Jj is for Jottings 75. Voice Quality and Speech Intelligibility.
I was reminded the other day about the effects that voice quality can have on the clarity of a person’s speech. In addition to reduced speech intelligibility caused by speech sound problems (see here), poor voice quality can also interfere with the listener’s ability to understand the message. I was reminded by this: Continue reading
Jj is for Jottings 74. Understanding Unclear Speech.
When a child’s speech is unclear, it could range from a single sound substitution such as a lisp (which is, in effect, saying /th/ instead of /s/ and which, although not perfectly clear, is perfectly intelligible) right through the continuum to multiple substitutions, omission of sounds and syllables, addition of sounds, and distortion of sounds – the result of which is likely to be largely or completely unintelligible. Continue reading
Jj is for Jottings 70. The End of a Word is Not Always the End.
In traditional tests of articulation (speech sounds) and when we are sounding out words in reading, we think very much in terms of sounds at the beginning, in the middle and on the end of a word. In the case of early stage reading and spelling using 3-sound words, we are asking, “What sound can you hear at the beginning of the word?” “What sound can you hear at the end of the word? “What sound can you hear in the middle of the word?” Continue reading
