Dr Bill's Vowel and Consonant Repair Shop at the 2019 TESOL Convention!

If you are going to be in Atlanta for the 2019 Convention next week, stop by the Trinity Western University booth in the exhibition area to at least say "Hi!" In addition to promoting the TWU MATESOL, we'll be offering free, quick, and effective haptic pronunciation teaching "repair" of a vowel or consonant.

In general that only applies to students or student-teachers, but if you speak some English other than North American and would like a minor upgrade, we can probably do that, too.  (Limit: one segmental per day, by appointment, so you could, in principle, get three fixed during the conference.) This is, of course a bit "tongue and teeth and lips and vocal apparatus" in cheek, but for minor, relatively easy fixes like "th" or "r" or "l" or "syllable-final voiced consonants", a quick, 10-minute repair is really quite feasible, as long as you follow up with practice for the next 2 weeks or so.

If you want to know HOW to do such quick, haptic repairs, we will also have information on the basic Haptic Pronunciation Teaching workshop on Friday at the conference (with Baker and Burri), the upcoming Haptic Pronunciation Teaching webinars, May 17th and 18th, and the 4-week, online Haptic Pronunciation Teaching course in July in conjunction with the TWU MATESOL program seminar in Applied Phonology. (More on that shortly!)

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Core Pronunciation: Vowel resonance

My colleague, Angelina VanDyke, a vocal music instructor and performing artist, has been helping me develop a new "resonance" protocol. Here are four random Youtube videos that illustrate the basic concepts that we are working with. (The final EHIEP protocol will probably involve all three with appropriate bridges, haptic anchoring and pedagogical movement patterns.) Each focuses pedagogically on vowel resonance, but, of course, does several other things at the same time. The first  is the lip trill or "motor boating,"  exercise. In addition to loosening up everything, it does an especially good job of anchoring vowel resonance in the front of the face. (That one really works!) This classic voice exercise, focuses on 'ng,' the velar nasal at the back of the throat, focusing on resonance back "there." The third exercise does an especially good job of promoting felt sense of upper chest resonance. This video (from an unlikely "energy" source . . . ) shows one form of simple thumping action, without singing a, low pitch, resonant vowel triad at the same time. Add that to this and you get the general idea for the third piece of the protocol . . . and even the spirit of the EHIEP logo over there on the right!

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 . . .

Haptic TH (vs. THe THousands of sooTHing meTHods for smooTH front teeTH)

Clip art:
Clker

There must be at least that many videos out there that try to teach pronunciation of TH. Here is one of the more popular (and pretty good 11-minute) ones that does most everything that can be done with that media--except show the inside of the mouth. (Here is one that nearly does that in 31 seconds!) Just for entertainment value, wander around through some of the Youtube TH videos. What "virtually" all of them miss is some way to control tongue position or extension during articulation of TH. The model in the second video on a couple of instances sticks his tongue out "excessively" on some examples.

The model in the first video makes a point of telling the audience to just enjoy the act; not to worry about looking strange! Any experienced pronunciation instructor will tell you that "tongue exposure" for many learners from many cultures is very bad form, to put it mildly. Some advise sticking the tongue way out and then drawing it in as the TH is spoken, scraping off the tongue and teeth. Others recommend just "putting the tongue on the upper teeth," etc. As in working with vowels or rhythm or intonation contours, precise haptic anchoring is the key to most efficient consonant repair as well.

The TH haptic protocol includes one unique element: (a) Sensitize the tip of the tongue--See earlier post on the "Starbucks" technique for that. (b) Place a coffee stirrer stick up against the lips, with the narrow side (.25 cm) touching both lips lightly. (c) When the TH is articulated the tongue should push forward and only lightly touch the stick but go out no further. (d) if the TH is voiced, the forefinger of the other hand also touches the vocal cords, as in the s/z/sh/zh protocol described in an earlier post. This is one case where you can, indeed, "beat that (the problematic TH sound)--with a stick!"

Haptic squirrel pronunciation

Clip art: Clker

You may have seen some of the Youtube "X can't pronounce Y" videos or "British." A couple others: German and Farsi. There are more, all (mostly) funny and homemade. Here, in brief, is a haptic protocol for "squirrel:"

a. Go to Starbucks. Get a coffee and then walk off with some coffee stirs. (Enough for your class.)
b. Have learners break one in half.
c. With the jagged end, scrape the sides of the tongue, as far back in the mouth as possible.
d. Jab the outsides of both cheeks at about the same place as the back of the tongue.
e. Scrape the tip of the tongue (or to be precise the tip of the blade of the tongue, on the "end" exactly!)
f. Scrape the place just behind the gap between the upper front middle teeth. (frontal alveolar ridge)
Now . . .
g. Say "s" and keep it going . .
h. Bite back of tongue on spots scraped in "c" as you say "kuir" (kwer)
i. Touch tip of tongue (e) with area behind teeth (f) as you say 'l'
j. Say that sequence quickly a few times, throwing a tennis ball on "kuir" across the room as you do.

Armost nevel fairs . . .
Practice that yourself a few times so that it "sticks" and then squirrel it away, eh!