Fall 2025 (KINETIK) English Accent and Pronunciation Course!

KINETIK – using the whole body to learn (especially gesture and touch)

Beginning September 25, 2025

• Much better accent or pronunciation
• Much better expressiveness in speaking
• More confidence in speaking
• Good method for continuing to improve
• Works for anybody with a CLB or IELTS 5 and up

• 10 weeks, online
• (Free) 20-minute training video uploaded every Thursday
• 15-30 minutes of homework every day!
• (Optional) live homework follow up meeting on Wednesday at 8-9 p.m. EST ($200 USD)

Weekly syllabus:

1. Basic rhythm 1(pronunciation grammar) 

2. Fluency 1(body rhythm)

3. Consonants 1 (common problems)

4. Vowels 1 (short)

5. Vowels 2 (long)

6. Consonants 2 (students’ “favorites”)

7. Melody 1 (little pieces)

8. Melody 2 (longer pieces)

9. Fluency 2 (Conversation)

10. Rhythm 2 (Public speaking)

A sample from Lesson 1

Warm up!  

1. Neck stretcher (left side, right side, back, front)

2. Upper chest and shoulders stretcher (elbows touch) 

3. Nasal resonance BUZZ (Ying! Yang! Young!) 

4. Back (‘Oh’ cone) and chest expander (Ooo-Wah!) 

 Syllable Butterfly Training

Strong tap on the stressed syllable: X

Light tap on unstressed syllables: o

Cool. X

That’s cool. oX

Really cool.  ooX

That’s really cool.  oooX

Awesome Xo

That’s awesome. oXo

Really awesome. ooXo

That’s really awesome. oooXo

Super cool. Xoo

That’s super cool. oXoo

Really super cool. ooXoo

That’s really super cool. oooXoo

Super awesome. Xooo

That’s super awesome. oXooo

Really super awesome. ooXooo

That’s really super awesome. oooXooo

Lesson I – Embodied Oral Reading (EOR)

1A:  I THINK | we've GOT it | figured OUT.    

           •X                     •X•                    • •X    

   B: Oh. Can you TELL me | what it IS? 

         X                      X   •              • •X   

2A: Your MUFfler | I THINK | has a small HOLE in it.    

 •    X•                 •X                   • • •      X      • •    

   B: Oh NO!  Does it NEED | to be rePLACED right now?   

          • X             • •     X            • •      • X                 •    •   

3A: Yes, it DOES. It ISN’T going to | last much LONger     

        X    •  X         •   X•        •   •             • •           X•.  

   B: Huh. How MUCH | will it COST?          

          X            • X            •  •        X   

4A: A-BOUT | a hundred | and fifty DOLlars.         

          •X           •     X•          •     • •       X•    

   B: Really. That's too BAD. Is there a less exPENsive way?       

          X•               ••     X                      • • • • •X    •        •   

5A: You could MAYbe | rePAIR it, yourSELF.

             • •       X•               •X     •         • X    

   B: How LONG | exACTly | will that LAST?

            •  X                 •X•                 • •     X   

6A: If it works at ALL . . . MAYbe | for a couple of MONTHS?

               • • •   •   X             X•            • •     • •       •   X    

   B: I'll DO that. SEE you | in a MONTH or two!

          •  X   •        X   •            • •     X         • •    

Homework: 

1. Practice the warm up, training and Embodied Oral Reading every day in the morning for 15-30 minutes, standing, with good posture and gesture!

2. Practice using pleasing (beautiful) voice, good breathing and confident volume.

3.  Keep a "learning conversation" journal with your favorite AI Bot!

Email me: wracton@gmail.com for more information or to enrol.

For a more in depth discussion of the basis of the EAPIC course, go to: https://www.actonhaptic.com/eapic

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: 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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.) 

Back to the future of (haptic) pronunciation teaching: beginning June 23rd!

The 2025 summer English Accent and Pronuncition Improvement Course (EAPIC) begins next month on the 26th. (The Spring course materials and videos are still available here.) I asked Perplexity about it, since it will figure in very prominently in all lessons of the new course:

"The English Accent and Pronunciation Improvement Course (EAPIC), built on Acton’s haptic pronunciation teaching, is notably effective for English learners of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds due to its unique integration of movement, touch, and embodied practice. Unlike traditional pronunciation methods that rely heavily on auditory and visual cues, haptic pronunciation teaching (HaPT) systematically incorporates gesture and touch, creating a multisensory learning experience that enhances memory, recall, and confidence in spoken English.

This approach draws inspiration from voice training, embodied oral reading, and kinesthetic learning, allowing learners to physically anchor sounds and patterns in their bodies. Such “haptic anchoring” supports deeper integration of new pronunciation habits, much like muscle memory in sports or music training.The method is adaptable, making it accessible to learners regardless of age, native language, or prior phonetic knowledge. Regular, structured practice—both in and out of class—ensures that improvements are not only rapid but also sustainable, while the engaging, movement-based activities boost motivation and make learning enjoyable.

Ultimately, Acton’s haptic method empowers learners to internalize English pronunciation in a way that is memorable, meaningful, and effective across diverse learner profiles."

Could not have said it better myself . . . (In fact most of those terms and phrases are extracted directly from the blog and publications I have been involved with!) The embodied oral reading of the course will be all AI generated--by the students themselves--to provide the optimal context and personal connection between the genre, vocabulary and proficiency level of the learner and the practice materials. 

The weekly, 30-minute course training videos are free, on Youtube and Vimeo. Enrolment in the 60-minute live feedback sessions is optional ($250 USD). 

Join us next month! 

The future of pronunciation teaching: Extinction

Have just begun working with the new AI bot "perplexity." Asked it about embodiment in language learning. Although its primary source isn't particularly impressive--to put it mildly, its statement of the problem is surprisingly current/relevant. 

"Embodiment presents a significant challenge in learning a foreign language because it highlights the complex interplay between cognitive, sensory, and contextual factors. The theory of embodied cognition suggests that language learning is deeply tied to physical and sensory experiences. For instance, understanding words often involves simulating real-world experiences associated with those words, such as imagining the act of cooking when hearing the term "cooking".  . . Furthermore, studies show that second languages learned in formal settings tend to exhibit reduced embodiment compared to native languages. . . " 

And, according to the recent book, The Extinction of Experience: Being Human in a Disembodied World, by Christine Rosen, it can only get worse! (Also, check out her recent appearance on Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson. ) Rosen does a remarkable job of exploring the impact of technology upon our connection to reality and how that is radically changing how we are able to relate to and draw from our "experiences." The first line of the promo introduces the theme well: "A reflective, original invitation to recover and cultivate the human experiences that have atrophied in our virtual world."

The impact on language teaching, and pronunciation teaching specifically, is only beginning to be understood. In the following series of blog posts I'm going to use Rosen's book as a point of departure. I begin with the guess (or maybe fantasy) that at least the haptic pronunciation teaching model can actually be a powerful and dynamic part of the way back. How ironic (or sweet!) that pronunciation work may make a significant comeback as being a key purveyor of embodiment in the classroom and elsewhere. 

Keep in touch! 

Sources

(from "perplexity" AI) The Embodiment of Language and Conceptual Knowledge https://www.mindbrained.org/2020/03/the-embodiment-of-language-and-conceptual-knowledge/

Rosen C. (2024). The extinction of experience: being human in a disembodied world. New York: Norton & Company, 

60 days to better pronunciation (and making a habit of it!)

 I'm reminded of the old saw: Even a blind squirrel finds a nut sometimes . . . In the midst of this meta analysis-lite of what it takes to establish a habit in Australia (summarized by Neuroscience news), there was a little gem or two from the research that supports what I have been saying to students for decades: practice pronunciation in the morning! There is no real explanation as to why that should be the case, just the numbers, but it makes perfect sense for several reasons. 

The more interesting conclusion of the study is that the current "consensus" as to how long it takes to establish a habit, that is about 30 days, does not apply to a wide range of behaviors Australians need/want to change. Some, it turns out can take up a full year to lock in. The research suggests that the minimum time is closer to 60 days, depending on any number of parameters. In the sports/fitness business opinions range from 1 to 3 months. (The popular "book" on changing habits is probably Atomic Habits: An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones by Clear, a great source on how to do it.)

What the researchers and Clear agree on, however, is that the process is not mysterious but generally grounded in regular, disciplined, systematic practice. In pronunciation work at least the engagement must also be fundamentally embodied, as well. . . . In other words, to be successful you need to not only stay with it for a couple of months, at least, but also need a scaffolded goal-focused plan to get there with. 

Next week, beginning on the 6th, is the English Accent and Pronunciation Improvement (EAPIC) course, pronounced: EPIC. It lasts 9 weeks, 63 days, just over mark for establishing a habit, according to the researchers. What it does is train the student's body (and pre-frontal cortex) in how to keep on improving, centered on what we call "Embodied oral reading:" (EOR), that is daily oral reading, in private, accompanied by a set of approximately 24 gestures from the course. The 8 training videos will be free on Youtube. They are enough for you if you are really disciplined and commit to practicing everyday, for about 20 minutes, on your own. If you need weekly feedback on your work, you can sign up for the course ($200 USD), too. The feedback sessions are always the following Wednesday on Zoom at 8 EST. 

If interested, connect w/me at: wracton@gmail.com

Original source:

Ben Singh, Andrew Murphy, Carol Maher, Ashleigh E. Smith. Time to Form a Habit: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Health Behaviour Habit Formation and Its Determinants. Healthcare, 2024; 12 (23): 2488 DOI: 10.3390/healthcare12232488

Guilt by reason of "accentedness" (and what should be done about it!)

Interesting study out of the UK: “Stereotyped accent judgements in forensic contexts: listener perceptions of social traits and types of behaviour” by Alice Paver et al., summarized by Neuroscience.com, as: "Do accents influence guilt perceptions?"  (I might also add that accents influence getting work!) It raises so many issues that I'd recommend that you read the full article yourself. The summary is not sufficient but is certainly provocative!!! Here is the Neuroscience,com summary: 

"Researchers analyzed responses from 180 participants who rated voices from 10 UK accents on social traits and likelihood of certain behaviors, including crimes. . . ." Leaving aside some obvious potential shortcomings of the design--some of which are acknowledged by the reseachers, such as using male speakers only and a design that sets up the focus on the "bias" before hearing the samples--the conclusions are . . . striking, to say the least:

"Accents influence perceptions of guilt, with those judged as “lower status” being considered more likely to commit crimes."

Now assuming that the results hold up later with

• An acceptable definition of what constitutes and accent
• Replication involving the other gender(s) and 
• Possibly a different general elicitation format, and that 
• The working class dialects do come with features that could  undermine the credibility or "hiring potential"--an intuition strongly confirmed or established in research over the decades . . . 

What should our approach be in the classroom in working with students who come to us with "working class" dialects who are aiming at white collar careers, for example? 

First, one of the other possibly relevant findings was that nonnative accents of the dialects tended to be seen as more trustworthy than the native speakers in the samples. Although it was not reported specifically which nonnative accents carried that "advantage," that sounds like good news for those who'd rather not get into accent work in the first place. Maybe. The distinction between "accent" and "pronunciation" that I give students is something like:

•  If when speaking slowly, your listeners have trouble understanding you, you need pronunciation work. Basic rhythm, stress and intonation instruction is key at that level. 
• If when speaking quickly and maybe under some stress, your listeners have trouble understanding you, you need accent work. Requires attention to better, more accurate production of key/professional terms and dialect features. pacing and voice quality settings. (May even include breath, posture and self-moitoring training.)

So, if your students come to you in a position where they have "absorbed" the features of a less prestigious, disadvantageous dialect and they are preparing for job interviews, f you can't help them at the accent-level, you may need work . . . or you may be doing so already and not know it! If you do need to upgrade your accent work toolkit, join us for the next haptic course next month!

Keep in touch!

Bill

Credit:
Clker.com

Original Research: Open access.
“Stereotyped accent judgements in forensic contexts: listener perceptions of social traits and types of behaviour” by Alice Paver et al. Frontiers in Communication

English accent and pronunciation improvement course LITE (EAPIC!)

Course begins with recorded introduction on February 6th!

In about two months make good progress in improving your English accent or pronunciation and be trained in how to keep on improving after the course. This is an 8-week, shorter more compact version of the regular English Accent and Pronunciation Course. (See the description of the full 12-week course here.) 

• The recorded, 30-minute weekly training lessons are free, available on Thursdays on Youtube.
• The next week on Wednesday at 8 p.m. EST there is a live  Zoom feedback session on that lesson for students who are enrolled in the course (for $200 USD.)
• The feedback sessions are recorded, so you can always access them later if you are enrolled. 
• At least be sure to watch the free Thursday training videos!!!

To really benefit from the course, you should do all the assigned homework for enrolled students, about 30 minutes per day. This is also a good course for an instructor who wants an introduction to haptic pronunciation teaching. 

The course officially begins Thursday February 6th, but you can join it anytime and still get caught up!  To enrol, just pay the $200 for the weekly Zoom feedback lessons and the homework assignments.

 All lessons are recorded and available later in day after the lesson. 

 For more information or to sign up, contact me, william.acton@twu.ca.

Keep in touch!

Bill

Bill Acton has been teaching accent and pronunciation improvement for about 50 years! This course, Version 7.0 of KINETIK system, contains many new techniques based on research in pronunciation teaching and neuroscience. Bill is now living in Chattanooga, Tennessee. 

EPIC preview of the English Accent and Pronunciation Course (pronounced: EPIC!)

EPIC PREVIEW POSTPONED - DUE TO MINOR HAPTIC MALFUNCTION HERE!

CHECK BACK February 5th!!!  Spring 8-week course--Wednesday evenings 8~9 p.m. EST. 

Here is the link to the course description. 

william.acton@twu.ca. 

Haptic English Accent and Pronunciation LITE!

This is an 8-week, weekend version of the regular English Accent and Pronunication Course. (See the description of the full 12-week course here.) 

• The recorded, 30-minute training lesson is available on a Thursday
• The next week there is a live feedback lesson on that lesson 8~9 p.m. EST 
• Both are recorded, so you can always access them later. 

To get your money's worth from the course, $200 USD, you should do the assigned homework, about 30 minutes per day. 

The difference between the regular course and this LITE version is that you need to do more homework during the course and follow up, yourself, for about 2 months after the course with regular practice. (This is a good course for an instructor who just wants a good introduction to haptic pronunciation teaching, too. Instructors are also provided with a copy of the full course with teachers notes, etc.) 

The course officially begins this coming Thursday February 6th, but you can join it anytime for the next month and still get cuught up! The lesson videos are free; you only need to pay ($200) for the weekly feedback lessons.  

 All lessons are recorded and available later in day after the lesson. 

A  Zoom interview is required to enrol for the course. For more info or to sign up for an interview: william.acton@twu.ca.

Keep in touch!

Bill

A four-part (haptic) "metanique" for improving English pronunciation . . . and teaching!

Since Haptic Pronunciation Teaching started back in 2005, a basic technique was the "Movement, tone and touch technique," the MT3. It consisted of a gesture carried out while speaking a sound, word, phrase or clause, accompanied by a tonal contour (intonation) embodying emotional or affective meanings, concluding with hands touching on the main-stressed syllable of a word. 

A "metanique" (in haptic work) is a teaching technique format that has a basic function or two, such as assisting learners in getting or remembering language and also has one or more components. (Something analogous to a "tagmeme"). The new haptic metanique i the MT4: Movement, tone, tempo and touch technique, adding the component tempo to the earlier MT3. Tempo, in this case, is something close to pace, or simply speed of articulation. That was added for a number of reasons but primarily to help manage and modulate learner "movement" through the readings. The MT4 uses an annotation system similar to music tablature. 

Haptic work involves the use of a wide variety of "embodied oral readings" where typically there is an MT4 assigned to most, if not all, prominent stressed elements in a word, phrase or clause. To get a good sense of how those work, watch some (or all) of the four videos of lessons from the new Haptic English Accent and Pronunciation Course. That should give you a good introduction to KINETIK method and the new "MT4s."

Introduction (45 minutes)

Lesson 1 (30 minutes)

Lesson 1 Follow up/feedback session (45 minutes)

Lesson 2 (30 minutes)

The complete course will be available on Vimeo later this fall!

Keep in touch!

A new, short--but terrific-- course in Haptic Pronunciation Teaching

For all of you whose bodies are just dying to teach pronunciation "whole-bodily" and haptically . . .good news! I'll be offering a special 6-hour KINETIK Method seminar, four saturdays, 12-1:30 EST, October 19th to November 9th. $200 USD. There will be a couple of hours of optional homework assigned and all sessions will be recorded in case you miss one. Here are the topics covered:

• October 19th - Fluency and rhythm
• October 26th - Stress and vowels
• November 2nd - Intonation and consonants
• November 9th - Integration of change in spontaneous conversation

This would be especially good for those teaching CLB levels 4~6. The course will follow the first half of the coming 10-week (Haptic) English Accent and Pronunciation Course.  Will also be offering courses for CLB 1~3 and 7~9 levels next spring. 

Course includes pre-publication draft of "Manual of Haptic Pronunciation Teaching," including access to new v7.0 instructional videos. 

For more information, get in touch--soon!

 wracton@gmail.com. 

More detail shortly! 

(Embodied) Post-grad IELTS Speaking (6.0 or 5.0) to get work in Canada? Bon chance!

Have you seen this? 

Among other actions taken to cut back on the number of international students coming to Canada, there are new langauge proficiency rules going into effect effective in November to get post graduate work  permits (PGWP): 

CORRECTION: AN EARLIER VERSION REPORTED THAT GRADS NEED AN IELTS SCORE OF 6 ON ALL BANDS. THAT IS INCORRECT. THE "OFFICIAL' ANNOUNCEMENT INDICATES THAT ONLY AN "AVERAGE" SCORE OF 6 IS  REQUIRED, MUCH LESS PROBLEMATIC!

University Graduates: IELTS 6  (CLB 7)
College Graduates: IELTs 5  (CLB 5)

That will not directly impact the number of international students coming to Canada (those substantial cuts were put into effect earlier this year) but it will impact graduates getting work in Canada after they graduate. Now IELTS 6.0 Speaking may not sound all that difficult (from IELTS,com) at first,

"The test taker has an effective command of the language despite some inaccuracies, inappropriate usage and misunderstandings.They can use and understand reasonably complex language, particularly in familiar situations."

But just ask anybody teaching in higher ed (in the US as well) and they'll tell you that concern with English proficiency is a relative minor "front end" problem only for them. Once students are in, a virtual panoply of support functions kick in, including testing that does not require much if any real written or oral dexterity, along with Chat-GPT et al. 

Although I have not seen the study, there is no question, based in part on admissions standards, that speaking and writing English are two skills that for many easily degrade for 4 years or so once they get it. I don't teach undergrads but my students who do, report that regularly, the loos of productive skills, especially evident in junior and senior level content couses that used to evaluate oral and written form as well as content. 

Here is the kicker, pronunciation (italics, mine)

The candidate uses a range of pronunciation features but the control is not consistent throughout the test. There might be mispronunciation of words or sounds which reduces the clarity. However, the meaning of what is being said is generally clear throughout the test.

The day of reconning may be at hand for the near abandonment of pronunciation teaching in the discipline, eh! So, universities may eventually be on the hot seat here to stop graduating all those sub-IELTS 6.0 speakers. 

Probably not, HOWEVR, WITH THE 6.0 AVERAGE SCORE REQUIRED, NOT A 6.0 ON ALL BANDS. 

Regarding 6.0 pronunciation in speaking on the IELTS, however, I really like this from "AllearsEnglish,com":

"Pronunciation: This is the easiest place to improve your score. Someone who gets a 5 talks like a robot with no feeling in their voice and all of their words sound exactly the same. To get a 6 you need to put some feeling in your voice. Practice varying your tone of voice in your English conversation practice and you’ll be ready to do in the test."

As utterly goofy as that sounds, I think they have a point, They question is. . . how? They obviously have to practice active speaking . . outloud. In a sense their competence/performnce gaps can be very problematic. What is needed, in many cases, is an approach that is more "body-centered," much like what is done in good public speaking courses. Have been working with learners like this for decades who are capable of carrying on a conversaion or speaking in public . . . but they just haven't had to.

That approach involves extensive (embodied) oral reading, structured self-analysis of recorded spontaneous speaking samples as homework, emphasis on rhythm, stress and intonation--and an occasional consonant or two if really problematic. Embodied here refers to systematic management of movement, gesture and touch in practice, in private, with key carry over to spontaneous speaking, especially when under pressure, like on the IELTS. "It works" by anchoring both the sound or words being spoken more effectively and the emotion or affect, especially the confidence and posturing that is rather easily the focus of the embodied oral reading.

You are asking, how can I sign up for that. Glad you asked! The next one begins on October 3rd! Still time to register. Even if you just have time for half that course, it'll help. "I'll else" wouldn't tell you so, eh!

Email me directly for more info that: wracton@gmail.com 

Bill

(Haptic) English Accent and Pronunciation Course - Begins October 3rd!

In case you missed the course announcement, HERE a quick video guide to it, and THE LINK to the course description! It is a new design, created especially for really busy, disciplined people. 

It is a 10-week, online, almost self-study course, WITH THE FIRST TWO LESSONS FREE! 

It does require a brief Zoom interview to actually join the course. (Just to make sure it is a good fit for you!)  

Enrolment is limited to 30 students. (So sign on soon!) 

For more information or to schedule an interview, email: wracton@gmail.com

Check it out!

New! (Haptic) English Accent and Pronunciation Course!

Better, confident pronunciation in three months 

• Course dates: October 3rd ~ December 18th (10 Lessons)
• Created for students who really want to improve their accent or pronunciation but do not have the time or schedule to attend a regular course--and are pretty good at studying on their own. 
• Fees: $300 USD ($420 CAD) - First two lessons are FREE!

Features of the course:

• Designed for post-secondary-age, nonnative English speaking learners
• Haptic (makes extensive use of body movement, gesture and touch)
• Materials provided'
• 80% attendance required to receive certificate
• Oral interview required to take the course.
• The course is based on the latest neuroscientific research on how the brain and voice and body  must work together for optimal performance and memory

Weekly (online) schedule:

• Thursday, anytime – view 30-minute recorded lecture.
• Daily homework of 20-30 minutes.
• The following Wednesday (at 9 a.m. PST or 6 p.m. PST) attend live, feedback class on Zoom. (You can also view the recorded session, beginning Friday morning.)

For additional information or to schedule an enrollment interview email: wracton@gmail.com.

Bill Acton, PhD, is an internationally recognized expert in the field of pronunciation teaching. His unique style of teaching pronunciation, developed over the last 40 years, the KINETIK Method, makes  leaning and changing pronunciation more efficient, memorable--and fun! For more about Bill's research and publications goto his website: www.actonhaptic.com. 

----

Some Definitions:

• Accent could use improvement: Makes you difficult to understand sometimes when you speak quickly or are a little stressed!
• Pronunciation needs improvement: Makes you difficult to understand sometimes, even when you speak slowly.

SO . . . how does this work? How can this work? 

The key is something close to full-body engagement in the process, very much in the spirit of the Lessac method which featured both embodied speaking and extensive oral reading during homework. This course is primarily focused on "hacks," as opposed to "widgets," which come in only the last couple of lessons. Hacks encourage improvement indirectly, the usual stuff of homework, applied outside of conversational interaction, like rhythm exercises or word lists. Widgets, on the other hand are techniques we can use to alter or enhance our speech, moment by moment, without interfering much with thinking or coherence, like slowing down your rate of speaking or modifiing your posture, etc. 

Most of the work in this course involves various types of embodied oral reading, that is text that is synchronized with especially designed. gesture and touch, called Movement, tone and touch techniques (MT3s). MT3s provide an extraordinary quality of ongoing attention and emotional engagement that should strengthen  the learner's ability to change articulation of sounds and sound patterns and recall that later, plus integrate change improvement into their spontaneous speech. In addition, most of the readings involve confidence-building routines and and related voice resonance techniques. 

*Group, class and school rates available. 

Haptic (pronunciation) hacks and widgets!

Doing a fun, one hour, webinar with CATESOL on Friday at noon PST! :

 Embodied Pronunciation Part 2: Haptic Hacks and Widgets

Here is the program description: 

-------
Following up on Marsha Chan’s webinar of April 19th, Embodied Pronunciation Part 1: Harnessing Your Inner Power, in this session Bill Acton will focus specifically on a core set of embodied pronunciation techniques which use both gesture and touch.

“Hacks” are techniques which are used to indirectly impact speaking accuracy and fluency, such as “fixing” a vowel or consonant, or drills relating to intonation, rhythm and stress.

“Widgets” are techniques which, in principle, can impact the learner’s fluency and intelligibility almost immediately such as moving a “body part” or the entire body--plus touch, to the rhythm of one’s voice as one is speaking, especially in describing a scene in one’s visual field or a highly defined and easily recalled past-experience. (Actors, politicians, voice trainers—and accomplished liars-- often use a range of such “widgets” in their practice.)

See you there!!!

Bill

What to do for falling student confidence!

One of the joys of teaching is all those times when you stumble on a wonderful technique . . . almost by accident, when the lesson that you designed goes way beyond your objectives for it. The research literature is filled with reports of classroom procedures that inspire/develop confidence, (cf. Cadiz-Gabejan, 2021 . . . but not this one in this field.

For you to be able to do this technique with your students tomorrow, I need to give you little primers on haptic pronunciation teaching (HPT) and Observed Experiential Integration (OEI) therapy.

HPT, basically, uses gesture and touch to enhance memory and expressiveness by generally having a gesture terminate on a stressed syllable where the hands touch. The gesture can have several functions such as rhythmic or intonation patterns, or specific vowels or consonants. (For examples of some of the Movement, tone and touch techniques, goto: www.actonhaptic.com/HaPT.)

One of the techniques, used to create the deep falling tone at the end of a conversational turn, for example, has the learner move one hand from in front of the eyes down to about the level of the solar plexus, with the eyes following. The voice also falls as low as possible, in some creating the "creaky" voice quality. One of the students, in working with the practice dialogs "discovered" that she felt more and more confident by using that move . . . beyond the exercises. Her general demeanor and speaking "presence" made that evident as well from that point on. 

I had seen a somewhat analogous technique used about 20 years ago in observing psychologists working with Observed Experiential Integration (OEI) therapy, where the patient basically followed the hand movement of the clinician across the visual field, terminating about the same place, sometimes along with the clinician's voice, sometimes their own, but the effect was the same: a sense of calm and confidence. That location in the visual field, down and to the right, seemed to act as an anchor for a sense of at least temporarily closing down, calm or resting. 

Many systems use similar anchoring for a myriad of purposes. In this case, we were working with a basic sentence-final falling tone--that just keeps falling until it "hits bottom." Have been using it for the last two years in various ways, such as short passages or conversational gambits, with pretty striking results Here is a short video clip from the KINETIK training video series.  Give it a try and let me know how it works in your class (as I'm CONFIDENT that it will!) 

v7.0 will be available sometime later this spring or early summer. 

Keep in touch!

Bill

The "Fly-Chi": All you need is a little embodied, fluent rhythm--for "supra" vowels and consonants!

About a month ago, I stumbled on to a pair of "haptic" techniques, using "supra-segmentals," that is rhythm, stress and intonation--when used in sequence, that appear to dramatically and quickly improve the pronunciation of some multi-syllable words, including the pronunciation of individual vowels and consonants in them. I know that is a claim and a half! 

Here is the story . . . 

For over 15 years, two of the basic techniques of Haptic Pronunciation Teaching, have been the Syllable Butterfly and the Tai Chi Finger Flow Fluency. (Check out the links to those two from version 2.0.) The Butterfly focused on syllables and rhythm; the Tai Chi, on fluency. In a recent class where learners were trained in the Tai Chi, there was some additional time left at the end where we work on problematic words have noted during the week. The first student had several multi-syllable words, including 'custodial" and "maintenance." There was almost no contrast between stressed and unstressed syllables--and no obvious rhythmic structure. The Tai Chi technique made little difference, other than speeding up his speech a bit. 

For the first time ever in working with vocabulary, I had him do the Butterfly first, which exaggerates both stress contrast and rhythm/length of each syllable, and then the Tai Chi. The student and the class were almost blown away by the improvement. He sounded almost  . . . Canadian! Actually, his pronunciation of the segmentals, per se, did  not change much if at all, but the relative amplitude and length of the syllables certainly did! The same happened on another dozen words or so after that. In subsequent weeks, the final segment of each class has become basically problematic vocabulary done to the tune of the Butterfly and Tai Chi. Have already included the "Fly-Chi" in Lesson 2 of the KINETIK method!

It is well established in the field that if a learner has relatively good rhythm, including contrast between stressed and unstressed vowels, that problems with segmentals (vowels and consonants) should be less  . . . problematic. Actually, and more importantly, with unstressed syllables somewhat backgrounded, vowels tend to be "reduced" and consonant near misses are not only not as noticeable but elide (blend with) adjacent  sounds. The process is very evident developmentally in child language learning, as well as the efficacy of embodied techniques such as handclapping in facilitating enhancement of segmentals, e.g.,  Baills and Prieto, (2023.)

There are "billions and billions" of videos on the web demonstrating the phenomenon and the effect. What those demonstrations do not do, however, is show how to help learners work with the process consistently so that the changes "stick." In preparing for a recent class, I seem to have "discovered" a way . . . The problem with either just using hand clapping with sentences or longer texts, such as songs, or focusing on just one word at a time is that the learner generally not able to take the process out of class effectively, consistently, and remember what was temporarily "embodied" in the process.

Students are using the Fly-Chi now in homework. (I have three weeks of good data so far!) And at least initially, their ability to both change and remember targeted words appears greatly enhanced. Just a fascinating "theory" at this point, Help me test it--and report back! 

Baills, F., & Prieto, P. (2023). Embodying rhythmic properties of a foreign language through hand-clapping helps children to better pronounce words. Language Teaching Research, 27(6), 1576-1606. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168820986716

"Ward off" (at least some) miscommunication in your English conversation teaching

For anybody serious about pronunciation teaching, Nigel Ward's excellent 2019 book, Prosodic patterns of English conversation, is a must. (Full disclosure: I just "rediscovered" the book myself last year,  having incorporated aspects of Ward's work for years but had not connected much to his overall framework!) I'm doing a workshop on February 24th at the BCTEAL Regional Conference using Ward's work, "Nine "touching" conversational pronunciation patterns your students should not be without! 

The book gets a little technical in places but the pedagogical applications are very clear and immediately applicable. Here are some examples of the "patterns." The first six are from Ward; the other four are relatively "standard" intonation patterns taught by most methods in some form. The haptic application of Ward's prosodic patterns includes accompanying gesture and touch, hence the "touching" term in the workshop title. 

• Bookends - "That's really very interesting.  (Two stressed words with a valley in the middle.)
•               \         -------          \
• Down step - "Dinner's ready!" (Drop down of a minor third)
•                  -----    ___
• "Creaky voice - "I'm out of here. (Voice falls to near F1 of voice, with "creaky" effect)
•                                  \\
• Strong clip - "Stop it!" (Strong stress with "clipped" second word)
•               --- |
• Late rise - "I love that TEAM!" (Final rise-fall showing enthusiasm or energy)
•                              / /
• "I'm good." - "I'm good." (Quick step up with clipped stressed word; conversation ending) 
•                _--|
• Fall (2 types)
• I'm coming back next week. (Fall with slight release at the end.)
•                              \.
• I'm coming back next week if I have time to. (Fall mid-sentence w/o release)
•                              \                      \.
• Fall-rise - "Are you serious?" (Pattern suggesting skepticism in this case.)
•                          \ /
• Rise - "Are you serious?" ( A "simple" question, generally expecting yes/no response.)
•                      /

What makes Ward's approach somewhat unique is that the context for using "prosodic conversational patterns" is, of course, in conversation, not taught in isolation. Haptic uses that as a point of departure and embodies the patterns as well. Join us at the University of Victoria in February, or check back for the recording in early April!

Better pronunciation at your fingertips!

New favorite terms: viscoelastic and deformation. Recent research by Hannes, Ingvars and Roland, "Memory at your fingertips: how viscoelasticity affects tactile neuron signaling," helps explain the power of touch, especially as it relates to interpretation of intensity (from several perspectives) and memory--in haptic pronunciation teaching (HaPT)--and elsewhere. 

Just heard of a great technique from a fiend, a professional vocal artist and instructor. While attending a clinic held by a renowned opera singer and instructor, herself, was required sing a brief piece, in part, to demonstrate her professional "voice" to the seminar. The mentor, although apparently impressed with what she had heard, could see (and hear) that there was much more there. She asked my friend to sing some of the piece again, but this time to engage her fingers on the table as if she were playing the piano, accompanying herself. The result was  . . . astounding . . . her expressiveness, engagement, projection of the piece and her persona were almost overpowering, even for the other members of the seminar. How did that work? (Watch the hands of a great opera singer sometime!)

In the Saal et al study, in essence what they found was that the "history" of previous touch on a location of the skin, described as a "deformation," carried a great deal of information in interpreting current touch, and that past touch was generally as perceptually salient as the current tactile event, as critical to the brain being able to interpret it accurately. In other words, memory for touch is highly complex and dynamic in sensing whether a current impact event has "the same meaning" or different--and in what way.  

In principle, in haptic pronunciation work, any sound or sound pattern can be anchored with movement and touch, touch landing on the stressed syllable of a word or word of a phrase or clause. As developed in an earlier post, there are about a dozen types of touch in the system, each location on the hands or upper body in the visual field target for one or more touch types--and sounds. What the Hannes et al study clarifies is how, for example, three vowel sounds in HaPT such as [i]. [I] and[iy] which are located in the same place in the visual field (as high, front vowels) can still have very different somatic (feeling-based) identities based on distinct types of touch. (See demonstrations.) 

• {i] is performed as a brief hold of the hands as the vowel is articulated. 
• [I[ is performed as a quick, sharp tap touch, as the vowel is articulated.
• [iy] involves 2 motions, an initial glancing scratch of the fingernails of the right hand up across the palm of the left hand as the core vowel [i] is articulated, followed by the right hand fingers gliding to the top of the fingers fingers of the left hand and stopping there as the [y] offglide is articulated. 

In the same way, the potentially "tactemic" finger touch points around the upper body and visual field provide strong, memorable anchors for varied sounds, words and sound patterns or processes. The tactile memory and touch differentiation in the hands is striking. If you'd like to learn more about the KINETIK system, we'd be happy to "give you a hand," of course!

Source: Saal Hannes P., Birznieks I,, Johansson Roland S. (2023) Memory at your fingertips: how viscoelasticity affects tactile neuron signaling eLife 12:RP89616 https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.89616.1