activities and the total situation in which communication is being carried on. The term speech reading is also known as “lip reading”.
Richards, Platt and Weber 1985:57 mention that lip reading or speech reading is a method used by deaf people and others to identify what a speaker is
saying by studying the movements of the lips and face muscles. The use of facial expressions can help the students to interpret what is being said to them.
5. Misarticulation
a. Causes of Misarticulation
In learning English, children often experience a process of misarticulation. Most noticeably, misarticulation affects pronunciation and vocabulary. Some
experts point out the causes of misarticulation as described in the following part. Johnson 1967: 120 explains the known causes why some children fail to
develop good speech as follows: 1 Abnormalities of the Organs of Speech
The normal mode of producing a number of consonant sounds requires at least reasonably good dentition. If the teeth are badly spaced or misaligned, or if
there is poor occlusion between the upper and lower dental arches, considerable difficulty in articulation may result.
Although such dental irregularities do tend to present obstacles to good articulation, it does not mean that people with this condition are impossible to
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
make normal speech. The tongue, lips and other parts of the mouth are very adaptable, capable of considerable flexibility of movement and it is possible to
produce normal sounding with articulatory movements that vary considerably from the typical pattern. Many persons have succeeded in developing adequate
and sometimes even superior speech in spite of dental abnormalities. Besides dental abnormalities, the roof of the mouth or hard palate and the
tongue may also be important factors in the structure or functioning of the speech mechanism that can contribute to articulation difficulties. The tongue must
establish contact with it in particular ways to form certain speech sounds in the normal manner. If the hard palate is unusually high and very narrow, the tongue
may have difficulty in making the required contacts in the normal way, and certain speech sounds may be distorted as a consequence.
The tongue is the most important of all the articulatory structures. Faults of structure or function which interfere with its movements may result in
misarticulations. In some cases the tongue cannot make the necessary movements to the teeth, the gum ridge, the hard and soft palates which are essential to normal
articulation. The individual may have difficulty also in grooving the tongue so as to direct the air stream properly for the s, sh, and similar consonants. Another
condition which commonly occurs to individual is known as “tongue-tie”. In this condition the little web of tissue lying underneath the front part of the tongue, by
which the front of the tongue is attached to the floor of the mouth, is either too
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
short or is inserted in the tongue too close to the lip. As a consequence, the movements of the front part of the tongue may be too restricted for purposes of
good articulation. 2 Poor Speech Models
It is well established that speech is learned essentially through imitation. Most children learn to talk by imitating the speech of their parents and older
siblings. Occasionally a parent or older child in the family has hearing-speech defected. An example of faulty learning from a poor speech model was shown in
the case of one whose principal trouble was a substitution for the “r” sound. A father who accompanied his child to a clinic started the interview by saying “I
bwought brought Danny heuh here because he can’t make his ah r sounds
wight right.” Johnson, 1967:128.
3 Lack of Stimulation and Motivation Infantile speech habits sometimes seem to persist because there is no
motivation to change them, or because there is even positive motivation to retain them. Occasionally, however, environmental conditions are not adequate to
motivate good speech learning. Sometimes very inadequate speech is sufficient to meet the child’s need for communication. Now and then a child is permitted to
supplement his inadequate speech with gestures to the extent that he feels no need to develop better speech. A somewhat related situation is that in which the
child does not receive enough good speech stimulation. He may be so isolated
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
from other children, as well as adults, that he seldom needs to speak. Moreover, under such condition he does not hear much speech to imitate. This happens to
the hearing-speech defective child. Frequently this lack of speech stimulation is a consequence of parental neglect, more often unintentional than malicious.
Casey 1981:120 also points out some factors that lead to misarticulation: 1 The Degree of Hearing LossLevel of Deafness
The hard of hearing child with supplementary assistance of a hearing aid may in many cases develop adequate speech not markedly different from his
hearing peers. The deaf child, on the other hand, has to be formally taught to speak, having no spontaneous speech.
2 The Age of Onset of Hearing Loss The age of onset of hearing loss is also crucial in the acquisition of
effective speech. The older a child is when he acquires hearing loss, the greater is his existing background of aural experiences and his established oral language.
3 Parents’ Attitudes Parents’ attitudes considerably influence the language development of
deaf children. If deaf child is not accompanied by their parents while studying or in daily communication, his language development will be greatly affected. The
parents will find it difficult to understand and teach new vocabulary to their children. Limited mastery of sign language and delivery methods to the children
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
who have hearing defects become the main cause of obstruction of access to childrens learning in a family environment
4 Time of Intervention Education is very influential on the language development of deaf
children. The earlier a child is given education and training how to communicate, the more quickly the child will develop language.
b. Types of Misarticulation
