictionary work - 10; Oral drills e.g. tongue twisters - 9; Choral reading - 3; Games - 2; Role-play - 2.

Now, granted, that may be a bit "extreme," in that today, at least among those teachers more exposed to contemporary methodology we would expect a wider range of activities and explicit pronunciation instruction (e.g., Baker, 2012.) 

Recently, on a professional discussion board of pronunciation researchers, the question came up as to exactly WHAT teachers should know. (Kudos to Levis of Iowa State University who got the original discussion going.) I later gave my grad students that list and asked them to order and edit it some. Here is basically what they came up with.  (Note the obvious bias on that first item on the list!) 

• Pronunciation work should be embodied in movement as much as possible.
• Spoken language is different from written language. 
• Pronunciation actually does matter.
• There is always time to include pronunciation. 
• All well-trained teachers can teach pronunciation effectively. 
• Any thoughtful pronunciation work is better than none. 
• Suprasegmentals are pronunciation. 
• There must be a working familiarity with segmental and suprasegmental features of speech. 
• Teachers must learn how to put more emphasis on suprasegmentals. 
• Teachers must understand how to systematically integrate pronunciation into language teaching. 
• Pronunciation can be included in or integrated in classes for all language skills.
• Pronunciation is closely connected to receptive skills and should be taught that way. 
• Some pronunciation issues should be made explicit while others can be left implicit. 
• Student needs should drive pronunciation rather than pre-selected targets. 
• Teachers must listen to and identify L2 speech problems, separating pronunciation from other elements of spoken language.
• Pronunciation work does not disrespect a learner’s L1, home culture or identity.
• Thought groups/tone units are the basis of all prosody work.
• Vocabulary should always be taught with elements of pronunciation, such as the stress pattern. 
• The word is the basic conceptual unit for pronunciation.
• Awareness of vowel duration and the alternation of long and short syllables is essential. 
• Stress-timed rhythm and syllable-timed rhythm may both be appropriate depending on the context. 
• Some errors are more important than others. 
• There must be practice in marking errors and classifying them according to importance. 
• Teachers must know how to provide useful feedback. 
• Teachers must understand how to help learners develop automaticity.
• Teachers must know how to teach compensatory strategies such as oral spelling.

Interesting list. What do you know . . .

What students want: Real-time, on-the-spot, impromptu correction of pronunciation!

Credit: © Terence Mendoza
 / Fotolia

We just finished putting together a proposal to do a conference workshop:

Conducting On-the-spot Corrections of Rhythm, Stress and Intonation: Haptic Baton! 

"This workshop focuses on a haptic (movement + touch) technique for correcting and modelling pronunciation during any classroom activity—using a pencil, much like an orchestra conductor. The key is to include a set of “haptic anchors,” where the baton touches the other hand on stressed syllables of problematic words."

The point of the workshop is to develop a (haptic) technique that " . . . can be done in a relatively unobtrusive manner, a brief pause that provides clarity but will not seriously disrupt the flow or coherence of the classroom activity or lesson." Just ask your students if they'd like more impromptu correction of pronunciation . . . 

 

Now who knows if it will be accepted. (Haptic pronunciation proposals have about a 50/50 chance of being accepted. We still need to get the word out!) But a new study by Smith, Boomer, Zakrzewski, Roeder, Church, and Ashby of University of California, Santa Barbara.. "Deferred Feedback Sharply Dissociates Implicit and Explicit Category Learning," just summarized by Science Daily seems to add support to the use of "real-time" interventions--if done right, of course! 

In essence, what the research suggests is that deferred feedback does not connect well with implicit learning. (Well, actually, there is a great deal more to it than that! The research is actually looking at the nature of the two cognitive systems that we use to learn with, one explicit; the other, implicit.) When ongoing feedback on performance of a sorting task was suppressed or absent, implicit learning was dramatically impeded.

Your in-class, pronunciation teaching feedback protocols in need of a little correction? 

Keep in touch!

Perfect form in pronunciation teaching

(Note: Stress is on the 2nd syllable of the first word in the title of this post!) Probably the best way to "grasp" (to use our favorite haptic metaphor) the place of form in both learning and memory is to use your favorite sport or musical performance "instrument," the one you have some extended experience with, the one you learned or seriously worked at from scratch. Mine, as you may have guessed, is running. This 2004 article from Runners World on perfect running form, with a "touch" of analogical extension could apply equally to any physical art (See recent post on pronunciation work as art form.) The categories of attention management are:

Photo credit: Runners World

• "Head Tilt . . . ahead naturally . . . scan the horizon . . . Don't allow your chin to jut out."
• "Shoulders . . . should be low and loose . . . remain level "
• "Arms (and hands) . . . When you feel your fists clenching or your forearms tensing, drop your arms to your sides and shake them out for a few seconds . . ."
• "Torso . . . If you start to slouch . . . take a deep breath and feel yourself naturally straighten . . . "
• "Hips are your center of gravity, . . . think of your pelvis as a bowl filled with marbles, then try not to spill the marbles by tilting the bowl." (Losing your "marbles" lately?)
• "Legs/Stride . . . your feet should land directly underneath your body . . . your knee should be slightly flexed. . . " 
• "Ankles/Feet . . . Keep your ankle flexed . . . roll onto your toes . . . feet should not slap loudly . . . springy and quiet." (I love those last two descriptors!!!) 

clip art: Clker

One of the "challenges" for us haptic-integrating instructors, of course, is presenting a"visual speaking" model such that our body rhythm and posture present an appropriate model for students, not just in anchoring but in all classroom engagement and discourse. No need to be perfect, of course, but we should always be working on perfecting it, along with our students. Check with your mirror or your latest moving video of yourself in the classroom. 

Circadian rhythm and haptic-integrated teaching

Class getting you down? Generally no energy, motivation and enthusiasm at that time of day, even with your chai latte? Rather than moving to another time . . . you might try just moving!

Clip art: Clker

Clip art: Clker

 If you could choose any time of day to teach your speaking-listening class, when would that be? When would you generally prefer not to? I learned decades ago that between about 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. is not a good time for me to sit through a lecture or meeting--unless I have a very active role in what is happening. My "circadian rhythm" pattern is very predictable. If you haven't plotted yours before, go to this BBC quick test to see a graphic representation of yours. It even comes with some suggestions on how to cope with it, like coffee, the right food, exercise, a quick nap, etc. To that list we could add: haptic engagement, both for instructor and student. "Simply" anchoring key "academic word list" vocabulary carefully in a reading/writing class serves to energize well, keeping those at the nadir of their circadian rhythm cycle in the game. (We have proposed a workshop on precisely that topic at the 2013 TESOL conference in Dallas. If it is accepted, I'm going to ask that that it occur right after lunch in a hot, noisy, jam-packed room full of uncomfortable desks and chairs--and/or maybe right after one of the more mind-numbing plenaries! You can always get the body to join the party, beginning with a gentle warm up and interspersing various kinds of haptic anchoring as appropriate. Start there and normally the brain comes on line not long after. If not, consider going into administration or writing teachers' manuals . . . 

Anchoring pronunciation . . . @ peace!

Clip art: Clker

Clip art: Clker

This is actually a bit of a follow up to an earlier post, "When to do pronunciation work and what to do before it." In a study looking at enhancement of learning "something verbally new," Dewar and colleagues, according to a summary by Science Daily, discovered that, " . . .  memory can be boosted by taking a brief wakeful rest." Having students sit there in class (or out of class) doing "nothing" for 5 minutes or so in the contemporary Western language teaching program is pretty far out of the box, but certainly worth considering in principle in reference to the process of anchoring learning. The technique is evident in any number of therapeutic, religious and meditative traditions. Research in haptic learning processes has demonstrated the power and necessity of managed attentional focus and limiting distractions, especially visual and past-memory-based. Although the idea of systematically providing brief periods of "emptiness" (not reflection) after the learning act is seemingly different, in function it is not, in part because the overall task sequence includes the "time out" as closure and it does much to structure the nature of what is taught so that it can be experienced and remembered more holistically. Decades ago, when I was experimenting with hypnotic techniques I worked with something analogous, especially in prescribing homework routines for "fossilized" learners. At the time, I did not have a sufficiently systematic understanding of what that should accomplish or a sufficiently integrated mind-body model (See previous post.) We do now.  In the near future, when I have a new student to work with who seems to have the right personality make up to tolerate "nothingness" in at least small bits, I'll try it again. With the scaffolded,  integrated structure of the EHIEP protocols it should be more possible. But try it, too, and report back.  Peace . . . 

Let's get clinical (pronunciation instruction)!

Clipart: Clker

Clipart: Clker

With apologies to the all time favorite aerobic dance anthem, having read over yet one more thread of comments, "a near-conversation" between clinical and experimental psychologists on a blog, the parallel to where we are in the field of pronunciation teaching today was too much to miss. In essence, the experimental types were saying "There is no real evidence for the validity of your clinical practice, especially the procedure that you are recommending." The clinicians, in response, were responding that "Your studies are pretty much irrelevant when it comes to dealing holistically with our real clients. Experience, especially as it is applied to "similar" treatment contexts--and people--is enough to go on, at least for the time being." Sound familiar? A recent research study summarized by Science Daily on the efficacy of online peer support groups, which does relate somewhat to recent posts on group learning theory, ends with the quintessential retort from researcher/clinician, Salazar of Temple University: "These groups likely provide some degree of comfort in sharing a similar experience . . . While we can't yet quantify the benefit with our measurements, it does appear that participants benefit in online contacts with one another . . . If anything, clinicians should become more familiar with online groups because of their prevalence . . . They should be discussing their use with clients, and talking about ways to safely navigate online resources to get the maximum benefit." Now, substitute in any pronunciation teaching technique that you find especially effective for the word "online or groups" in that quote. Does that work in the context of your integrated, "clinical" pronunciation practice? It should. If not, just consider this your online support group and tell us all about it . . . here or on the EHIEP teaching blog!

To bee or not to bee: in class vs one-on-one pronunciation teaching

Clipart: Clker

Clipart: Clker

The clipart of the "lazy" bee in the last post reminded me of what a line of research on honey bees has revealed about the striking impact on learning of individual vs group or community based learning. In essence, what happens is that older forager bees, when brought back into the hive to take on nurturing "duties," experience a significant increase in ability to learn again. The analogy here to pronunciation work will be evident to anyone who has worked with changing the pronunciation of older L2 learners: studying in small groups is generally far more effective than tutoring. (I'll post a case study related to this idea shortly on the EHIEP "data" blog.) Clearly, social practice is critical for almost any integration of pronunciation change, but experience (at least) has shown that it is especially so with "fossilized" students. There have been a number of posts that have dealt with parameters of effective social practice and how to manage it in this field. I have not been able, however, to locate good, empirical studies of that "old bee vs new bee" phenomenon in the general adult learning literature, but I'm certain it is there. (If you know some of that research, please let us know!) How do you keep your classroom buzzing with excitement--or learning?  "Apiarical" linguists of the world, unite!

The (left-to-) right way to teach and anchor pronunciation

Clipart: Clker

Clipart:

Clker

Earlier posts have examined aspects of the visual field. In general terms, for at least English speakers, the right side comes off as (a) somewhat brighter, (b) more energetic, (c) more analytic, (d) more change-oriented . . . and, it turns out,  according to this study of soccer referees, (e) a bit more positive (or less "foul"?)--when an action is seen as moving left to right, rather than in the opposite direction. If the potential foul incurred by a player moving right to left, versus left to right in the visual field of the referee, there was a statistically significant chance that it was more likely to be called. According to the ScienceShots research summary, this phenomena is established in other fields as well and is actively exploited, for example, by cartoonists. Of course, some of the basis for that has to do with the fact that each eye is (roughly speaking) "controlled by" the opposing hemisphere of the brain. The research and popular understanding of "left" vs "right" brain functioning corresponds to many of those differing characteristics of the visual field as well. The fact that most of the EHIEP pedagogical movement patterns go from left to right and terminate in the right visual field is, however, post-theoretical. By that I mean that the practice developed through classroom experience initially, not based on the neurophysiological evidence that has come to light since. The "positive" bias goes consistently in the student's direction. In the visual field of the instructor observing students doing PMPs, on the contrary, all the motion appears to go . . . right to left. I'm going to explore this. In the meantime, just check your mood before class begins (See previous post!) and go easy on "yellow" carding of pronunciation and sloppy PMPing, eh!

Overcoming pronunciation anxiety II--with (& in) class!

Clipart: Clker

Clipart: Clker

The stress generated by pronunciation instruction, especially the "public" performance side of the process so necessary for integration of change, gets a bad rap. (Anxiety brought to class by the learner, as alluded to in the previous post, not withstanding.) A recent study, summarized in the Wall Street Journal, provides a little more neurophysiological evidence for that principle. What the researcher points out is that the stress should be immediate-task-based, not general fear of failure or longer term existential questions. The article concludes with the following: "We'll say to athletes, 'You're going to be anxious. Great. Channel it and use it," Dr. Josephson says. "Being willing to feel some anxiety and not running away from it is huge." Although I have not been able to find the research piece I discovered earlier on the "advantage" of some types of group therapy, I have for decades been operating on the principle that a balanced "diet" of both the private and public practice is essential for most efficient pronunciation change. (That is why tutoring in pronunciation for some may be relatively ineffectual--if the learner does not also have a meaningful place to practice, especially one where the "new" personna will be readily accepted or at least not noticed!) That, in part, explains why occasionally I encounter a student, especially from China, who has developed extraordinary pronunciation and fluency from having studied back home only in an "all English" college that was exceedingly serious about controlling learner practice 24-7. This is another important dimension of integrated pronunciation instruction not addressed in the pronunciation research literature. To quote the article once more: "You have to embrace the anxiety to overcome it."-- even if only with a quick, 3-second "Shhh!" (See previous post!) 

Haptic note taking and study notes for pronunciation work

Credit: thomaspietrzak.com

There are a number of note taking software applications out today that can be used to fit with haptic-integrated pronunciation work. I know of none that can actually encode movement and touch but several now allow integration of audio and video, including Microsoft One Note. The iPhone app, Mental Note, for example, works well for taking notes and creating practice routines focusing on one sound or sound process at a time.

Here is a blogpost by Pietrzak that includes both an interesting model for organizing the kind of study notes system that we need and an experimental "haptic wristband" which sounds fascinating. Pietrzak works in the area, in fact; will see if I can go see that in person sometime. If sounds are well anchored in the classroom haptically, a note system that is only video, auditory and visual should be adequate for the time being. Take note, however: a fully integrated haptic note taking system is not far out-- or far off!