Commitment Doorway 17 to Clear English Mastery

Article 17 for series Elements of Clear English Speech Mastery

Hey you, nonnative speaker of English, what’ll get you to change to clear, not “What did you say?” English?

Key to new learning, new habit is commitment, past and present.

First, social bonds to family or school or workplace or church light the way to stir to action. Gotta have motivation for  new systematic muscle learning. Gotta be impelled for perseverance.  Gotta be propelled to make habit the clear speech mode and accurate enunciation of AE (American English).

Enter Social Bonding Theory’s four processes: commitment, involvement, attachment and belief: the light to efficient and durable learning.

Efficient versus takes forever?  Easy choice.

Durable versus gone-after-training? Double-easy choice.

Enter Social Bonding Theory’s processes that encourage vital behavior patterns that make thrive social groups and individuals.

Take the process of Commitment.

High success to get clear and easy to understand AE requires time, focus, effort and perseverance.

High success needs sound logic to commit.

It needs systematic learning, not just learning on inefficient unorganized or need-to-know basis.

Want sound logic? Diagnostic assessment fits the bill.

First tell us and yourself: what’s your learning already?  Current skill? Needs, desires? For present, for future?  That’s personal stake.

Then show what you’ve got: a dozen oral skills.

Numbers, numbers: what’s the meaning of measurements? How do you compare to non-native and native-born speakers of AE?  Which are your error sounds?  Intonation skills? Written word to pronunciation rules skill?

One size does not fit all ‘cause different reasons for diversity.  Too soft speech because of muscle strength. or mother tongue habit, or your-choice habit?  Errors in AE speech sounds due to using tongue, lips, teeth, larynx in mother- tongue fashion? Or habit of slurring words together?  Or ignorance of AE pronunciation rules?  Gotta get the six “whys” to know the six “hows” for acquiring effective fresh skills.

 Whopper encouragement comes from the dreaded “What”, “What did you say?”.  Or from self-pursuit of life choices, pursuit of uplifted social engagement, applying to grad school, career lift. Frequent incentive is supervisor ask to get better English speech at beginning of job or yearly review. The more sparks the better to fuel commitment to clear AE short-term course of learning.

Strange but true: self-pay versus sponsor-pay doesn’t seem to make a heck of a lot of difference.   Ack, money’s worth a lot, but time and effort the precious more.

Circle back: Commitment for adults comes first from current bonds to familial, educational or school, workplace, church or ethical group. Over-18ers already have drivers for motivation and behavior patterns from these.

Now gotta get Commitment to short-term course of learning.  After that get ignited involvement, attachment, belief.

What’s the short-term course for clear English mastery? 

Seventy days of daily deliberate practice. That is the average to get every day habits. 1*.   Ten weeks times seven days. Assessment and feedback makes twelve weeks total, same as semesters or quarters in academia.

Deliberate practice means not mindless and deliberate accuracy.  It’s not practice makes perfect, but perfect practice makes perfect. 2

Want skill durability?  Get with distributed or spaced schedule. Throw in massed practice, add deep learning.  Thus the Clear English Mastery recipe with icing. Works every time.

Effortful, you’re dern right.  Gotta make motor memory strong in the brain. Plus gotta batten down, inhibit. the old way. Accented English be gone.

There’s more. Commitment needs notable inducement for investing time, energy, the self in an activity path.  Social Bonding Theory says inducement ideally is immediate desirable position or outcome and realistic promise of status in near future.

Immediate inducement is successful talk: listener gets it the first time. Gone is “What?”, the quizzical look.  

Realistic promise of status in near future? Could be getting satisfying projects at work or at school.  Could be promotions; could be landing job.  Could be approving nod of colleague, friend, family member.  Mastery is laudable.

Clear English is downright beautiful.

Next time-  The social bonding process of involvement – what you’ve gotta do!

References:

1. Lally, Phillippa; Van Jaarsveld, Cornelia H. M; Potts, Henry, W.W.Wardle; Jane, How are Habits Formed: Modelling Habit Formation in the real World,  European Journal of Social Psychology, 40, 998-1009, University College London, London UK (2010)    The time it took participants to reach 95% of their asymptote of automaticity ranged from 18 to 254 days, average 66 days. 62 individuals.  As evidenced in the study, many participants found it easier to adopt the habit of drinking a glass of water at breakfast than do 50 sit-ups after morning coffee.
2. Famous quotation of Jack Nicolaus, golf master and icon.
3. Copyright 2024 Clear Talk Mastery, Inc