Introduction
Teachers should be aware of the importance of speech production for the sake of the good development of a child. Speech and language are tools that humans use to communicate and exchange thoughts, ideas and emotions. Moreover, according to Vygotsky, the use of language allows a person to develop his/her cognitive development, which is key in the early ages of a child (Oakley 2004, 40).
Nevertheless, when speech is impaired, the ability to communicate with others will be compromised as well as school performance. To start talking about Speech Disorders is appropriate to identify basic concepts of it, since sometimes Speech Disorders are mistaken with Communication and
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Mispronunciation known as the “baby talk” normally emerges in these cases (Drew et al 2010, 272).
What can a teacher do to help a child with Articulation Disorder?
The child should first attend therapy with a Speech Language Pathologist and be consistent with the activities and along with these, the teacher can also help with the production of speech sounds in the classroom (Speech and Language Services).
• Instead of saying “do not forget to say your “r”, asks the student to pronounce the RRRR sound.
• Praise the child when he/she produces the sound correctly with specific feedback, for example “¡I see you did not forget to use the rrrr sound in the word rain, great job!”.
• While doing tasks such as workbook, reading or worksheets, make the student to identify words with a specific sound and reinforce the pronunciation of it.
• Help the child to have a series of the words with the specific sounds he/she finds difficult and encourage the family to practice them with him/her.
• Make the student to work with a friend to practice specific sounds a few minutes per
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A good reason to do it during circle time is to help the child with articulation problems on a daily basis without isolate him/her and at the same time the teacher would be helping the rest of the group to improve their pronunciation.
Exercises for Specific Sound Pronunciation (DeWit and O 'Neill 2013, 246):
/b/ Pronounce the “a” and then little by little close the mouth
/l/ Produce the sound while putting the tip of the tongue in the middle of the tooth ridge
/s/ Smile and while putting both sets of teeth together put the tip of the tongue in the upper teeth
/r/ Put the tongue in the alveolar ridges and make a trilled sound
/d/ Cover the nose and say nanananana
/f/ Blow while biting the lower