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.It is much easier to understand a pattern of consistent sound errors than when errors are inconsistent. Errors tend to increase with longer and more complex sentences and sound clusters. For more on complex sound patterns see here.
Two categories of speech problems.
Over many years I have observed that children with speech problems tend to fall into two categories: 1. Those who have some sound substitutions but who have otherwise clear speech.
2. Those who have some or all of the characteristics described above but who are particularly unclear because they underarticulate i.e. they don’t move their articulators “crisply”. The result is that they gloss over sounds, leave out syllables and generally fuzz up the message. You could consider it the oral equivalent of smudging writing that has just been written in ink – the result is indistinct and interferes with the message. During speech therapy, the eventual aim of clear speech is far less likely to be achieved when a child underarticulates – it is much easier to remediate definite sound errors than an overall fuzzy habit.
Sometimes you can notice these two categories in adults. There are those who speak particularly clearly, with each sound given its due, and those whom you frequently ask to repeat what they’ve just said because they sound like they are just skating over the top of the sounds. No sound substitutions, just not clear. Here’s another visualisation: if each sound should be 1cm high to be perfectly clear, these people are producing them at perhaps only .75cm high.
Smudged writing makes the visual message unclear, just as underarticulation makes the verbal message unclear.
Unclear speech is a problem in literacy because, if a child is not producing a sound clearly or correctly, it is more difficult to make the association between the spoken sound and the written letter. When a child is actually substituting one sound for another, then learning sound-letter links for those error sounds is severely compromised. This is a good reason to assess and remediate any speech errors before beginning school.