3 Learning to Lift Your Tongue
Catherine Huertas
Guided Practice Script
Let’s warm up with some practice humming. This will help us become familiar with the vibration needed to make the L sound. I’ll hum first and then you copy me. Perfect! You’ll use humming to help make your L sound.
To make the L sound, look at where my tongue is when I say the sound. It touches behind my teeth and looks skinny. Can you do it? [1] Amazing!
Now let’s add our humming technique while we have our tongue behind our teeth [2]. I’ll go first and then you copy me. Okay, now let’s practice with some flashcards and you try to say the words using the exact technique we just did with our tongue behind our teeth and hum [2].
Take a long as you need. The first word on the flashcard is light. Repeat after me, “light.” [3, 4] Great job! Next word. Repeat after me “lips.” [3, 4] For the last two words I want you to try by yourself *words on flashcards are lady and lion*. Great job!
Targeted Techniques and Considerations
Elicitation Techniques in the Script
- Phonetic placement
- Instruction using description
- Facilitating context
- Modeling
Common /l/ Sound Errors
- Error: /w/ or /y/ substituted for /ɭ / (this substitution is called gliding)
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- Likely cause: Gliding is typically done because the /w/ & /y/ are easier sounds to make compared to /ɭ / so children may be trying to simplify the /ɭ /.
Accent or Dialect Variation
- In some states, like New York, Pennsylvania , or Baltimore, /ɭ / vocalization (when a consonant at the end of the word is replaced by a vowel or glide) can be found in their accents. It is also common in African American Vernacular English (AAVE).
- Example : feel will sound like “feow”
