Languages across the world have unique phonemic systems. For individuals learning English as a second language, it is common for the phonemic system of their first language to influence the production of sounds in English.
The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) has excellent resources for working with speech language clients for whom English is not their first language. ASHA has compiled a list of phonemic systems to guide therapy.
Speech-language pathologists can use this information to:
- Identify sounds in a client’s phonological system for languages other than English.
- Determine phonemic influences of a client’s native language on English.
- Identify sounds from the client’s first language that may not exist in English or identify sounds in English that do not exist in someone’s native language.
- Recognize that even if there are similar sounds across two languages, they may not be used the same way. For example, in some languages a sound may only be used at the ends of words and not as a word-initial sound.
You can read obtain the phonemic charts and read the full article here.
