RHYTHM FIRST (new) pronunciation teaching technique: Haptic Side Step!

Full disclosure: the following post includes explicit, dance and intrapersonal touching, something of a
follow up to two recent posts:

• Why rhythm comes first in pronunciation teaching!,
• Glutin' your way to better pronunciation

Clker.com

What is new here is the active, simultaneous use of feet, literally and figuratively. The idea is that much of the basics of English pronunciation and practice can (and should) be taught to the beat of the rhythmic feet of the text being spoken. The tempo will vary but the “dance step” is essentially the same.

• All text used at the beginning should be staged/indicated on paper or expressed or broken up into rhythmic feet (groups of 1~9 syllables in this system, although in the classical sense, a "foot" is usually limited to 3 or 4 syllables). For example: 
• The stressed syllable / in the word or phrase / should, in general, / be highlighted / (underlined or boldfaced / for example.) 
• The body is moving gently from side to side, to the rhythm of the designated rhythmic feet, using what we call a "haptic side step, where the forefoot comes down on the stressed element. 
• See short video of me "DEMONSPLAINING" how the basic procedure works in a clip from a recent presentation at UBC. (It is especially clear in the second part of the 15 minute video.) Password: HaPT-Demo3
• As noted in the video, in haptic pronunciation work the upper body may also be simultaneously executing various touch-based pedagogical (gesture) movement patterns related to a targeted pronunciation feature, such as a vowel sound or key word, a rhythm or intonation pattern, etc.  

The "side step" has been developed over the last five years as an optional feature of more advanced, accent modification work.The rest of the full, full-body version of the haptic system, Haptic Pronunciation Teaching, v5.0: RHYTHM FIRST! will be rolled out later this fall.

In the meantime, try some form of that basic technique in class with any simple dialogue, or word list, or dialogue or even spontaneous chat (as I do on the video) and, as usual, report back!

The technique will be featured at the next webinar, March 27th and 28th. (Contact: info@actonhaptic.com for further information.)

Caveat emptor: This looks easy.

Glutin' your way to better pronunciation!

This is the second of a series of posts introducing and exploring aspects of the new (RHYTHM-FIRST) v 5.0 haptic approach to pronunciation teaching. Most of the new system can be used with or without gesture and touch, in part because it begins with the feet! The technique described here is not part of the current system, but it may well be later, particularly in teacher training. It is certainly  . . . different. I "discovered" it very much by accident . . . literally!

Had to go to physio because of an overuse injury to my right glute caused by trying to run faster than my legs would allow in a 10k. One of the prescribed exercises was to stand up and alternatively tighten and relax each glute, while stepping to either side, about 18 inches. While doing it one afternoon I just happened to sync or dance along with a song on the iPhone, sort of glutin'

Clker.com

on the stressed words.

A few days later, working with an advanced ESL student with serious problems related to rhythm and stress placement in English, I had her try glutin' along with first a word list and then on the stressed words in a scripted dialogue, and then just before we finished, had her do some of the same as she was spontaneously describing to me an event that had occured the previous day.

The immediate impact on her speaking style was dramatic; the change over the next two weeks, at least in retelling stories and simple, informal conversation, was equally remarkable, transformational. Have since tried out glutin' with half a dozen other students with pretty consistent results. Have not worked on how to teach it to a full class of students, but I'm working on it.

The technique actually mirrors several other procedures we use that induce the body, especially the upper torso to sync to phrasal and clausal rhythm. I'd do a video of this, but there would, of course, be nothing to "see" without the right/tight, revealing camera angle on a well-gluted speaker wearing potentially distracting fashion tights . . .

In the interim, just for fun, try it out, yourself, then with some students and report back.

Haptic pronunciation teaching goes "Down Under" (to Wollongong)!

Photo credit: ALAA

No, we hapticians are not just doing more work with the rhythmic feet of Aussie English--although that is actually a very good idea (and you don't necessarily have to be a dancer or haptician to appreciate or use them! See this description of rhythmic feet from a DownUnder university!)

Some of us will be at the 2018 Applied Linguistics Association of Australia conference in Wollongong, November 26-28th and the 3rd Pronunciation Symposium the preceding day.

Although there are a couple of presentations at the Symposium that sound haptic (at least metaphorically) such as

• Punching through the Barrier to Activate Productive Oral Vocabulary (Billie Beljanski)
• Teaching the Pronunciation of -Ed Endings with an Articulatory Approach (Arizio Sweeting)

I'll be doing one that definitely is:

• A Haptic Technique for Teaching Reduced and Secondarily Stressed Vowels

 At the ALAA conference, I am doing the opening plenary:

•  Embodied (and Disembodied) Methodology in English Language Teaching: From Drill to Virtual Reality

And a 20-minute quick session:

• Haptic pronunciation correction and feedback

If you are going to be at either conference, please get "in touch" (info@actonhaptic.com) so we can gather round the barbie and do a little "Haptic dance!"