(Embodied) Post-grad IELTS Speaking (6.0 or 5.0) to get work in Canada? Bon chance!

Have you seen this? 

Among other actions taken to cut back on the number of international students coming to Canada, there are new langauge proficiency rules going into effect effective in November to get post graduate work  permits (PGWP): 

CORRECTION: AN EARLIER VERSION REPORTED THAT GRADS NEED AN IELTS SCORE OF 6 ON ALL BANDS. THAT IS INCORRECT. THE "OFFICIAL' ANNOUNCEMENT INDICATES THAT ONLY AN "AVERAGE" SCORE OF 6 IS  REQUIRED, MUCH LESS PROBLEMATIC!

University Graduates: IELTS 6  (CLB 7)
College Graduates: IELTs 5  (CLB 5)

That will not directly impact the number of international students coming to Canada (those substantial cuts were put into effect earlier this year) but it will impact graduates getting work in Canada after they graduate. Now IELTS 6.0 Speaking may not sound all that difficult (from IELTS,com) at first,

"The test taker has an effective command of the language despite some inaccuracies, inappropriate usage and misunderstandings.They can use and understand reasonably complex language, particularly in familiar situations."

But just ask anybody teaching in higher ed (in the US as well) and they'll tell you that concern with English proficiency is a relative minor "front end" problem only for them. Once students are in, a virtual panoply of support functions kick in, including testing that does not require much if any real written or oral dexterity, along with Chat-GPT et al. 

Although I have not seen the study, there is no question, based in part on admissions standards, that speaking and writing English are two skills that for many easily degrade for 4 years or so once they get it. I don't teach undergrads but my students who do, report that regularly, the loos of productive skills, especially evident in junior and senior level content couses that used to evaluate oral and written form as well as content. 

Here is the kicker, pronunciation (italics, mine)

The candidate uses a range of pronunciation features but the control is not consistent throughout the test. There might be mispronunciation of words or sounds which reduces the clarity. However, the meaning of what is being said is generally clear throughout the test.

The day of reconning may be at hand for the near abandonment of pronunciation teaching in the discipline, eh! So, universities may eventually be on the hot seat here to stop graduating all those sub-IELTS 6.0 speakers. 

Probably not, HOWEVR, WITH THE 6.0 AVERAGE SCORE REQUIRED, NOT A 6.0 ON ALL BANDS. 

Regarding 6.0 pronunciation in speaking on the IELTS, however, I really like this from "AllearsEnglish,com":

"Pronunciation: This is the easiest place to improve your score. Someone who gets a 5 talks like a robot with no feeling in their voice and all of their words sound exactly the same. To get a 6 you need to put some feeling in your voice. Practice varying your tone of voice in your English conversation practice and you’ll be ready to do in the test."

As utterly goofy as that sounds, I think they have a point, They question is. . . how? They obviously have to practice active speaking . . outloud. In a sense their competence/performnce gaps can be very problematic. What is needed, in many cases, is an approach that is more "body-centered," much like what is done in good public speaking courses. Have been working with learners like this for decades who are capable of carrying on a conversaion or speaking in public . . . but they just haven't had to.

That approach involves extensive (embodied) oral reading, structured self-analysis of recorded spontaneous speaking samples as homework, emphasis on rhythm, stress and intonation--and an occasional consonant or two if really problematic. Embodied here refers to systematic management of movement, gesture and touch in practice, in private, with key carry over to spontaneous speaking, especially when under pressure, like on the IELTS. "It works" by anchoring both the sound or words being spoken more effectively and the emotion or affect, especially the confidence and posturing that is rather easily the focus of the embodied oral reading.

You are asking, how can I sign up for that. Glad you asked! The next one begins on October 3rd! Still time to register. Even if you just have time for half that course, it'll help. "I'll else" wouldn't tell you so, eh!

Email me directly for more info that: wracton@gmail.com 

Bill

Z-OR: Enhanced English Fluency and Confidence

Conference presentation later this month with Eileen McWilliams at the BCTEAL annual conference, entitled: How to Speak with Confident Vowels and Beyond! It is based on research I reported on at the 2022 Spokane ESL Conference: Using what you know: Embodied Oral Reading to Spontaneous Speech, with Volzhanina and Qie.

Here's the summary:

This workshop presents a haptic technique (using systematic movement and touch) based on strategic use of intonation and vowel quality for helping learners achieve more confidence in speaking based on developing awareness and control of the fundamental formant (lowest) in their speech, evident especially when one is relaxed and confident.

There are two terms we have been using: Haptic-Embodied Oral Reading (HE OR), and Spontaneous Haptic-Embodied Oral Recast (SHE-OR). Using the HE-OR technique, which involves using gesture and touch to accompany an oral reading, learners developed remarkable confidence and fluency in speaking and (they report) that the technique also improved their reading fluency. At the end of the study, learners switched to SHE-OR, where they managed their spontaneous speech using a fluency gesture as they were describing various locations and events. The apparent carry over from HE-OR over to SHE-OR was striking. Have just updated our terms a little. Now, instead of HE-OR or SHE-OR, we use the gender neutral, Z-OR, to refer to both fixed text and spontaneous embodied readings and recasts. 

If you can’t join us at BCTEAL, no worries. We’ll post the recording right after the conference.

Play it again, SLLP! (Avoiding the 8 deadly sins of second language learning practice)

Clip art:
Clker.com

With apologies to Humphrey Bogart, a good first question in a learner interview is something like: How do you practice your pronunciation or English? If he or she plays or has recently played a musical instrument or sang well, I will follow up with an analogous, music-based prompt. 

---------------------------------------------------------

Glyde at ultimate-guitar.com has a new piece on something like the "8 deadly sins of bad (guitar) practice--and how to overcome them," which applies beautifully to our work: (His specific "how to" recommendations have been omitted for the time being.)

• Playing instead of practicing guitar
• Focusing too much on new material
• Going through the motions. 
• Failure to break up large practice sessions
• Failing to avoid distractions
• Failing to avoid boring practice routines 
• Failing to set up a practice schedule
• Failing to apply what you know

Not sure that I have ever seen a better, comprehensive framework for embodied practice. I'm going to come back and look at how that approach works specifically in haptic pronunciation teaching. In the meantime, feel free to comment on any of those. 

And, if you are serious about getting even better results with a wider range of learner "styles" this year, just begin by candidly sketching out for yourself how/if your system avoids those pitfalls (or persistent SLLP ups!) -- and have a very good 2015!

 

Bill

Total recall: haptic anchoring and integration vs cross-modal reinforcement of pronunciation

Clip art: Clker

Clip art: Clker

There are an almost infinite number of ways to create heuristics to assist learners in attending to and remembering sounds. For a good overview of suggestions as to how that works in different modalities in teaching phonetics and pronunciation, see this 2011 summary by Wrembel and Mickiewicz  of the University of Poznan. From that perspective, in EHIEP there are half a dozen or so modalities involved: sound, movement, touch, positioning in the visual field (which includes associated colours), sensations of resonance in the bones, muscles and flesh of the vocal tract--even olfaction in the form of aromatic hand creams, or "taste" with mint breath strips in some cases. It is one thing to anchor a sound using a color or phonaesthetic word association or gesture in teaching a sound, as in phonetics, yet quite another to systematically integrate that into classroom instruction. In other words, "cross-modal" reinforcement (linking sound to some other sense) makes very good sense but it just the beginning. That association has to be both balanced appropriately, so that one does not cancel the other modalities (an important issue - See previous posts) and scaffolded in over time. In EHIEP, the "haptic anchoring" (a convenient short cut for full-body, multi-modal engagement) is employed in class or in personal practice regularly, whenever required,  for presentation, correction, practice or integration . . .  total (sensory) recall!

Disembodied pronunciation teaching

Clip art: Clker

Clip art: Clker

In an interesting 2008 review of " . .  . recommended pronunciation teaching approaches and techniques that are otherwise dispersed throughout the literature . . "Gilner, of Nagoya Foreign Language University, presents what I would term the "state of the art in disembodied pronunciation teaching." (See earlier post on pronunciation teaching as performance art.) It is actually a pretty good summary of the various approaches, basically two paragraphs on each. A concise reference . . . sort of.  What is missing is any reference to the somatic, other than a note from cognitive phonologist Fraser (2006) that ", , , methods that work well “are based on the insight that pronunciation is a cognitive skill… [and] involves both ‘knowing’ things (subconsciously) about language, and being able to do things physically with the body . . . '"

Although most generally mention that you might use kinaesthetic anchors such as rubber bands, hand clapping or other "things with the body," at least paying "lip service" to kinaesthetic--or even haptic engagement, that is, I think, an accurate picture of the field today. Gilner is also right about the pieces of methods being "dispersed throughout the [body of the] literature." This is clearly the end of pronunciation teaching as we know it, scattered and disembodied . . . or the beginning. Keep in touch. 

"Robot-like" pronunciation?

Credit: thenextweb.com

Clipart: Clker

News release about a robot designed to teach English in Taiwan which " . . . has a "large doll head" and arms and a body that can make movements based on the dialogues being taught in an English class." Furthermore, " . . . the robot allows young students to learn to speak English in a "stressless" environment and in a fun way." Wow. On the one hand, "robotic," mechanical pronunciation teaching does not sound that "fun," but from the EHIEP perspective, also being able to provide learners with clear, consistent models of pedagogical movement patterns (see previous post) and accurate acoustic models is appealing. I have written earlier on the potential use of virtual reality avatars in our work. Our "EHIEP-bot" logo could use a little spiffying up, of course, but it does embody the spirit of what Professor Wu's baby is about--a balance of cognitive and affective anchoring, 3-second moments of concentrated focus and attention on sound processes. At times assuming the EHIEP-bot personna of "goofy, haptic precision" whether in presenting or practicing or providing corrective feedback can be extraordinarily effective. Sport your "hapticobot" this week; support your local "Haptician!" 

Who needs word stress patterns anyway? And which?

Clip art: Clker

Clip art: Clker

A good question! Any number of studies suggest that learners can guess at some patterns with more or less success. For example, this one or this one, both of which focus on vowel quality in English as a primary "beacon" for learners. How much explicit instruction in word stress patterning is optimal will, of course, depend on the learner population and where they are developmentally. For most instructors, a basic, working understanding of word stress patterns is essential. At the recent British Columbia Teacher of English as an Additional Language (BCTEAL) conference in Vancouver, I attended two very nice presentations that presented the basic word and phrase stress patterns "tool kit" nicely: "Unlocking the Mysteries of Syllable Stress" and "Integrating Prosodic Practice with Grammar Instruction" by Egle. (I'm sure she'll be happy to share those handouts or powerpoint with you, if interested.) Her work is generally with white collar clients in business and industry, often with serious fossilization issues. What I found most interesting was that the set of patterns that she has identified over time that are necessary for her students-- are almost identical to those that I use in basic teacher training, especially for nonnative English speaking instructors. The apparent difference in application, however, is worth noting. Egle needs to do a great deal of deductive work up front, presenting patterns and then proceeding to examples. In my work, especially in the EHIEP system, the instructor must have the patterns "in hand" to refer to them constantly, for the most part after the fact, as more and more examplars of the pattern accrue or emerge in the course of "normal" classroom instruction, especially in speaking and listening work. Other classroom contexts require different mixes of those two approaches, of course, but somebody in the room has to have a good handle on the tools, regardless. (If you are not sure what those are, you are part of the problem!) 

PTSD?-2: Embodied learning vs learning, embodied

To quote Jean-Luc Godard, ‘It’s not where you take things from — It’s where you take them to.’  There is an excellent piece in this month's TESOL Quarterly by Randal Holme, "Cognitive Linguistics in the Second Language Classroom," which, among other things, focuses the issue of the role of the body in L2 pedagogy. In fact, the first section of the article is entitled, "The Embodied Learning Principle." In essence (to somewhat overgeneralize--Do read this yourself!), what Holme argues--persuasively, I think--is that in order to be "learned," new language has to end up "in the body," that is (from our perspective) strongly anchored, (but from the Cognitive Linguist's perspective, for the most part, that means--in the brain.) It is most importantly a question of directionality of the process: language being essentially "embedded" in the body through any number of portals, including metaphor and affective engagement. He does, in fact, mention a few "kinaesthetic" techniques that appear to facilitate the process, such as clapping hands, etc., but he is in some sense, using Jean-Luc's principle: it is not as critical how the language is taught, just that it gets "embodied." I like that, as far as it goes. Our perspective, however, is that pronunciation teaching must begin as a much more embodied process (Train the body first!)--not just  result in an embodied felt sense and L2 identity. In other words, he has it at least half right. But instead of just "embodied learning" (the L2 embodied as outcome), we would maintain that it must also be "learning, embodied," a strongly somatically-based process that, among other things, enables language acquisition. Progress! 

Pronunciation futures: the iPad (haptic) HD

Photo courtesy of Slashgear

If you have to explain what "haptics" is to a colleague or student, from now on just let them touch your new iPad HD. Delighted to see that the case is now closed on how effective haptic interfaces are in engaging the user/learner. Thanks to Apple, the research on haptics and widespread application to touch technology will quickly become available. I'm told by friends who work with iPhone programming that our work is a natural for that interface--especially now that the door has been opened in Cuperinto. Now, rather than buying a couple dozen research articles online, I'm going to get an iPad HD. Welcome to the future of pronunciation teaching. Keep in touch.