Here is a guide to how speech usually develops in tamariki (children) Speech development may vary across languages.
What are early, middle and later speech sounds?
Early, middle and later speech sounds help us think about the order that tamariki learn to say speech sounds.
Here is the approximate order that speech sounds develop in tamariki. They develop from the time a child starts using words until the early years at school. Although the age range extends to 8 years, most children will be using these sounds earlier than that1.
Early (18 mths to 3 yrs)
m n y b w d p h
Middle (2 to 6 yrs)
t ng (talking) k g f v ch j
Later (3 to 8 yrs)
sh zh (measure) l r s zth (think) th (that)
How will my child's speech develop?
Children's speech generally gets easier to understand as they get older. Here's a guide2:
- by 2 years of age tamariki can be understood by familiar adults most of the time
- by 3 years of age tamariki can be understood by unfamiliar adults most of the time
- by 4 years of age tamariki can be understood by unfamiliar adults almost all of the time
- by 5 years of age tamariki can be understood by unfamiliar adults all of the time
What are some tips to help my child's speech development?
Be interested
Show your child that you are interested in what they say, not how they say it.
Repeat tricky sounds
Help your child to learn how to say tricky sounds by repeating them correctly as naturally as possible. For example, if your child says "bish", you say "yes it's a big fish, isn't it?"
Talk face to face
Get face to face with your child so that they can watch the way you say words.
Acknowledgements
The content on this page has been produced in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and adapted from Much more than words | Manuka takoto, kawea ake (2014).
References
- Shriberg, L.D. (1993). Four new speech and prosody-voice measures for genetics research and other studies in developmental phonological disorders. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, (36), 105-140.
- Flipsen, P., Jr (2006). Measuring the speech intelligibility of conversational speech in children. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics, (20) 4, 303-312.
If you would like to look at anything in more detail, this list of references might be a good starting point.
