Teaching · Speech and Language

Key, not tea.
Pairs that make the back sounds matter.

When a child fronts, “key” and “tea” sound the same, and that is the point of minimal pair work: say the wrong one and the listener hands over the wrong thing. Deal a set of pairs for /k/, /g/ or /ng/ at the start or end of words, each with a sentence and what each word means.

Make a set of pairsWhat you get
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Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Speech & Language toolkit, $79 for 88 items.

Make a set of fronting pairs

The worked example is made up: a preschooler starting /k/ at the start of words and a kindergartner working on /g/ at the end. Saved on this device only.

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What you get

Teaching · Speech & Language$12 · included with Classroom and Whole-school licenses

What you finish with
A set of 6, 10 or 16 minimal pairs for velar fronting, chosen by sound (/k/, /g/, /ng/) and place in the word, each with a target sentence and what both words mean, plus notes on how practice went.
Who it is for
School and clinic speech-language pathologists and speech-language pathology assistants, and the teachers and families they hand home practice to.
Format
Browser card maker with saved sets. Prints the cards as a cut-out sheet or a list for home practice; presents one card at a time for a screen or a tablet at the table; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
$12 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Speech & Language toolkit ($79) and the Teaching Suite pass ($199), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Speech & Language space in Caveat Teaching.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Choose one back sound and one place in the word to start.
  2. Listen first: say a word from a pair and have the student point to the right picture or card.
  3. Then swap roles: the student says a word and you act on exactly what you hear.
  4. When they say the fronted word, go with it (“Tea? Here is a cup.”) so the difference matters.
  5. Note what worked and print the cards for home practice.

Make a set of pairs

What fronting is

Where the tongue goesTargetMade withFronted toPair/k/the back of the tongue/t/, the tongue tipkey and tea/g/the back of the tongue, voiced/d/, the tongue tipgo and doe/ng/the back of the tongue, through the nose/n/, the tongue tipwing and winWhere the tongue goes/k/Made with: the back of the tongueFronted to: /t/, the tongue tipPair: key and tea/g/Made with: the back of the tongue, voicedFronted to: /d/, the tongue tipPair: go and doe/ng/Made with: the back of the tongue, through the noseFronted to: /n/, the tongue tipPair: wing and win
Drawn for this page. Fronting usually fades by about three and a half; a speech-language pathologist decides when it is a pattern to treat.

A pattern, not a sound

Fronting swaps a whole group of back sounds for front ones. Children who front often say /k/ and /g/ the same way, so working on one sound tends to carry over to the other.

Why pairs work

In meaningful minimal contrast the two words differ only in the target sound, so when the child fronts, the listener hears the other word. The mix-up shows the child why the sound matters.

When it is expected

Many two- and three-year-olds front. In large normative samples it usually fades by about three and a half, while stopping and gliding can last longer.

Sources

  1. Weiner, F. (1981). Treatment of phonological disability using the method of meaningful minimal contrast: Two case studies. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, 46(1), 97 to 103. PMID 7206686.
  2. Dodd, B., Holm, A., Hua, Z., & Crosbie, S. (2003). Phonological development: A normative study of British English-speaking children. Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics, 17(8), 617 to 643. PMID 14977026.
  3. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Practice Portal: Speech Sound Disorders: Articulation and Phonology (asha.org/practice-portal).
  4. Bowen, C. (2015). Children’s Speech Sound Disorders (2nd ed.). Wiley-Blackwell. Phonological processes and typical ages of elimination.

Word pairs, sentences and meanings were written for this page; the example sets and students are made up. Ages are rough guides from published norms and vary with the child and the dialect. The cards support practice a speech-language pathologist plans; they do not assess or diagnose. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.