B1 – Intermediate
A fluency disorder that start when a child is very young is also known as “stuttering”. It is a speech disorder which affects around 5%-10% of people during their childhood. Some cases end in childhood while 25% continues to have this speech defect until they become adults.
Stutterers have a lot of problems in their daily lives because they are often misunderstood and the condition is not effectively treated.
Listen to this audio and read the transcript about reasons people stutter and its possible treatments.
https://www.newsinlevels.com/products/why-people-stutter-level-3/
Vocabulary Questions:
- What does “to stutter” mean? “They studied the brains of people who stutter or who recovered from a stutter; they found they are different from the brains of people who don’t.” Use it in a sentence and give a synonym of this verb.
- What does the phrase “run in the/one’s family” mean? “The condition often runs in families, and some of the genetic differences are related to sex.” Use it in a sentence and give a synonym of this idiom.
- What is the meaning of the word “onset“? “The treatment of stutter differs and depends on whether the person is a young child very close to onset, a school-aged child, or an adult.” Make your own sentence and give a synonym of this word.
Discussion Questions:
- What are the causes of stuttering in childhood?
- What causes stuttering adults?
- Have you ever stuttered? Talk about this situation.
- How can disfluency be treated?
- Do you know anyone who has this disorder? What problems do they have to deal with having this condition?
- Why do you think stuttering isn’t treated properly/effectively?