The goal of speech drills is to help the students practice and hear themselves saying the correct pronunciation of difficult sounds. Speech teachers recommend that students should be corrected during practice sessions, but not constantly throughout the day. Constant correction can stifle communication. A knowledgeable parent, however, can use regular times of conversation to identify the areas that need improvement.
The concept behind these drills is to first practice a consonant sound alone. Next the consonant is practiced in combination with vowel sounds. (These vowel sounds are often nonsense words but attempts are made to spell the words so that they look like they sound.) The student progresses from learning to say the consonant at the beginning of a syllable, to saying it in the middle of a word, to saying it as the final sound in a word. When the student has grasped the proper enunciation of the sound, it is helpful to compile a page of pictures that show words containing the sound. Each session the student should name each picture without having to hear the word first. The final test is the ability to use each word from the picture page in a sentence.
The most common consonants that challenge young students are R, W, S, TH, and L, so we will begin with these. These drills are followed by enunciation drills for the remaining sounds of the English language. Even students with no obvious problems can benefit from some concentrated time given in speaking distinctly. The drills may be printed out for the teacher's notebook. The teacher will lead her class in saying the sounds. Students should not only listen carefully, but attentively watch the teacher's lips during practice. Students who speak clearly can gain confidence in clear speech by memorizing and reciting poetry or famous quotes. See the poetry and patriotic sections for appropriate material.