Children's articulation training series popular science - Don't say "肚" as "顾子"

Most babies will learn all the initials and finals before the age of 5-6. However, some babies still have some unclear pronunciation after the age of 6, or have obvious unclear pronunciation before the age of 6. These babies have abnormal articulation organs, normal hearing, and articulation errors are generally fixed, but there is no obvious cause for articulation disorders. The main clinical manifestations are initial consonant replacement (such as saying p as b), omission (such as saying "pao" as "ao"), distortion, etc. This type of baby is what we often call "functional articulation disorder". Then the editor will gradually introduce to you how to correct different articulation errors. Today, the editor will introduce a common error pattern, that is, saying "d" as "g".

First, let's look at the similarities and differences between /d/ and /g/. (1) Similarities: The pronunciation is the same. Both initials are unaspirated stops (* Stops: After the articulation site is blocked, the airflow breaks through the blockage to produce the sound).

(2) Differences: The pronunciation position is different. /d/ is a tip-median sound, that is, the tip of the tongue is raised and in contact with the alveolar ridges, while /g/ is a root-of-the-tongue sound, that is, the root of the tongue is arched backward and upward.

Place of articulation of /d/

Place of pronunciation of /g/

After understanding the similarities and differences between the two initials, we can find that the main reason why children make such articulation errors is because they make a mistake in the pronunciation position.

For such an error pattern, the training focus must first be to establish the correct pronunciation position of /d/, that is, the tip of the tongue is lifted up against the upper alveolar. Then, according to the children's speech acquisition rules, from single vowel single syllable → double vowel single syllable → disyllabic (front) → trisyllable (front) → disyllabic (back) → trisyllable (back) → trisyllable (middle) → sentence consolidation, gradually let the children master the acquisition.

Training plan 1: Promote the tongue tip lifting movement pattern

1. First, you can use a toothbrush to gently brush the front of the tongue to promote the perception of the front of the tongue;

2. Then put a small piece of seaweed/apply a little jam in the middle of the upper gum, and let the child lift the tip of the tongue to lick the seaweed/jam. Repeat several times until the child can complete this action.

During the training process, you can put a mirror in front of the child so that the child can directly observe his or her tongue movements.

2. Articulation and phonetic training

After inducing the correct movement pattern of licking the gums on the tongue, the child is induced to raise the lower jaw (i.e. close the chin) to form oral blockage before pronunciation. In the induction pronunciation of single vowels, we generally follow the principle of training from easy to difficult in clinical practice. First, /di/ is induced, because /d/ and /i/ are relatively close in the position of the oral cavity, so it is easier to articulate correctly, and then gradually transition to other vowels. Otherwise, if the therapist directly induces /du/, the child will find it very difficult and lose confidence, which is not conducive to later training.

After children have mastered /di/, they can start to practice expanding it:

1. Complex vowels such as "dian", "diao", and "diao";

2. Disyllabic (front) such as "subway", "fishing";

3. Before three syllables, such as "dim sum shop" and "fishing rod";

4. After two syllables, such as "cake" and "fadia";

5. After three syllables, such as "fruit shop";

6. Three-syllable words such as "吃零食".

7. Sentences such as “My brother went to the store to buy a fishing rod.”

After mastering /di/, you can practice /de//dou//da//du/. The training process can adopt the transition method, that is, transition from the sounds you know to the sounds you don't know, such as /di-di-di-de-de-de/. The slow transition helps children coordinate the movement of the mandible and tongue. The articulation of /du/ can be guided by the transition from /dou/.

*During the articulation process, therapists are advised to use cards or multimedia to train in the form of pictures + words + sounds to help children master pronunciation and meaning, so as to reduce the error rate in daily use.