GRASPing HICP anchors

The acronym, GRASP (General Responsibility Assignment Software Patterns or Principles), used in software design (See Wikipedia ) represents the range of considerations and processes involved in creating such systems. When applied to developing a HICP system or method, especially the process of haptic anchoring, it helps to further unpack the concept of "grasping" ( 掴む ) as much of the felt sense of a sound as possible. The nine principles (from a haptic perspective):

• Information Expert function - Assign purposes or functions to each aspect or technique (providing explanations to learners concerning the underlying mechanisms)
• Creator function - Create anchors, which involve movement, sound and touch.
• Controller function- Identify dynamic aspects of pedagogical movement patterns, including position in the visual field, speed, contact type.
• Low Coupling function - Create clear, visual and haptic distinctions between sounds
• High Cohesion function - Use mechanisms that maintain focus and attention
• Polymorphism function - Anchor allophones of sounds (alternatives, such as dialect or word position variations) 
• Pure Fabrication function -Haptic anchor exceptions to general rules.
• Indirection function - Use haptic devices that ensure few if any distractions, such as breathing and eye tracking.
• Protected Variation function - Maintain haptic "distance" between the L1 and L2 or interlanguage forms. 

Grasp GRASP? It doesn't get any better than that!

Grasping haptic: Marshall McLuhan on haptic

握 Nice comment from Ken Johnstone, McLuhan Studies at University of Toronto, on McLuhan's read on the meaning of the Greek concept of haptic: "The haptic sense meant much more "mind" since it meant grasping, getting something whole. Grasping means that in some sense I become what I know in its concrete reality and so get it whole. It is this complete act of knowing, that then allows me to analyze my percept intellectually as well as affirm its reality in judgement. And it is this complete act of knowing that realizes my own centre."

I think most of us "Hapticians" would heartily agree with McLuhan's "felt sense" of haptic engagement, that it creates an integrated, concrete experience of not just the sound or word being attended to but also of the mind-body attending to it. In future posts I will explore more of the "sound-acquisition-readiness" that HICP/EHIEP should enhance if done consistently. In fact, it may well be that the greatest benefit of haptic awareness, as McLuhan contends, will be increasing realization or reaffirmation of one's own center and identity in both the L1 and L2. Again,  the "Medium had the message!" 握

Grasping new pronunciation

In the remarkable study by Symes of Plymouth University and colleagues reported in Science Daily, it was demonstrated that " . . . using a grabbing action with our hands can help our processing of visual information." In essence, by performing that hand movement, in preparation for touching a fruit of various sizes, features of a picture were more quickly recognized--assuming that the hand position reflected the shape of the object to be viewed.

The EHIEP vowel protocol uses a set of analogous gestures that simulate the felt sense, including duration of the vowel to be anchored (spoken as the hands touch). As one hand approaches the other it assumes a different configuration, depending on the type of vowel to be articulated. The visual image that is associated with the anchor may be written, appearing in the visual field, or visualized--as a dictionary entry or phonetic transcription of a word.

Whether or not the same "grabbing" principle applies to auditory or somatic images is not mentioned in the research report, but from what we know of the relation between haptic, auditory and visual, one would assume that the effect would be even more "pronounced" with auditory input. Regardless, it points to but another possible explanation for the "gripping" nature of EHIEP!