Teaching · Speech and Language

Ba-NA-na, not nana.
Every beat counts.

Young children often drop the quiet syllable in a long word: “nana” for banana, “elphant” for elephant. Each card shows the word’s beats with the strong one in capitals and the shortened form to listen for. Deal a set by length and where the weak beat sits.

Make a set of wordsWhat 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 long words

The worked example is made up: a three-year-old on three-beat words and a four-year-old on longer ones. 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 multisyllable words for weak syllable deletion, chosen by number of syllables and where the weak beat sits, each with its beats marked, the shortened form to listen for and a sentence, 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 a word length; three beats with the weak one first is a common start.
  2. Tap or clap each beat together, quieter on the weak one.
  3. Say the word slowly with the taps, then at normal speed.
  4. Listen for the shortened form on the card and replay the taps if you hear it.
  5. Note what worked and print the cards for home.

Make a set of words

What weak syllable deletion is

Strong and weak beatsWeak beat firstba · NA · nagi · RAFFEOften dropped: nana,raffeWeak beat in the middleEL · e · phantTEL · e · phoneOften dropped: elphant,telphoneTap every beatOne tap per syllableQuiet taps for weakbeatsThen say the wordStrong and weak beatsWeak beat firstba · NA · nagi · RAFFEOften dropped: nana, raffeWeak beat in the middleEL · e · phantTEL · e · phoneOften dropped: elphant, telphoneTap every beatOne tap per syllableQuiet taps for weak beatsThen say the word
Drawn for this page. Weak syllable deletion usually fades by about four.

English rhythm

English stresses some syllables and squeezes others. Children notice the loud ones first, so the quiet syllable before or after the stress is the one that goes missing.

When it is expected

Two- and three-year-olds often drop weak syllables. It usually fades by about four; a child who keeps doing it may be hard to follow in longer words.

Beats you can hear

Syllable division here follows the beat you can tap, which sometimes differs from dictionary hyphenation. Say the word naturally first and count from that.

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.