Thursday, November 10, 2011

Aesthetics of embodied pronunciation teaching

In an attempt to "smoke out" some of the more cognitive/aesthetic features of HICP work--recalling Ecco's "Everything is related to everything" principle--I came upon this set of parameters of quality and excellence that, like the previous "felt feelings" post, seem to be equally applicable here {The bracketed comments are mine.}:
Photo credit: People Mag.
  • Consistency is the key factor {especially as regards execution of homework}
  • Content must be consistently processed {especially in terms of felt sense anchoring}
  • It should be neither under or over-filled {(Timing, mood and pace is critical.) or over-embodied--as depicted there at the right . . . }
  • It should "burn" all the way down . . . {Attention and intensity must be managed effectively.}
  • It should have a good mouth feel {of the L2}
  • It should look good {or at least learners should be at ease with the most "gesticular" pedagogical movement patterns.}
  • It should have a good aesthetic quality {be seen as close to expressive or interpretative dance}
  • It should taste good {We do use "breath wafers" and aromatic hand creams at times!}
  • "Subjectivity of taste is one of life's fascinations!" {Personal, felt-sense is the "heart" of HICP work.}
  • Anything less is but a weak imitation . . . perhaps close, but no cigar!

No comments:

Post a Comment