Visual cues
Visual cues are useful for speech-sounds that are made at the front of the mouth and provide
good visual feedback, eg /p/, /b/, /f/, /th/, /v/, /t/ and /d/.
The teacher should sit face to face with the student so that they can see how the teacher
makes the sound. The teacher explains how parts of the mouth are used (eg lips, tongue
and teeth). The teacher asks the students to watch and then copy the sound. A small hand-
held mirror may assist the student to copy the lip, tongue and teeth positions.
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Support Materials for Students with Special Education Needs
English K–6
Speaking and listening
IMPLEMENTATION
Examples of using visual cues for front of mouth sounds:
• For /m/, /p/ and /b/, the teacher says ‘look at my lips, they come together.
These are called lip sounds’.
• For /p/ and /b/, the teacher says ‘/p/ and /b/ are lip popper sounds. They sound
like popcorn popping. Watch my lips. They start together and then pop open with
a little burst of air’.
• For /f/ and /v/, the teacher says ‘/f/ and /v/ are lip-teeth sounds. For /f/ we put
our top teeth on our bottom lip and blow. For /v/ we do the same thing and turn
our voice box on’.
Examples of using touch cues to distinguish between front of mouth and back of
mouth sounds:
For students who substitute front sounds /t/ and /d/ for back sounds /k/ and /g/,
the teacher says ‘I want you to feel the ridge behind your top teeth with your finger and
then your tongue. Now say /t/ and /d/, your tongue will move to the ridge to make
these front sounds’.
‘The back sounds /k/ and /g/ are said at the back of the mouth. Make a gargling sound.
I want you to feel how your tongue comes into contact with the palate at the back of the
mouth. This is where you make /k/ and /g/’.
Examples of using touch cues to distinguish between voiced sounds and their
unvoiced pairs:
The teacher explains that vocal cords vibrate when you make voiced sounds. The
vibration can be felt by touching the front of the neck immediately in front of the larynx.
The teacher guides students to feel the difference between voiced and their unvoiced pair
and explains that the sound pairs are made in exactly the same way except one involves
a vibration in the vocal cords and the other no vibration.
Touch cues
Touch cues are useful for speech sounds that do not provide clear visual feedback (eg back of
mouth sounds). The teacher highlights where the sound is produced in the mouth and how
it feels. Internal and external touch cues may also help the student to distinguish between
sounds that are produced in different places in the mouth.
