Speech

Primary and Secondary Schools - Speech

• Children with Unclear Speech

  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.

• Supporting Speech Difficulties

  There are many ways that school staff can support children's developing awareness of sounds in words without working directly on their speech production.
  
  Some General Tips:
  
  Try not to:

  • ask the child to repeat words after you
  • ask the child to repeat what s/he says too many times

  Why not?
  

  • The child may not have the necessary sounds in his/her system
  • The child may not be able to produce these sounds to order
  • The child may be able to produce the sounds in isolation, but not within a word or phrase
  • The more times the child repeats his/her incorrect version of the word the more this representation may be reinforced
  • The child probably knows s/he is failing and this will lower self-esteem

  
  Try to think of other ways of finding out what the child wants to say.
  
  

  • 'Can you show me?'
  • 'Take me to it'.
  • Use forced alternative questions such as 'Do you mean your coat or your shoes?'
  • Use a home/school diary to give you a clue when listening to news
  • Offer models of speech back to the child
  • Child: 'Witti ta'.
  • Teacher: 'A little car? Yes, it is little'.

   

  Why?

  • These methods should reduce anxiety levels and promote self-esteem
  • Contextual clues aid communication by enabling the child to show or point to the thing they are referring to in the classroom
  • Modelling back reinforces the correct representation of words
  • Communication is sustained rather than a problem being highlighted

  Be sensitive to the child and the context. Such situations might include:

  • 1:1 times, such as when the child is reading aloud (as long as the repetition does not interfere with the meaning of the text)
  • rehearsing rhymes and songs in a group - everyone can practise speaking clearly together
  • practising for class assemblies or plays, if the child is happy to take part
  • as guided by the speech and language therapist, if one is involved
    

  How can school staff actively help children to improve their speech?
  

  • By working on the crucial listening skills that underpin speech production

• Speech/Phonology

  Some terms used in relation to speech sounds/What can go wrong?
  
  

  Definitions

  
  

  'Speech sounds': the individual sounds we use to make words.

  
  

  In English we have 24 consonant sounds and 22 vowel sounds for the 26 letters of the alphabet. These are described by the place they are made in the mouth.

  
  

  'Phonological awareness': the knowledge that individual sounds make up words.

  
  

  It also includes noticing similarities and differences in words, (rhymes, syllables, initial and final sounds) and their ability to mentally manipulate sequences and chunks of sounds.

  
  

  'Auditory discrimination': the ability to listen and detect find differences between words.

  
  

  What can go wrong?

  
  

  Children might have difficulty with any stage, they may only have one or two sounds that are incorrect or unintelligible to friends and family.

  
  

  "My child says "tat" for "cat""

  
  

  Some children will substitute one sound for another. It is normal at early stages of development. If the "k" sound is always said as a "t" cat will be said as "tat" and back as "bat". If you are concerned about a child's development then consult a speech and language therapist. You can help by saying the word clearly. Eg, if he says "tat", you reply "yes a cat", so that they can hear how the word should sound.

  
  

  What can I do to help?

  
  

  With young children try repeating the word for them to hear -  they need to hear words lots of times to learn how to say them. Accept the child's own production of a word at this stage as they may not be ready or able to say it correctly.

• Phonological Awareness

  ...helping children discriminate between sounds
  
  

  All children within the class will be working on developing similar skills. Differentiation of the curriculum should take into account:
  

  • the amount of time that is needed to effect success for the individual child
  • whether the environment facilitates the good attention and listening required for these kind of activities
  • whether teaching needs to be more or less explicit.

  Children need to move from an understanding of syllables that relies on their clapping their hands or on saying a word out loud, towards their making an internalised judgment about the number of syllables in a word.

  
  

  Similarly, many children will initially need to name pictures or objects aloud, before deciding whether the words rhyme or not.  This is a normal part of development. 

  
  

  Group/individual focus

  
  

  Some children need more focused practice in order to learn to identify rhymes and syllables.

  
  

  They may also need to be taught to discriminate between different phonemes and how they can be blended or strung together in words.

  
  

  Specific attention might be paid to initial and/or final sounds.

  
  

  Other children may have a specific difficulty in the area of speech sounds and might need more individual attention to develop their auditory listening and discimination.

  
  

  Classroom management

  
  

  Many children will come to school with an ability to rhyme and with a good sense of rhythm.  Rhyming games are part of life in Key Stage 1 and will reinforce this inner knowledge shared by most children.

  
  

  The Word Level work in the literacy hour continues this learning and it is expected that phonological skills will quicky be acquired.

  
  

  These skills are commonly reinforced by activities such as:
  

  • whole class participation in (nursery) rhymes, songs
  • sharing books with strong rhyming patterns
  • stressing rhyming words in a song or poem
  • anticipation of rhyme: asking children to complete rhyming couplets
  • playing with syllables -marking musical beats, clapping names

• What is Stammering?

  Stammering refers to a problem resulting from a disruption in the flow and timing of speech.

  
  

  This disruption can take a number of different forms and include:
  

  • Repetition – a particular part of speech may be repeated a number of times.
  • Prolongation – sounds may be lengthened.
  • Hesitation – may be pauses in the child’s speech.
  • Freezing – as if the child’s speech muscles become frozen in time.
  • Fillers – extra words may be added which do not contribute to the meaning.
  • Forcing – a child may be heard to push some sounds out forcefully.
  • Incompletion – words or sentences may be left unfinished.
  • Airflow problems – breathing may be disrupted.
  • Gestures – extra facial or body movements become associated with talking.
  • Eye contact – child may be unable to look at his listener.
    

  The different terms used:

  
  

  The Americans refer to the same mode of speech as 'stuttering'. The term is sometimes used in Britain, but usually ‘stammering’ is the accepted label.

  
  

  Speech and language therapists talk about stammering in terms of a loss of the fluency of speech.

  
  

  This is different from the popular sense of the word “fluency”, in which language Is perceived as a continuous stream of interesting words spoken with apparent ease and speed.

  
  

  Speech and language therapists may use the word non-fluency or dysfluency to describe stammering.

  
  

  Developmental non-fluency/dysfluency refers to the type of disrupted speech many children use when they are developing their communication skills. This mainly happens between the ages of 2 and 7 and generally lasts less than a year.

  
  

  Hidden stammering

  
  

  This is not so easy to identify and relates the thoughts and feelings a child may have regarding speaking.

  
  

  Hidden stammering may include:
  

  • Speech avoidance – Where the child avoids saying a sound or word which he thinks is difficult to say.

  He may substitute words or even opt out of talking.
  
  It is better, he may feel, to be thought of as less intelligent, less sociable than for others to think he is a stammerer.

  
  

  • Situation avoidance - Where the child perceives that his speech in certain contexts is not as good as in others.

  So he avoids placing himself in those situations.
  
  For example, he may come in late for school regularly so he can avoid answering the register.

  
  

  Diagnosis pathway

  
  

  Parents or professionals who are concerned about a child’s fluency should refer to the local speech and language therapy department. A full assessment will be carried out, resulting in:

  
  

  • Advice – leaflets may also be obtained from the British Stammering Association- BSA (see link below) .
  • Therapy – which may include the Lidcombe programme – or Parent Child Interaction therapy

  or

  • For older children, group therapy – usually during school holidays.

  

  External websites

  Australian Stuttering Research Centre [sydney.edu.au/health_sciences/asrc]

  The Australian Stuttering Research Centre [ASRC] was established in 1996 in the Faculty of Health Sciences [Cumberland Campus], The University of Sydney. The purpose of the ASRC is to establish and disseminate knowledge about stuttering and its treatment.

  
  

  British Stammering Association [www.stammering.org]

  Website for the British Stammering Association

  
  

  The Association for Research into Stammering in Childhood [www.stammeringcentre.org/s-index]

  "Our main aim is to support the specialist speech and language therapy service which is offered at the Michael Palin Centre for Stammering Children in London.

  
  

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