How do we make the sounds?
Speech sounds are produced through a complex system of movements in the vocal tract stretching from the lungs up through the larynx, mouth and nose. The larynx, throat (pharynx), soft palate, hard palate, jaw, lips, teeth and tongue are all involved in making speech sounds.
The larynx contains the vocal folds which vibrate to produce voice. The lips and tongue are involved in many sounds, for example the lips are used differently when you say these words “bye, map and watch”. Different parts of the tongue are used to make different sounds e.g. the tongue tip for s and the back of the tongue for k. Other parts of the mouth involved in speech are the teeth to make the f, v and th sounds. The soft palate is made of muscle and moves during speech. It closes the nose off from the mouth, except for the sounds m, n and ng when it is not raised during speech and so allows air to pass down the nose. Both the hard and soft palates are important as the tongue makes contact with them to make speech sounds, for example t is made by contact between the tongue and the hard palate.
Normal Speech Development
Most children follow a similar pattern of sound development. At the earliest stages (around 18 months – 2 years) words are simple usually made up of only a consonant and vowel. They often miss off the ends of words and change sounds to make them easier to say e.g.
sea → tea ship → tip
At first these simplifications happen very frequently, but gradually as the child gets older they diminish.
By three years they can use the following sounds m, n, ng, p, b, t, d, k, g, f, s, h.
By four and a half years they can produce combinations of sounds such as sp and tr and harder consonants such as ch, j, sh, z and v. See the sound development chart which gives the general order in which sounds develop.
Phonological Development
The phonology of a language is the system of sounds that are used to pronounce words. There are rules where some sounds can occur in words and which consonants can combine. In most accents of English there are 24 consonants and about 22 vowels. Each consonant can be identified from its place, manner and whether it is voiced or not. Place means where the different articulators in the mouth make contact e.g. the lips together as in p, b and m. Manner is how the sounds are formed, e.g. with air down the nose as in m, n and ng. When the vocal cords vibrate in the production of a sound it is described as voiced such as in the sound b. If there is no such vibration it is known as ‘voiceless’ such as in the sound p.
The errors which children make often follow a pattern, for example, all sounds which are produced using friction between the articulations such as f and s, may have no friction and become p and t.
How to help in the classroom
It is important to get used to a child’s speech pattern if he is unclear. Try and talk to him in context where you have plenty of clues about what words he might be using. You could use picture books or talk about the work he is doing.
If you do not understand something it may be worth asking the child to try again, show you or give you more detail. Ask questions such as “What else happened?” “Who was there?”
Repeat back to the child when you have understood. This encourages him to keep talking.
If you have to give up it is helpful to say to the child that he has been telling you a lot so that you are acknowledging that he has been trying to communicate.
If you have a child in your class who is difficult to understand it is useful for parents to provide you with a list of words related to family members, pets, their favourite games and so on. These are often words which are difficult to understand out of context. A home school book in which parents and you write down events which have happened at home and school can also help you to tune in when the child is talking.
In general, unless specifically requested by the Speech and Language therapist, it is better to not directly correct the child. If he says something incorrectly you can acknowledge his attempt and give the correct version without any implied criticism e.g.
Child “There’s a tat”
Adult “Yes, it’s a cat”
This works well with reading as the child is already focused on the written words and this can help him to link speech sounds with written forms.