For many 4-5-year-old preschool children, the incorrect pronunciation of the so-called hissing sounds is characteristic: Sh, Zh, Ch, Sh. nervous system. Regular special exercises under the guidance of a speech therapist will help you quickly get rid of this defect and achieve automation of the sounds Sh, Zh in sentences.
Articulation of sound Sh
The ability to distinguish the sounds of native speech by ear (phonemic perception), as well as the correct sound pronunciation in a child, is normally finally formed by about four years.
The pronunciation of any sound requires the correct position and unity of action of all organs of speech. This is called its articulation. It is organized by the speech centers of the brain and its subcortical formations. Pronunciation is subject to auditory control.
Three organs are involved in the articulation of the sound "Sh":
- Lips - open (teeth visible), slightly elongated.
- Teeth - slightly open.
- Tongue - wide, hanging between teeth and palate. The middle is concave ("spoon"), the edges touch the upper teeth.
The voice is absent, the exhalation is strong. With this arrangement of the speech organs, the passage of the exhaled stream of air, warm and wide, through the center of the tongue is ensured, as a result of which a characteristic hiss is formed.
Causes of sound pronunciation disorders
The inability to pronounce a sound (in this case, Ш) is not necessarily a consequence of an incorrect speech pattern in the people around the child. It often has roots in pathologies or anatomical defects that limit or make correct articulation impossible:
- short hyoid ligament (bridle) does not allow the tip of the tongue to rise up;
- hard sky too high;
- disproportionately large or small tongue, forked tip;
- deformation of the jaws, teeth, malocclusion;
- cleft lips, soft palate;
- hearing impairment up to deafness;
- impaired perception of sounds due to dysfunction of the central nervous system;
- mental retardation.
These defects can be congenital or acquired as a result of trauma. They cannot be overcome only by the efforts of a speech therapist. In such cases, consultation and treatment from specialists is required.
Viewspronunciation disorders Ш
In the absence of anatomical defects and normal intelligence in a child, a speech therapist will determine the cause of the absence, distortion of sound, which is called sigmatism, or its replacement with another sound (parasigmatism).
| Sigmatism type of hissing sounds | Reason and how expressed |
| Interdental | Tongue between teeth. Lisp |
| Labo-dental | The lower lip is raised, forming a small gap for exhalation; the tip of the tongue is down. Unclear pronunciation, unintelligible sound |
| Side (single or double sided) | The tongue touches the alveoli, the side part is turned, the air passes along its sides. Squishing is heard |
| Nasal | The tongue is raised from behind, the sky is lowered, the air stream is directed to the nose. A fuzzy "X" with a nasal tinge is formed |
| Toothed | The tip of the tongue is adjacent to the edges of the lower and upper teeth, Ш is replaced by T: "tube" (fur coat) |
Ш can be replaced with С (parasigmatism) or other sounds (“sarf”, “farf” instead of “scarf”).
Pronunciation correction sequence
The accumulated experience requires the following sequence of pronunciation of the sound Ш (like any other):
- Make sure there are no defects in the structure of the articulatory apparatus. If available, encourage parents to seek advice fromspecialist.
- If there are no defects, but the child incorrectly or uncertainly performs the movements necessary to pronounce the sound, articulation exercises are mandatory for him.
- Check the state of auditory attention and sound perception. If they are not sufficiently developed, conduct special corrective exercises (gymnastics).
- Sound production.
- Its automation.
As with other defective sounds, the production of the “Sh” sound in words and sentences first follows the imitation of the adult’s speech, and then the child is asked to recall or invent and pronounce them.
Sound automation rules
A clear repeated pronunciation of a sound after it has been set is an indicator that you can move on to automating it. Its result will be a clear sound in any position in a word, sentence, connected text or directly in communication.
If a child has a defective pronunciation of other sounds, then they should not be used in speech material when automating the sound “Sh” in phrases and sentences. This will help to avoid them becoming fixed in the child's speech.
The transition from a simple stage of sound automation to the next, more complex, should be carried out if the child is already confident in its pronunciation:
- in syllables (direct, reverse), with a combination of consonants;
- in words in different positions of sounds;
- in phrases;
- in sentences, first in simple ones;
- in tongue twisters,short poems and prose, rich in Sh and other sounds that a child needs to automate.
From the slow repetition of pronunciation patterns after an adult, one should gradually move on to an increase in the rate of pronunciation of syllables, words, sentences, tongue twisters. Under this condition, the automation of the sound Ш in sentences and free speech proceeds faster, since at the same time the skills of self-control over it are improved.
Learning to distinguish (differentiate) sounds
There are a lot of replacements for Ш with other sounds (parasigmatism), but more often the child pronounces С instead of it.
To learn to distinguish between mixed sounds, one must begin with explaining and showing the differences in their articulation. Further, the child receives increasingly complex tasks to repeatedly pronounce these sounds, alternating in different versions and with a gradual increase in tempo: Sh-S, S-Sh; Sh-Sh - S-S; S-S - Sh-Sh. Onomatopoeia: a snake hisses, water oozes from a tap, air comes out of a balloon.
Sounds are differentiated similarly in direct and reverse syllables, in words and sentences.
Effective differentiation and automation of the sound Sh in sentences occurs with the obligatory connection of other analyzers. For example, you can decompose pictures with objects whose names contain the sounds C - W, into envelopes: in the first - with the sound C, in the second - with the sound Sh. Or else: the teacher calls the words (reads a short story), and the children clap clap, hearing a given sound, thenmemory call or draw pictures.
When a child comes up with sentences, short stories based on visual material, it can be supplemented with a task to use words with differentiable sounds. Preliminarily consider the picture and determine what words it is (clear sky, clear sun, Sonya girl, Shura boy, etc.).
Preparing for class
The teacher should consider ways to maintain interest in the lesson, since repeated monotonous tasks, for example, to automate the sound Sh in sentences, cause children to quickly tire.
Handout and demonstration visual material (toys, pictures and pictures, objects), texts, sentences should be understandable for the child, and preferably of a cognitive nature.
You can offer all children to control the correctness of the assignment by one child or, conversely, one of them to help the teacher monitor how the other children act.
Rewards in the form of prizes, drawing stars in a notebook, sticking pictures for a correctly and quickly completed task stimulate the activity of children in the classroom. You can prepare in advance the forms of "letters" for parents with information about how well their child did in class (at the end, the name of the child is entered in it and handed to him for distribution to parents in the evening).
Counseling for parents and caregivers
This is one of the mandatory elements of the work of a speech therapist. At general or individual consultations for educators, he will tell you what practical help he expects from them, what are the difficultieswork on the speech of children; what exercises, tasks for children, for example, on automating the sound Ш in sentences, he considers it possible to include in other activities in kindergarten. Such work can be carried out outside of class, on walks, individually or with small subgroups of children.
Tasks for children to automate the sound Ш in sentences and texts, other teachers can include in music classes, in fine arts, in familiarization with literature, in physical classes, etc.
For example, children will be asked to draw three objects that have this sound in their name and come up with sentences with them.
Introducing children to literature, the teacher will choose a suitable passage from the work and invite the children to retell it in order to automate the sound Ш in sentences.
At a music lesson, a music worker will include an exercise in singing at different tempos and with different volumes of chimes with the sound Sh.
Counseling for parents can be individual or group. The specialist will bring to their attention the techniques and rules of working with the child, recommend exercises, texts, games, the purpose of which is to automate the sound Ш in words and sentences.
The success of this work with children, like any other, largely depends on how purposeful and coordinated all adults will act.
A few tips for parents
Violations of sound pronunciation can be both independent and part of more serious hidden defects in the psychophysiological development of the child. When they are identified, it is imperative to conduct a thorough examination and get advice from specialists.
The help of a speech pathologist should not be neglected: organized systematic classes for the development of speech with a child in most cases lead to good results.
Parents who are not specialists in the field of speech therapy should engage in self-education: read methodological literature, take the initiative in obtaining advice, master the methods and techniques of working on a child's speech. The presence in the classroom in the speech therapist's office will allow you to see its subtleties.
You should not force the speech therapy process, striving for the fastest results. For example, “stepping over” the automation of the Sh sound in simple sentences will delay its appearance in complex speech constructions.
Teaching correct sound perception and sound pronunciation begins from an early age of the child, provided that he hears the correct speech pattern of the adults around him.
