Jj is for Jottings 72.  Single Words Versus Connected Speech.

Following on from the discussion about the end of a word not always really being the end (here), we find that, as a result of running our words together to get a smooth flow which is easier for the listener to follow, we can end up with strings of consonants together, as in, “He mends trucks.”  We have 5 consonants sounds together: /n,d,z,t,r/.  If you’re wondering why I have said /z/ and not /s/ see here.  So connected speech is far more complex than single words, and children with moderate to severe articulation difficulties frequently have great difficulty in pronouncing two or more consonants together. To simplify it, the child may omit some sounds and change others, with a result which may be difficult to understand.  (I just realised that this was not the best example, since many children simplify the /tr/ in “truck” to /f/ – much to their parents’ horror!)

If we did not run our words together the result would be very disjointed.  It is also difficult to put much expression into your voice when separating the words, which in itself interferes with the message.  You end up sounding like a robot. For example, if you said, “I absolutely adore walking in the bush” with a small silence between each word, you wouldn’t end up sounding very enthusiastic at all.  And it takes more time.  Try it and hear for yourself.

Many early readers approach each word as a separate entity with that same disjointed result.  If your child is doing that, encourage fluency by spending some time modelling the difference between how the child is saying it and the desired smooth flow, relating it to how the child joins up the words in normal conversation, and encouraging the child to think in terms of bigger chunks i.e. groups of words rather than single words.