Keeping the pain in pronunciation teaching (but working it out with synchronized movement and dance)

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Three of the staples of pronunciation work, choral repetition, drill and reading have been making something of a comeback--but just waiting for studies like this one to surface. (Or, confirm what any experienced practitioner could tell you without doing a controlled study in the lab.) In essence, the key idea is: choral, doing it together, in sync.

 A 2015 study, Synchrony and exertion during dance independently raise pain threshold and encourage social bonding by Tarr,  Launay, Cohen and Dunbar found " . . . significant independent positive effects on pain threshold (a proxy for endorphin activation) and in-group bonding. This suggests that dance which involves both exertive and synchronized movement may be an effective group bonding activity." (Full disclosure here.) The dance treatment used was a type of synchoronized dancing at 130 beats per minute, which does sound relatively "exertive"--perhaps not a perfect parallel to use of synchronized gesture and body movement in language teaching. It is, I think, still close enough, especially when you review the extensive literature review presented in the article. (And besides, the subjects in the study were high school students who obviously have energy to "burn!")

One of the fascinating "paradoxes" of pronunciation instruction is the way use of gesture and movement can be both energizing and distracting. Appropriate choral speaking activities using synchronized gesture or body movement may work to exploit the benefits of prescribed movement, without the downsides, the "pain", including just the personal or cultural preferences related to the appropriateness of  moving one's body in public. (See several earlier posts on that topic.)

One of the major shifts in pronunciation teaching--and probably one reason for the concurrent lack of both interest in and effectiveness of current methodology, has been the move to "personalized" pronunciation with computers and hand held devices, as putative substitutes for "synchronized" learning in a class . . . of people, with bodies to move with. In essence, we have in many respects, disembodied pronunciation teaching, disconnecting it from both social experience and integrated (including the often relatively hard "exertion" of) learning.

In v4.0 of the EHIEP system, most of the basic training is done using designed pedagogical movement patterns, along with simple, line dancing-like dance steps. (There is also the option of doing the practice patterns without accompaniment, not to a fixed rhythm, although the work is still done with complete synchrony between instructor and student.) In most cases the "step pattern" is just a basic side to side movement with periodic shifts in orientation and direction, done in the 48 to 60 beats per minute range. (A demonstration video will be available later this month and the entire system, early next spring.)

One of our most successful workshops along these lines was titled: So you think you can dance your way to better pronunciation! Turns out, you can, even if that only means that all the bodies in the class are synchronized "naturally" as they mirror each others' movement as the result of their mirror neurons locking into highly engaged f2f communication in general.

Turns out the "pain" is essential to the process, both the physical and social "discomfort" since response to it and exploiting it also enables powerful, multi-sensory learning. Or as Garth Brooks put it: "I could have missed the pain, but I'd had to miss the dance."

Full citation:
Tarr, B., Launay, J., Cohen, E., Dunbar, R. (2015) Synchrony and exertion during dance independently raise pain threshold and encourage social bonding The Royal Society Biology Letter 28: October, 2015.DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2015.0767

The "music" of pronunciation teaching: Just "duet!"

Clip art: Clker

Clip art: Clker

It would be difficult to find anyone who does not support the use of music in language teaching, for any number of reasons. For the most part the rationales are common sense and intuitive--and backed by generations of validating classroom and extra-classroom experience. But here is a study by Lindenberger and colleagues at the Max Planck Institute (reported by Science Daily) that goes the other direction, examining the synchronous brain activity that is evident in "making music together," in this case two guitarists playing a duet, connected up to fMRI technology (including the usual bathing caps with dozens of wires attached!)

There are similar studies of "duets" of conversationalists, lovers, mothers and infants and others, which show coordination or mirroring of minds and brains. Likewise, studies of empathy show analogous "sync-ing" in between participants. (In EHIEP work, there is extensive mirroring, complementary background music and use of music in supporting rhythmic practice.) Can you imagine a more effective occasion for anchoring of new or changed pronunciation than when instructor and learner are locked in (neurophysiologically and pedagogically appropriate) synchronized dance from across the room--making music together? That is music to more than the ears--and not a bad place to begin in understanding when instruction enables uptake and when it doesn't. Take note . . . and your mp3 player. 

Haptic (or near-haptic) pronunciation teaching techniques

Clip art: Clker

Clip art: Clker

I have often linked to pronunciation instructors, methodologists and websites where haptic or haptic-looking techniques are evident. In most cases, the procedures described are not exactly those we use, but they do, nonetheless, involve the use of movement and touch in sound system instruction of some kind. In pronunciation instruction there are many examples of non-systematic haptic anchoring. Early posts have referred to several of these. Most involve some condition or process that does not for some reason efficiently support haptic or multi-sensory learning or memory access. (Consequently, we do not use them in EHIEP work.) They are all still very helpful in "regular" instruction, however! In parentheses is the name of a relatively well-known somebody who uses, used or recommended that technique in some way:

• Rubber bands (e.g., Judy Gilbert)
• Procedures that involve holding an object and, for example, lifting it up on the stressed word of a phrase as a command is given or responded to.(e.g., James Asher) 
• Various intensities of hand clapping on stressed syllables (e.g., Linda Grant)
• Snapping fingers during jazz chants (e.g., Carolyn Graham)
• Using a pencil to trace intonation contours as a sentence is articulated (e.g., Kenneth Pike)
• Moving hand to touch or move across mouth area to anchor sound articulation (e.g., Joan Morley)
• Dancing feet with steps on stressed syllables or words (e.g., Bertha Chela-Flores)
• Action songs that involve touch and movement and often rhythm instruments, especially for kids (Every early elementary school teacher!)

Accidental but good haptic:

• Singing with patterned gestures or juggling juggling balls while talking (e.g., Tim Murphey) 
• General movement and touch in rhythm work -  (e.g., Marsha Chan)
• Touching stressed vowels of words on chart w/baton (e.g., Caleb Gattegno)

Touch not coordinated explicitly with sound or movement but still very powerful in enabling anchoring and access of language material:

• iPhone apps! (Several for pronunciation work now on the market)
• Touch screen responses in CALL and CAI

The EHIEP system includes (among others) four types of haptic anchors. The key criteria is that the pedagogical movement pattern include an anchor or end point that involves touch-on-prominence or focus of some kind, especially touch that is consistently in the same general location in the visual field.

• Hands touching on stressed elements, using four or five different types of touch or haptic textures
• Hands touching upper body on stressed elements
• Hand squeezing ball or similar object on stressed elements
• Baton touching other hand or forearm on stressed elements