Full-body and voice burn out prevention workshop for language teachers!

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If you will be at BCTEAL regional conference on 11/16, please join Angelina Van Dyke and me for the "Full-body and voice burn out prevention warm up". (If not, it will be recorded and available off the blog shortly thereafter.) In all modesty, this will be a great session, not just because I'm in it, but Angelina, an accomplished concert and recording artist and voice teacher, has just finished an advanced diploma in voice science and will be sharing some amazing new techniques for "saving your pipes" as we say!

Here is the abstract from the program:

Feeling sluggish, stressed or caffeine deprived? This session, created by voice and pronunciation specialists for the language teacher (and students), should help. The carefully scaffolded, “restorative” exercises activate and focus body and vocal tract in less than 10 minutes. No meditation, medication or mendacity required.

My part of the party, body activation and preservation, takes about 15 minutes. Here is the list of the quick exercises involved: (Note: In some cases the name of the technique is more creative than descriptive, but you get the idea!)

1.     Mandibular massage

2.     Jaw shaker

3.     Neck slow header

4.     Trapezes circles

5.     Rotator cup “rolls”

6.     Hand/Forearm/Finger stretcher

7.     Shoulder and upper body boogie
7.5. Temple wings!

8.     Lateral leanings

9.      Glute Glutin’ 

10.   Core Belly Dance roll up (or plank or Dead Bug)
1.   Hip rotation girations

12.  Progressive lunge (with chair)

13.  Quads lifts (with chair)

14.   Hamstring swing (with chair)

15.   Adductor/abductor swing (with chair)

16.  Progressive mini-squats (with chair)

17.   Upper and lower Achilles tune ups (with chair)

18.   Calf and shin rock (with chair)

19.   Cursive ankle alphabet (with chair)

20.   Visual field scan and full-arm fluency (on the compass)

21.   Hyper lipper (8 vowel tour)

22.   Back and arms hyper stretch (3x) to vocal cone

23.   Chest and mouth hyper stretch (3x) from maximum pucker!

With the video you should be able to do both parts of the workshop any morning you need to get tuned up for the day. See you there or later!

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TESOL 2019 Report - from a haptic perspective!

Every year after attending the TESOL convention, I do a slightly tongue in cheek report back to my program and friends. Here are some excerpts from this year's:

Next year it is in Denver. Denver was snowed in while we were in Atlanta two days. 8 years ago Denver was snowed in during the TESOL convention while we were there . . .

Our haptic workshop went really well. Especially nice doing it with two of TWU MATESOL’s most distinguished and successful grads, Amanda Baker and Mike .Burri! Had about 50 participants. My favorite feedback/comment: “Pronunciation teaching cannot possibly be this much fun.” It can . . . 

The Electronic Village, the area where eLearning and software ideas are hatched every year, continues to appear to be something of a bellwetter of where we are going. If we assume that is the case:

• The future is in our hand(held)s.
• Anyone not highly visual with short attention span need not apply.
• Vetting of presentations is really not that critical (caveat emptor . . . )
• The “dead tree” textbook is . . . dead.

There were about 6500 at the conference. (Down about 3500 from two years ago in Seattle.) TESOL is beginning to suffer from the maturation of the field. There are probably a dozen specialization, beginning with Applied Linguistics about 20 years ago, that have spun off and have their own conferences annually now. 

What that means is if you are more experienced and are looking for more advanced thinking in any skill area—you will probably find less and less of it at TESOL. Heard several reports that what is being presented is (understandably)  aimed more and more at beginners in the field. The same thing has happened to every discipline, of course. For some, like MLA or APA, however, the conferences just keep getting bigger to accommodate all interests and strands.

The convention is also getting expensive, too much for many, I’m sure (around $400 US, in addition to special events, etc.) We had ordered the same booth in the exhibition area for what (we thought) was about the same price as two years ago. Different this time, however. Everything else was al a carte, to the tune of about $1000 US. Ouch . . .

(#@&!%) Mac users. One of the tech support people commented to me that the TESOLers, almost exclusively MAC, were amazingly clueless about working with the projection and sound interfaces, compared to the previous “business” conference people who were all PC. The fact that I use a PC and didn’t need hand holding—and probably seemed like one of the really “old” guard, made me something of a celeb . . . “

Some of my TESOL friends my age looked REALLY old and wrinkled . . . They all recognized me but I didn’t recognize many of them. May be time for me to either make new friends or get new glasses!

Put the next Haptic Pronunciation Teaching webinars (May 17th and 18th) on your calendar. To reserve a spot, contact: info@actonhaptic.com.

Keep in touch!

Haptic Pronunciation Training Rides Again! (at TESOL 2019)

The first haptic workshop, (Acton, W., Baker, A. and M. Burri. 2008). Haptic approaches to Intonation Instruction, was conducted 10 years ago at the 2008 TESOL Convention in New York.

Credit: Linda Liu

This coming March in Atlanta at TESOL 2019 will be the official roll out of v5.0  (v4.5 is still available) and a new workshop, Basics of haptic pronunciation training -- Acton, W., Baker, A. Hong, S. and M. Burri presenting. 

Even if you have attended haptic presentations before, join us for a serious upgrade of your haptic tool kit, both at the workshop and at our annual moving and touching "Haptic-o-logue" over-adult- beverages-get-together of hapticians and friends. (If you have a recommendation for a truly "haptic"  venue in Atlanta, please let us know!)

Keep in touch!

Bill

Haptic Pronunciation Teaching Workshops in Japan!

We are now scheduling workshops in Japan between June 19th and 26th. If your school would like to host a half-day, Haptic Pronunciation Teaching workshop, let us know, as soon as possible. We have just those 7 days open.

• The workshops can be morning or afternoon, and can involve up to 200 participants. 

• A nice venue with moveable chairs (no tables) and good sound is all that is required. Materials, including access to web-based video models of all techniques presented, are provided. A video recording of the workshop is also OK. 

• There are 4 different workshops available. One for experienced teachers, one for teachers-in-training, one for teachers with little or no background in pronunciation teaching, and one for high school age learners and older.

• Cost for the workshops begins at $500 CAD (40,000 yen), depending on audience size.

• If interested, contact us by comment here or at: info@actonhaptic.com! (If your school is in some other country, we will be available for another "tour" Spring, 2019!)

"Haptenings" at the TESOL 2017 Convention in Seattle!

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If you'll be in Seattle in March for the 2017 TESOL Convention, please join us at one of the "haptenings" (haptic pronunciation teaching happenings):

• Haptic Pronunciation Teaching (workshop) (Kielstra, et al.) - Basics of the method. No prior training in phonetics or pronunciation teaching necessary. 
• Teacher cognition about haptic pronunciation teaching (colloquium) (Acton, et al.) - Reports on 5 recent studies of haptic pronunciation teaching in the classroom
• Rhythm and focal stress (poster session) (Teaman, et al.) - Haptic and other techniques for teaching rhythm and focal (sentence and discourse level) stress

A few other convention asides:

• As usual, we'll also set up some kind of networking session in the "networking" area late in the convention. 
• We will also video those sessions and make them available on Vimeo.com once we get home.  
• I'll be tweeting (@WmActon) as will other hapticians, I'm sure. 
• v4.5 of the Haptic Pronunciation Course will be out by then, with revised videos and coursebook additions.
• I'm also on a panel on research in L2 homework in which at least some of my data comes from haptic homework as well. 

Keep in touch! (So will we!)

Love your English Consonants Repair Workshop!!!

Clip art: 

This is big. I love English consonants, most all of them. I didn't always. My relationship with them changed when I was introduced to Lessac's Use and Training of the Human Voice. In Lessac's system each consonant is identified with a musical instrument of the (classical, Western) orchestra. To "do" the consonant, then, the student "impersonates" the instrument, perhaps even by acting out the

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movement associated with it. (My favourite, by the way is the N-trombone.)

Our haptic approach takes Lessac as a point of departure and adds touch and conscious attention to movement in various ways. Of course, most good consonant work entails some degree of tactile and kinaesthetic awareness. (Speech therapists have an advantage on us in being licensed to actually touch their patients! We use coffee stirs instead!)

May 23rd, 2015 at the BCTEAL Annual Conference at UBC in Vancouver, BC we'll be doing the FIRST Consonant Repair Workshop EVER! We have been trying to get this proposal accepted at a conference for several years now with no success. (I do not give up easily!) The basic comments from reviewers have often been something to the effect of: "Who cares?" "Segmental issues (vowels and consonants) are not that important." "Not a high priority!"

That attitude is changing, as research points out how for some learners from diverse L1's (such as Vietnamese) certain consonant issues can be exceedingly disruptive to intelligibility and need to be addressed early in instruction.

Join us!

Here is the abstract:

This workshop presents haptic-based (movement plus touch) techniques for improving pronunciation of select English consonants. Depending on participant preference, included are: th/th, f/v, l/n, r, s/z, sh/zh, y, w, voiced final consonants and initial consonant aspiration. It is appropriate for relatively inexperienced instructors of middle-school age learners and older.

Haptic Highlights of TESOL 2015 - 1

The Haptic Pronunciation Teaching Workshop on Saturday was, as always, touching, moving--and well attended (50 or 6o participants.)
Here is the PowerPoint:

and the references from the handout.

Keep in touch!

(New) Haptic Pronunciation Teaching at TESOL 2015 - Introductory Package!

Even if you aren't coming to Toronto next week, you can still "get haptic!" The Haptic Pronunciation Teaching Workshop (Saturday 9:30~11:15, room 206A) at the TESOL Convention in Toronto will introduce several new features of the AHEPS system, including the new "PronHaptic (recycled tennis) Ball" versions of most of the protocols. We've put together a special, limited-time introductory package offer.

Touching teaching of expressiveness!

Photo credit:
discover-victoria-island.com

On February 21st, at the 2015 BCTEAL - Island Conference, Professor Aihua Liu of Harbin Institute of Technology, a visiting professor here at Trinity Western University, and myself, will be doing a workshop entitled, "A touching and moving approach to teaching expressiveness."

Here is the program abstract: 

In this practical, “hands on” workshop, a haptic-integrated (using movement and touch) classroom-tested system for teaching conversational intonation and expressiveness will be demonstrated and practiced by participants. The 8 basic techniques include 5 for intonation and 3 others for adding on changes in pitch, pace, volume and discourse foregrounding.

And the detailed summary:

Teaching English intonation can be challenging for any language teacher, due in part to the unique uses of intonation patterns at the discourse level.  Although pronunciation textbooks for students generally present basic intonation patterns with practice activities, that is, of course, only the beginning. It is one thing to be able to imitate or use a simple rising intonation contour on a type of yes/no question or a falling pattern on a simple statement, but it is still quite a leap to expressing a wider range of emotion in speaking.

The haptic model presented has students initially speak along with a model or instructor when working on a new or unusual stretch of expressive speech. Rather than just speaking the sentences, however, learners gesture along with the model to enhance their ability to not just produce but recall more accurately the “extra” features of pitch, pace, volume and discourse focus (or foregrounding).

The workshop is based on principles of “Essential haptic-integrated English Pronunciation,” developed by Acton and colleagues. Participants are provided with guidelines for using the framework in classes with teenage and adult learners and given access to video models on the web of the techniques presented.

Join us, if you can!

Haptic pronunciation teaching workshop at TESOL 2015 in Toronto!

For the 8th year in row, a haptic pronunciation teaching workshop has been accepted for presentation at the TESOL conference in Toronto, March 25th ~ 28th, 2015. Below is the program summary and excerpts from the proposal. We'll also have a "gathering of hapticians" at the conference, as usual. Join us! 

Program summary

This workshop introduces a set of six haptic (movement + touch)-based techniques for presenting and correcting English L2 pronunciation, applicable for intermediate English language learners and above. Guided by research on kinaesthetic approaches to L2 pronunciation instruction, the presenters train participants to use the instructional techniques in their classrooms.
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Participants learn a multiple-modality system, designed to be used throughout the curriculum—not just in stand-alone pronunciation classes. The workshop is predominantly experiential, where a set of six haptic techniques are introduced and practiced in break-out micro-teaching sessions. The sections of the workshop are:

A. Principles of haptic integration
B. Haptic anchoring vowels and word stress
C. Haptic anchoring phrasal stress and rhythm
D. Haptic anchoring of basic intonation contours
E. Haptic anchoring of general fluency

This haptic-based system for pronunciation instruction was formed under the premise that, while our general understanding of L2 phonological development has increased substantially, most methodologists would concur that preparing a new EFL/ESL instructor adequately for pronunciation work remains a challenge. The reason for this, in part, is that there is currently no easily accessible, comprehensive model that integrates pronunciation instruction in general speaking and listening instruction. 

The perspective of this workshop is that systematic use of body movement, especially using haptic anchoring (touch tied to pedagogical movement and gesture) is essential to that synthesis. The techniques presented are designed to be integrated into either general or specific pronunciation instruction whenever use of a problematic sound pattern occurs.

The theoretical basis of this approach is derived principally from four sources: (a) the voice and stage movement work of Lessac (Lesssac,1967), (b) Embodiment theory (Holme, 2012) as applied to TESOL, (c) current neuro-physiological research on the role of movement and touch in learning in general (Minogue & Jones, 2006) and of sound systems in particular (Acton, 2012), and (d) kinaesthetic approaches to L2 pronunciation instruction (e.g., Acton 1984).

By the conclusion of the workshop, participants will be able to use the haptic pronunciation integration techniques in their classrooms.

AHEPS v3.0 "Bees and Butterflies"
(Serious fun!)
The best, fastest, most moving
 and touching way to teach,
learn and correct English pronunciation!

Good report on haptic presentations at TESOL 2014!

Haptic Thursday
at TESOL 2014

As mentioned in an earlier blogpost, on the first day of the conference we did all 4 "haptic" pronunciation teaching sessions back to back. (Fellow hapticians had submitted about 16 proposals; that 25% were accepted is about the average for TESOL.) A few general notes on the sessions and responses we received:

A. Audience response was, as usual--and for the most part--very enthusiastic!
B. In two of the sessions, the basic haptic workshop and fluency demonstration, the rooms were jammed with about 100+ people, with many not being able to get in.
C. In the haptic research session and the nonnative-speaker intonation sessions, there were between 30 and 50 participants. (The reference list from those is now available on the website." Many great comments and networking followed for the rest of the conference.

My favourite comments: "That was just . . . fun!" and "Best workshop I've gone to in years!" If you missed us, join us at Cornerstone University next weekend, BCTEAL and TESL Canada in May--or TESOL 2015 in Toronto next March!

Keep in touch!

Haptic Pronunciation Teaching Workshop at Cornerstone University!

If you are in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area on April 5th, please join us for a day-long training workshop on haptic pronunciation teaching at Cornerstone University. I'd especially recommend the workshop if you have little or no experience in teaching pronunciation (and little or no money!) And, as the subtitle proclaims, it will be FUN and INTERACTIVE! (I promise!)

13th Annual ESL Conference Details:

The ESL Conference at Cornerstone University is held to provide practical training opportunities for teachers in a variety of teaching situations. These workshops are appropriate for volunteer tutors and professional teachers, for K-12 and adult ESL teaching contexts, and for those teaching in academic, community, or church-based programs.

This year’s conference will feature a Haptic Pronunciation Instruction Workshop (making extensive use of movement, touch, and fun) for those with little or no training in pronunciation teaching. Whether you are a teaching novice or expert there will be something for everyone as we focus on new and exciting ways of teaching English to our students. Please join us for a day of learning, fellowship and encouragement!

Each participant will receive a teacher's guide with DVD, continental breakfast, and a boxed lunch. 

Schedule:

9:00 am	Haptic Learning
10:00 am	Vowels & Word Stress
11:00 am	Vowels & Phrasal/Compound Noun Stress
12:00 pm	Lunch (with breakout sessions)
1:00 pm	Rhythm and Rhythm Groups
2:00 pm	Intonation
3:00 pm	Consonants & Conversational Fluency
4:00 pm	Close

Cost:

Before March 14th, 2014: $50 regular rate/$30 student rate

On or after March 14th, 2014: $60 regular rate/$35 student rate

TESL Canada 2014 haptic pronunciation teaching proposals accepted!!!

Credit: TESLCA

This is big! We will be doing at least four "haptic" presentations at the upcoming TESL Canada annual conference in Regina, Saskachewan, May 8, 2014:

Workshop: Basics of Haptic (movement + touch) Integrated Pronunciation Instruction”
    Rauser, VanDyke, Lam and Acton

Teaching linking with touch and Taichi
    Hong, Kliuyeva and Hoekstra

Haptic phonetics for pronunciation teaching
     McWilliams and Makarova

Using haptic-integrated pronunciation with the Academic Word List

    Moulden, Peace and Zeng

If you are going to be there, join us! If not, be happy to send you a copies of the proposals or connect you up with the presenters. As reported earlier, there are also going to be 4 haptic pronunciation teaching presentations at TESOL in Portland in March:

Workshop: Essentials of haptic (kinesthetic+tactile)-integrated pronunciation instruction     Kielstra, Baker, Burri, Rauser, Teaman and Acton

Practice-oriented session: Speak fast; speak easy: The Fight Club technique
     Burns, Serena and Kielstra

Research-oriented session: Exploring research supporting haptic (movement + touch) pronunciation teaching
    Rauser, Acton and Burri

Workshop: Teaching basic English intonation by non-native English speaking teachers
    Lam, Zeng, Hong, Takatsu and Donkor

Keep in touch! (AH-EPS v2.0 will roll out next week!) 

Haptic Pronunciation Teaching (AH-EPS) Materials and Courses!

We now have 14 AH-EPS haptic pronunciation teaching packages. They are listed below and also available at the Haptic Pronunciation Teaching blog:

1. AH-EPS Basic Instructor Package ($200)
2. AH-EPS Teaching Video DVD set ($75)
3. AH-EPS Student Workbook and DVD set ($35)
4. AH-EPS 12-pack, Student Workbook and DVD sets ($400)
5. AH-EPS 20-pack, Student Workbook and DVD sets ($640)
6. AH-EPS Independent Study package ($350)
7. AH-EPS Level-1 Student Package ($25)
8. AH-EPS Pronunciation Diagnostic ($100)
9. AH-EPS Instructor Accent Enhancement Program ($960)
10. AH-EPS Consonant DVD ($28)
11. AH-EPS Student Tutoring ($30)
12. AH-EPS Instructor Consultation ($100)
13. AH-EPS One-day on-site Professional Development Workshop ($2000 - for up to 100 participants)
14. AH-EPS One-week training and certification ($2400) at Trinity Western University

For further information, go to the teaching blog or contact us at: actonhaptic@gmail.com

EHIEP Haptic Pronunciation Workshops

Here is the basic announcement format of the courses we are beginning to offer this year in various venues. (If you'd like one in your neighbourhood, let us know.) Later this year, we'll have the online version ready as well. Keep in touch. 

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This is a 10-week, noncredit course to help nonnative speakers of English improve their pronunciation and accent. The course meets Tuesday afternoons, from 3 to 4:15, beginning January 29^th.  

Preference is given to graduate students, but any student or staff member of any level of English proficiency is invited to attend the course. Class size is limited to 24. 

If you are interested in joining the class, a brief telephone interview is required. Required textbook: Oxford Basic Dictionary of American English.

The course fee of $90 includes a student workbook and 9 basic video files.  Ideally, students should have access to a computer or smart phone for practice but that is not absolutely necessary.

·      The topics of the 10 classes are:

o   Introduction to the course

o   Warm up and dictionary orientation

o   Vowels and consonants I

o   Vowels and consonants II

o   Stressed words and phrases

o   Intonation and melody of speaking

o   Speaking fluently

o   Conversational speaking style

o   Expressiveness and pronunciation self-improvement plan

o   Public speaking style

Each week students

o   Discuss their homework at the beginning

o   Are introduced to the pronunciation topic

o   Practice the exercises with a video model and their instructor

o   Practice the pronunciation topic in a everyday conversation

o   Practice a list of words that use the pronunciation topic and are valuable for them, individually.

o   Prepare for homework

§  Students should practice their homework 3 times per week, if possible. (20 minutes each time)

§  Students may purchase optional, downloadable video and audio files for additional practice