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Tongue Twisters
By Alex Brooks |

Suhanto Kastaredja
Email:
kastaredjasuhanto@yahoo.com
Staf Pengajar Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris
Fakultas Keguruan dan Ilmu Pendidikan
Universitas PGRI ADI BUANA Suarabaya


Tongue twisters are one of the few types of spoken wordplay that are fun to recite and are a great
tool to aid childrens language development.
Attempting to recite a tricky rhyme or tongue twister as fast as possible without tripping over
your tongue is a great challenge try saying She sells sea shells or Peter Piper picked a peck
of pickled peppers and you cant help but smile and enjoy the race to get it right.
Tongue twisters usually rely on alliteration the repetition of a sound starting with a similar
letter - with a phrase designed such that it is made very easy to slip (hence the fun).
Tongue twisters are not only a linguistic fun and game but serve a practical purpose for language
and speech development. For example, tongue twisters may be used by foreign students of
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English to improve their accent and speech pathologists often use them as a tool to help those
with speech difficulties.
Tips to use tongue twisters for developing speech
Start reciting the tongue twisters at a slow pace and ensure it is able to be recited clearly
The next step would be to know the tongue twister by heart.
Repeat the tongue twister as fast as possible until it is mastered and able to be recited
three times in a row without stumbling.
When one tongue twister is mastered, try another.
Use certain sounds to work on particular speech areas
Speech therapists use tongue twisters to improve the childs constant and vowel sounds. Tongue
twisters ensure that the students articulate the syllables and not slur the sounds together. As well,
if the student has difficult with the p and b sound, the therapist will have the student practice
tongue twisters that focus on these sounds.
Examples of p tongue twisters include:
Peter Piper
Pheasant plucker
Examples of b tongue twisters include:
Betty Botter
Blade
Examples of s tongue twisters include:
Seventy seven
Skunk stunk
Swan Swam
5 tongue twister games for speech development
1. To target articulation, select tongue twisters featuring phonemes that are particularly difficult
for your child, for example if they have trouble making the hard t sound, practice tongue
twisters that use that particular alliteration.
2. To bolster confidence, select tongue twisters featuring phonemes your child is particularly
good at. To really make them laugh, the adult can recite tongue twisters with phonemes they are
bad at! Kids love seeing adults get things wrong.
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3. To make a game of it, print out a bunch of tongue twisters, cut them into individual strips, put
the strips in a basket, have each player draw one, and award points based on how few repetitions
are needed to master it.
4. To work on speed, add a stopwatch to the game and make the player who can recite the twister
correctly in the shortest time the winner of each round.
5. To motivate your child, use tongue twisters as "Get Out of Time-Out Free" cards; if your child
can recite one correctly, he's sprung.
Find more about kids speech and language development:

Speech and language development for pre-kinder children
Speech and language development for 5-6 year olds
Speech and language development for 7-8 year olds
Speech and language development for 9-10 year olds
Speech and language development for 11-12 year olds
What is phonetics
What is phonics
What is phonemics
How tongue twisters aid speech and language

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This story was written by Alex Brooks for Kidspot, Australias leading education resource.