Paying attention to paying attention! Or else . . . !

Two very accessible, useful blogposts, primers by Mike Hobbis, PhD student in neuroscience @UCL on attention in teaching worth a read, one on why there should be more research on attention in the classroom, and a second, which I like a lot, on attention as an effect, not a just cause.

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Hobbis' basic point is that attention should be more the "center of attention" in methodology and research today than it is. Why it isn't is really good question. In part, there are just so many other things to "attend to"  . . .

I was really struck by the fact that I, too, still tend to use attention more as a cause, not an effect, meaning: if students are not paying attention in some form, my lesson plan or structure can not possibly be at fault: it is probably the continuous "laptopping" during the class or lack of sleep on their parts. The research on the impact of multitasking at the keyboard in school on a whole range of subjects and tasks, for example, is extensive . . . and inconclusive-- except in teaching pronunciation, where, as far as I can determine, there is none. (If you know of some PLEASE post the link here!)

There is, of course, a great deal of research on paying attention to pronunciation from various perspectives, per se, such as Counselman 2015, on "forcing" students to pay attention to their pronunciation and variance from a model. But, the extent to which variable attention alone contributes to the overall main effect is not pulled out in any study that I have been able to find.

Now I am not quite to Counselman's level of "forcing" attention, either by totally captivating instruction or capturing the attention and holding it hostage along the way, but Hobbis makes a very good point in the two blogposts that must go in both directions, if not simultaneously but at least systematically. In haptic pronunciation work--or most pronunciation teaching for that matter-- the extensive use of gesture alone should function at both levels. The same applies to any movement-enhanced methodology such as TPR (Total Physical Response) or  mind-body interplay, as in Mindfulness training. The question, of course, is how mindful and intentional in methodology are we.

There has been a resurgence of attention to attention in the last decade in a number of sub-disciplines in neuroscience as well. Have you been paying attention--either to the research or in your classroom? If so, share that w/us, too! (The next blogpost will focus on the range of attention-driven, neuroscience-grounded best practice classroom techniques.) Join that conversation. You have our attention!

Body wisdom in pronunciation teaching: Listen to your heart . . .

Clip art: Clker

Clip art: Clker

In haptic-integrated work, the right degree of "body awareness" is essential. There are many ways to accomplish that, of course. Sometimes students come to class with it already; sometimes it requires work. The term "body wisdom" in the title of the blogpost is a reference to Lessac's 1978 book, Body Wisdom, my introduction to Lessac and embodiment. There are any number of systems such as that for leading learners to optimal use of the body in speaking and just daily functioning. One thing they all share is a conceptual (nonverbal or verbal) strategy for checking on and managing the "status" of the various systems of the body, both autonomic and those which you can control consciously, like posture. One of them, in fact, was learning how to listen to your heartbeat. (That is also used in some biofeedback and meditation systems as well, for example.) Dunn and colleagues at Cambridge conducted a study where a similar awareness of heartbeat enhanced decision making. In fact, the better subjects were at monitoring their heartbeat, the better their decisions in a  complex card game tended to be. The researchers do not speculate (enough) on exactly why that should be the case, I will. Even if all that is doing is managing distraction and attention momentarily, that is often enormously beneficial. Often just doing a quick voice and body warm up, the "buzz" that results at least keeps learners thoughts in the room and on instruction for a few minutes--until disinterest, apathy or fatigue set in. In a noisy room, the felt sense of the heart beat can be nearly impossible for some to get. (The researchers used head sets and electronic heart monitors, like the one I run with.) But a good warm up and repeated use of pedagogical movement patterns to anchor speech can serve the same function, and more. In fact, it is relatively easy from the front of the room to visually monitor the fluent/dis-fluent body rhythms of students--and adjust those as necessary. (If you don't know how, ask your local kindergarten teacher.) As the title of the Science Daily says, "Trust your gut . . . " or something close to that!

Transformation and "Transdiagnosis" of pronunciation

Clipart: Clker

Clipart: Clker

In this article from ScienceDaily, summarizing the research of Norton of the University of Houston, it is reported that "Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy" (CBT) for a client who has some "pronounced" anxiety problem--and also focuses appropriately on related psychological phenomena, such as mood, general confidence, self-image or self-awareness--will have the effect of "improving" those as well. The distinction that Norton is making is that even though normally that kind of "collateral" improvement happens anyway, it is substantially stronger when the initial diagnosis and ongoing treatment focuses on them proportionately as well. So what does that mean for pronunciation instruction, especially haptic-integrated work? Essentially, it is a reaffirmation of the "whole person" approach to instruction with one important difference. From the CBT perspective, as in Critical Phonology and other "critical" frameworks, the bottom line is that explicit, 2-way, reciprocal,  interactive connections are made in the mind of the learner between the main focus of "instruction" (in this case, pronunciation) and potential changes in related, generally affective factors such as attitude, motivation, L2 identity, etc. In other words, since a positive attitude enhances pronunciation change, the converse is also the case. As "common-sensical" as that is, the practical implications of that in the classroom are worth considering. If you can at least moderate the bad mood or negative attitude of a learners in class before pronunciation work, should you actively do that? And how? You often will not be able to simply "talk them out of it"-- but with regular, carefully choreographed, Lessac-like, body-based warm ups and haptic-based (movement and touch) exercises--you can, almost invariably. Just do it. 

Touching: relieving the pain and stress (of pronunciation work!)

Clipart: Clker

Clipart: Clker

EHIEP protocols make use almost exclusively of self-touch, generally at the terminal point of a pedagogical movement pattern by one or both hands across the visual field. Among the many "touch therapies," Jin Shin Jyutsu is well known for its healing and restorative power. In a recent study, where Jin Shin Jyutsu was used with cancer patients, summarized by Science Daily, it was discovered that " . . . in each session patients experienced significant improvement in the areas of pain, stress, and nausea . . . During a Jin Shin Jyutsu session, patients receive light touches on 52 specific energetic points called Safety Energy Locks as well as fingers, toes, and midpoints on the upper arm, upper calf and lower leg in predetermined orders known as "flows." Setting aside for the moment the cultural, hygiene and interpersonal (especially "inter-gender") issues involved in having learners touch each other in class, what we might call "pair anchoring" does have real potential--especially if I can figure out how to use some of those "safety energy locks!" By that I mean, for example, one learner safely touches the hand of another on stressed elements in words, phrases and sentences. I have experimented some with "tag teams" (kind of a nice analogy there to teams in professional wrestling, in fact.) I have done that occasionally when I have had couples studying with me or by using gloves, pencils, tennis balls and other "interfaces" during student-on-student anchoring exercises. That seems to at the very least relieve some of the pain and stress! Generally speaking, it is also very motivating in making pair work, work. In one protocol, in fact, having students use boxing gloves to develop better rhythm (See my earlier, relatively goofy, Youtube "Fight Club"!) seems to be amazingly effective. Unfortunately, boxing gloves are expensive, hard to get on an off and also relatively unsanitary by today's standards. But you get the idea. In time, with virtual reality haptic systems, "tag team haptic anchoring" will be more pedagogically acceptable, I'm sure. In the meantime,  try a few of the protocols with your BFF, "manno-a-manno!"

Pronunciation "workouts" and "work-ins!"

Clip art: Clker

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. 

Experiential pronunciation learning: sing first, think later

Clip art: Clker

Clip art: Clker

Here is a 30-minute video by Per Bristow which is worth watching. (You might have to sign up for his free newsletter to view it, unfortunately . . . ) It takes him about 25 minutes to get to unpacking his method but when he does, as you will see, it is worth the wait, very consonant with HICP thinking. His basic approach is to set up what he calls a mind set of the "rapid or creative learner," beginning with kinaesthetic awareness, which leads to self awareness and beyond--from an almost entirely experiential learning perspective. Nothing he advocates is inconsistent with that of Lessac, for example, although it would be almost worth buying his DVD and signing up for his program for one of my students, just to see if and how it works. Being a singer, myself, what he says makes real sense and is probably not all that difficult, in principle, to manage--with a little self discipline and desire. But his basic pitch, that of developing a good, healthy voice, is dead on and well presented. (Even his accent is interesting!) If you don't have one yet, you should get one. 

Is physical exercise good for the brain--and pronunciation?

Probably, according to this recent research--unless, of course, you do not have quite the right genetic profile (without the correct BDNF balance), are a little too old, are a sedentary male, or some combination of those factors.

According to the summary, if you are a rat who is ADHD, that is another story, however! I know a couple of those, in fact. There is some research (some of which I participated in as a grad student and have yet to recover completely from) that other "treatments," for example, alcohol, valium, hypnosis, empathy--and a few others, may improve pronunciation, at least temporarily.


So the question is: How do the multiple-modality, directed body movement and rhythmic, dance-like routines employed in EHIEP fit into that framework? Are they closer to push ups, a good massage, a glass of wine or a Vente Carmel Frappuccino? My own read on this from about 30 years of body-based pronunciation work is that there is certainly something to it, that exercise is at least good for enhancing mind-body connectivity, body awareness, concept embodiment, kinaesthetic monitoring of speech performance and staying loose so you can learn.

At least for the time being, none of that seems to hold up too well under close empirical scrutiny. Bummer. I'd better go out for a run.