EAPIC AI, AI, AI, AI! (Summer 2025, English Accent and Pronunciation Improvement Course)

The summer course begins with a short recorded introduction available on Youtube, June 26th! (See fuller course description here.)  It includes a new AI-generated personalized homework feature (AI, AI, AI, AI!) The link and outline will be available here on the blog. 

In about two months make good progress in improving your English accent or pronunciation and be trained in how to keep on after the course--in about 30 minutes a day.  This is a 10-week course: 

• The recorded, 20-minute weekly training lessons are free, available Thursdays on Youtube and Vimeo.
• Personalized homework is created by students using Gen-AI (your choice of program; I use Perplexity.) Here is an example of what the AI-generated homework looks like. 
• The next week on Wednesday at 8 p.m. EST there is a live, optional 60-minute Zoom feedback session on that lesson for those students enrolled in the course (for $200 USD) or teachers who'd like to learn more about the system. The feedback sessions are also recorded.

To really benefit from the course, you should do the assigned daily homework and attend the optional feedback sections. The course officially begins Thursday June 26th, but you can join it anytime and still get caught up!  For more info or to enrol, contact me directly: wracton@gmail.com

Keep in touch!

Bill

AI, AI, AI, AI! (AI takes over creating personalized, haptic pronunciation teaching homework!)

 A core component of the English Accent and Pronunciation Improvement Course is the weekly embodied oral reading. Each week students are trained in a "Movement, tone, tempo and. touch technique" (MT4) that is then practiced in the oral reading in various ways. Part of the process is the student applying the MT4 to a ~300 word text. The personalized text will be generated by AI (I use Perplexity currently, but any Chat-GPT arrived at a similar "solution.") Here is a simple example. (The basic prompt, fill-in-the-blank format is provided for students each week. In this case, the career discipline or context area, accounting, and the proficiency level and L1 of students are filled in.) 

• Generate a word list that includes 20 technical terms used in accounting that can be difficult to pronounce for advanced adult learners of English whose native language is Korean. Include the phonetic transcription of each along with the word, itself. 
• Create an engaging, 300 word story with as much dialogue as possible, using those 20 words, where the basic theme is where an accountant is probably stealing from one of the firm's clients.

WHAT FOLLOWS IS WHAT PERPLEXITY PRODUCED: 

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The Case of the Missing Revenue

At the prestigious firm of Ledger & Logic, the morning began as usual: the aroma of coffee mingled with the faint scent of freshly printed balance sheets. But today, something was off. Ms. Park, the head accountant, was hunched over her desk, eyes darting between the income statement and the cash flow report, her fingers nervously tapping the edge of the fiscal calendar.

“Strange variance in the revenue again,” she muttered, highlighting numbers with the intensity of a forensic auditor. The asset manager, Mr. Kim, peeked over her shoulder. “Did you check the subsidiary accounts? Last month’s reconciliation didn’t quite add up.”

Ms. Park nodded, flipping through a stack of inventory reports. “I did. But there’s an expense entry for ‘Mystery Amortization’—and I can’t find any supporting documents.” She frowned, recalling the audit last quarter, when a similar anomaly appeared under ‘depreciation’ for office plants.

As the team gathered for their weekly consolidation meeting, the boss announced, “We need to address the liability on our client’s books. The equity position looks weaker every month.” The room fell silent. Even the intern, who had just learned the difference between accrual and actual cash, sensed trouble.’

Suddenly, Mr. Kim spoke up. “I noticed the same thing in the reconciliation for our biggest client. The audit trail leads to a fiscal black hole—right into Mr. Cho’s office.” All eyes turned to Mr. Cho, who was busy pretending to do a subsidiary inventory count.

With a dramatic flourish, Ms. Park produced the incriminating balance sheet. “It’s clear: someone is siphoning off assets and hiding them under bogus expense and depreciation entries. The only question is—how long has this been going on?”

The office buzzed with whispers. In accounting, numbers never lie—but sometimes, accountants do.

The word list: 

Here is a list of 20 technical accounting terms that can be challenging for advanced adult English learners whose native language is Korean. Each term includes its standard IPA phonetic transcription, highlighting sounds that are often difficult for Korean speakers (such as /r/, /l/, /v/, /f/, /θ/, /ð/, /z/, and certain vowels).

Term IPA Pronunciation

• accounting /əˈkaʊn.tɪŋ/
• asset /ˈæ.sɛt/
• liability /ˌlaɪ.əˈbɪl.ə.ti/
• equity /ˈɛk.wɪ.ti/
• revenue /ˈrɛv.əˌnuː/
• expense /ɪkˈspɛns/
• depreciation /dɪˌpriː.ʃiˈeɪ.ʃən/
• amortization /əˌmɔːr.taɪˈzeɪ.ʃən/
• accrual /əˈkruː.əl/
• reconciliation /rɪˌkɒn.sɪl.iˈeɪ.ʃən/
• inventory /ˈɪn.vənˌtɔːr.i/
• audit /ˈɔː.dɪt/
• balance sheet /ˈbæ.ləns ʃiːt/
• income statement /ˈɪn.kʌm ˈsteɪt.mənt/
• cash flow /kæʃ floʊ/
• fiscal /ˈfɪs.kəl/
• variance /ˈveə.ri.əns/
• subsidiary /səbˈsɪd.iˌɛr.i/
• consolidation /kənˌsɒl.ɪˈdeɪ.ʃən/
• reconciliation /rɪˌkɒn.sɪl.iˈeɪ.ʃən/

Notes on Pronunciation Challenges:

• /r/ and /l/ distinctions (liability, reconciliation, accrual, balance)
• /v/ and /b/ (revenue, variance)
• /f/ and /p/ (fiscal, profit)
• /θ/ and /ð/ (method, although not in this list, is common in accounting)
• Vowel differences, especially /æ/, /ɪ/, /ʌ/, /ə/
• Stress patterns in multisyllabic words (depreciation, amortization, consolidation)
• These terms are essential in accounting and are frequently sources of pronunciation errors for Korean speakers due to the differences in sound inventories and syllable structure between English and Korean.

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Not bad, eh! For this lesson, the MT4 is breaking up the sentences into rhythm groups, identifying the word with the most emphasis and then gesturing (jesturing!) on that word with the left hand tapping on the right deltoid muscle, termed the Syllable Butterfly. (You can see the training for that in this lesson from the Spring 2025 course.) 

A Super Somewhat "Solipsistic" Solo Method for Greatly Improving English Speaking Fluency!

COURSE closed! But we are opening another soon! Keep in touch!

I know what you are thinking . . .well, actually,"solipsistically" speaking, I probably don't, of course! But, anyway, this is a remarkable new course offering,  one designed for learners in a somewhat unique but actually very common niche: 

The 9-week online course, Acton Haptic English Fluency Training (HFT), is designed especially for non-native English-speaking adults who 

1. Do not have the opportunity for much, if any English, face-to-face conversation in their daily lives but 
2. Who want to keep improving, nonetheless, 
3. Who have an IELTS reading ability of about 4.0 or above, and 
4. Do not have a lot of cash to work with!

• HFT features Embodied Oral Reading to develop English fluency and confidence 

·       Embodied Oral Reading is done out loud, in private, using stories that are accompanied by special gestures which use concepts and vocabulary that students are already familiar with, essentially, what they can understand, but perhaps may not be able to talk about fluently.  

·     HFT provides the student with a set of skills which once learned they can continue improving with beyond the course. It is especially recommended, for example, for students who do not have access to conversational English currently, such as

o   Undergraduate and graduate students in programs not taught primarily in English

o   Parents whose spoken English is not strong and whose children are in public schools in North America

o   New immigrants and family members who cannot currently access English instruction

o   Students who are in religious studies where they will serve in a language other than English, but where being able to read Scripture in English in public is essential,

o   Retired “senior” English L2 speakers who may be “home alone” in some sense much of the time but would value spending 3-4 hours weekly to develop the clarity of their spoken English.  

·    It is based on extensive research (and decades of teaching experience) in oral reading methodology and the well-known "Lectio Divina" tradition in meditation practice, using extensive oral reading as homework—not in a class.

·    The key neuroscience-based innovation of HFT is the precise use of gestures and touch in the visual field. Synchronized with speech, these multimodality gestures create optimal conditions for attention, learning, retention and recall.

·    Course work is done individually, with four or five, 30-minute homework assignments and a live 75-minute zoom feedback meeting weekly, usually on Friday evening. (which is also recorded for later access, if necessary.)

• The emphasis is on improving the English that learners understand well but do no speak with the same level of success. 

• Learners finish the course being able to speak more rhythmically, more expressively, more precisely and with greater confidence.

• There are several possible story and text types that students can choose to use in their embodied oral readings (EORs):
• General academic English (for high school learners and older)
• General business English (for adults)
• General workplace English
• General seminary/Bible-based English (for students in Christian ministry or training)
• General informal conversation-based English (especially good for parents whose children's English is better than theirs!) 
• General instructional language used in teaching (for non-native English speaking teachers)
• Personalized, story-based English (for those want to improve just for the love of English)
• Course includes:
• Introduction and 8, 1-week lessons which include
• Weekly 30-minute recorded lessons
• Weekly 60-minute follow up, live (or recorded) lesson
• Daily, 20-30 minute homework assignments
• Syllabus
• Week 1 - Introduction
• Week 2 - Rhythm 1
• Week 3 - Fluency 1
• Week 4 - Vowels 1
• Week 5 - Vowels 2
• Week 6 - Consonants (th, w/y,  r/l and f/v)
• Week 7 - Intonation
• Week 8 - Rhythm 2 (Rhythm, linking and pausing) 
• Week 9 - Fluency 2 (Expressiveness and confidence)
• Example Unit:
• Monday, view recorded lesson
• Tuesday, do homework
• Wednesday, do homework
• Thursday, do homework
• Friday, follow up lesson live on Zoom (usually, 18:00 PST)
• Saturday, do homework
• Sunday: TAKE THE DAY OFF!!!
• Homework format:
• Review one part of the video (5 minutes)
• Practice the haptic gesture featured in the weekly lesson (5 minutes)
• Practice the Embodied Oral Reading (EOR) in the course materials (10~15 minutes)
• Record your last practice (about 2 minutes)
• Review your recording (about 2 minutes)
• Find some words or phrases that are not in the lesson to practice the lesson's  haptic gesture with! (5 minutes)
• (Optional) personalized Zoom meetings available for additional fee upon request
• Customized course versions tailored for organizations of almost any size. 
• (Optional) Professional development credit available through Trinity Western University

• Next course: October 9th ~ December 9th. 
• Cost: $350 USD, materials included. 
• To enroll or for more info, contact Bill Acton at wracton@gmail.com

• Further details are available at: www.actonhaptic.com/hft
• Instructors with training in haptic pronunciation teaching are invited to apply to be a collaborating instructor in these HFT courses. (Or offer the course through their school!)

A near perfect pronunciation course! (Fun, efficient, effective, memorable. . . and almost . . . free!)

If your students need help with basic pronunciation work--and remembering it--and you don't have the time or training or cash on hand to afford it . . .  I may have a solution for you: the new KINETIK "Feed-forward" Project (KFP), beginning on September 14, 2022. It is both a course and an ongoing celebration of haptic pronunciation teaching. (A new introductory video on the project will be available shortly!) 

There is a course for students, a regular, bi-weekly recorded, 30 minutes to 1-hour lesson, with an optional live follow up the following week. The recorded lesson with chat follow up will be free. The optional, live "Feed-forward" follow up the next week will probably be about $5 per session or $10 per month! For great results, students do the homework, too, about 3 hours per week. 

There is also an ongoing seminar on haptic pronunciation teaching and an optional teacher certification course that accompanies the student course. 

How does it work?

• Students are trained in specially designed haptic movement, tone and touch techniques (MT3) that both teach and are used to practice aspects of course content and pronunciation. 
• The use of MT3s make the training and course content very memorable
• Later they can be used for enhancing recall of any content or vocabulary, correction and feedback. 
• Students are trained to do the 2 weeks of homework for that module, using a special kind of oral reading, a haptic-embodied oral reading that keeps active learning and exploration going.  
• The next week, students have the option of just doing the homework or also attending a live, 75-minute practice and feedback session on Zoom with Bill Acton.
• The entire KFP curriculum cycle is completed in about 8 months.

More about KFP

• Teaches the basics of rhythm, stress, intonation, vowels, consonants, and other key features of English pronunciation in 2-week modules
• Bill Acton is the instructor, with support from other "Hapticians"
• For any student, upper beginner and above, almost any age (7+), and any place! 
• Fits in with or complements almost any English course
• Based on the idea of developing rhythm first and regular, instructor support during the learning process
• Uses the new KINETIK "Feed forward" system (using gesture and touch, plus innovative haptic feedback learning and self-monitoring techniques on Zoom or f2f to keep active learning going!)
• Each module is 2 weeks long, one hour (recorded) available on Monday in Week One and 75 minutes (live) on Wednesday in Week 2 (Done twice, 6 a.m. PST and 6 p.m., PST)
• Trains students to self correct and develop disciplined practice routines. 
• Recommended minimum 2~3 hours of (active, movement-based, haptic) homework per week
• Materials and video models provided
• KINETIK METHOD teacher training certificate course can be taken along with student course (You basically do the student course work along with your students, and also do some additional reading and attend the weekly KFP seminars.)
• Other custom-made student courses also available.

Introductory video, more details and curriculum coming soon! 

For more information: wracton@gmail.com 

Keep in touch!

Bill

Unemotional, improvement in conscientiousness in school (and homework and pronunciation) !!!

Here is a pair of studies just too good to believe which suggest that you can train subjects (students?) to become more conscientious without much if any conscious buy in, but (SURPRISE) to train somebody to greater emotional stability takes genuine commitment on their part. Part of the "trick" apparently is to do the conscientiousness training very carefully and incrementally (and unemotionally?) so that subjects don't catch on and react negatively. 

A quick summary of the studies by Hudson of Southern Methodist University, as further summarized by our friends at Sciencedaily.com. In the first study, college students were, in essence, asked which personality trait they'd like to improve, conscientiousness or emotional stability. They were then randomly assigned to one type of treatment without being informed as to why. The "conscientiousness" training included tasks such as being better organized. 

Regardless of the students initial selection those who were trained in conscientiousness reported improvement. In a second study, students were asked the same question but some were, instead, purposely assigned to "greater emotional stability," even though that was not their choice. Believe it or not, that intervention did not work for some reason . . . 

Now setting aside the "silly" second study, that you can train students to better emotional stability without their active commitment, the idea that getting students to improve in terms of conscientiousness without their active buy in is, of course, worth considering. Highly successful instructional systems all accomplish that. 

The question is how do you "unemotionally" but effectively and consistently promote conscientiousness, especially more autonomous engagement from that perspective, even when that is not initially a conscious priority for leaners? How does your course presentation and instructional system make that work? How does culture play into that type of discipline? Let us know!

In haptic pronunciation teaching, and especially the v6.0 KINETIK Method, effective homework is critical, at least a total of two hours weekly, to achieve substantial improvement. That is accomplished, in part, by first foregrounding disciple as a key feature of the system in the course introduction and then by proscribing almost minute-by-minute, 20-minute practice routines to be done daily, best case. Be delighted to tell you much more about that, in fact: www.actonhaptic.com/KINETIK

 

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The "Marshmallow effect" in (haptic pronunciation) teaching

Following up on the previous blogpost on "distracting from distractions," here is a "delicious" study by Heyman, of University of California San Diego, and colleagues, summarized by Science Daily that attempts to refine the classic "Marshmallow effect," studies where children are bribed with marshmallows to see how long they will wait to eat them. Basically, they are told if they can just hold off a bit, they'll get more marshmallows. Those that do turn out to be more successful later in life, maybe more disciplined, etc. 

In this study the added variable was that the 3 and 4 year olds in different groups were told (a) their teacher would find out how much time they waited, (b) their friends would find out, or (c) in the control group, no such instruction were provided. As you can guess, the first two groups waited longer; the first, more than twice as long as the second. (The researchers' conclusions as to what is actually motivating the kids--they say " . . .  findings suggest that the desire to impress others is strong and can motivate human behavior starting at a very young age." Well maybe, in the case of (b), but in (a), given that the research was done in China . . . could there be other cultural factors involved, such as fear of teacher reaction or discipline? Maybe . . . 

In haptic pronunciation teaching, but in many different teaching contexts, instructors pay very close attention to time on task work by students both in and out of class. A basic HaPT protocol is that students have to report weekly in some detail on their out of class practice, including how much time on assigned task and various levels of evaluation of how "it" went. Here, too, however, there is the same "Marshmallow" question . . . Those that do consistently report seem to do much better; those that don't, don't. But there is no obvious way to assign simple cause and effect there. Maybe it is just that the disciplined do better, including at providing good reports on time allocation, etc. 

I have been unable to find a decent piece of research that parallels what we do in the "ActonHaptic" version of HaPT with time management and reporting. (If you know of one, please pass that on!) But, the general effect always seems to be more focused, less distracted work/study. I do something similar in my some of my grad courses, in fact, where at least the monitoring effect, that they have to report to me regularly always seems to "work." I do have data from final course evaluations that confirms that consistently. 

So . . . try applying that idea to your course. As you do, take careful notes on how much time you spend on what, and when, and how it seemed to work. Then report back to me . . . or else!

Source: 

Association for Psychological Science. (2020, September 10). Children will wait to impress others -- another twist on the classic marshmallow test. ScienceDaily. Retrieved October 26, 2020 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200910110826.htm

CPR for Pronunciation homework and teaching . . . that works!

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Excellent study by Martin, "Pronunciation Can Be Acquired Outside the Classroom: Design and Assessment of Homework-Based Training," a real MUST READ for you if you are serious about pronunciation teaching, demonstrating that at least one kind of (computer-mediated)  homework system is not only effective, but may work as well as classroom-only instruction. 

The basic process in the homework phase was what is termed, iCPR, computer-based, intelligibility focused cued pronunciation reading. Learners are provided with explicit instruction, explanation and then both perceptual and production training and practice, with feedback in the perceptual phase/practice only. 

The study involved adult learners of German, extending over 10 weeks, with the equivalent of about 30 minutes of instruction either in class or out of class. The in-class lessons seemed to closely mimic the process and time allocation of the homework. From a number of perspectives, either treatment showed equally significant improvement and student satisfaction. Methodologically, the project seems tight, although the use of the term, homework, is probably a little misleading today when the learner never really "leaves" the web in some form during the day except for sleep . . . 

In corresponding with the researcher, my only question was: How (on earth) did you get the students to DO their homework? Surely it  had something to do with the "sell" up front, the allocation of grade points (easily accounted for in the computer-mediated system) and (probably) early student awareness to some degree of the program's efficacy. So . . . it looks well conceived, a highly detailed blueprint of how to set up a similar system. 

Setting aside the question of just how readily the process can be adopted and adapted for the moment, what this shows or means is that Martin has given us another intriguing picture of the future of pronunciation teaching: pronunciation work handled outside of in-class instruction. 

To paraphrase Lincoln Steffens: "I have seen the future (of pronunciation teaching) and it works. [remark after visiting the Soviet Union in 1919]” or maybe even Marshall McLuhan: "If it works, it's obsolete." . . . The field is changing fast. Pronounced change, to put it mildly!

Source: 

The Modern Language Journal, 0, 0, (2020) DOI: 10.1111/modl.12638 0026-7902/20/1–23 National Federation of Modern Language Teachers Associations

What mouse circadian memory should remind us of (in recalling pronunciation or anything learned earlier)

Mystery partially solved. In doing research on homework efficiency and compliance in pronunciation teaching, something I had never taken all that seriously: If given an option, almost all students seem to prefer to do pronunciation practice/homework after supper, or later, rather than in the morning, before class. (Is that the case with your students as well?) Maybe it is a matter of priorities, save the least important for last; wait until you are incapable of doing much of anything else. (Earlier, when "homework" was mostly mindless drill, that probably made sense.) In fact, for no empirical reason really, other than the possibility of more immediate follow up, we have for years suggested learners do just that . . . schedule pronunciation work later in the day. There is, of course, overwhelming evidence that a good night's sleep does wonders for learning consolidation and memory.

Now an extraordinary study by Hasegawa et al., reported in ScienceDaily, demonstrating that mice,

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at least (and by extension probably all us caffeine-addicted academics), have periods in the day when they are not as good at remembering things as others. Specifically, that period (for mice) just before or around the time they would usually wake up. No surprise there, eh! But what is a surprise is that the contrast is so striking during that brief interval: their memory, especially for recent training, is almost . . . nonexistent. Later, it is "back." Why so? The researchers end the piece wondering why mice--and us probably--would have evolved with that temporary "black hole" in our functional system.

I can tell them. When I first wake up the last thing I want to think about is the training or encounters of yesterday. Give my subconscious a little more time to process that while I attend to my more immediate concerns of survival, for example.

There is also lots of research focusing on learning efficiency of school-age students during different parts of the day, especially those who really don't get going until about noon. Why not the same consideration for when language learning students practice and the types of practice required? Good question.

Back to the mice. Their "task" involved touching a level to get food. During their brief, selective memory-free zone, in exploring what is in front of them, they would touch the level longer, in effect feeling it out, figuring out what it is. If given the task later they touched it immediately and with authority. Haptic pronunciation work involves extensive use of touch in virtually all activities. Our working hypothesis, based on decades of research on tactile memory, is that touch is the link both to integration of the other senses and vividness or strength of recall of phonological element in focus. We have, however, always observed great variability in learners' reports of their experience of that touch, in terms of intensity and impact.

It is about "time" we investigated that further!


Full citation:
University of Tokyo. (2019, December 18). Forgetfulness might depend on time of day. ScienceDaily. Retrieved January 5, 2020 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/12/191218090152.htm

Killing Pronunciation 10: Clear habits of successful (pronunciation) teaching and change

Next installment in our "Killing pronunciation" series: Bad habits or how to overcome them. (If you are not in the habit of following the blog or have missed any of them, go here!)

I'm doing a new graduate course in the spring where I'll be interviewing experienced "master teachers" in second language work. Some questions they'll all get:

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• How important or effective is homework?
• Do you assign it? 
• Do your students do it?'
• If so, how do you get them to?

Pronunciation homework is one of my favorite topics, in part because it is near critical to real success in haptic pronunciation teaching. There have been a series of blog posts, research studies and conference presentations on that, too. The issue that always arises is: How can I change my own habits, let alone those of my students? Whose fault is it that they don't study outside of class or learn much from what they do work on? Can that be improved?

I have a "Clear" answer for you: Check out this new 2-hour video interview of James Clear by Rich Roll, two of my go-to sources on the inner game of change. It is occasioned by Clear's new book, Atomic Habits, reviewed the NY Times, which I just finished reading. Could be a game changer for you . . .

I'd recommend doing this in at least two, one-hour bites and then getting the book so you can follow Clear's simple but elegant game plan. He is a very straight shooter, one whose blog I have been following for some time. If you have too much psychology or not quite enough, this is highly recommended, especially in how you think about the connection between your teaching objectives and what part student follow up and uptake should involve.

"Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going" (Jim Ryan)

Killing pronunciation 5: Deliberate (boring) practice and the Passion-Practice paradox

Pronunciation enthusiasts can be some of the most energetic, entertaining and gesticular among us . . . unfortunately. (Mea culpa!)

Require your students to do boring and repetitive pronunciation in class or homework much? (Do you hold them accountable for quality practice outside of class?) If you have been following the blog for a while, you know that I am a big fan of James Clear. If you need to change something--most anything--and you probably still don't need a coach or therapist to help get you there, his website is worth a visit. His latest post, "The Behavior-change paradox", combined with Eduardo Briceno's TED talk on "How to get better at things you care about" forms a nice program for change of sorts--even pronunciation change!

"Deliberate practice" is back in vogue. One of the great "myths" of our time is that most anything can be learned at near light speed, relatively speaking. The typical pitch from quick-change methodologists (and con artists) such as "change your accent FAST!" reflects that legacy of both behaviorism and technology, especially the latter--and marketing, of course.

The two pieces of the Clear-Briceno model are (simply) consistent, incremental change and focused passion. You need both. Clear's analysis of why we often fail to make change in our habits is simple, but striking, and captures the passion-practice paradox: the more we try to change in the short term or the harder we go at it, the more resistance we encounter. Effective change over time is generally based on disciplined alteration of key practices at the day or even hour-by-hour level.

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In other words, in pronunciation teaching, motivating learners, impacting their "cognition", assisting them in planning or thinking about their personal goals and objectives can be pretty much pointless, or worse, unless they know how to practice effectively on a near daily basis. Furthermore, that work is for the most part not sexy or exciting, but often boring--and most importantly--progress at that level is generally not perceptible, although over time it will be.

Do you do that? How is your "passion-practice" balance, especially in assigning homework or getting learners charged up, self-directed and autonomous? If you function in a language lab or do a lot of pronunciation on the web, you may be off the hook somewhat, of course. Now we know why the lab and technology are making a serious comeback in the field--and may eventually replace us all!

In the meantime, if you are having issues with your diet, exercise, budgeting or metaphysical discipline, check out the Clear post (and maybe even download is longer, more detailed instructions on how to get your act together.) Then have a focused, professional talk with your students on incremental, manageable practicing of their pronunciation and their L2 in general . . . regularly.

Before you do, you might also want to check with your local personal fitness training coach or "haptician" on some effective ways to do that!

Killing pronunciation 4: Dis-integrated vs prior schema-based pronunciation change

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What does it mean to "integrate" pronunciation work into "regular" instruction? And if you do, how do you know if it "worked"--or why? : Caveat emptor: Without informed, systematic follow up, most pronunciation instruction is probably a crap shoot, dicey at best. 

That thought was again inspired, in part, by a recent article in the new Handbook of  Pronunciation Teaching by Sicola and Darcy entitled: Integrating Pronunciation into the Language Classroom.  

To access the chapter you have to buy the Handbook itself, prices ranging from about $125 to $195USD, plus tax and shipping, or just the online chapter itself for about $35USD--or from about 6 vente carmel frapps up to around 40!

In essence, Sicola and Darcy argue that since there is a range of pronunciation teaching techniques and strategies that have been shown to produce some gain or results in reported practice or quasi-experimental studies, then when integrated into general classroom instruction--as opposed to being taught in a separate class or individualized work online-- they should work in that integrated context, too. Really? I think they are maybe half right, but they have almost no "hard" evidence to support that claim.

An earlier post focused on why figuring out whether or not a method works can be so problematic in education today: basically, integrated instruction can mask the actual impact of individual techniques and procedures, such as homework--or pronunciation. Context of instruction trumps technique, almost always.

The near consensus among researchers investigating in-class feedback and correction, for example, as unpacked in a recent blogpost, is now that for genuine, effective uptake to occur in pronunciation work it must be predominantly in follow up that it occurs not in initial in-class presentation and practice -- or homework, but as it followed up on later and repeatedly (Rosario et al, 2015).

So, how do you best set up the key pronunciation schema that you need to use in everyday instruction, in little vignettes or mini-lessons inserted into speaking, listening, reading and writing courses, or . . . in something like the old reliable, stand alone "pronunciation class" that provided the basic training that was then followed up on or used spontaneously during incidental "teachable moments"  by any and all instructors in the program at large?

Where are we headed? My guess: back to good "out of class" experience and basic pronunciation  training, either in the form of specific pronunciation-designated classes or something analogous, such as web-based training,  that is then referred back to by instructors in integrated pronunciation work all over the place and curriculum. In other words, pronunciation techniques should be part of everybody's tool kit but ideally the basic training should occur someplace else, before the problem is addressed in class. Our colleagues who do public speaking and voice training have had this right for decades.

The sooner some of what passes for (one-shot-mini-lesson-in-the-middle-of-something-else-with-no-clear-follow-up-based) integrated instruction disintegrates, the better! (It already has in haptic pronunciation instruction, of course, should you need a great model of how to do it!)

Sources:

Rosario, P., Nunez, J., Vallejo, G., Cunha, J., Nunes, T., Suarez, N., Fuentes, S. & Moreira, T. (2015). The effects of teachers' homework follow-up practices on students' EFL performance: a randomized-group design. Retrieved from: http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01528/full.

Killing pronunciation 3: Grit

Clker.com

To the "gritty" student, there can be nothing more frustrating than pointless, unproductive pronunciation homework--or even worse, none at all.

If you are a follower of this blog, you know I am a big fan of James Clear. If you need to change something--most anything--and you still don't need a coach or therapist to help get you there, his website is worth a visit. His latest post on "building mental toughness" linked to an earlier piece: Grit: a complete guide on being mentally tough. (Embedded in that post is a TED talk by Duckworth, on "grit" which you should also watch if you haven't already.)

Grit is defined in a number of ways but, basically, it means having the strength of character to persevere to ones goals. 

Grit is a key variable in success in pronunciation, I'm sure, although I have been unable to find a good study to verify that. My own experience with accent reduction clients is that to fix their accent  they need just two thing: grit and money (and time, of course.)

Where that especially comes into play is in homework--my current area of research in preparation for a panel at the 2017 TESOL Convention later this month. If you have a student who has real grit, in terms of pronunciation homework, can you provide him or her with sufficient direction as to what to work on and practice outside of class? I have been asking that question repeatedly of late and the overwhelming response from instructors is . . . No!

In fact some instructors have replied that monitored and required practice outside of class, such as drill and repetition and oral reading is probably not worth the effort. And even if it is, "how am I to know whether it was done well or productively?"

There you have it. One of Clear's key principles, based on current research, is that in developing grit the learner must NOT rely on motivation but on habit, on discipline. But for a student to do that, there must be clear guidance and assignments.

How do your homework assignments and guidance to your students on how to improve their pronunciation stack up with that criteria? Probably not all that well, right? This is big, actually. We are just coming out of a period where focus on motivation and meta-cognition (thought and planning about pronunciation change) have been enormously influential.

One of Clear's other principles in developing it is to: Build grit with small physical wins. There are any number of ways to do that, of course, but it takes a consistent, coherent method at least. In pronunciation work, that is or should be a "gimme!"

EHIEP is based on the idea that embodied (gesture-based) homework/practice is key. The success of the system relies on establishing cognitive schema (haptic cognition) such that subsequent in class or incidental learning or correction of pronunciation will happen efficiently, as the learn relates back to the model or rule learned earlier. (That is one of the most important findings in research on incidental correction in class of pronunciation.) In general, homework is carefully prescribed to help create such schema and students need to "homework" at least 3 times a week for 30 minutes to facilitate that, preferably every day.

It takes "true grit" to do that -- and manage it. If that is not part of your current method and "growth mindset" (Dweck, 2016), "Clear" up your current pedagogical habits and grit back to us!

44 features of effective homework!

I'm doing a workshop this weekend, "Do your homework!" at the BCTEAL Clker.com Regional Conference in Victoria, British Columbia, that focuses on good homework practices in English Language Teaching. Although there is some obvious overlap in the 44 parameters that we pulled from research on homework in general, much of it from North America and Europe (See Reference Section), it is still a helpful inventory. Here is an adapted version of the workshop handout. Just for fun, go through it and see just how many features are evident in your courses (or at least your thinking!) If you can think of more, please add them as comments! Some parameters of effective homework	You do it?
1. Differentiated (for individuals)
2  Can be done independently (with no help from parents or other students)
3. Get started on homework in class
4. Students understand the purpose and value
5. Developmentally appropriate
6. Allows students choice(s) in what to do
7. Students can stop when they believe they understand the  concept well enough
8. Graded (but not figuring in to course grade)
9. Comments requiring follow up
10. Subject matter differences evident.
11. Optimal hours per week? (max 2 per day/night)
12. Integration with lesson(s) recognizable and consistent
13. Student autonomy encouraged
14. Time management required or encouraged
15. Scaffolding implicit or explicit
16. Mentoring/coaching function evident
17. “embodied practice” (Do something other than sit and think and take notes.)
18. Data management system supplied
19. Multi-modality practice
20. Overlearning (especially for beginners)
21. Homework practice interviews done with instructors

22. Tasks that cannot be performed in class
23. Predicted time required indicated
24. Tracking actual homework task time
25. Homework counts toward grades
26. Homework packets provided
27. Recognized benefits to students & teacher presented and acknowledged
28. Effective in class follow up (i.e., checking homework orally; checking homework on the board; and collecting and grading homework)
29. Student “enjoyment” of homework
30. Online applications and storage
31. Cultural expectations met or moderated
32. Gains (8 ~ 31%) evident
33. Reflective practice required
34. Meta-cognitive (planned practice)
35. “learning lexicon” developed over time by students and/or instructor
36. Incidental study recognition
37. Portfolio review
38. Student recommendations, evaluations of homework effectiveness
39. “Filing” system required and reviewed
40. Homework ethnography (f2f interviews focusing on more than just practice)
41. Group homework proposals and review
43. Demonstrates competence
44. Is aesthetically pleasing

Selected references

Cooper, H., Robinson, J., & Patall, E. (2006). Does Homework Improve Academic Achievement? A Synthesis of Research, 1987–2003 Review of Educational Research 76:1, 1-62.

Galloway, M., Conner, J., & Pope, D. (2013). Nonacademic Effects of Homework in Privileged, High-Performing High Schools, Journal of Experimental Education, 81:4, 490-510.

Ozkan E., & Henderson, D.  (2011). Are we wasting our children’s time by giving them more homework?, Economics of Education Review Economics of Education Review, 30:5, 950-961.

National Education Commission on Time and Learning (1994). Retrieved February 2, 2016, http://econpapers.repec.org/article/eeeecoedu/v_3a30_3ay_3a2011_3ai_3a5_3ap_3a950-961.htm.

The Hechinger report (2015). Retrieved from

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/01/05/study-homework-matters-more-in-certain-countries

Rosario, P., Nunez, J., Vallejo, G., Cunha, J., Nunes, T., Suarez, N., Fuentes, S., & Moreira, T. (2015) The effects of teachers' homework follow-up practices on students' EFL performance: a randomized-group design http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01528/full.

ASCD (2007). The case for and against homework. Retrieved February 4, 2016,

http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar07/vol64/num06/The-Case-For-and-Against-Homework.aspx.

Challenge Success (2012). Retrieved February 2, 2016, www.challengesuccess.org.

Vatterott, C. (2016). Retrieved February 2, 2016, http://www.homeworklady.com/.

Safakova, Z. (2015). Reasons for doing/not online homework: insights from EFL students, A. & Cubri, M. (Eds).  ECEL2015-14th European Conference on e-Learning, 510-518.