Development of Clear Pronunciation

“Is Tommy soon in kindergarten!” At the beginning of language development, children cannot yet pronounce all letters (sounds). This can lead to misunderstandings again and again - which can be very frustrating for both sides.

Here you can find out when a child can pronounce which letters (sounds), what abnormalities you should look out for, and how you can support clear pronunciation in a child-friendly way.

 

Pronunciation development from 1 to 5 years

The first words children speak are usually only understandable to close caregivers.  

From about 2 to 2 ½ years of age, children learn to pronounce more letters, for example W, F, L and S, so that by the end of the third year of life most children can already pronounce almost all sounds and are understood better and better.

At about 3 to 3 ½ years of age, most children can also pronounce the more difficult sounds K, G, J and R, which are formed further back in the mouth.

Finally, the sibilant sounds develop: many children can only pronounce CH-1 (as in German "Milch") at 4 to 4.5 years of age, and many children only form SCH correctly at 4.5 to 5 years of age. Lisping is a special case: over 30% of all five-year-old children still form the S sound with their tongue between or on their teeth.

Even if this pronunciation development is typical for most children: it progresses individually. So it can be that a three-year-old child can already pronounce the SCH correctly, while another child only learns to pronounce the SCH at 4-5 years of age.

 

What pronunciation abnormalities should you pay closer attention to?

If you notice any of the following, it is advisable to seek medical and speech therapy advice. This way, your child can receive the support they need for healthy language development in time:

• Your child's speech seems labored and your child is unsure which speech movements to make.
• Your child is still difficult to understand even at 3 to 3.5 years old.
• Your child makes pronunciation errors that sound very different from those of children their age.
• Your child makes pronunciation errors that are typical for younger children. Example: At five years old, they still replace R with H in all words.
• Your child breathes through their mouth very often (even without a cold) and drools a lot (even when not teething).

For clear pronunciation, it is important to be able to hear language very precisely.

If there is a noticeable pronunciation, it is therefore advisable to test the child's hearing abilities. Sometimes a slight hearing impairment is hidden behind an unclear pronunciation, for example due to middle ear effusions.

 

Three tips to strengthen clear pronunciation

A child makes pronunciation errors because they cannot speak differently yet.

Therefore, it doesn't help to tell your child: "Speak more clearly!", to correct them, or to ask them to repeat. This would be discouraging and create unnecessary pressure.

With the following tips, you help your child to improve pronunciation in a playful and child-friendly way, without your child feeling like they are doing something wrong.

 

Tip 1: Rhyming together

When children play with rhyming words, they also pay attention to the pronunciation of the words: "What rhymes with "Tanne"? Sanne, Manne, Kanne?" Rhyming pairs usually only differ in one sound, so it is important to pay attention to every sound when rhyming.

Reading rhyming books and playing finger games also helps to learn rhyming.

 

Tip 2: Clap to songs

When children clap to the rhythm, it's a lot of fun. At the same time, your child learns to recognize syllables. This also helps to remember every syllable when speaking. Maybe your child can even clap the syllables in their name?

 

Tip 3: Use corrective feedback

So that your child hears a good linguistic model for their utterance, you can use corrective feedback . Pick up a word with a pronunciation error and embed it in your response sentence. This way, your child hears the correct pronunciation from you without being directly corrected.

Here are two examples of corrective feedback:

Child: "Sine ham!" - You want an orange? Okay, here's an orange slice.

Child: "Vodel! Vodel!" - You saw a bird? Show me, where is the bird?

 

These tips, of course, do not replace speech therapy. But they can playfully strengthen pronunciation and help your child speak more clearly step by step and be understood better and better.

 

More scientifically sound information on early childhood development from 0-3 years, over 650 activities, and much more can be found in the mo:mo app.