Sensorimotor training, as mentioned before, incorporates the sensorimotor integration of the L2 learner. Some current forms of sensorimotor training being studied include: Musical training, Trainings involving verbal stimuli and co-speech gestures, and Language games.

Musical Training

Musical training has shown to have a positive influence on linguistic abilities in many language acquisition and speech perception studies. Chobert, François, Velay, & Besson (2014) studied the effects of music expertise on speech perception by carrying out longitudinal studies to compare the linguistic abilities of musicians and non-musicians. Their study showed that children who received musical training fared better in the pre-attentive processing of syllabic duration and voice onset time than children who did not receive musical training.Another study by Shahin (2011) showed that the auditory processing skills acquired during musical training can be transferred to speech perception. There are also evidence which shows that the neural mechanisms used to process music and speech overlap. For instance, a study by Wilson and Iacoboni (2006) discovered that music and language share neural resources for processing prosody which is important in learning languages.

In a recent study, Chobert & Besson (2013) argue that many similarities shared by music and speech musical training help in L2 learning and speech perception:

1. Music and speech are both complex auditory signals based on similar acoustic parameters such as frequency, duration, intensity and timber (tone quality).
2. They comprise several levels of organization: morphology, phonology, semantics, syntax and pragmatics in language and rhythm, melody and harmony in music.
3. The perception and production of music and speech both requires attention, memory and sensorimotor abilities.

The findings of the above-mentioned studies have shown that learning a musical instrument is an effective form of sensorimotor training which can help to bridge the music and linguistic development of L2 learners.

Training involving verbal stimuli and gestures

Building on the knowledge of the effectiveness of enactment in foreign language learning, a study by Macedonia and Knosche (2011), studied the usefulness of gestures in, specifically, the memory and retrieval aspects of L2 learning. In their study, participants were presented with novel verbal stimuli (spoken form of novel words) and were shown images of some gestures. They were then cued to repeat the word and imitate the gestures simultaneously. Numerous memory recall and written tests were administered to find out if the gestures actually helped the L2 learners remember and recall the words better.

Findings of the study revealed that through gesturing, representations in distinct areas of the brain can be binded into coherent events which allowing learners to reconstruct and recall the information acquired subsequently even without the use of motor actions.

Language games

Active spoken mastery of the L2 can be seen as one of the main goals of L2 learners. However, the form of learning in many formal L2 learning settings has emphasis on teaching declarative knowledge of the L2 (Morphological and syntactical structure rules), which does little to help L2 learners achieve a basic level of proficiency in the spoken form of the L2. Macedonia (2005), notes this and found that Language games, which puts the declarative knowledge of the L2 learner to use, helps to transform these declarative knowledge learnt previously into procedural knowledge. These language games, which can come in the form of card or finger games, provides the opportunity for L2 learners to practise redundant oral repetitions of the grammatical rules- Morphological and syntactical structure rules- in a positive and fun manner, till they are able to do so without any form of help or intervention.

First Created Grace Tan Shu Ting, Joan Peh Wan Xuan, Thing Jia Yun, AY2014/15 Semester 1