10 ways to improve diction for children, teenagers and adults

We perceive another person by external appearance, neat clothing, and behavior in society. We note this right away. We meet him by his appearance, and see him off by the way he can speak.

The tempo and timbre of the voice are as important as appearance. They help us communicate. A person becomes attractive to the people around him when he pronounces words clearly and understandably.

Career growth and well-being often depend on correctly pronounced words and the ability to express one’s thoughts.

What is diction

Legible, clear pronunciation for others, consistent with language norms, accompanied by a pleasant tone of voice, is called diction. It consists of correct, distinct articulation and manner of pronouncing words (timbre, intonation).

With correct articulation, coordinated movement of the articulatory apparatus occurs. Clear articulation makes speech intelligible. The manner of speaking depends on your temperament: you can speed up or slow down the pace.

Haste and poor diction are related. Intonation consists of the ability to pronounce sounds and place stress in a word.

Correct pronunciation of all sounds is important for quality. Vowels add melody. Correctly pronounced consonants give form and clarity to what is said. Working on accurate pronunciation of consonant sounds is the main goal of improving the quality of pronunciation.

Do you need a doctor for problems with diction?

In most cases, if diction is impaired, they turn to a speech therapist. However, it is also worth consulting with your dentist and facial surgeon. The latter will rule out bone tissue pathology, prescribing surgery if necessary. The cause of unclear diction may be ankyloglossia, a congenital anomaly in which the frenulum of the tongue is underdeveloped. If the defect does not disappear on its own during preschool age, surgical intervention is necessary.

The dentist will sanitize the oral cavity and evaluate the dentures. Installing a denture that is too tight or too small changes the anatomy of the jaw, impairing diction.

When a malocclusion is diagnosed, the patient is fitted with a mouthguard, plate or braces. Depending on the severity of the disorder, eliminating the pathology will take from six months to several years. Correcting the bite improves articulation and voice timbre.

An examination is not always enough to detect the pathology that provoked a violation of diction. To clarify the diagnosis, the doctor refers the patient to clinical and instrumental studies:

• CT (computed tomography) or MRI (magnetic resonance imaging);
• X-ray examination of the skull;
• general blood and urine analysis;
• examination of hearing and phonetic perception of oral speech.

Additionally, consultation with a neurologist and otolaryngologist may be required. The latter will exclude problems with hearing and ENT organs. And the neurologist will check whether the violation of diction is associated with improper functioning of the brain.

The importance of diction for humans and society

If we can speak clearly, this makes us successful and advantageous in communication. He is well understood: he clearly expresses his thoughts and pronounces words.

There is a range of professions that require the quality of spoken phrases. But the ability to speak beautifully is needed not only for the public. A person wants to be understood and accepted. Good pronunciation will give confidence, increase self-esteem, and become an indicator of success.

Often the ability to speak and voice are overshadowed by external shortcomings.

Nina Petrovna, who teaches psychology to students, after suffering from polio, one leg became much shorter than the other. Yesterday's schoolchildren laughed when they saw a lecturer with physical disabilities.

When the lesson began, the future teachers fell in love with the teacher.

The trained voice, measured tempo, melodic timbre captivated the listeners, helped to attract attention, achieve understanding and make an impression.

Poor diction leads to communication problems. Unintelligible phrases are poorly received by people with whom you have to communicate. There is no opportunity to concentrate or express your thoughts clearly. Self-esteem decreases and self-doubt develops.

It is especially difficult for teenagers with such problems to communicate. An incomprehensible reprimand prevents the child from learning and communicating with peers.

What to consider when communicating with others

Record your casual conversations with friends on a voice recorder. This trick will show you the mistakes you are making. More often it is:

Parasite words. Frequently used words for connecting speech, such as “in short,” “as if,” “probably,” indicating indecision, reduce the significance of what is said. Try to remove slang and jargon from your speech. Do not shorten the words, pronounce them in full. And most importantly, remove obscene language from your speech.

Fast speech. Speech without pauses prevents listeners from concentrating on what is being said. Many phrases come out crumpled. If among the listeners there are people with hearing problems, then half of them will not hear at all.

Mangling words and incorrect stress

Pay attention to how others pronounce words. If you put an accent somewhere else, check yourself with a dictionary.

Inappropriate facial expressions and gestures will also distract people’s attention from speech. They should emphasize what is being said, so there is no need to wave your arms too much or smile excessively

Movements should be smooth and the face should express calmness. Practice in front of a mirror. Pay attention to your posture. The back should be straight and the shoulders should be turned. This will convey confidence, which will attract listeners to you.

Causes of poor diction

There are two groups of reasons for a bad reprimand.

Biological

Improper fetal development during pregnancy, childhood infection and trauma, genetic predisposition. This causes many defects.

• Weak muscles of the lips, cheeks, and tongue lead to speech becoming incomprehensible. The man speaks as if he has porridge in his mouth.
• A short frenulum of the tongue causes incorrect pronunciation of hissing, whistling, “r”, “l”.
• Incorrect bite and dental problems also lead to pronunciation defects.
• For language to develop correctly, full hearing is needed. Decreased hearing dulls perception and causes a change in voice volume.
• Violation of the breathing rhythm changes intonation and speed of pronunciation. Stuttering appears, the voice becomes nasal, speech is sluggish, sounds are swallowed.

Social (psychological)

Our speech shows a psychological and physical state: uncertainty, shyness, anxiety, illness.

An insecure person with low self-esteem and communication problems pronounces words incomprehensibly.

The information he is trying to convey to his interlocutor is poorly received, and the conversation quickly ends. In children, speech disorders are a consequence of insufficient communication with parents and imitation of the incorrect speech of adults. The speech environment affects the development of a child’s speech.

Types and causes of diction disorders

They are separated into a separate block of classification of speech disorders:

• Voice formation disorders: aphonia (a person speaks only in a whisper), dysphonia (voice production disorders and control of its pitch).
• Violations of the tempo-rhythmic side (tachylalia - too fast speech rate, bradylalia - slow speech).
• Stuttering - a person has developed the means to formulate a statement, but due to convulsions in the speech apparatus, hesitations occur in speech.

Additionally, unclear, slurred speech may be a sign of more complex speech disorders:

• dysarthria;
• aphasia.

If an adult only has problems with diction, a speech therapist will select exercises to correct it. But if this is part of the symptomatology of more complex speech disorders, the teacher prepares corrective work to overcome this speech defect, and not only focuses on correcting diction.

The etiology of unclear speech varies. It can be caused by both biological factors and social and psychological reasons.

Biological:

• anatomical features of the speech apparatus;
• disturbances in articulatory motor skills;
• head injuries;
• organic damage to the central nervous system;
• underdevelopment of the speech centers of the cerebral cortex.

Social:

• a person’s surroundings include people with incorrect diction;
• incorrect speech environment.

Psychological factors include a person’s lack of self-confidence and fear of public speaking. It happens that when communicating with loved ones there are no difficulties, but when speaking to a wide audience, the speaker experiences anxiety, which causes a violation of diction. Or hesitations in speech can occur in closed, uncommunicative people. Therefore, a speech therapist must conduct a diagnosis to determine the exact cause of the disorder and select appropriate corrective exercises.

How to improve your diction in a short time

Speaking defects can be corrected. Professionals are working on this. However, there are exercises for improving your speech quality on your own.

People care about their body, figure, physical condition of muscles. The muscles of the speech apparatus also need strengthening. When the jaw moves little, the mouth opens poorly during conversation.

Therefore, the words are pronounced slurred. The mouth opens enough - speech becomes better and more intelligible. Defects in pronunciation clarity are well corrected.

You can improve your diction in a short time. Train your breathing, do articulation exercises. Pronounce your long-loved tongue twisters. Record your voice on voice recording devices and listen to it.

Breathing training

People often feel like they don't have enough air. They unconsciously hold their breath while inhaling. This problem occurs when speaking long sentences. Inhale and exhale noisily before starting a phrase.

Official ethics does not support such behavior. The situation will change if you train your diaphragm. It is enough to sing the vowels while exhaling, constantly increasing the time of the exercise. Or exhale, as when blowing out a candle, or inflate balloons.

Articulating exercises

Articulatory exercises prepare the speech apparatus to work on diction. With their help you can train your lips, tongue, jaws. Clenched jaws create the impression that a person is speaking through clenched teeth and makes an unpleasant impression on the interlocutor.

• To release your jaws, move them from one position to another, while opening your mouth.
• Then touch each tooth with your tongue and tap on the inside of them.
• The next action is to touch the tongue to the cheeks one at a time.
• Then puff out and suck in your cheeks.
• Purse your lips and puff out your cheeks one by one.
• Pull out your lips and smile widely.
• Make circular movements with your lips.

Tongue Twisters

Tongue twisters familiar from childhood will help improve your diction. First, determine which sounds you have problems pronouncing. After that, start selecting phrases. Pronounce tongue twisters until your speech apparatus gets used to them.

Choose short sentences first, then move on to long tongue twisters. Don't say the phrase quickly. The pace of speaking should increase gradually. Say tongue twisters with nuts in your mouth. This method of preparing for a public speech was used by ancient speakers.

Dictaphone

A recording device will become your assistant. Speak any text into the recorder. Try to use sounds that are problematic for you. Listen to what is said carefully. You will immediately understand what needs to be corrected in your speech and what exercises to use.

You can listen to a recording of your favorite works of art. Listen to the actor's reading, try to catch the timbre of the voice, intonation. Apply the technique of sound imitation.

Say what you hear, completely or partially copying the actor’s performance, voice timbre, intonation. This requires constant self-monitoring of the changes taking place.

Such exercises in a short time improve diction, develop the speech apparatus, and give confidence. Articulation exercises are often used before public speaking.

Tongue twisters as a way to improve diction

Tongue twisters, familiar to everyone from childhood, are special, difficult-to-pronounce phrases that are often humorous and entertaining in nature and are intended for children. But there are special tongue twisters for the development of speech and diction in adults. Tongue twisters for diction are a very useful and effective exercise, which is also accessible and does not require any material costs. Having chosen a few phrases to your liking, be sure to repeat them slowly at first, literally syllable by syllable, rhythmically, gradually speeding up. The next step is to pronounce the tongue twisters in one breath. You can repeat phrases silently in front of a mirror, as well as in a whisper, however, taking care to pronounce the words carefully. It is very interesting to use a creative approach and pronounce tongue twisters with different emotions and intonations: delight, surprise, indignation, asking a question or expressing sadness. Or you can try to pronounce it in voices of different timbres: high, low, or even sing it to the melody of your favorite song. Pronouncing complex phrases in motion, squatting, jumping or dancing, achieving a smooth sound is already “aerobatics”. Like the heroine of a famous movie, you can make the task more difficult by placing nuts in your mouth and trying to recite tongue twisters to improve your diction.

Using various sources, you can find several hundred tongue twisters, if not more. From them you need to choose those whose sound combinations are difficult for you. Someone does a great job with Clara, Karl, corals and clarinet, but stumbles when talking about Sasha, drying and the highway. So everything is individual. Having mastered several tongue twisters, it is better not to allow your articulatory apparatus to relax, getting used to them, and after a couple of weeks replace them with others.

For classes with children, it is better to choose the simplest and funniest tongue twisters, consisting of one phrase. And it’s better for adults to start with such exercises. Further, tongue twisters for adult diction can be a set of sentences, or even a specially composed text, such as, for example, the longest proverb - “Liguria”. Based on many well-known tongue twisters, it is so complex that it is unlikely to be possible to learn it entirely. As the text progresses, the emphasis shifts from working on some sounds to others, and as a result, by the end of the tongue twister, all complex sound combinations are worked out.

In Rus' they have always been especially fond of tongue twisters, sometimes calling them tongue twisters and even organizing comic competitions. We can say that this method of improving speech has been tested for centuries. Nevertheless, this small folklore genre not only has not lost its relevance, but also continues to develop: new funny, unpronounceable phrases on modern topics appear. It seems that tongue twisters for developing diction will always remain in demand.

A clear confirmation of the above is the use of tongue twisters in modern culture. The musical genre called rap is nothing more than the rapid rhythmic recitation of text accompanied by musical accompaniment. You definitely can’t do this without good diction. Interesting in this sense is the work of St. Petersburg rapper Igor Alexandrov, performing under the pseudonym Harry Topor, “Diction Exercises,” the text of which presents tongue twisters modified in a modern way, and, in fact, is not intended for children. Adults, if desired, can familiarize themselves with it by finding it on the Internet.

How to improve diction and clarity of speech in an adult

An adult himself is able to correct diction by regularly performing simple exercises, if there are no physical abnormalities: previous diseases of the nasopharynx, nervous system, dental problems. All of them require the intervention of specialists.

Self-training of tension-free diaphragmatic breathing is possible. The simplest exercise: inflate your stomach as you inhale, and pull it in as you exhale. Five minutes a day will be enough to develop breathing.

An adult is able to understand how he speaks. To do this, study the operation of the speech apparatus and identify your mistakes. Control yourself in everyday life. Look in the mirror more often. It will help you in the correct production of sounds.

The quality of speech improves when reading poems consisting of one sentence aloud.

An example is the works of Lermontov “When the yellowing field is worried”, Fet “I came to you with greetings”. Poems to improve your pronunciation: “Storm from the Shore” by Valery Bryusov, “The Battle of Poltava” by Alexander Pushkin.

The rhythm of the poems helps control breathing. They are similar to tongue twisters, but in rhyming form. While quickly pronouncing the lyric text, you will feel the difficulty of pronunciation.

If you read slowly, vowel sounds stand out. They control the correct pronunciation, intonation, and improve diction. You can use works by Vladimir Mayakovsky with a pronounced rhythm. Or the poems of Alexander Blok with a smooth rhythm.

Main causes of speech problems

It is impossible to achieve positive results in the development of diction if you do not understand the causes of speech disorders. Only rarely are they associated with health problems and develop, for example, due to an abnormal jaw structure or a short frenulum of the tongue.

For many people, speech problems are caused by incorrect pronunciation of whistling and hissing sounds, as well as the absence of the “L” or “R” sounds, or a violation of their pronunciation. A weakened articulatory apparatus may also be the cause.

Even if a person can speak well, pronouncing all sounds correctly, in particularly significant situations his speech may become slurred and unclear. After all, when pronouncing words, the articulatory apparatus needs to very quickly switch from one movement to another. This can only be achieved through active and intensive work of the muscles that need to be trained, for example, by regularly pronouncing tongue twisters for diction.

However, the main reason for slurred, quiet speech is a person’s shyness and lack of self-confidence. In such a situation, the development of diction is a secondary problem. First of all, you need to work on your own character and fight complexes.

Texts for the development of diction

When working on yourself, use a dictionary. Take words that are difficult to pronounce, repeat them several times, increasing the speed, for example: stay awake, philosophize.

In the same way, you can practice the combinations zh-sh, k-g, x, c, words with double consonants. “S-z” is easier to train if you select words with a vowel in front of them: fright, spark, get rid of. At the beginning of the word: sandwich, buzzer. In the middle of the word: atmosphere, shuddered.

Train other combinations in this way. To train l, repeatedly say proverbs using it, for example: “Love, love, but don’t lose your head.” Carry out training systematically, starting with articulatory warm-up.

A training option is reading prose text. At first, read aloud slowly, pronouncing each sound clearly.

Then - without sound, using articulation, lip movement. Then read the text in a whisper. After two weeks of systematic training, you will get a result that you will like. You will discover new things in your speech.

Choose complex texts, with difficult combinations and words: “Once the dandy Goldfinch found a box of rubble,” “On Thursday, the fourth, at four and a quarter o’clock,” “Sonka, Sashka’s girlfriend.”

Texts for training can be found in classical literature, for example, “The Dnieper is Wonderful in Clear Weather” by Nikolai Gogol.

Useful tips for improving diction

There are several tips that will help you achieve success in self-study:

• first you need to start doing the simplest exercises to improve speech and diction, gradually including more complex ones;
• classes should be carried out in any free time - this will help achieve results in a short time;
• It is advisable to do gymnastics daily, without taking breaks;
• make it a rule to periodically record short speeches on a voice recorder - this will help you celebrate your achievements;
• read additional literature and regularly practice new exercises, since the monotony of exercises can cause moral fatigue and refusal to exercise;
• If you have the opportunity to get advice from specialists, then you should not refuse it, as this is an excellent opportunity to receive additional practical advice.

If a person has the opportunity to attend theater courses, then this should be done. Classes with professionals will help you relax, develop diction and master free speech. Experts will teach you expressive recitation, while diction, if not perfect, will improve significantly. And public speaking will no longer seem like an impossible mission.

Development of diction in children and adolescents

Language development in children and adolescents requires the same attention from parents as study. His whole life depends on how others perceive your child. A teenager with a speech defect becomes an object of ridicule.

It is common for children and adolescents to “eat up” the endings of words, skip parts of words and individual sounds, and pronounce words in an unclear manner. Such deficiencies can be corrected at home. But obvious speech defects in a child can only be corrected by a specialist.

Diction exercises

“Adult” techniques help to change the pronunciation of schoolchildren and preschoolers, but carried out in a playful way.

To warm up, suggest biting the tip of your tongue, chewing your tongue with your side teeth, biting the inside of your cheek, sticking out your lower lip, giving your face an offended expression, making a tube with your lips, puffing out your cheeks and knocking out the air with your palms.

They teach the correct pronunciation of tongue twisters, phrases for practicing sounds, and pronunciation in front of a mirror. Collective games for the development of articulation are useful: “Watermelon Train”, “Walking”, “Echo”, “Zoo”, finger games.

The child must be able to correctly place stress in words and inflect different parts of speech. Then it will be easier to master the norms of the literary language.

Reading literary texts by role and aloud improves intonation and clarity of pronunciation. Children are interested in talking with nuts in their mouths, with a pencil in their teeth, and pronouncing words while walking.

If you regularly work on yourself, all these simple techniques will help you acquire correct speech skills and correct pronunciation defects.

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Causes of poor articulation

Speech development

– one of the main
phases
of human formation in society. Norms - //rechudetey.ru/category/normy-rechi

Problems of incorrect articulation in both adults and children

arise for several reasons. These could be malocclusions or a short frenulum of the tongue.

There are also other features

disorders due to oral mechanics.

If everything is fine with the speech apparatus, then doctors talk about a functional disorder. In children

Such
specific disorders
arise due to genetics, perinatal pathologies and organic lesions of the speech area.

The reasons may be a poor social environment, bilingualism and speech problems in close relatives.

Speech therapy

also states that children pronounce sounds incorrectly before the age of five.

Such problems require proper treatment and hard work. If a child does not start doing speech therapy exercises on time, the defects will remain for life.

It is important for doctors to determine the correct diagnosis

Very often the problem lies in the language and the defects associated with it. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct an examination

its
structure and mobility
. This will help determine the cause of incorrect articulation.