Need a little more "punch" in your pronunciation teaching?

One of the techniques taught in the EHIEP system involves a sparring action, much like a boxer shadow boxing. It has been alluded to in previous blogs, from various perspectives. Its basic function is to help learners experience and develop more compact, conversational speaking style. Of all the techniques it is unquestionably the "fastest acting" in affecting rate of speech and general "packaging" of rhythm groups. It not only results in more "processing" time on either end of each group of syllables, but, more importantly, it seems to engage the entire body in the process and felt sense of English rhythm. A study by researchers at  Imperial College London and University College London of how karate masters produce such powerful "punches" may also suggest something of why the "Rhythm Fight Club" (Linked is the pair-training version) works as it does. What fMRI analysis of the structure of the "masters" brains when they were in "punch" mode revealed was this:

"The karate black belts were able to repeatedly coordinate their punching action with a level of coordination that novices can't produce. We think that ability might be related to fine tuning of neural connections in the cerebellum, allowing them to synchronise their arm and trunk movements very accurately."

This gives new meaning to the concept of "mastering" a grammatical or phonological pattern. Trust me. This IS worth fighting over!

Three mistakes pronunciation instructors may make (especially if they play guitar badly)

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 It is not a coincidence that language instructors who gravitate toward speaking and pronunciation instruction tend to be musical. (My guess is that they play or have played an instrument or are singers of some sort as well. That connection is mentioned in several studies but I can find no systematic research on it.) Being a guitar player, one of the sites I stumbled on, Guitarscalesystem.com, has a list of 3 mistakes to avoid and 6 principles to practice. (Unfortunately, to get to this list you have to sign up for the newsletter, etc.!) The "translation" to pronunciation work is very straightforward . . . if you play an instrument, especially the merging of motor learning and meaning (My extrapolations are in italics):
Mistakes:
1. Too many scales and keys without ever deeply mastering a single scale - Acting like simply "pointing out" problems is effective technique.
2. Not making real music out of the scales - "Rich" repetition of targeted sounds, with haptic-integration and/or engaging expressiveness is the antidote.

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3. Mindlessly repeating scale patterns - If you do "mindless" repetition, without multiple-modality involvement, you should be teaching something else, not pronunciation. 
Principles of good practice:
1. Memorize your scale patterns - Yes, teach learners how to memorize more efficiently, based on their personal cognitive style preferences.
2. Learn to jump to anywhere on the neck - Link target sounds across lexical sets and exemplars. (Pedagogical movement patterns, based on haptic research in several areas, should do that.)
3. Learn to switch direction in the blink of an eye - Use the visual field for anchoring targeted sounds consistently. 
4. Know the building block shapes and how they interact together - Yes . . . the "sense" half of "felt sense" means having very concise, clear cognitive and rule schemas for learners as well.
5. Learn your scales on single strings, as double stops and beyond . . . This is critical, focusing on targeted sounds with maximal attention, in an "uncluttered" visual and emotional setting in class.
6. See the entire keyboard as one "monster pattern!" - Both instructor and learner need to understand how the whole system functions, instructors at a theoretical level; learners, by being equipped with a simple set of explanations, practices and anchoring procedures--especially the latter. 

Time to face the music on how you manage drill, repetition and anchoring? 

Inattentive students? (Too much task-based pronunciation instruction?)

Clipart: Clker

Clipart: Clker

In a 2011 study of what they term "inattentional deafness," researchers at University College London (summarized in Science Daily), Lavie and Macdonald observe that, " . . . In our task, most people noticed the sound if the task being performed was easy and did not demand their full concentration. However, when the task was harder they experienced deafness to the very same sound." Several other posts have addressed the "competition" between visual and auditory processing, where one in effect cancels out the other in conditions of tightly focused attention. So, what does that mean for pronunciation instruction? Currently task-based instruction is "seen" by most as being the optimal format for integrating instruction, where communicative interaction and metacognitive engagement (attention to the principles and rules involved) are paramount. This research would suggest, somewhat ironically, that the extent to which attention is drawn away from the felt sense of the articulated sound--to context and informational parameters, the less effective the anchoring in memory of the targeted change may be. Managing that balance is key. As also noted repeatedly in reports on "haptic" research,  relatively speaking, movement and touch as anchoring mechanisms seem to function more independently from that of auditory and visual processing. In other words, a little "inattention" here and there is probably a good thing. Just keep in touch . . . 

Visual intonation in pronunciation instruction

Clipart: Clker

Clipart: Clker

One of the early inspirations for the EHIEP system, as reported earlier, was my work with deaf students at the university who communicated with American Sign Language (ASL). Sign gestures, along with upper body and facial expressiveness have been researched extensively; I have referred to those studies several times in trying to better understand how ASL behaviors can be effectively exploited in our pronunciation work. I found this 2009 study on "visual intonation"in Israeli Sign Language recently which demonstrates vividly the role of the systematic movement of facial muscles (e.g. raised eyebrows, squints, knitting brows) in conveying prosody, especially as it accompanies pitch change. The analogous pedagogical movement patterns of EHIEP are designed primarily to help the learner get the felt sense of intonation, where learners' hands and arms move around the visual field to anchor pitch (H, M and L) and pitch change (fall-rise, rise-fall, etc.) However, once a student is able to "repeat" a PMP along with the instructor in articulating a target word or phrase, the "visual intonation" portrayal also serves to communicate to the instructor and student something of accuracy of the pitch or pitch change. In other words, an instructor also uses the visual PMPs in both assessing and providing feedback in class on intonation. Just as in the case of the ISL study, spatial-gesture serves more than just as an analogy for pitch and pitch change--it is potentially a very powerful physical anchor. See what I mean? 

How to reach (pronunciation) goals

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Based on Halverson's book on accomplishing goals, an anonymous website which I occasionally consult for health and fitness ideas, came up with this pretty much standard list for achieving fitness: (a) Imagine! (b) Dream Big! (c) Stuff is rarely enough! (d) Be realistic! (e) Be specific! (f) Assess! and (f) Zip it! That is also a very interesting template for highlighting some key aspects of pronunciation instruction (particularly EHIEP!). For example:

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A. Imagine - Especially using visual models of what the learner should move and sound like and can be used for mirroring occasionally.
B. Dream Big! - This one is quite controversial today. Should the model be the native speaker of some dialect or a near-peer model. I still favor the native speaker--with the proviso of "D" below.
C. Stuff is rarely enough - This one, too, is very much in the spotlight in the field today. The range of technology coming online is amazing. It is going to revolutionize pronunciation instruction. But not just yet. The EHIEP system is designed to be compatible with virtual reality instructions but also somatically-grounded (body-based). My view is that full body engagement with technology will be key.
D. Be realistic! - The problem here is that it just takes time to work with the individual to create both goals and a path to get there--not necessarily the "ideal" probably impractical model. The demands on the instructor to frame this well require both experience and time. (See C, above!)
E. Be specific! - Here, too, getting to specific can simply be expensive, especially (ironically) if the instructional program is excessively, individualized too soon in the process. (See earlier posts on this topic and how it is done well!)
F. Assess! - There is great promise here for technology, both in terms of measuring progress and providing remediation and practice. The EHIEP perspective is that changing sounds and sound-processes requires working from haptic anchoring (the felt sense of sounds, not what is "coming in" through the ears!) and also monitoring change, at least in part, somatically.
G. Zip it! - In earlier posts on "hypermentalizing" the research was reviewed that demonstrates that talking too much about goals is actually counterproductive, in effect creating the "felt sense" that more is being accomplished than what actually is.
                                                                                                                  So, how fit is your method? 

Pronunciation "Vowel-age"

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Clip art: Clker

Caveat emptor: This is a long post. Turn back now, O ye of little faith or short concentration span--or those who find discussion of bodily energy fields disorienting or otherwise!

As described in earlier posts, the types of vowels in the EHIEP system are characterized using "textural" terms, for example: "rough" (for lax vowels), "smooth" (for tense vowels), smooth-dynamic (for diphthongs) and "rough-dynamic" (for lengthened lax vowels preceding voiced consonants.) General phonetic descriptions of English consonants often use terms with obvious "textural" qualities such as fricatives, affricates, liquids, glides, etc.

 Within each of those vowel types, the felt sense of different vowels can be productively described for students in terms of a system or circuit of energy flow, intensity or "voltage," (aka "vowel-age!") in several senses. (There are some other "mystical" senses as well which will be avoided here, of course!)  The configuration or locations of the vowels in the visual field (a general mirror image of the IPA vowel chart for English) involves a set of nodes, one for each vowel, where the hands touch on prominent syllables.

Each node represents a point in the visual space in front of them where the nexus of texture, intensity (voltage) and vowel formants (resonance) of the vowel (and/or word) are anchored.  The analogy I have often used is Kirchoff's circuit laws: (a) the total energy going into a node in a circuit is equal to that leaving it. (A node does not absorb energy, only transfers for redirects it.) and (b) the sum of voltage around a closed system is zero.

The analogy to EHIEP work, taken largely from Lessac, for the learner is this: First, voltage or energy is redirected, expended and captured by performing a pedagogical movement pattern. The action is both communicative and energizing. (You use energy and intensity to perform/say the vowel but it is simultaneously "replaced" or balanced by the voltage experienced and "stored" in anchoring in memory.) Second, although different vowels have different inherent "vowel-ages" or vividness (see posts on the inherent phonaesthetics of vowels, for example, this recent one), the key is to experience them as a system, a whole, not as individual, isolated elements.

That is especially important when the learner's L1 appears to have vowels similar to the L2. One way to demonstrate that, for example, is to do a vocalizing "tour" of the "universal" vowel space, moving a hand slowing throughout as the vowel quality changes accordingly--done admirably by Professor Higgins in My Fair Lady, of course! So check your "vowel-age" regularly. It is certainly worth the time--and energy!

Pronunciation "workouts" and "work-ins!"

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Clip art: Clker

Getting the attention of body and mind, or creating sufficient flexibility for pronunciation change, is essential. If you do a separate pronunciation class--a vanishing phenomenon, to be sure, but one that not long ago was the standard format--then a comprehensive body workout like Marsha Chan's is ideal. (The link goes to a Powerpoint but also available on her website is access to a "follow along" video as well.) The EHIEP approach attempts to accomplish something of the same thing by integrating the focus and flexibility in a couple of ways. First, by training students in a 3-minute warm up protocol that gets everything going, which should be employed at the beginning of a speaking class and before beginning pronunciation homework. (Earlier versions of that have been linked on the blog several times. A new one will be up shortly!) Then, second, by embodying physical relaxation and (attention grasping) haptic anchoring, in effect, whenever pronunciation is the temporary focus of "noticing" in any lesson, it is as if the benefits of the physical workout are allowed to come back online continually, something of an integrated "Work-In!" Of course, the underlying mood or felt sense of good instruction should be that of an engaged workout, where optimal energy and relaxation go, as we say, "hand in hand." Work that in. 

See what it feels like? (How haptic anchors work.)

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Clip art: Clker

In a fascinating study by USC researchers, it was demonstrated that, " . . .‘feeling with the mind’s touch’ activates the same parts of the brain that would respond to actual touch . . . this suggests that human brains capture and store physical sensations, and then replay them when prompted by viewing the corresponding visual image." Haptic anchors, as used in HICP work, generally consist of one hand touching the other at specific location in the visual field as a word is articulated. (The learner may or may not be simultaneously looking at or visualizing the orthographical representation of the word or phrase as well.) When that anchor is recalled later, for example by a student in the class observing the instructor perform the anchor in response to an error in pronouncing the target sound, the research would suggest that that visual image should serve to activate in the brain of the student the physical sensations of both the touch event and the body-based resonance in the upper body and vocal track associated with the word--and possibly the alphabetic representation (letters) as well, depending on the cognitive preference of the learner. I can see you are getting a feel for it already . . . 

The "Well . . . duh . . . " Factor: Emotion can shut down the brain!

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Clip art: Clker

This is just too good to pass over. What a revelation! Researchers have made " . . . the surprising discovery [in bilinguals] that our brain shuts down . . . unconscious access to the native language when faced with a negative word such as war, discomfort, inconvenience, and unfortunate [in the L2]." The "primal" reptilian part of the brain responsible for this temporary shutting down of higher brain functions is probably depicted in the diagram to the left in light blue and yellow. (The Science Daily summary does not specify.) Furthermore, "We were extremely surprised by . . . a cancellation of the response to the negative words [as observed by fMRI, in the L1]." Can we then assume the converse, that positive words such as peace, comfort, convenience and fortunate in the L2 link up better? That apparently was not studied or at least not reported. What does this mean for pronunciation change? Simple, maybe. Stick with anchoring the felt sense of warm, fuzzy words and phrases only--for the time being. I'll stay with this for you. How did we ever teach anything before the advent of the fMRI? Well . . . duh . . . 

See hear! (Moving sounds in haptic-integrated pronunciation instruction)

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Clip art: Clker

Scientists at Cal Tech have recently uncovered " . . . a type of synesthesia in which individuals hear sounds, such as tapping, beeping, or whirring, when they see things move or flash." Turns out that areas of the brain in the visual cortext responsible for movement in such cases are connected up to auditory processing a little more intimately than normal. What I liked was the "inventory of sounds" there: tapping, beeping and whirring--the very kinds of sounds that accompany haptic anchoring: beeping (vowels), tapping (the sound of hands touching in 4 different styles) and whirring (general percussive, consonant articulation or brushing motions across the upper body.) And the "flash" analogy also works to emphasize the intensity of concentration or attention involved in real, multiple-modality engagement. The basic idea of haptic-integration, of course, is to create that very kind of felt-sense "hexus" of orthography, sounds, movement, visual field anchoring, meaning and body resonance, as reported earlier. I feel compelled to even offer an appropriate, haptic neologism, something like "Haptic-seize'ya?" 

Hunting for quail and qualia in pronunciation teaching

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I cannot resist a good analogy (or even a bad one, unfortunately!). My undergraduate degree in philosophy continues to "dog" me. Here is another. Hunting for quail and hunting for "qualia." If you have never experienced a quail hunt, just imagine a fabulous pronunciation class or "teachable pronunciation moment" where problems which must be dealt with immediately keep popping up all around you--and all 20 of your students are demanding your attention at the same time . . .  BUT FIRST, "qualia." That is a philosophical term, which focuses on what an experience feels like, its "raw feel"-- which corresponds in many ways to the term "felt sense" that we use in our work. If you can quickly and efficiently anchor the felt sense of a sound/word, the chances of integrating that change into spontaneous speech increase exponentially. The problem, for both quail and qualia hunting is context and system. Here are 10 tips from Mademan.com that apply e-QUAL-ly to both projects:
1. Look for quail in open land. (Make sure you have the learner's complete, whole-body attention.)
2. Use a shotgun when quail hunting. (You don't need extreme accuracy, just intelligibility.)
3. Bring a dog on your hunt. (The attention of the learner should be on the protocols, not on you as instructor.)
4. Never shoot a low flying quail. (Make sure that the target sound is clearly in focus before attempting to anchor it.)
5. Hunt for Quail in late season. (Implement integration work with the protocols after they have been introduced and practiced outside of the class.)
6. Stay as quiet as you can be. (The qualia should be as much an internal experience for the learner as possible, not a social event. The same applies for the instructor's role.)
7. Walk into the wind. (Always attempt to leave learners with the essentials of the protocols, not with too many random associations of place and occasion clinging to the anchored word or phrase.)
8. Know their routines. (Of both the protocols and the quality and quantity of homework assignments)
9. Look for fresh tracks. (Be always ready to recognize and point out learner progress on protocol form. Change in pronunciation of problematic sounds generally follows practice using the protocol.)
10. Be familiar with the hunting area before you hunt. (All aspects of the classroom milieu contribute to the effectiveness of noticing and anchoring sound to felt sense to qualia. Play some background music maybe or arrange the chairs before class . . . ) With those guidelines in mind, you should be more than QUALIAfied . . . 

Gola Aperta: Good, good, good, good vibrations . . . and vocal resonance

 Don Jupedo in the character of Harlequin
 jumping down his own throat . . . 

My current project is to develop a new protocol to establish excellent vowel resonance. That is simply critical for effective anchoring. The linked piece by Tracy Watson, which I will quote here, does a very nice job of explaining what it is, the felt sense of it and how it is achieved:

"Gola Aperta [literally: open throat] reflects not only the need for comfort, meaning a healthy, positive amount of muscle antagonism and tension when singing, but also the optimal use of the throat as a resonating body . . . Correct sensation involves an awareness of positive vertical and open space in the throat (like the sensation of breathing in the scent of a flower), and a feeling as though the sound being produced is gently yet energetically filling all of the available space. Depending upon the pitch, one can also feel the intensity of the vibration in different parts of the face. For lower pitches, there is most often a sense of the vibration in the jaw, lips, bridge of the nose, and the lower cheek area. With chest voice present, one may also feel some subglottic and “chest” vibration. As the frequency increases (pitch ascends), there is a sense of awareness of the vibration rising to a higher part of the face, across the bridge of the nose, the cheek area, behind the eyes, between the eyebrows and sometimes in the forehead as well."

Clearly, being able to speak with great resonance impacts more than just pronunciation. For one, it sets up the idea of speaking in a "new voice or identity" one that can be accessed almost as a distinct character or role. For many that construct is extremely helpful in switching to new pronunciation and monitoring ongoing speech. (See several earlier posts on elements of that therapeutic and actor-training strategy.) Once the new protocol is ready I'll post a video so you can try it out with your students. In the meantime, in preparation, get a first rate head and neck massage and practise seeing how much lavender essential oil fragrance you can draw in in one breath . . .