More than a touch less stress in pronunciation teaching!

Maybe the biggest problem with pronunciation teaching (other than time, training and "bokoos" of counter-productive techniques) is  . . . well . . .  stress, one of the most, if nor THE most consistently reported factors affecting instruction from both teachers and students. Likewise, approaches to "de-stressing" the classroom almost always entail doing something with body, such as in "mindfulness," which is essentially, consciously focusing on something other than the brain in achieving relaxation and various kinds of attention. 

A just recently published study by Lu and ten other researchers at MIT, Somatosensory cortical signature of facial nociception and vibrotactile touch–induced analgesia, "touches on" the potentially powerful role of touch in mediating the effect of stress. (Let me translate that!) Touching, the face in this instance--by mice, moderates the impact of stress, touch-mediated analgesia. 

Now granted, generalizing from a study done on mice to the potential role of touch in pronunciation teaching is a bit of a stretch. Not so much actually. All pronunciation work involves touch, albeit generally without conscious, systematic attention, for example, clapping hands to holding objects used to

• embody phonological concepts, such as rubber bands with vowel lengthening 
• fingers touching the larynx for vowel voicing 
• focusing learners attention of touch between articulators in the mouth

Haptic pronunciation teaching in its latest iteration, The KINETIK Method, involves extensive use of gesture-plus-touch in all phases of the system. Research has long established the stress reducing nature of body movement and breathing, in general, but the contribution of touch, either in conjunction with gesture or in isolation, has not been researched in this field. In haptic work we have know for decades that touch contributes substantially to the process but it has been almost impossible to set up or successively carry out a study to exploring just to what extent that is the case. 

This study makes a fundamental contribution to our understanding of the underlying "wiring" between touch and emotion and stress. In particular, it confirms the importance of use of touch with gesture in anchoring rhythm and stress in instruction. For more on that see these recent blog posts: 

• This one on touch and link to sounds
• This one on the PTSD parallel .  . . 
• Your standard KINETIK course

As we always say: Keep in touch!!!

Source:

SCIENCE ADVANCES 16 Nov 2022, Vol 8, Issue 46
DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abn6530

Body-full-ness and (haptic) pronunciation teaching--make no mistake or at least fewer!

Avoiding, correcting, accepting, embracing errors . . . take your pick in pronunciation (and all) instruction as to how you respond when learners come up with something overly "creative" or slightly outside their optimal L2 target inventory. A 2019 study by Lin and colleagues, "How meditation can help you make fewer mistakes - Meditating just once proves to make a difference," summarized by ScienceDaily.com, draws a fascinating but not surprising connection between meditation (or mindfulness training) and "making fewer errors." 

In essence, subjects that were given 20-minutes of meditation and then, hooked up to brain monitors,  were better at performing an error avoidance task, a "computerized distraction test." This was a simple laboratory experiment, of course, but one implication, for the researchers at least, was more empirical support for the current widespread application of "mindfulness" training in education. 

If you have been following the blog, you'll recall that from a haptic perspective, I see mindfulness training, which basically focuses on body states to hold the conscious, modern neurotic mind at bay, is more accurately described as "body-full-ness" (BFN) training. BFN is the basis of haptic pronunciation teaching, prioritizing body-based rhythm engagement and then changing speech patterns through manipulation of upper body torso movement and gesture. In other words, in Lessac's words, "training the body first," is key to effective and efficient speech change and instruction. 

To learn how to teach more "haptically," in the new KINETIK Method system, goto: www.actonhaptic.com or email me directly: wracton@gmail.com and I'll be happy to Zoom you in!!!

Bill

Source:

Michigan State University. (2019, November 11). How meditation can help you make fewer mistakes: Meditating just once proves to make a difference. ScienceDaily. Retrieved January 9, 2022 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/11/191111124637.htm

An "after thought" no longer: Embodied cognition, pronunciation instruction and warm ups!

If your pronunciation work is less than memorable or engaging, you may be missing a simple but critical step: warming up the body . . . and mind (cf., recent posts on using Mindfulness or Lessac training for that purpose.) Here's why.

A recent, readable piece by Cardona, Embodied Cognition: A Challenging Road for Clinical Neuropsychology presents a framework that parallels most contemporary models of pronunciation instruction. (Recall the name of this blog: Haptic-integrated CLINICAL pronunciation research!) The basic problem is not that the body is not adequately included or applied in therapy or instruction, but that it generally "comes last" in the process, often just to reinforce what has been "taught", at best.

That linear model has a long history, according to Cardona, in part due to " the convergence of the localizationist approaches and computational models of information processing adopted by CN (clinical neuropsychology)".  His "good news" is that research in neuroscience and embodied cognition has (finally) begun to establish more of the role of the body, relative to both thought and perception, one of parity, contributing bidirectionally to the process--as opposed to contemporary "disembodied and localization connectivist" approaches. (He might as well be talking about pronunciation teaching there.)

"Recently, embodied cognition (EC) has put the sensory-motor system on the stage of human cognitive neuroscience . . .  EC proposes that the brain systems underlying perception and action are integrated with cognition in bidirectional pathways  . . , highlighting their connection with bodily  . . . and emotional  . . .  experiences, leading to research programs aimed at demonstrating the influence of action on perception . . . and high-level cognition  . . . "  (Cardona, 2017) (The ellipted sections represent research citations in the original.) 

Pick up almost any pronunciation teaching text today and observe the order in which pronunciation features are presented and  taught. I did that recently, reviewing over two dozen recent student and methods books. Almost without exception the order was something like the following:

• perception (by focused listening) 
• explanation/cognition (by instructor), 
• possible mechanical adjustment(s), which may or may not include engagement of more of body than just the head (i.e., gesture), and then 
• oral practice of various kinds, including some communicative pair or group work 

There were occasional recommendations regarding warm ups in the instructor's notes but nothing systematic or specific as to what that should entail or how to do it. 

The relationship between perception, cognition and body action there is very much like what Cardona describes as endemic to clinical neuropsychology: the body is not adequately understood as influencing how the sound is perceived or its essential identity as a physical experience. Instead, the targeted sound or phoneme is encountered first as a linguistic construct or constructed visual image.

No wonder an intervention in class may not be efficient or remembered . . .

Clker.com

So, short of becoming a "haptician" (one who teaches pronunciation beginning with the body movement and awareness)--an excellent idea, by the way, how do you at least partially overcome the disembodiment and localization that can seriously undermine your work? A good first step is to just consistently do a good warm up before attending to pronunciation, a basic principle of haptic work, such as this one which activates a wide range of muscles, sound mechanisms and mind.

One of the best ways to understand just how warm ups work in embodying the learning process is this IADMS piece on warming up before dance practice. No matter how you teach pronunciation, just kicking off your sessions with a well-designed warmup, engaging the body and mind first, will always produce better results. It may take three or four times to get it established with your students, but the long term impact will be striking. Guaranteed . . . or your memory back!

Temporary Mind-FILL-ness in (pronunciation) teaching: Weil's 4-7-8 technique

A few months ago I sat through a good presentation on a technique for "fixing" the English rhythm of adult Japanese learners--in relatively big classes. At the time I was very interested in research on the role of attention in learning. Later, over coffee I asked the presenter something to the effect of "How do you know that the students were paying attention?" (I had earlier taught for over a decade in a seemingly very similar context in Japan, myself.) His response was: "Good question . . . Almost everybody was looking at me and more than half of the lips were moving at the appropriate time . . . "

How do you establish, maintain and manage attention in your teaching? (Anybody looking for a great MA or PhD topic, take note!) Based on my recent survey of the research literature, I'm preparing a conference proposal on the subject now. This is a follow up to the earlier post on how pronunciation should be taught "separately", in effect partitioned off from the lesson of the day and the distractions of the room and surroundings.

One problem with efficient attention management  is often in the transitions between activities or just the initial set up. Some tasks require learners to be very much "up"; others, decidedly "down" and relaxed. 

The popularity of Mindfulness training today speaks to the relevance of managing attention in class and the potential benefits from many perspectives. Most of the basic techniques of Haptic Pronunciation Teaching are designed to require or at least strongly encourage at least momentary whole body engagement in learning and correcting articulation of sound in various ways. I have experimented with a number of Mindfulness-based techniques to, in effect, short-circuit mental multitasking and get learners (sort of) calmed down and ready to go . . .

Powerful, effective stuff, but it is not something that most teachers can just pick up and begin using in their classes without at least a few hours of training, themselves, especially in how to "talk" it through with students and monitor "compliance" (manage attention.) I'd recommend it, nonetheless.

I recently "rediscovered" an amazing focus technique, suggested by Dr Andrew Weil (Hat tip, this month's issue of Men's Health magazine!), that works to create very effective boundaries without requiring any special training to administer. One of the best I have ever used. Simple. "Mechanical" (not overly cognitive or "hypnosis"-like) and quick. Takes maximum of 90 seconds. Anybody can do it, even without having seen it done:

A. Breath in with mouth closed, a slow count of 4
B. Hold the breath for a slow count of 7
C. Blow out through the mouth softly for a slow count of 8

*Do that four times. It basically lowers the heart rate and helps one focus. May take a two or three times for 4-7-8 to get to full effectiveness, but it does quickly, almost without fail. You can use 4-7-8 two or three times per class period. If you don't have a warm up that gets everybody on board consistently, try this one. I'd especially recommend it before and after pronunciation mini-lessons.

Pronunciation, and especially haptic techniques, are very sensitive to distraction, especially excessive conscious analysis and commentary. 4-7-8 is not necessarily the answer, but it will at least temporarily get everybody's attention. After that . . . you're on!

Are you out of your brain? More evidence why warm ups work in (pronunciation) teaching

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Clker.com

Always good to get a bit more empirical confirmation of our common sense and practice in teaching. As any experienced pronunciation or speech instructor will tell you, kicking off a lesson with a brief warm up that shifts attention to the resonance or awareness of the voice--or the body in general--is essential for effective and efficient intervention.

In a study by Hajo and Obodaru of Rice University, summarized by Science Daily (See full citation below), subjects were first given training that focused their sense of self as "residing" more in either their "brains" or their "hearts." (One interesting finding in the study was that those "American" subjects tended to see themselves as more "brain-centred", as opposed to those from what is vaguely described as an "Indian" culture, who tended to be more "heart-centered.") The observation was made that the former also tended to be more self-centred or independent; the latter, more relationally-dependent.

They then worked through a second task that asked them to indicate how much they would, in principle, contribute to a charity focused on Alzheimer's disease, as opposed to one aimed at helping to prevent heart attacks. You guessed it. The "brain" group went more with the former; the "heart" group, with the latter.

In the summary it was not clear exactly how the researchers guided the attention of the subjects in either direction, toward mind, as opposed to body, awareness. That can be done in any number of ways. (For example, the popular Mindfulness training, ironically, uses extensive body awareness to help clear the mind. Perhaps, "Mind-less-ness" training would be a more accurate label!)

So what does that suggest to those of us in many disciplines who work with changing speech? Simple, in some sense. Haptic pronunciation teaching was inspired early on by Lessac's dictum of Train the body first! Here we see more evidence as to why that point of departure, a body-based warm up of some kind, is often critical in getting learners to then attend long enough and intensely enough to anchor (establish) new movements, sounds and sensations.

If that doesn't immediately "make sense" to you, it is obviously time you "took it to heart!"

Full citation:
Rice University. "Do you see 'the self' in your brain or your heart? Decision-making differs." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 20 May 2015. .

Blocking poor (and improved) pronunciation with Mindfulness

Mindfulness is big. It is described a number of ways, according to Wikipedia:

"Mindfulness is a way of paying attention that originated in Eastern meditation practices."
"Paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally"
"Bringing one’s complete attention to the present experience on a moment-to-moment basis"

In earlier blogposts, I have focused on the possible benefits to our work of M-training. I may have been missing something . . . In a provocative 2013 study by Howard and Stillman of Georgetown University, (summarized by Science Daily) they conclude that:

 " . . . mindfulness may help prevent formation of automatic habits -- which is done through implicit learning -- because a mindful person is aware of what they are doing." 

Clip art: Clker

And in addition:

"The researchers found that people reporting low on the mindfulness scale tended to learn more -- their reaction times were quicker in targeting events that occurred more often within a context of preceding events than those that occurred less often."

The study is, of course, more complex and the tasks involved may not be all that analogous to what we do in pronunciation teaching. Nonetheless, the striking preliminary finding, that conscious, meta-cognitive attention to the ongoing learning process may, in fact, work counter to some types of "implicit," or body-based learning is indeed very germane. So, when it comes to pronunciation work tasks, such as repetition, pattern recognition, drill--and even haptic anchoring-- to paraphrase Nike's classic moniker, perhaps the secret is to: Just do it! 

At least something to be "mindful" of . . .

Minding your P's and Q's: Pronunciation Change Mindfulness at work! Quiet!

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As unpacked in earlier posts, "mindfulness" theory is often a good point of departure for understanding and managing pronunciation change, both as it is initiated in the classroom and "worked at" outside of class. A 2013 piece entitled, "Mindfulness-based emotional intelligence: Research and training," by Ciarrouchi and Godsell of Wollongong University, presents an interesting and useful set of parameters for optimal functioning of emotional intelligence, based on mindfulness theory and mindfulness training:

• Identifying personal emotional states
• Managing "incoming" emotion, recognizing intent of emotion expressed by others and appropriate responses to it
• Countering fusion (counterproductive influences of emotion in ways that undermine concentration, analysis, logic, learning or self concept)



Clker

• Expressing emotion

How does that apply to our work? It is a good set of guidelines for learners to review as they practice, being mindful at all times as to the state of their "mindset." Especially in haptic-integrated pronunciation practice, some degree of mindfulness is essential to ensure that targeted sounds get their basic 3~8 seconds of undivided attention:

• Focus intensely on the present moment and task at hand, with controlled, emotional engagement,
• Work at anchoring the new or changed sounds quickly, speaking out loud in an expressive and resonant voice (accompanied by a haptic, pedagogically-designed gesture, of course!)   

Students can be trained to do that. Should be. At the very least something to be mindful of . . .

Let's (not) get (too) physical in pronunciation teaching!

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With apologies to Olivia Newton-John, I still get that response occasionally in workshops and in reaction to blogposts. The focus of HICPR is not on developing a "physical" method or approach to pronunciation teaching but rather on ensuring that the body is given an appropriate place in the process, especially with the development of technology and haptic-grounded virtual reality. Those who are not by nature "connected" to their bodies, either they (a) don't listen to it much at all or (b) are overly sensitive to how it feels and looks, may not be at ease in the "haptic" lesson or integrating movement, touch and general body awareness in their work.

art: 

Have done a couple of earlier posts related to mindfulness theory, meditation practices and body representation. A fascinating study by Dykstra and Barelds of Groningen University, entitled, "Examining a model of dispositional mindfulness, body comparison, and body satisfaction," suggests something of a different approach to better orienting learners and instructors to haptic engagement: dispositional mindfulness training. The research demonstrated " . . . a positive relation between mindfulness and body satisfaction: as individuals are more mindful, they are more satisfied with their body . . . consistent with the fact that non-judgment, a central component of mindfulness, is also highly relevant to the construct of body image . . . "

by Clker

The key element there is "dispositional," part of a general, eminently trainable, response to internal and external pressures and stressors, characterizing one's disposition or style of responding (varying from extremely reactive to non-reactive, for example). Combine that with mindfulness, a general, relatively nonjudgmental  awareness or comprehension of what is going on, and you have what appears to be a near optional mindset for learning pronunciation for any . . . body. Dispositional (haptic-integrated) mindful pronunciation learning: DHIMPL!

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Some of that is embodied in EHIEP today, the felt sense of confident, comfortable, (dimpled?) managed pedagogical movement, but it should also be the model underlying language instruction in general. The secret to getting there is your point of departure, Lessac's dictum: Train the body first!

Mindful, embodied (less-stressful) monitored speaking!

For some learners, monitoring their spontaneous speech can be very problematic, interfering with fluency . . .  or ability to think! In many schools of singing instruction, kinaesthetic monitoring is standard practice. I have done a few blogposts on kinaesthetic monitoring and mindfulness. When you combine embodiment theory with mindfulness, not unlike what is suggested by Stressreductionatwork.com below, you get an interesting heuristic that in various forms or adaptations  can be useful in our work: (italics, mine)

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Clip art: Ckler

"As you speak, keep your main focus on your body sensations, while focusing on what you are saying secondarily. Notice the breath as it enters your body, and be aware of it as it leaves. Notice the touch points of the body — your sit bones and shoulders on the chair, your feet on the floor, your hands in your lap. Don’t be as concerned about what exactly it is you need to say or how people will perceive you as you say it. Your words will be just as comprehensible as before, but they’ll be more in tune with your inner presence, integrity and authenticity. One way of visualizing this is that as you speak, let the words come more from your body and less from your head."

Those are typical mindfulness-type suggestions, attention-management strategies. The debilitating effect of stress on pronunciation in various contexts is well-established. Experience has shown that the "felt sense" that embodied mindfulness techniques create can be helpful, especially for the chronically stressed and uptight in dealing with their self-monitoring (or not over-monitoring) of their pronunciation. Try it out first at your next contentious committee meeting, post-election political discussion or intimate gourmet dinner. 

From rumination to pronunciation

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As previous blogposts have illustrated, the process or mental state required in changing behavior in one area of experience is often quite like or analogous to another. When I see these "How to" pieces, I am always most interested in the order in which the writer introduces the principles, especially to what extent they line up with the general HICP/EHIEP model. Here is one on overcoming excessive rumination summarized by Amy Macklin.

As you review the steps, consider the parallel to effective haptic-integrated pronunciation change:
(1) If you can, take action.
(2) Challenge your beliefs.
(3) Redirect your attention.
(4) Resist the urge to talk it out.
(5) Observe "mindfulness."
(6) Be patient.

That could almost serve as a basic reminder before any HICP/EHIEP work. With the exception of 2 and 6, those have been addressed repeatedly. 2 is, of course, almost a given with this work; 6 is possible, in part because of 1-5. Likewise, 4 is easier because of 1, 3 and 5, all three being essentially body-based acts that help one manage the pre-frontal, highly cognitive tasks represented in 2, 4 and 6. In other words, being a bit "odd" in this work is the best way to get even . . . 

The inner game of pronunciation teaching

Clip art:
Clker

How's this for a great 2-line promo: "The inner game of tennis is based on optimizing the human mind to play better tennis. Through a proper mental tennis game, learning and playing tennis can be very easy!" Note it says that both learning and playing can be very easy. That got my attention. Easy? So how? Here are the three (simple) principles:

(1)  Trust your body, 
(2) Silence your mind! and 
(3) Don’t be judgmental!

Actually, that is not a bad analogy for EHIEP work either. Haptic pronunciation work begins with body awareness and training. The multiple modality framework does not "silence" the mind exactly, but it certainly channels attention well. The third is the more interesting. Haptic anchoring, by its very nature, focuses on the felt sense of the target sound, not (simply, again) on incoming "sounds" through the ears. (In some exercises we ask the learner to stand up close to a mirror to get more auditory "backwash;" other times, not.) It is not uncommon for learners to be able to produce a changed vowel quality reasonably well, for example, even before they can "hear" or recognize it.

Believe it! Just try it! Trust me . . . (in reverse order, of course!)

Managing attention during pronunciation change: jogging the mind

This Science Daily summary of 2010 research by Seidler et al. looked at the effect of aging on inter-hemispheric connectivity in the brain. As we age, the corpus callosum (Latin: tough body)--my new nom de plum, the bridge between or manager of left and right side communication, begins losing its ability control "crosstalk," allowing random interference from the "other side," especially on motor tasks involving only one side of the body. The implications of that are far reaching.

On some cognitive (vs motor) tasks, "full brain" engagement is beneficial; on others, it may not be. (That the Tough Body in women is much larger than that of men is interesting here as well but apparently was not a relevant factor in the study.) The "good news" from the study is that aerobic exercise may function to strengthen and regenerate the Tough Body. I had some time back been using highly energetic (near aerobic) warm ups and rhythm-focus activities.

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For various reasons, I have since moved to more controlled, haptic anchoring throughout the EHIEP system, backing off from more dramatic, uninhibited and emotionally "unbuttoned" engagement. I,  personally, begin the day with aerobic work of some kind and have often observed that "exercisers" seemed to have an advantage in personal pronunciation change, especially in dealing with fossilized pronunciation.

This may help explain why, other than blowing off stress and pumping more blood into the Brocas area, regular physical exercise has been proven to complement all kinds of learning. Our general approach has been to manage attention by requiring constant, multiple modality "mindful" attention--which may also serve to further invigorate your Tough Body as well.  But perhaps it is time to reexamine that assumption, add a touch of haptic "boot camp" up front every morning! Clearly, a tougher Tough Body is worth attending to, too!

"Sensational" pronunciation teaching? Chances are about 50/50.

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Here is a brief summary of an article by Killingsworth and Gilbert published in the journal, Science. It includes this interesting quote from the article: “The ability to think about what isn’t happening is a significant cognitive achievement, but one that comes at an emotional cost.” The data revealed that most of us are "in the present moment" emotionally, only about 50% of the time, at best. The concept of "mindfulness," sensing as much as possible the "felt sense" of our body (e.g., heart rate, muscle tension, breathing) and learning to function within it--not trying to escape it or cool it down consciously-- is applied extensively in many fields today.

One of the great advantages of multiple modality instruction is that it provides a means of (at least momentarily) capturing the full attention of the mind to the task at hand. Haptic techniques, engaging the body as they do, if done with correct form and perhaps some eye tracking, are "mindful" or mind-filling in the best (felt) sense. It is not that clear explanations, discussion, insight, planning and disembodied drilling related to a learner's pronunciation are not helpful; they are, of course--but they can also easily interfere with efficient anchoring of sound change.

In other words, stop thinking about pronunciation and how difficult, time-consuming and anxiety-producing it can be. Just do it (haptically)!

The inner game of pronunciation learning

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The "ancient" Taoists and Lessac had it right, when it came to rehabilitation--among other things. The central concept was to focus on managing what was going on in the body and begin the healing/learning process there, being far less concerned with external appearance and incoming sounds.

In the last two years or so, as you can see from the  near 700 blog posts, I have been reporting on research that looks at learning that is less aural (listening-based) and visual (relying on sight as the lead system in learning new sounds). In a very real sense some of the key insights have come from research and practice in rehabilitation methodologies developed for the blind (haptic computer interfaces), deaf (sign and haptic systems) and physically disabled (especially tactile-enabled prosthetics and robotics). Much of the genius of Lessac was his ability to interpret to the Western mind (and body) how to also learn from the inside out. We may yet be able to rehabilitate pronunciation teaching!