Cognitive pronunciation work and mastication-induced arousal

Photo credit: UPI Photo/Ezio Petersen

Ah . . . at last we may have discovered a way to make excessive conscious, cognitive and metacognitive talk about pronunciation in the classroom less distracting and pointless: chew gum. In a much-hyped summary in the media, it is reported that St. Lawrence University researcher, Onyper, had discovered that such masticatory action before a test (chewing gum), " . . . gave the subjects multiple advantages, but only when chewed for five minutes before testing, not for the duration of the test. Benefits persisted for the first 15 to 20 minutes of testing only." Mastication-induced arousal was "credited" with the boost. The summary goes on to note that, "Many studies have shown that any type of physical activity can produce a performance boost . . . "

So there you have it, friends--although 15 or 20 minutes of talk ABOUT pronunciation still sounds deadly to me--getting students' cognitive and masticatory processes up and running in that manner before class may not "gum up the works" at all--on the contrary. (One of the HICP consonant protocols does, after all, involve some biting of the sides of the tongue with back mandibulars!) Just a little something there for you to chew on . . .

Remembering: Just close your eyes to block out that distracting sound in the background or pronunciation

Clip art: Clker

Here is (an abstract only of) a study by Perfect, Andrade and Eagan (2011) which demonstrates that under certain conditions, closing the eyes effectively blocks out background/environmental  auditory clutter (in this case.) The technique seemed to enhance or at least protect both visual and auditory recall. Earlier posts have reported on research related to the impact of eye closure (or purely haptic, nonvisual engagement) on encoding, showing a parallel effect. It is as if once the eyes have done their part in establishing an object's properties or pattern, in some contexts or stages, it may be better to carefully limit further, potentially distracting gaze.

Most disciplines deal with directed eye engagement in some form, especially in expert practice and performance. That can be done any number of ways from full closure to fixed positions in the visual field. (I'm sure you have students who, themselves, use similar strategies at times. Regardless, the implication for pronunciation instruction is intriguing: To get or recall the optimal auditory felt sense of a sound, simply cut out external auditory interference. That appears to be relatively easy . . . you can  do it with your eyes closed!

Insight from the blind

Clip art: Clker

In this 2000 paper, Design of Haptic and Tactile Interfaces for Blind Users, Christian makes an important observation: " . . . At a high level, an interface is a collection of objects and operations one can perform on those objects. The visual representation of an interface on the monitor is only one interpretation. The idea is that when affording the blind access to an interface, one should not convey the visual representation, but rather the interface itself. . . .  by translating the semantic level of the interface, one can convey the same constructs that are available to sighted users."

In other words, our use of the visual field is, more accurately, use of the "proprioceptive" field, which involves much more than just sight. We have all observed learners who, in attempting to focus on a sound, will close their eyes to enhance their concentration. Turns out, in a haptically-anchored system (such as EHIEP) for most, doing a full protocol (a set of sounds or sound patterns) or a single sound with eyes closed significantly intensifies concentration--and almost certainly, retention. Compared to "simply" saying a word "blind," the addition of the haptic anchor (movement terminating in touch of both hands in the visual field) creates an extraordinarily "vivid" experience.

Although I have not explored the application of this concept to all protocols systematically, the idea of blocking visual modality extensively is an intriguing possibility. It seems to work surprisingly well in most contexts. Try it. You are in for a "blinding" revelation . . .