Articulation/Phonology (Speech Sounds)
Practice speech sounds (articulation) with your child; Articulation is the production of speech sounds. Every child will develop speech sounds at his or her own pace. Click on the following link to find picture flashcards containing speech sounds in the initial and final position of words. Use these cards to play games such as go fish, memory, or hide and seek with your child while practicing correct speech sound production; Practice for Speech Sounds
Teaching Sounds: What To Do (Speech and Language Kids)
The first thing you need to do when teaching sounds to your child is to teach your child how to say the sound in isolation. That means that you want your child to say the sound by itself, not in a word or syllable. Choose one sound at a time to work on and pick a sound that is one typically mastered by your child’s age (for example, don’t choose to teach /r/ to a 4-year-old, that’s much too hard!). Here is a chart of sounds and the ages they are typically mastered by.
After you’ve chosen a sound, you will want to teach her how to say it in isolation. Use the prompts below to help your child learn to produce the sound by itself:
/b/
To produce the /b/ sound, use the following cues with your child.
- Watch My Mouth (this will help him see what your lips are doing)
- Put your lips together
- Make your lips pop
- Make your voice hum/Turn your voice on
Help your child push his lips together with his fingers if he’s having trouble getting them closed
/p/
If your child is having trouble with /p/, use the same cues as for /b/ but you will not tell her to turn her voice on. You can have her whisper the sound if she’s making it sound like a /b/ instead of a /p/.
/w/
To make the /w/ sound, have your child start by saying “oo” like in “boo” and then slowly move the lips apart to say “uh”. It should sound like “oooouuh”.
/m/
The /m/ sound is produced by pushing the lips together and humming. Have your child hold his lips closed and then ask him to hum or turn his voice on. The mouth should not open at all during this sound, all of the air should come out of the nose.
/f/
Use these cues to get your child to say the /f/ sound:
- Bite your bottom lip (use a mirror to help your child see what she is doing)
- Hold your lip there and blow
You may need to have your child use her finger to keep her lip in the right place.
/v/
To produce the /v/ sound, use the same cues as /f/ except that you will need to have your child hum or turn his voice on. If your child is struggling with this, try having him hum a tune while biting his bottom lip with his top teeth. If your child is struggling to hold his lip with his teeth, have him use his finger to keep it in place.
“th”
To produce the “th” sound, have your child place her tongue between her teeth and blow. There are actually two versions of this sound, one with the voice on (like “the”) and one with the voice off (like “thumb”). Have your child hum if it’s the voiced one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVOnAI8ktKY
/t/
To produce the /t/ sound, have your child tap her tongue right behind her top, front teeth. If your child is having trouble figuring out where to put her tongue, use these techniques to show her the right place:
- Touch the spot right behind the top, front teeth with a popsicle stick or sucker. Then tell her to put her tongue in the same spot.
- Put a sticky food, like peanut butter or marshmallow cream, on the spot right behind her top, front teeth. Then, have her lick it off. When you are describing that spot again, call it the sticky spot.
/d/
To produce the /d/ sound, you can use the same cues as the /t/ sound, but your child will need to turn his voice on. Tell him this is the loud one.
/n/
For the /n/ sound, your child will need to put her tongue in the same spot as the /t/ sound (see the cues mentioned for /t/). This time though, your child will hold the tongue in that spot while she hums or turns her voice on. If she is having trouble turning her voice on, have her hum a tune while holding her tongue in that position.
/s/
For the /s/ sound, have your child put his tongue in the same place as /t/ (use the placement cues from /t/) but then blow air out. We call this the snake sound! If your child is sticking his tongue out too far, look in a mirror and tell him to keep his tongue behind his teeth. You can practice smiling so that his teeth are touching and there is no place for the tongue to peak out.
/z/
For the /z/ sound, use the same cues a /s/ but this time your child will need to hum or turn her voice on. You can have her practice turning her voice on by humming a tune while saying the /s/ sound.
/l/
For the /l/ sound, have your child slowly move his tongue up to the /t/ spot and back down again. While he’s doing this, have him hum or turn his voice on.
“y”
To produce the “y” sound, have your child start by saying “ee” like in “bee” and then slowly open the mouth to say “uh”. It should sound like “eeeeeuuuhh”.
“sh”
I call this the quiet sound. To make this sound, have your child form her lips into a little circle and blow. If your child is saying /s/ instead of “sh”, ask her to pull her tongue back towards the back of her mouth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZM_eLOVlIA8
“zh”
This is the sound heard at the end of the word “beige”. This one isn’t very common in our language but it’s produce the same way as “sh” except with the voice humming or turned on.
“ch”
This sound is produced by saying “t” and “sh” quickly together. This one is pretty difficult so don’t get frustrated if he can’t say it!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTdQzljjsf0
“j”
The “j” sound is made by saying the “d” sound and the “zh” sounds very quickly together. This may be another one that is best worked on by a speech-language pathologist
“r”
The /r/ sound is a very tricky sound to produce. There are actually two different ways of producing this sound, one with the tongue scooped like a bowl and one with it curved like a mountain. For each person, one of these ways will feel better than the other but you cannot force someone to say /r/ in the way that isn’t natural for them. What you have to do instead is figure out which way they do it best. The easiest way to do this is to listen for any words with /r/ that your child says well. For most children, there are a few words that they can say with a good /r/ already, you just have to be listening for them. Once you find that word, have your child hold out the /r/ in the word so she can feel what a good word sounds like. Then, try to find other words that use /r/ in the same way. For example, if your child can say “car” well, try first to get other words that end in “ar” like “bar” and “far”. Once your child can do those, move to words that are similar, like “aardvark” or “marshmallow”
/k/
To produce the /k/ sound, your child will need to get his tongue to the very back of his mouth. If your child is having trouble finding the right place for his tongue, use some of these placement cues:
- Get a small sucker (like a dum-dum) or a popsicle stick. Gently push down the front of your child’s tongue so that it cannot rise up to say a “t” sound You can also push his tongue back slightly with the sucker or stick to move the tongue backward. Show him this on yourself first so he doesn’t get scared.
- Have your child lay on his back while saying this sound. Gravity may help him drop his tongue back.
- Using your thumb, gently push up and back on the soft spot on the bottom of your child’s chin. This may get the tongue back to the right position.
/g/
The /g/ sound is produced the same way as the /k/ but with the voice turned on.
Watch the video version of how to produce /k/ and /g/!
/h/
The /h/ sound is produced by making puffs of air at the back of the mouth. Have your child pretend to pant like a dog to make this sound.
There you go folks, there’s the first step to teaching sounds to your child.
Articulation Games (by Tracy Gefroh Boyd): This is a great site where children plan a variety of games to practice r’s, s’s, l’s, sh’s and ch’s.
Helping Children Who Mumble
So what do you do with the child who knows how to say all of her sounds correctly but in conversational speech she mumbles and doesn’t articulate well? That was the exact question I got from a reader this week and I thought it was a great one to share with the group! This is article is written from the perspective of a parent, but this is a problem that can be addressed by a speech-language pathologist, a classroom teacher, or a parent. Make sure that you complete each of these steps but be patient, each step may take many sessions or even weeks to master. Practice makes perfect!!
1. Mumbling Awareness
Tell your child that you want to talk to him about mumbling. Ask first if he knows what it means to mumble. If he can give you a good definition, then you’re already on your way! If not, tell him that when people mumble, they don’t say all of their sounds right so it’s hard to understand them. They might talk to quietly, leave sounds out, slur words together, etc. Basically, define mumbling for your child by describing what he does when he is mumbling. Tell your child you’re going to play a game where he has to tell you if you are mumbling or not. For this, you may want to write some sentences on cards beforehand so you don’t run out of things to say. On each turn, read a sentence for your child. Speak very articulately on some sentences and on others mumble it all together. If your child bores of this quickly, you could play a board game while you do this and do one sentence before each turn in the game. Practice this until your child can identify when your sentences are mumbled or not. To make it more fun, you could even give your child a buzzer (like from the game Taboo) or a bell and have him sound it every time you are mumbling.
2. Mumbling Practice
Now it’s your child’s turn. Have your child practice reading sentences using mumbled speech or not-mumbled speech. Give the not-mumbled speech a name like “clear speech”, “good speech” or “articulate speech”. If your child is too young to read, show your child pictures (such as photos you’ve taken, photos from the internet, or photos from catalogs/magazines) and have her create a sentence about what’s happening in the picture. Before your child says her sentence, tell her to either use her mumbled speech or clear speech (or whatever you’re calling it). Keep practicing this until your child is able to speak sentences clearly on command. If your child is having trouble with this step, you may want to back up and try just saying single words or simple phrases like “my ball” with clear speech. Then, you can work your way up to having your child speak longer phrases and sentences clearly.
3. Create a Cue
Now that your child knows how to produce clear speech on command, you need to create a visual cue that you can use to remind your child when he starts mumbling. For younger children, try using a picture cue like a picture of a boy speaking or a mouth. Tell your child that when you show him this cue, he needs to remember to use his clear speech. For an older child, invite him to think of a good cue with you. Tell him that you want to come up with a visual cue that you can give him to remind him not to mumble that won’t embarrass him if he’s in front of other people. Ask him what he thinks the cue should be first. If he can’t think of anything, offer up some suggestions like touching your mouth, pulling on your ear, or raising your eyebrows. Try to make it something that anyone could do so that you can easily transfer this to other adults in your child’s life, like teachers (example, touching the necklace you always wear won’t be an effective cue for your child’s male teacher).
4. Practice Using the Cue
Sit down with your child and tell her you’re going to practice using the cue. Remind your child that every time she sees the cue, it means she’s mumbling and she needs to use her clear speech. Tell her that she can catch you mumbling as well using the same cue (make sure you do some mumbling also so it doesn’t seem like you’re just picking on her). If your child is pretty talkative, you can have her just tell you about something that happened recently. Some popular topics are “what did you do at recess today?” or “tell me about your last birthday party”. If your child doesn’t readily start conversations with you, try having her read you a simple book or describe what’s happening in pictures. Every time your child starts to mumble, use the cue. At first, your child may not always catch the cue so you can give gentle reminders like “oh look, I’m doing the cue!”. After a while, your child shouldn’t need you to say anything, you should just be able to use it silently.
5. Generalize the Cue
Now that your child understands the cue, tell him you’re going to start using it other places. Use it every once in a while around the house when you hear him mumbling and see if he picks up on it. Just like in the last step, you may have to point it out at first until he gets used to looking for it. You don’t need to use it every time he mumbles because you don’t want him to get frustrated or mad at you, but just start off slow and build your way up. Once it is successful for you, you can also start teaching other adults in your child’s life to do this. You can show teachers, other parents/grandparents, caregivers, etc. Teachers will be especially grateful to have a technique that they can use to get your child to speak more clearly without embarrassing him in front of his classmates.
Use of Music Activities in Articulation Therapy
Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, January 1991, Vol. 22, 272-276. doi:10.1044/0161-1461.2201.272
History: Received September 7, 1989; Accepted February 5, 1990
Musical activities stress nonverbal forms of communication and often surpass physical, cultural, intellectual, and emotional limitations. Actively using music in learning experiences involves the whole child through incorporation of rhythm, movement, and speech.
Articulation Activities
Choose songs, chants and poems that contain words with the sounds with which students are working.
Word and Phrase Rhythms
Poems are helpful in establishing rhythm and mood and are beneficial reading activities. They can be spoken while clapping, stamping, walking, or beating out the tempo. The rhythm often unconsciously helps correct misarticulations. Cards can be made of key words and held up when they are being spoken (Birkenshaw, 1982).
Seven Ways to Help Your Child Speak Clearly
- Speak clearly, naturally and, most of all, correctly. Speaking clearly and naturally includes establishing eye contact, speaking at an easy-to-understand rate and saying sounds precisely.
- Monitor your child for ear infections. If you suspect your child has an ear infection, call your physician immediately. A temporary mild hearing loss from an ear infection can slow a child’s ability to understand language and his ability to say words clearly and correctly. If he does have an ear infection, remember to take him back to the doctor for a follow-up visit to make sure his hearing has returned to normal.
- Model the correct way to say a word. If your child says a word incorrectly, in most cases, it is wise not to ask your child to repeat the word. (Of course, if your child is participating in speech therapy, follow the speech/language pathologist’s instructions). Even though many children who incorrectly say sounds have good hearing acuity, they are not able to discriminate between the correct and incorrect production of troublesome sounds. Therefore, give your child many opportunities to hear the sound modeled (said) correctly. Repeat a troublesome word, and over-enunciate the sound your child is mispronouncing by saying it louder and longer. Continue talking, and make the troublesome word a natural part of your conversation.
- Give your child many opportunities to hear troublesome sounds pronounced correctly. This will make it easier for him to hear the difference between the correct and incorrect productions of sounds, and it will also make it easier to say the sound when he is developmentally ready. Try the activities below. As you and your child interact, emphasize the troublesome sound by saying it as often as possible.
- If your child is having trouble saying /f/ sounds:
- Talk about things you can do with your feet.
- Make a favorites list (favorite foods, animals, toys).
- If your child is having trouble saying /k/ and /g/ sounds:
- Play with cars in a toy garage.
- Talk about the keys on your key chain.
- Talk about what you might plant in a garden.
- If your child is having trouble saying /sh/ and /ch/ sounds:
- Talk about different kinds of shoes. Count the shoes in your child’s closet.
- Find five things you can shut.
- Push your child on a swing and talk about other things you can push.
- If your child is having trouble saying /f/ sounds:
- Expect your child to speak clearly. It is important for you to encourage and expect your child to speak the best he can. Be patient, and also tell him how proud you are when he tries his best. If your child has all his wants and needs met without having to say a word, he is, most likely, not getting a lot of opportunities to practice saying speech sounds.
- Prepare your child for new situations. Children who must struggle to communicate often feel self-conscious or apprehensive, especially when facing the unknown. Talk to your child about a new situation he may be facing. Rehearse the words he might hear or say in this situation. Ask your librarian to help you find a book about an upcoming situation, such as a trip to the hospital, the birth of a new sibling or the first day at school.
- Educate others about your child’s speech difficulties. Of course, you would never allow anyone to tease, laugh or imitate your child’s speech mistakes. Privately, talk to his preschool teacher or babysitter and explain his difficulties. If possible, offer helpful ideas. If he has older siblings, talk to them and enlist their help in modeling good sound productions.
http://www.parentguidenews.com/Articles/SpeechandLanguageProblems
'Dear Tongue...'
“We need to write a letter to your tongue so that it will know what to do. What directions do we need to give your tongue?”
The students generate directions and tips that we write on a card. A “Dear Tongue” letter for /r/ might be:
“Dear Tongue,
• Remember to go to the back of the mouth
• Lift up the sides a little bit so you can feel the molars
• Relax just a little bit so you don’t get too stiff
• I believe in you. You can do it!”
Letters can be written to each of the active articulators, including the lips and the jaw. The directions will vary depending on the target sound. For /s/, a letter might be:
“Dear Tongue,
• Remember to lift up high right behind the front teeth
• Lift just the sides even more so that they can touch the inside of the top teeth
• Make a tiny dip in the center of the tongue so that the air can come through the middle
• You are strong. You can do it!”
Letters have specific directions, based on guided feedback of techniques and strategies that were helpful during the session. Questions are used to highlight successes, such as “You lifted the tip of your tongue up high! Did that help you make your sound?” Letters have encouragement and affirmations. Using positive words provides a model of positive self-talk.
Personification of the articulators encourages clients to recognize the volitional control that they have to change movements in specific ways. Personification allows a client to separate their own identity from the challenges or difficulties related to approximations and error productions. The ability to alter a habitual motor pattern in precise ways requires an intense amount of concentration and vigilance. Making the tongue a partner in the intervention process helps clients focus their energies to monitor designated movements.
We congratulate our tongues when they are successful. We give pretend “high-fives” to our tongues, by making a “high-five” sign in the air near the mouth. We give ourselves a “pat-on-back” to celebrate the tongue’s movement and correct placement.
When you give human qualities to an entity, you are able to ascribe feelings and form understanding. We are able to have compassion and we do not place blame. We can give our articulators encouragement and direction. We can recognize that our articulators are doing the best that they can!
http://community.advanceweb.com/blogs/sp_2/archive/2016/05/31/dear-tongue.aspx
How to Stop Mumbling and Speak Clearly
Mumbling is when you speak so low or skimp on enunciation to the extent that people don't understand what you're saying, and often ask you to repeat yourself. This can be an annoying habit, but chances are that you already know how to speak without mumbling. You have probably had a phone conversation when the connection was poor or spoken to somebody who was hard of hearing, and in these situations you probably spoke loudly and clearly without even thinking about it. Can you do that consciously and make it a habit? Here are some techniques to try.
- Use better posture
- Stand up straight
- Even if you're nervous, good posture will help to give the impression of confidence. Good posture also helps to keep your airways open, so your breath can be stronger.
- Sit comfortably so that you can also sit up straight. Tuck in your stomach when sitting and push your spine upwards.
- Stand up straight
- Deal with motivations for mumbling
- Avoid nervousness
- People who speak fast do it because they are not confident, or they are nervous. Pretend not to be nervous and this will make you speak at normal speed.
- Don't be afraid to say the wrong thing
- You might; everyone does. Just correct yourself or move on. It is a skill and some people are extremely gifted at it. If you need to practice, realize it is a skill that you aren't particularly strong in but is something you can learn.
- Avoid nervousness
- Practice improving your clarity
- Listen
- Listen to others who are good at speaking, such as radio and television announcers. Notice how they pronounce words, at what speed they talk, and so on.
- Practice
- Talk into a tape recorder or use your computer with a microphone. Then, listen to your recordings. Do take the opportunity to notice what is unintelligible, where your sentences trail off, and so on.
- Practice pronouncing words by reading things out loud and pronouncing every word correctly and slowly. If you mumble, go back and repeat the sentence.
- Practice some vowel sounds with a wide mouth.
- Practice reading out loud at least 10 times a day
- Record some sentences
- Use tests such as tongue twisters. Play it back and check your pronunciation and enunciation problems. Try to remedy the errors you note with more practice.
- Listen
- Speak clearly
- Open your mouth wider as you talk.
- Not as much sound will come out if it has to snake past your closed teeth and lips first.
- Articulate
- Make sure you actually stop the air for consonants like 't' and 'b'. Differentiate between your vowels.
- Slow down
- Talking too fast is a common symptom of nervousness, but it won't help your words be understood.
- Speak up
- Aim to speak at least a little bit louder. You will automatically use more breath, and you will probably slow down and articulate better in the process.
- Speak with inflection
- Questions should go up in pitch at the end. Statements should go down. Notice, also, what syllables and words get emphasis. Try exaggerating your inflection, the way you would if you were reading to a small child and hamming it up a little bit.
- Support from you diaphragm
- You don't have to sing while anybody is listening, but try singing alone in your shower or in your car. You'll exercise your voice and get used to using it. You'll also learn about using air, articulation, breath, and phrasing.
- Sing
- You don't have to sing while anybody is listening, but try singing alone in your shower or in your car. You'll exercise your voice and get used to using it. You'll also learn about using air, articulation, breath, and phrasing.
- Shout
- Don't squeak or scream or raise the pitch of your voice. Bellow. Keep your voice at about its normal pitch and see how loud you can go. Cheering at a sporting event or talking over loud music is an opportunity to practice, or you could just close the door. Notice how you control your air when you shout.
- Open your mouth wider as you talk.