SpeechAt it’s most simple speech is the sounds we use when we form words …

Sarah Barrow Speech and Language TherapistJune 2012

What we will discuss today?What is speech?How do we describe it?What can go wrong?What can we do about it?

Why do you need to know this?A new child starts at ECC-C. You think he may have

some speech sound difficulties but are not sure. By the end of today’s discussion you will know whether the speech is ‘normal’ for a child of his age. You will be able to listen to and record what he is saying; you will be able to comment on any phonological processes that he may be using. You can explain to the speech therapist what is happening and following the speech therapists assessment will understand why certain input, storage or output activities have been recommended for therapy.

I promise you; you will

Some terminology

Letters: There are 26 letters in the alphabet.Phonemes: There are 43 different sounds or phonemes

we make when we speak.Graphemes: A grapheme is a way of using the 26

letters of the alphabet to write down the 43 phonemes. There are literally hundreds of graphemes.

More on graphemesGraphemes can consist of 1, 2, 3 or 4 letters p

[pig] sh [sheep] tch [attatch] ough [through]. You can find the same phoneme with different

graphemes .. the phoneme /k/ can be written c as in cat or bacon, k as in kind or milk or ck as in clock or pack.

You can find the same grapheme with different phonemes .. The grapheme “o” is pronounced differently in go, hot, women, more and mutton.  

The problem

Speech and Language Therapists need to be able to transcribe the speech of their clients so they can record EXACTLY how they are producing certain sounds and words. Then they use these transcriptions to plan therapy and intervention for speech sound difficulties. But; how can we record what they are saying when the letters of the alphabet don’t correlate clearly with the sounds we make when we are talking?

The solution

We use something called the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). In a phonetic alphabet each sound (or phoneme) is represented by a different symbol.

Activity 1: In small groups using the Phonemic Chart handouts (Appendix 2 and 3) go through each of the phonemes, generating at least one more word with the same phoneme in it.

Describing the phonemes

Vowels and ConsonantsPlace of articulationManner of articulationVoiced and voiceless

Vowels and ConsonantsVowels [19 vowel phonemes] 12 are pure vowels of which 5 are long and 7 are

short7 are dipthongs where the quality of the vowel

changes. Vowels are characterised by unobstructed airflow.Consonants [24 consonant phonemes]. Airflow is constricted or obstructed by the

articulators (lips, tongue and soft palate).

Place of ArticulationEach point at which the airstream can be modified to produce a different sound is called a place of articulation. LabialInterdentalAlveolarVelar

Place of ArticulationActivity 2:

Practice saying the sounds f, g, b, th, t, m, v, n, k, d, p. Think about the place of articulation where is your tongue when you make each sound?

Bilabial – closure of the lips or

Labiodental - lips on teeth

Interdental – tongue between the teeth

Alveolar – tongue on the alveolar ridge

Velar – back of the tongue and soft palate touching

Manner of ArticulationThe articulators can be used in different ways to

create different sounds. The type of sound produced is called the manner of articulation.

Oral versus nasal  Stops or plosives Fricatives

Voiced or Voiceless Consonants can be voiced or voiceless. In voiceless sounds the vocal folds are held open for air to pass through and in voiced sounds they vibrate against each other.

Many consonants come in voiced and voiceless pairs.

Activity 3

Try saying

ffffffffffffffffffffffffffvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv or zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzsssssssssssssssssssssss

whilst holding a finger on your vocal folds; can you feel the difference? Try putting your fingers in your ears too.

Labelling speech sounds …

p is a voiceless bilabial plosivef is a voiceless labiodental fricativez is a voiced alveolar fricativem is a bilabial nasald is a voiced alveolar plosivek is a voiceless velar fricative 

When do speech sounds develop?Most children have all vowels before the age of 3.Bilabials are some of the earliest sounds.All nasals and plosives should be acquired before

the age of 4. Fricatives develop later than plosives.Development of accurate speech sounds

continues up to age 8. Activity 4: See Appendix 5

Phonological ProcessesChildren below the age of about 4;6 years may not

have sufficient ability to fully co-ordinate the movement of their articulators.

As a consequence, certain sounds, sound combinations or transitions from one sound to another may be too difficult.

The child may, therefore, simplify the production of complex words. However, in the typically developing child, these simplifications are not random but fairly predictable and are called phonological processes.

ExamplesReduplication [2;6]Deletion

Consonant deletion [3;3]Weak Syllable deletion [4,0]

Fronting [3;6]Backing [3;0]Cluster Reduction [depends on the phonemes involved

but most should be gone by 3;6] Stopping [between 3;0 and 5;0] These are ‘gone-by’ ages, not ‘normal-until’ ages!

Phonological Processes continued Activity 5: name the processes operating in the production of the

following words. fish tish cat ca telephone tephone car tar day gay snail nail

It is also possible to have several processes operating at once. stack tat [cluster reduction and fronting] sad tag [stopping and backing]

When is there a problem?

When phonological processes persist beyond the age when most typically developing children have stopped using them.

When the child’s particular processes deviate markedly from the expected pattern of phonological processes.

AssessmentThe first step is to gather data using formal

assessments as well as observation within naturalistic environments.

Transcribe the speech to establish which sounds are present or absent and which processes are operating.

Establish where the problem lies … InputStorageOutput

The Input Level, a demonstration!

Pilin Pilin

InterventionInput

Listening activities (and lots of them)Storage

Developing concepts like rhymeWorking on words that have the same initial or final

soundTeaching about syllables in words

OutputHelping a child know where to put their articulators,

or whether a sound is voiced or voiceless

Case Study 1: CM [6;8] Cluster reduction [pl p, sn n] Voicing [k g, tr dr] Many sounds absent altogether [including k, sh, t, z, s, w, r ] Final consonant deletion Vowel distortions Groping

chicken diga [stopping, voicing, final consonant deletion]pig bi [voicing, final consonant deletion]spoon boor [cluster reduction, vowel distortion, final consonant deletion]

Breakdowns at all levels but output most significantly affected. CM presents with a motor speech disorder with additional phonological difficulties.

Case Study 2 DMH [4;9] Most sounds present in isolation and short simple words. Cluster reduction Weak syllable deletion Final consonant deletion Fronting alveolar fricatives [s and z f] Difficulties with multisyllabic words Some evidence of stopping but inconsistent and better production in

imitation

swing fwing [fronting]elephant efen [weak syllable deletion]watermelon watermemen, turkey turtey [multisyllabic words]

Breakdowns at all levels. However, input appears to be most significantly affected.

Case Study 3: K [3;5] Final consonant deletion Elements of fronting with more difficult sounds [sh s and ks ts Difficulties with sh and j (as in jam) Some vowel distortions

fish fis [fronting]swing swin [fronting]open aapen

Breakdowns at all levels, input is weak for certain tasks, storage is really strong for some areas and significantly affected with others whilst out put is not too badly affected.

So what have we discussed?What speech isHow we describe itThe normal development of speechWhen and how we decide that there is a problem

with speech developmentAssessing where the problem liesHow we can intervene to manage the problem

Have we achieved what we set out to do?Remember that child we discussed right at the beginning?

Now you … can use your knowledge of phonemes to guide your

thinking about what sounds the child can or can’t makecould even comment on what types of sounds are more

difficulthave your chart of normal speech sound development to

refer tounderstand what phonological processes operate in normal

development and by what age they should be gone.

know that listening to speech sounds is important for strengthening the child’s input system, working on things like rhyme and WI or WF sounds help with storage problems and practicing saying sounds is working on output problems.