definition of speech flow

When conferencing with my students regarding their writing, a common request I hear, (usually after some stammering from the student) is, “I want to make sure that my writing flows.”

I might follow up by asking the student if he is referring to the flow between his sentences, the flow between his paragraphs, or the flow throughout his entire piece of writing. As you can imagine, the student is often met with confusion.

Or perhaps you have heard students in peer review tell their partner, “Your writing flows well,” but when pressed, they can’t seem to provide a response as to where or how.

These students might have a feeling as to which writing flows and which writing doesn’t, but they cannot seem to articulate the how or the why.

And I don’t blame them – it can be a challenge to articulate the “how” or “why” a piece of writing flows. I imagine that for many students, writing flow is a cryptic concept that only innately talented writers can summon.

So, to help our students, let’s better define flow for them and explain why it is an important writing component. Let’s help them understand that there is more than one kind of flow so that the feedback they offer one another in peer editing is more precise and actionable.

What is writing flow and why is it important?

Most students are aware of the importance of flow, even if they cannot pin down a single definition for it. We know this because they are able to use words like “choppy,” “awkward,” and “wordy” to describe writing without being formally taught this vocabulary.

Ever since we were read to as children by our teachers and family members, we were being taught to appreciate the phonic quality of sentences and how they are constructed. For this reason, students can identify writing which lacks flow as difficult or boring to read, and they can sense the distance it creates between the author and reader.

To help them better understand this sense of discomfort that some writing gives them, we can define writing flow in the following terms:

>> “Flow is a word used to describe writing that has logical structure and varied language within and between sentences and paragraphs.”

Having flow implies having comfort as a writer and a mastery of not only the content being written about, but the writing craft itself.

Help Your Students Create a Sense of Flow in Their Writing

So let’s break down the different areas of writing that can contribute to the overall flow of a written piece of work.

Teaching Varied Sentence Structure in Writing

Fragments, run-on sentences, and comma splices are issues that can certainly detract from a sentence’s flow, and they often indicate that a student is having an issue recognizing where a sentence begins and where a sentence ends.

Students can eliminate fragments and run-ons when they have additional practice writing complex sentences using independent clauses and dependent clauses.

When comma splices (the joining of two independent clauses with a comma) occur, students can also benefit from activities that focus on uses of compound sentences and conjunctions.

Sentence combining activities like the ones here included in Deborah Dean’s article from NCTE are a great way to help students vary their sentences.

Creating Flow Between Sentences: Avoiding “Choppiness” and “Wordiness”

Returning to some of the terminologies that I referred to earlier, what do students mean when they describe writing as “choppy?” Usually, this means that the sentences within a passage move at an odd pace.

Choppy writing might be defined by repetitive sentence structure (sometimes sounding “robotic”) which rely on simple sentences. While the writer may have a solid foundation of ideas, she might improve the flow of her writing by experimenting with different sentence structures, conjunctions, and subordinating clauses.

“Wordy” writing usually refers to lengthy and grandiose phrases that clutter meaning and readability. Some students that experiment with their vocabulary (usually a good thing) might end up with writing that has inappropriate word choice, unusual sentence structure, or instances of passive voice.

When this happens, encourage your students to ask themselves during the revision or peer editing process whether their diction, or choice of words, is clumsy or getting in the way of their ideas.

Using Transitions Between Paragraphs

Flow can be achieved at the paragraph level as well. Transition words and phrases are helpful not only for linking sentences together, but also for connecting paragraphs throughout a piece of writing. Depending on your intention, the use of transitions can be used for a variety of purposes.

Structuring Your Paragraphs to Maintain Flow in Writing

Certainly, writing flow can be measured on a broader scale when assessing how paragraphs themselves are structured and organized.

In this sense, successful flow can be determined not only by the selection of ideas and how well each paragraph stays on topic, but also by how paragraphs themselves are ordered.

It’s important to ask, “Do the points in each paragraph successfully build to a unified idea or argument?”

To illustrate, my very own high school English teacher offered me the following tips for embedding flow into a five-paragraph argumentative essay:

> - Your first body paragraph should be the most obvious and logical point of your argument. It should be the most difficult to argue against and the most likely to be at the forefront of a reader’s mind after reading the paper’s introduction.

> - Your second body paragraph should be your argument’s weakest point. This is the point in your paper when your reader is paying the least attention. Particularly if your first point is strong, the weakness of this point has less power when it’s placed in the middle, sandwiched between two strong points.

> - Your third body paragraph should be the strongest, though not necessarily the most obvious point of your argument. This paragraph is delivering the “final punch” of your argument. It should be the most compelling, and it is also a good place to strike a counterargument (before reaffirming your own argument prior to concluding). It should be the point you want to stay in your reader’s mind the most.

Not only the selection of ideas, but how they are ordered can contribute immensely to the overall flow of the writing piece.

A Final, Practical Note on Flow

Establishing flow is one of the most creative aspects of the writing process. Give your students the language and skills to describe and improve this aspect of their writing and tell them to have fun with it! Encourage your students to use it as an opportunity to exercise their voices and to make creative choices in their writing. With just these few tools, some time to practice, and your heartfelt encouragement, your students will soon discover a new aspect of their writing.

Effective writing skills are essential for students to excel in both their academic and professional lives. As middle school English/Language Arts teachers, you play a crucial role in shaping your students' writing abilities.

Teaching grammar can be a daunting task, but it doesn't have to be boring! One of the trickiest challenges in English grammar for both teachers and students alike is understanding the difference between "who" and "whom." Fear not, Language Arts teachers, as we embark on a journey to make this learning adventure enjoyable!

Empower students in crafting impactful thesis statements! Teach specificity, address counterarguments, and use peer feedback for compelling essays.

Differentiated grammar instruction empowers diverse learners. Flexible grouping, multimodal learning, scaffolding, and peer collaboration are key strategies.

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Assessing Speech

Causes of abnormal speech.

• Psychiatric disorder - mood disorder, anxiety, schizophrenia
• Confusion - delirium, dementia, intellectual disability
• Dysphasia / aphasia
• Dysarthria - stroke, brain injury, Parkinson's, MS
• Dysphonia - laryngitis, neuropathology, trauma, mass, atrophy, systemic disease
• Hearing impairment
• English as a non-native language
• Intoxication

Rate of Speech

Interpretation.

• Slow speech (bradylalia) Depression, Parkinson's disease, cognitive impairment
• Normal speech rate
• Rapid speech (tachylalia) - fast speech but able to be redirected Normal, mania, anxiety, stimulants
• Pressured speech - fast and without taking breaks, talking over other people and unable to be redirected Mania, anxiety

Volume of Speech

• Loud (hyperphonia) Personality trait, hearing impairment, mania
• Normal speech volume
• Weak (hypophonia) - low or soft speech Shyness, anxiety, depression, Parkinson's disease

Quantity of Speech

• Excessive talking (logorrhoea) - speaking at length and apparently without end Mania, ADHD, anxiety
• Talkative - actively takes part in conversation. Normal
• Poverty of speech - very little speech, even with persuasion. Shyness, depression, schizophrenia, cognitive impairment

Examples of Dysfluency

• Stuttering - repetition, prolongation, or pauses in speech May be developmental, neurogenic, or psychogenic
• Cluttering - rapid, disorganized speech with excessive word and phrase repetitions Often related to language or learning disabilities

Causes of Impaired Speech Fluency

• Foreign language
• Expressive - varied pitch and intonation Normal tonality
• Monotone - the patient uses a single tone for vocal expression. Boredom, depression, schizophrenia, autism spectrum disorder
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Flow of Speech and Pronunciation

Our students are often concerned about the flow of their speech. Choppy speaking is sometimes distracting or difficult to understand. If your native language is syllable-timed, you speak very uniformly.

The rhythm of your jaw movement is more even, the vowels in words are of similar length, and you tend to say each word separately. Much like the steady beat of a drum, you pick up individual words. Your speaking sounds like Da; Da; Da; Da.

Learning about flowing speech, linking, and elision will help you master the techniques needed for a smooth speech like a native English speaker.

To have a flowing English accent, you will need to make a few adjustments to how you speak. Your jaw movements need to change so words flow together. You may feel as if you are saying one long word made up of a few syllables instead of several words.

For instance, the phrase ‘put it on your end’ will have a flowing rhythm. So, ‘put it on’ joins together as putiton. Likewise, ‘your end’ will sound like ‘yourend’ when pronounced so the words flow. Rather than the deliberate individual words, the rhythm is ‘dadada dada.’

The technique known as linking is the result of joining a word that ends in a consonant to the next word if it begins with a vowel. Once again, you may feel like you are saying one long word instead of two or more words.

For example, ‘want it’ becomes ‘wan-tit’; ‘but our’ becomes bu-tour (butour); ‘was a’ becomes wa-sa (waza); ‘after all I am on duty’ becomes afterall Iyamon duty. In the last example phrase, an intrusive ‘Y’ sound helps the transition from ‘I’ to ‘a’ in I am, so the sound is ‘Iyam.’

This technique involves joining a word that ends in a consonant to the next word if it begins with the same consonant. So, we elide or leave off the final consonant of the first word.

Several illustrations will help make this clear. Using the phrase ‘want to’ – we do not say the words with both /t/ sounds pronounced separately. We join them – ‘wanto’. The same is true for ‘head down’, which becomes ‘headown’ – He put his ‘headown’ this time, or ‘face sore’ becomes ‘fasore’ -It made his ‘fasore.’

Also, when the first word ends in a /z/ and the second begins with an /s/ we do the same because the sounds are made the same way in our mouth except that /z/ has a voice added. For instance, the phrase ‘his seat was so warm’ joins in two places, ‘his seat’ is now ‘hiseat’ and ‘was so’ ‘waso’. Together they make the phrase ‘hiseat waso warm’.

Application and Practice

Till now, to be clear in English, you may have had to practice saying each word clearly and separately, or you may still be using syllable timed rhythm instead of English stress–timed rhythm. Because the words and phrases used in these examples may not be how you are used to saying them in your everyday life, you will need to practice joining words up like this and applying what you are learning. Consistent practice will help your mouth make new muscle memory to help you master these techniques.

Suggested Practice

• Print ten pages from our accent reduction course. You can choose any five vowel pages and any five consonant pages.
• Look over the pages and highlight any examples of linking or elision.
• Choose one page and listen to the audio trainer in the course. Then say the sentences out loud with them. And mimic aloud with them.
• Repeat this using the same page for three days in a row. This will help achieve new muscle memory and make the process easier.
• After doing this with all ten pages, choose a paragraph from a text in the course, and highlight the linking and elision. Read this paragraph aloud to yourself each day for seven days. Pay special attention to the linking and elision.
• Choose a different paragraph and repeat the process. Next, record yourself reading aloud and listen to the flow of your speech. Doing this will make the flow of your words sound more natural.

Pronunciation with a Twist

Adding an element of fun to learning can help reinforce the lesson. So, we will use an unusual element, the limerick, to help you stress the essential main meaning of words in sentences, become familiar with the rhythm of English, and practice linking.

A Limerick is a humorous verse of five lines. The first, second, and fifth lines rhyme with each other. The shorter third and fourth lines form a rhymed couplet.

Click here for a recording of two limericks.

In addition to the recording, the text of the limericks is below. The main meaning words that should be stressed or emphasized are underlined to help you practice the flow of the limericks. English listeners pay attention to the stressed main meaning of words. These help them understand what is being said. If you stress all words equally, you sound ‘choppy’ or ‘staccato’ and not smooth and flowing. It will also be more challenging to understand.

Enjoy practising using these limericks to reinforce the flow of your speech.

Limerick One

A wonderful bird is the pelican His bill can hold more than his beli-can (belly can) He can take in his beak Food enough for a week But I’m damned if I see how the heli-can. (hell he can)

Limerick Two

There was an old man of Peru Who watched his wife making a stew But once , by mistake , In a stove she did bake That unfortunate man of Peru .

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Definition of flow

 (Entry 1 of 2)

intransitive verb

transitive verb

Definition of flow  (Entry 2 of 2)

spring , arise , rise , originate , derive , flow , issue , emanate , proceed , stem mean to come up or out of something into existence.

spring implies rapid or sudden emerging.

arise and rise may both convey the fact of coming into existence or notice but rise often stresses gradual growth or ascent.

originate implies a definite source or starting point.

derive implies a prior existence in another form.

flow adds to spring a suggestion of abundance or ease of inception.

issue suggests emerging from confinement through an outlet.

emanate applies to the coming of something immaterial (such as a thought) from a source.

proceed stresses place of origin, derivation, parentage, or logical cause.

stem implies originating by dividing or branching off from something as an outgrowth or subordinate development.

Examples of flow in a Sentence

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'flow.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Middle English, from Old English flōwan ; akin to Old High German flouwen to rinse, wash, Latin pluere to rain, Greek plein to sail, float

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1a(1)

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing flow

• ebb and flow
• flow cytometry
• flow diagram
• flow - through entity
• go against the flow
• go with the flow
• in full flow
• inter - flow
• laminar flow
• peak flow meter
• turbulent flow

Dictionary Entries Near flow

floutingstock

flowability

Cite this Entry

“Flow.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flow. Accessed 24 May. 2024.

Kids Definition

Kids definition of flow.

Kids Definition of flow  (Entry 2 of 2)

Medical Definition

Medical definition of flow.

Medical Definition of flow  (Entry 2 of 2)

More from Merriam-Webster on flow

Nglish: Translation of flow for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of flow for Arabic Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about flow

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Types of Speech Impediments

Sanjana is a health writer and editor. Her work spans various health-related topics, including mental health, fitness, nutrition, and wellness.

Steven Gans, MD is board-certified in psychiatry and is an active supervisor, teacher, and mentor at Massachusetts General Hospital.

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Articulation Errors

Ankyloglossia, treating speech disorders.

A speech impediment, also known as a speech disorder , is a condition that can affect a person’s ability to form sounds and words, making their speech difficult to understand.

Speech disorders generally become evident in early childhood, as children start speaking and learning language. While many children initially have trouble with certain sounds and words, most are able to speak easily by the time they are five years old. However, some speech disorders persist. Approximately 5% of children aged three to 17 in the United States experience speech disorders.

There are many different types of speech impediments, including:

• Articulation errors

This article explores the causes, symptoms, and treatment of the different types of speech disorders.

Speech impediments that break the flow of speech are known as disfluencies. Stuttering is the most common form of disfluency, however there are other types as well.

Symptoms and Characteristics of Disfluencies

These are some of the characteristics of disfluencies:

• Repeating certain phrases, words, or sounds after the age of 4 (For example: “O…orange,” “I like…like orange juice,” “I want…I want orange juice”)
• Adding in extra sounds or words into sentences (For example: “We…uh…went to buy…um…orange juice”)
• Elongating words (For example: Saying “orange joooose” instead of "orange juice")
• Replacing words (For example: “What…Where is the orange juice?”)
• Hesitating while speaking (For example: A long pause while thinking)
• Pausing mid-speech (For example: Stopping abruptly mid-speech, due to lack of airflow, causing no sounds to come out, leading to a tense pause)

In addition, someone with disfluencies may also experience the following symptoms while speaking:

• Vocal tension and strain
• Head jerking
• Eye blinking
• Lip trembling

Causes of Disfluencies

People with disfluencies tend to have neurological differences in areas of the brain that control language processing and coordinate speech, which may be caused by:

• Genetic factors
• Trauma or infection to the brain
• Environmental stressors that cause anxiety or emotional distress
• Neurodevelopmental conditions like attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

Articulation disorders occur when a person has trouble placing their tongue in the correct position to form certain speech sounds. Lisping is the most common type of articulation disorder.

Symptoms and Characteristics of Articulation Errors

These are some of the characteristics of articulation disorders:

• Substituting one sound for another . People typically have trouble with ‘r’ and ‘l’ sounds. (For example: Being unable to say “rabbit” and saying “wabbit” instead)
• Lisping , which refers specifically to difficulty with ‘s’ and ‘z’ sounds. (For example: Saying “thugar” instead of “sugar” or producing a whistling sound while trying to pronounce these letters)
• Omitting sounds (For example: Saying “coo” instead of “school”)
• Adding sounds (For example: Saying “pinanio” instead of “piano”)
• Making other speech errors that can make it difficult to decipher what the person is saying. For instance, only family members may be able to understand what they’re trying to say.

Causes of Articulation Errors

Articulation errors may be caused by:

• Genetic factors, as it can run in families
• Hearing loss , as mishearing sounds can affect the person’s ability to reproduce the sound
• Changes in the bones or muscles that are needed for speech, including a cleft palate (a hole in the roof of the mouth) and tooth problems
• Damage to the nerves or parts of the brain that coordinate speech, caused by conditions such as cerebral palsy , for instance

Ankyloglossia, also known as tongue-tie, is a condition where the person’s tongue is attached to the bottom of their mouth. This can restrict the tongue’s movement and make it hard for the person to move their tongue.

Symptoms and Characteristics of Ankyloglossia

Ankyloglossia is characterized by difficulty pronouncing ‘d,’ ‘n,’ ‘s,’ ‘t,’ ‘th,’ and ‘z’ sounds that require the person’s tongue to touch the roof of their mouth or their upper teeth, as their tongue may not be able to reach there.

Apart from speech impediments, people with ankyloglossia may also experience other symptoms as a result of their tongue-tie. These symptoms include:

• Difficulty breastfeeding in newborns
• Trouble swallowing
• Limited ability to move the tongue from side to side or stick it out
• Difficulty with activities like playing wind instruments, licking ice cream, or kissing
• Mouth breathing

Causes of Ankyloglossia

Ankyloglossia is a congenital condition, which means it is present from birth. A tissue known as the lingual frenulum attaches the tongue to the base of the mouth. People with ankyloglossia have a shorter lingual frenulum, or it is attached further along their tongue than most people’s.

Dysarthria is a condition where people slur their words because they cannot control the muscles that are required for speech, due to brain, nerve, or organ damage.

Symptoms and Characteristics of Dysarthria

Dysarthria is characterized by:

• Slurred, choppy, or robotic speech
• Rapid, slow, or soft speech
• Breathy, hoarse, or nasal voice

Additionally, someone with dysarthria may also have other symptoms such as difficulty swallowing and inability to move their tongue, lips, or jaw easily.

Causes of Dysarthria

Dysarthria is caused by paralysis or weakness of the speech muscles. The causes of the weakness can vary depending on the type of dysarthria the person has:

• Central dysarthria is caused by brain damage. It may be the result of neuromuscular diseases, such as cerebral palsy, Huntington’s disease, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, or Lou Gehrig’s disease. Central dysarthria may also be caused by injuries or illnesses that damage the brain, such as dementia, stroke, brain tumor, or traumatic brain injury .
• Peripheral dysarthria is caused by damage to the organs involved in speech. It may be caused by congenital structural problems, trauma to the mouth or face, or surgery to the tongue, mouth, head, neck, or voice box.

Apraxia, also known as dyspraxia, verbal apraxia, or apraxia of speech, is a neurological condition that can cause a person to have trouble moving the muscles they need to create sounds or words. The person’s brain knows what they want to say, but is unable to plan and sequence the words accordingly.

Symptoms and Characteristics of Apraxia

These are some of the characteristics of apraxia:

• Distorting sounds: The person may have trouble pronouncing certain sounds, particularly vowels, because they may be unable to move their tongue or jaw in the manner required to produce the right sound. Longer or more complex words may be especially harder to manage.
• Being inconsistent in their speech: For instance, the person may be able to pronounce a word correctly once, but may not be able to repeat it. Or, they may pronounce it correctly today and differently on another day.
• Grasping for words: The person may appear to be searching for the right word or sound, or attempt the pronunciation several times before getting it right.
• Making errors with the rhythm or tone of speech: The person may struggle with using tone and inflection to communicate meaning. For instance, they may not stress any of the words in a sentence, have trouble going from one syllable in a word to another, or pause at an inappropriate part of a sentence.

Causes of Apraxia

Apraxia occurs when nerve pathways in the brain are interrupted, which can make it difficult for the brain to send messages to the organs involved in speaking. The causes of these neurological disturbances can vary depending on the type of apraxia the person has:

• Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS): This condition is present from birth and is often hereditary. A person may be more likely to have it if a biological relative has a learning disability or communication disorder.
• Acquired apraxia of speech (AOS): This condition can occur in adults, due to brain damage as a result of a tumor, head injury , stroke, or other illness that affects the parts of the brain involved in speech.

If you have a speech impediment, or suspect your child might have one, it can be helpful to visit your healthcare provider. Your primary care physician can refer you to a speech-language pathologist, who can evaluate speech, diagnose speech disorders, and recommend treatment options.

The diagnostic process may involve a physical examination as well as psychological, neurological, or hearing tests, in order to confirm the diagnosis and rule out other causes.

Treatment for speech disorders often involves speech therapy, which can help you learn how to move your muscles and position your tongue correctly in order to create specific sounds. It can be quite effective in improving your speech.

Children often grow out of milder speech disorders; however, special education and speech therapy can help with more serious ones.

For ankyloglossia, or tongue-tie, a minor surgery known as a frenectomy can help detach the tongue from the bottom of the mouth.

A Word From Verywell

A speech impediment can make it difficult to pronounce certain sounds, speak clearly, or communicate fluently. 

Living with a speech disorder can be frustrating because people may cut you off while you’re speaking, try to finish your sentences, or treat you differently. It can be helpful to talk to your healthcare providers about how to cope with these situations.

You may also benefit from joining a support group, where you can connect with others living with speech disorders.

National Library of Medicine. Speech disorders . Medline Plus.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Language and speech disorders .

Cincinnati Children's Hospital. Stuttering .

National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. Quick statistics about voice, speech, and language .

Cleveland Clinic. Speech impediment .

Lee H, Sim H, Lee E, Choi D. Disfluency characteristics of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms . J Commun Disord . 2017;65:54-64. doi:10.1016/j.jcomdis.2016.12.001

Nemours Foundation. Speech problems .

Penn Medicine. Speech and language disorders .

Cleveland Clinic. Tongue-tie .

University of Rochester Medical Center. Ankyloglossia .

Cleveland Clinic. Dysarthria .

National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. Apraxia of speech .

Cleveland Clinic. Childhood apraxia of speech .

Stanford Children’s Hospital. Speech sound disorders in children .

Abbastabar H, Alizadeh A, Darparesh M, Mohseni S, Roozbeh N. Spatial distribution and the prevalence of speech disorders in the provinces of Iran . J Med Life . 2015;8(Spec Iss 2):99-104.

By Sanjana Gupta Sanjana is a health writer and editor. Her work spans various health-related topics, including mental health, fitness, nutrition, and wellness.

Speech in Linguistics

• An Introduction to Punctuation
• Ph.D., Rhetoric and English, University of Georgia
• M.A., Modern English and American Literature, University of Leicester
• B.A., English, State University of New York

In linguistics , speech is a system of  communication  that uses spoken words  (or sound symbols ). 

The study of speech sounds (or spoken language ) is the branch of linguistics known as phonetics . The study of sound changes in a language is phonology . For a discussion of speeches in rhetoric and oratory , see Speech (Rhetoric) .

Etymology:  From the Old English, "to speak"

Studying Language Without Making Judgements

• "Many people believe that written language is more prestigious than spoken language--its form is likely to be closer to Standard English , it dominates education and is used as the language of public administration. In linguistic terms, however, neither speech nor writing can be seen as superior. Linguists are more interested in observing and describing all forms of language in use than in making social and cultural judgements with no linguistic basis." (Sara Thorne, Mastering Advanced English Language , 2nd ed. Palgrave Macmillan, 2008)

Speech Sounds and Duality

• "The very simplest element of speech --and by 'speech' we shall henceforth mean the auditory system of speech symbolism, the flow of spoken words--is the individual sound, though, . . . the sound is not itself a simple structure but the resultant of a series of independent, yet closely correlated, adjustments in the organs of speech." ( Edward Sapir , Language: An Introduction to the Study of Speech , 1921)
• "Human language is organized at two levels or layers simultaneously. This property is called duality (or 'double articulation'). In speech production, we have a physical level at which we can produce individual sounds, like n , b and i . As individual sounds, none of these discrete forms has any intrinsic meaning . In a particular combination such as bin , we have another level producing a meaning that is different from the meaning of the combination in nib . So, at one level, we have distinct sounds, and, at another level, we have distinct meanings. This duality of levels is, in fact, one of the most economical features of human language because, with a limited set of discrete sounds, we are capable of producing a very large number of sound combinations (e.g. words) which are distinct in meaning." (George Yule, The Study of Language , 3rd ed. Cambridge University Press, 2006)

Approaches to Speech

• "Once we decide to begin an analysis of speech , we can approach it on various levels. At one level, speech is a matter of anatomy and physiology: we can study organs such as tongue and larynx in the production of speech. Taking another perspective, we can focus on the speech sounds produced by these organs--the units that we commonly try to identify by letters , such as a 'b-sound' or an 'm-sound.' But speech is also transmitted as sound waves, which means that we can also investigate the properties of the sound waves themselves. Taking yet another approach, the term 'sounds' is a reminder that speech is intended to be heard or perceived and that it is therefore possible to focus on the way in which a listener analyzes or processes a sound wave." (J. E. Clark and C. Yallop, An Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology . Wiley-Blackwell, 1995)

Parallel Transmission

• "Because so much of our lives in a literate society has been spent dealing with speech recorded as letters and text in which spaces do separate letters and words, it can be extremely difficult to understand that spoken language simply does not have this characteristic. . . . [A]lthough we write, perceive, and (to a degree) cognitively process speech linearly--one sound followed by another--the actual sensory signal our ear encounters is not composed of discretely separated bits. This is an amazing aspect of our linguistic abilities, but on further thought one can see that it is a very useful one. The fact that speech can encode and transmit information about multiple linguistic events in parallel means that the speech signal is a very efficient and optimized way of encoding and sending information between individuals. This property of speech has been called parallel transmission ." (Dani Byrd and Toben H. Mintz, Discovering Speech, Words, and Mind . Wiley-Blackwell, 2010)

Oliver Goldsmith on the True Nature of Speech

• "It is usually said by grammarians , that the use of language is to express our wants and desires; but men who know the world hold, and I think with some show of reason, that he who best knows how to keep his necessities private is the most likely person to have them redressed; and that the true use of speech is not so much to express our wants, as to conceal them." (Oliver Goldsmith, "On the Use of Language." The Bee , October 20, 1759)

Pronunciation: SPEECH

• Duality of Patterning in Language
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• Definition and Examples of Productivity in Language
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• Phonological Segments
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• Definition of Voice in Phonetics and Phonology
• What Is a Phoneme?
• What Are Utterances in English (Speech)?
• Sound Symbolism in English: Definition and Examples
• Definition and Examples of Linguists
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• Assimilation in Speech
• Phoneme vs. Minimal Pair in English Phonetics
• Suprasegmental Definition and Examples
• An Introduction to Semantics

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verb (used without object)

The river flowed slowly to the sea.

blood flowing through one's veins.

Warmth flows from the sun.

Orders flowed from the office.

• to menstruate.

A constant stream of humanity flowed by.

Melody flowed from the violin.

Synonyms: run

Her hair flowed over her shoulders.

The tavern flowed with wine.

Synonyms: teem

• to rise and advance, as the tide ( ebb ).

verb (used with object)

to flow paint on a wall before brushing.

• to cover with water or other liquid; flood.
• an act of flowing.
• movement in or as if in a stream.
• the rate of flowing.

Oil flow of the well was 500 barrels a day.

• something that flows; stream.

a flow of blood.

• menstruation .
• an overflowing; flood.
• the rise of the tide ( ebb ).
• Machinery. progressive distortion of a metal object under continuous service at high temperature.
• (of liquids) to move or be conveyed as in a stream
• (of blood) to circulate around the body

the crowd flowed into the building

ideas flowed from her pen

• to show or be marked by smooth or easy movement

her hair flowed down her back

wine flows at their parties

• an informal word for menstruate
• (of tide water) to advance or rise Compare ebb
• tr to cover or swamp with liquid; flood
• (of rocks such as slate) to yield to pressure without breaking so that the structure and arrangement of the constituent minerals are altered

a fast flow

• a continuous stream or discharge
• continuous progression
• the advancing of the tide
• a stream of molten or solidified lava
• the amount of liquid that flows in a given time
• an informal word for menstruation
• a marsh or swamp
• an inlet or basin of the sea
• flow of spirits natural happiness

Discover More

Other words from.

• flowa·ble adjective
• flowa·bili·ty noun
• re·flow noun verb
• under·flow noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of flow 1

Idioms and Phrases

Synonym study, example sentences.

This change could help to crack down on the unmoderated flow of information across groups, which can lead to spam and misinformation spreading quickly.

Ominously, the debris flow risk is shown to be high in areas recently burned, such as in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Greece and Cyprus are part of the EU, while Turkey is central to Europe’s efforts to curb the flow of migrants.

That can include changes in the flow, temperature or saltiness of water, he notes.

Bridgewater has been moving into gold and inflation-linked bonds in its All Weather portfolio, diversifying the countries it invests in and finding more stocks with stable cash flow.

But the jokes flow at such a torrential pace that duds are soon forgotten; the best are even Spamalot-worthy.

Ebb and flow, checks and balances, the center would hold, et cetera.

“The lies of the government shocked us,” says Fatima, as the tears flow slowly from her eyes and down her cheek.

But before a new tide of tourists can flow from Miami to Havana, Cuba will need to build more runways.

Speak to the friends and people you need to root out in life and let that conversation flow.

The volcanic eruptions of the mountains on the west broke down its barriers, and let its waters flow.

And Tom, aware that he winced, was also aware that something in his life congealed and stopped its normal flow.

The arrows represent the flow of money from each of these four categories to the others.

Its entrance into and exit from banks is a flow, but not a circulation against goods.

Therefore, the total circulation exceeds the total flow from and to banks by the amount flowing through "nondepositors."

Related Words

More about flow, what is basic definition of  flow .

Flow means to move along in a stream, as water does. Flow also means to circulate, as air does. Flow is used as a noun to mean movement as if in a stream. Flow has several other senses as a verb and a noun.

When something flows , it moves like water in a stream. When used literally, flow is almost always used to describe the movement of liquids or things that act like fluids. Flow is also often used figuratively to mean to move smoothly like water or a liquid.

• Real-life examples : Water flows through pipes. Magma flows out of a volcano. People hope traffic flows through a city so they don’t get stuck in a traffic jam.
• Used in a sentence : Roger lied so much that the lies flowed out of his mouth. 

Flow is also used in this sense as a noun to mean an act of flowing .

• Used in a sentence : The huge dam redirects the flow of the river away from the city. 

Flow can also mean to circulate, especially in reference to liquids.

• Used in a sentence : The heart makes sure blood flows throughout the body.

As a noun, flow means a continuous motion, like the flow of a stream. It usually refers to liquids but can refer to anything, literally or figuratively.

• Used in a sentence : A flow of shoppers streamed into the mall. 

Where does  flow come from?

The first records of flow come from before the 900s. It comes from the Old English verb flōwan . It is related to similar words with the same meaning, such as the Middle Low German vlōien and the Old Norse flōa .

Did you know ... ?

What are some other forms related to flow ?

• flowing (adjective, present tense verb)
• flowable (adjective)
• flowability (noun)
• reflow (noun, verb)
• underflow (noun)

What are some synonyms for flow ?

What are some words that share a root or word element with flow ? 

• ebb and flow
• go with the flow

What are some words that often get used in discussing flow ?

• circulation 

What are some words flow may be commonly confused with?

How is  flow used in real life?

Flow is a common word that most often means to move like a streaming liquid.

Have written a eulogy for a friend. Such a weird fusion of warmness and sadness flows through you when you remember good people who are no longer here. — Matt Haig (@matthaig1) February 24, 2020

US official familiar with #Afghanistan Taliban funding: Baradar helped control purse strings. "The money flowed through him." — Nick Schifrin (@nickschifrin) February 16, 2010

Due to high water in Winnipeg, province will divert more of the Assiniboine River's flow into Lake Manitoba for 3 or 4 days. #bn — Bartley Kives (@bkives) April 20, 2014

Try using  flow !

Which of the following is a synonym of flow ?

A. stop B. stream C. radiate D. orbit

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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What is stuttering?

Who stutters, how is speech normally produced, what are the causes and types of stuttering, how is stuttering diagnosed, how is stuttering treated, what research is being conducted on stuttering, where can i find additional information about stuttering.

Stuttering is a speech disorder characterized by repetition of sounds, syllables, or words; prolongation of sounds; and interruptions in speech known as blocks. An individual who stutters exactly knows what he or she would like to say but has trouble producing a normal flow of speech. These speech disruptions may be accompanied by struggle behaviors, such as rapid eye blinks or tremors of the lips. Stuttering can make it difficult to communicate with other people, which often affects a person’s quality of life and interpersonal relationships. Stuttering can also negatively influence job performance and opportunities, and treatment can come at a high financial cost.

Symptoms of stuttering can vary significantly throughout a person’s day. In general, speaking before a group or talking on the telephone may make a person’s stuttering more severe, while singing, reading, or speaking in unison may temporarily reduce stuttering.

Stuttering is sometimes referred to as stammering and by a broader term, disfluent speech .

Roughly 3 million Americans stutter. Stuttering affects people of all ages. It occurs most often in children between the ages of 2 and 6 as they are developing their language skills. Approximately 5 to 10 percent of all children will stutter for some period in their life, lasting from a few weeks to several years. Boys are 2 to 3 times as likely to stutter as girls and as they get older this gender difference increases; the number of boys who continue to stutter is three to four times larger than the number of girls. Most children outgrow stuttering. Approximately 75 percent of children recover from stuttering. For the remaining 25 percent who continue to stutter, stuttering can persist as a lifelong communication disorder.

We make speech sounds through a series of precisely coordinated muscle movements involving breathing, phonation (voice production), and articulation (movement of the throat, palate, tongue, and lips). Muscle movements are controlled by the brain and monitored through our senses of hearing and touch.

The precise mechanisms that cause stuttering are not understood. Stuttering is commonly grouped into two types termed developmental and neurogenic.

Developmental stuttering

Developmental stuttering occurs in young children while they are still learning speech and language skills. It is the most common form of stuttering. Some scientists and clinicians believe that developmental stuttering occurs when children’s speech and language abilities are unable to meet the child’s verbal demands. Most scientists and clinicians believe that developmental stuttering stems from complex interactions of multiple factors. Recent brain imaging studies have shown consistent differences in those who stutter compared to nonstuttering peers. Developmental stuttering may also run in families and research has shown that genetic factors contribute to this type of stuttering. Starting in 2010, researchers at the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) have identified four different genes in which mutations are associated with stuttering. More information on the genetics of stuttering can be found in the research section of this fact sheet.

Neurogenic stuttering

Neurogenic stuttering may occur after a stroke, head trauma, or other type of brain injury. With neurogenic stuttering, the brain has difficulty coordinating the different brain regions involved in speaking, resulting in problems in production of clear, fluent speech.

At one time, all stuttering was believed to be psychogenic, caused by emotional trauma, but today we know that psychogenic stuttering is rare.

Stuttering is usually diagnosed by a speech-language pathologist, a health professional who is trained to test and treat individuals with voice, speech, and language disorders. The speech-language pathologist will consider a variety of factors, including the child’s case history (such as when the stuttering was first noticed and under what circumstances), an analysis of the child’s stuttering behaviors, and an evaluation of the child’s speech and language abilities and the impact of stuttering on his or her life.

When evaluating a young child for stuttering, a speech-language pathologist will try to determine if the child is likely to continue his or her stuttering behavior or outgrow it. To determine this difference, the speech-language pathologist will consider such factors as the family’s history of stuttering, whether the child’s stuttering has lasted 6 months or longer, and whether the child exhibits other speech or language problems.

Although there is currently no cure for stuttering, there are a variety of treatments available. The nature of the treatment will differ, based upon a person’s age, communication goals, and other factors. If you or your child stutters, it is important to work with a speech-language pathologist to determine the best treatment options.

Therapy for children

For very young children, early treatment may prevent developmental stuttering from becoming a lifelong problem. Certain strategies can help children learn to improve their speech fluency while developing positive attitudes toward communication. Health professionals generally recommend that a child be evaluated if he or she has stuttered for 3 to 6 months, exhibits struggle behaviors associated with stuttering, or has a family history of stuttering or related communication disorders. Some researchers recommend that a child be evaluated every 3 months to determine if the stuttering is increasing or decreasing. Treatment often involves teaching parents about ways to support their child’s production of fluent speech. Parents may be encouraged to:

• Provide a relaxed home environment that allows many opportunities for the child to speak. This includes setting aside time to talk to one another, especially when the child is excited and has a lot to say.
• Listen attentively when the child speaks and focus on the content of the message, rather than responding to how it is said or interruptng the child.
• Speak in a slightly slowed and relaxed manner. This can help reduce time pressures the child may be experiencing.
• Listen attentively when the child speaks and wait for him or her to say the intended word. Don't try to complete the child’s sentences. Also, help the child learn that a person can communicate successfully even when stuttering occurs.
• Talk openly and honestly to the child about stuttering if he or she brings up the subject. Let the child know that it is okay for some disruptions to occur.

Stuttering therapy

Many of the current therapies for teens and adults who stutter focus on helping them learn ways to minimize stuttering when they speak, such as by speaking more slowly, regulating their breathing, or gradually progressing from single-syllable responses to longer words and more complex sentences. Most of these therapies also help address the anxiety a person who stutters may feel in certain speaking situations.

Drug therapy

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not approved any drug for the treatment of stuttering. However, some drugs that are approved to treat other health problems—such as epilepsy, anxiety, or depression—have been used to treat stuttering. These drugs often have side effects that make them difficult to use over a long period of time.

Electronic devices

Some people who stutter use electronic devices to help control fluency. For example, one type of device fits into the ear canal, much like a hearing aid, and digitally replays a slightly altered version of the wearer’s voice into the ear so that it sounds as if he or she is speaking in unison with another person. In some people, electronic devices may help improve fluency in a relatively short period of time. Additional research is needed to determine how long such effects may last and whether people are able to easily use and benefit from these devices in real-world situations. For these reasons, researchers are continuing to study the long-term effectiveness of these devices.

Self-help groups

Many people find that they achieve their greatest success through a combination of self-study and therapy. Self-help groups provide a way for people who stutter to find resources and support as they face the challenges of stuttering.

Researchers around the world are exploring ways to improve the early identification and treatment of stuttering and to identify its causes. For example, scientists have been working to identify the possible genes responsible for stuttering that tend to run in families. NIDCD scientists have now identified variants in four such genes that account for some cases of stuttering in many populations around the world, including the United States and Europe. All of these genes encode proteins that direct traffic within cells, ensuring that various cell components get to their proper location within the cell. Such deficits in cellular trafficking are a newly recognized cause of many neurological disorders. Researchers are now studying how this defect in cellular trafficking leads to specific deficits in speech fluency.

Researchers are also working to help speech-language pathologists determine which children are most likely to outgrow their stuttering and which children are at risk for continuing to stutter into adulthood. In addition, researchers are examining ways to identify groups of individuals who exhibit similar stuttering patterns and behaviors that may be associated with a common cause.

Scientists are using brain imaging tools such as PET (positron emission tomography) and functional MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scans to investigate brain activity in people who stutter. NIDCD-funded researchers are also using brain imaging to examine brain structure and functional changes that occur during childhood that differentiate children who continue to stutter from those who recover from stuttering. Brain imaging may be used in the future as a way to help treat people who stutter. Researchers are studying whether volunteer patients who stutter can learn to recognize, with the help of a computer program, specific speech patterns that are linked to stuttering and to avoid using those patterns when speaking.

The NIDCD maintains a directory of organizations that provide information on the normal and disordered processes of hearing, balance, taste, smell, voice, speech, and language.

Use the following keywords to help you find organizations that can answer questions and provide information on stuttering:

• Speech-language pathologists
• Physician/practitioner referrals

For more information, contact us at:

NIDCD Information Clearinghouse 1 Communication Avenue Bethesda, MD 20892-3456 Toll-free voice: (800) 241-1044 Toll-free TTY: (800) 241-1055 Email: [email protected]

NIH Pub. No. 97-4232 February 2016

* Note: PDF files require a viewer such as the free Adobe Reader .

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Speech and Language Impairments

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA, defines the term “speech or language impairment” as follows:

“(11)  Speech or language impairment  means a communication disorder, such as stuttering, impaired articulation, a language impairment, or a voice impairment, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance.” [34 CFR §300.8(c)(11]

(Parent Information and Resources Center, 2015)

Table of Contents

What is a Speech and Language Impairment?

Characteristics of speech or language impairments, interventions and strategies, related service provider-slp.

• A Day in the Life of an SLP

Assistive Technology

Speech and language impairment  are basic categories that might be drawn in issues of communication involve hearing, speech, language, and fluency.

A speech impairment is characterized by difficulty in articulation of words. Examples include stuttering or problems producing particular sounds. Articulation refers to the sounds, syllables, and phonology produced by the individual. Voice, however, may refer to the characteristics of the sounds produced—specifically, the pitch, quality, and intensity of the sound. Often, fluency will also be considered a category under speech, encompassing the characteristics of rhythm, rate, and emphasis of the sound produced.

A language impairment is a specific impairment in understanding and sharing thoughts and ideas, i.e. a disorder that involves the processing of linguistic information. Problems that may be experienced can involve the form of language, including grammar, morphology, syntax; and the functional aspects of language, including semantics and pragmatics.

(Wikipedia, n.d./ Speech and Language Impairment)

*It’s important to realize that a language delay isn’t the same thing as a speech or language impairment. Language delay is a very common developmental problem—in fact, the most common, affecting 5-10% of children in preschool.  With language delay, children’s language is developing in the expected sequence, only at a slower rate. In contrast, speech and language disorder refers to abnormal language development.  Distinguishing between the two is most reliably done by a certified speech-language pathologist.  (CPIR, 2015)

The characteristics of speech or language impairments will vary depending upon the type of impairment involved. There may also be a combination of several problems.

When a child has an  articulation disorder , he or she has difficulty making certain sounds. These sounds may be left off, added, changed, or distorted, which makes it hard for people to understand the child.

Leaving out or changing certain sounds is common when young children are learning to talk, of course. A good example of this is saying “wabbit” for “rabbit.” The incorrect articulation isn’t necessarily a cause for concern unless it continues past the age where children are expected to produce such sounds correctly

Fluency  refers to the flow of speech. A fluency disorder means that something is disrupting the rhythmic and forward flow of speech—usually, a stutter. As a result, the child’s speech contains an “abnormal number of repetitions, hesitations, prolongations, or disturbances. Tension may also be seen in the face, neck, shoulders, or fists.”

Voice  is the sound that’s produced when air from the lungs pushes through the voice box in the throat (also called the larnyx), making the vocal folds within vibrate. From there, the sound generated travels up through the spaces of the throat, nose, and mouth, and emerges as our “voice.”

A voice disorder involves problems with the pitch, loudness, resonance, or quality of the voice. The voice may be hoarse, raspy, or harsh. For some, it may sound quite nasal; others might seem as if they are “stuffed up.” People with voice problems often notice changes in pitch, loss of voice, loss of endurance, and sometimes a sharp or dull pain associated with voice use.

Language  has to do with meanings, rather than sounds.  A language disorder refers to an impaired ability to understand and/or use words in context. A child may have an expressive language disorder (difficulty in expressing ideas or needs), a receptive language disorder (difficulty in understanding what others are saying), or a mixed language disorder (which involves both).

Some characteristics of language disorders include:

• improper use of words and their meanings,
• inability to express ideas,
• inappropriate grammatical patterns,
• reduced vocabulary, and
• inability to follow directions.

Children may hear or see a word but not be able to understand its meaning. They may have trouble getting others to understand what they are trying to communicate. These symptoms can easily be mistaken for other disabilities such as autism or learning disabilities, so it’s very important to ensure that the child receives a thorough evaluation by a certified speech-language pathologist.

(CPIR, 2015)

• Use the (Cash, Wilson, and DeLaCruz, n.d) reading and/or the [ESU 8 Wednesday Webinar] to develop this section of the summary. 

Cash, A, Wilson, R. and De LaCruz, E.(n,d.) Practical Recommendations for Teachers: Language Disorders. https://www.education.udel.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/LanguageDisorders.pdf 

[ESU 8 Wednesday Webinar] Speech Language Strategies for Classroom Teachers.- video below

Video: Speech Language Strategies for Classroom Teachers (15:51 minutes)’

[ESU 8 Wednesday Webinars]. (2015, Nov. 19) . Speech Language Strategies for Classroom Teachers. [Video FIle]. From https://youtu.be/Un2eeM7DVK8

Most, if not all, students with a speech or language impairment will need  speech-language pathology services . This related service is defined by IDEA as follows:

(15)  Speech-language pathology services  include—

(i) Identification of children with speech or language impairments;

(ii) Diagnosis and appraisal of specific speech or language impairments;

(iii) Referral for medical or other professional attention necessary for the habilitation of speech or language impairments;

(iv) Provision of speech and language services for the habilitation or prevention of communicative impairments; and

(v) Counseling and guidance of parents, children, and teachers regarding speech and language impairments. [34 CFR §300.34(c)(15)]

Thus, in addition to diagnosing the nature of a child’s speech-language difficulties, speech-language pathologists also provide:

• individual therapy for the child;
• consult with the child’s teacher about the most effective ways to facilitate the child’s communication in the class setting; and
• work closely with the family to develop goals and techniques for effective therapy in class and at home.

Speech and/or language therapy may continue throughout a student’s school years either in the form of direct therapy or on a consultant basis.

A Day in the Life of an SLP

Christina is a speech-language pathologist.  She works with children and adults who have impairments in their speech, voice, or language skills. These impairments can take many forms, as her schedule today shows.

First comes Robbie.  He’s a cutie pie in the first grade and has recently been diagnosed with childhood apraxia of speech—or CAS. CAS is a speech disorder marked by choppy speech. Robbie also talks in a monotone, making odd pauses as he tries to form words. Sometimes she can see him struggle. It’s not that the muscles of his tongue, lips, and jaw are weak. The difficulty lies in the brain and how it communicates to the muscles involved in producing speech. The muscles need to move in precise ways for speech to be intelligible. And that’s what she and Robbie are working on.

Next, Christina goes down the hall and meets with Pearl  in her third grade classroom. While the other students are reading in small groups, she works with Pearl one on one, using the same storybook. Pearl has a speech disorder, too, but hers is called dysarthria. It causes Pearl’s speech to be slurred, very soft, breathy, and slow. Here, the cause is weak muscles of the tongue, lips, palate, and jaw. So that’s what Christina and Pearl work on—strengthening the muscles used to form sounds, words, and sentences, and improving Pearl’s articulation.

One more student to see—4th grader Mario , who has a stutter. She’s helping Mario learn to slow down his speech and control his breathing as he talks. Christina already sees improvement in his fluency.

Tomorrow she’ll go to a different school, and meet with different students. But for today, her day is…Robbie, Pearl, and Mario.

Assistive technology (AT) can also be very helpful to students, especially those whose physical conditions make communication difficult. Each student’s IEP team will need to consider if the student would benefit from AT such as an electronic communication system or other device. AT is often the key that helps students engage in the give and take of shared thought, complete school work, and demonstrate their learning. (CPIR, 2015)

Project IDEAL , suggests two major categories of AT computer software packages to develop the child’s speech and language skills and augmentative or alternative communication (AAC).

Augmentative and alternative communication  ( AAC ) encompasses the communication methods used to supplement or replace speech or writing for those with impairments in the production or comprehension of spoken or written language. Augmentative and alternative communication may used by individuals to compensate for severe speech-language impairments in the expression or comprehension of spoken or written language. AAC can be a permanent addition to a person’s communication or a temporary aid.

(Wikipedia, (n.d. /Augmentative and alternative communication)

Center for Parent Information and Resources (CPIR)  (2015), Speech and Language Impairments, Newark, NJ, Author, Retrieved 4.1.19 from https://www.parentcenterhub.org/speechlanguage/

Wikipedia (n.d.) Augmentative and alternative communication. From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augmentative_and_alternative_communication 

Wikipedia, (n.d.) Speech and Language Impairment. From  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speech_and_language_impairment 

Updated 8.8.23

Understanding and Supporting Learners with Disabilities Copyright © 2019 by Paula Lombardi is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Debatetrack

• Feb 4, 2021

How to Flow: A Semi-Complete Guide

One of my favorite illustrations when judging debate rounds is to have both teams show me their flow. In a debate where one team did poorly, they inevitably have bad floor (or just flowed one speech, or “just deleted their flow”, etc).

As a debate coach, one of the most common questions I get is how to flow.

As a debate teacher, one of the most common critiques I have of my students, necessitating an hour-long frustration-filled lecture-and-practice breakdown, is poor flow.

Flow is note-taking in debate.

Competitive debate— as you know, if you know— typically involves 8 speeches, anywhere from 3-8 minutes in length, on technical political matters, with extensive citations from academic papers, sometimes delivered at blazing speeds.

Full debates commonly hash out 4-5 separate arguments (contentions), along with slews of technical add-ons like frameworks and disadvantages. Debaters state their arguments, the opponent rebuts it, and the debaters have to rebut the rebuttal.

If you’re a debater, you’re getting bored. If you’re not, you’re probably still getting bored. My point is: academic debates are complex.

And if you don’t understand this complexity, you’ll lose. And if you do, well, at least you have a shot of winning.

And you can’t understand the complexity. Not by yourself.

But flow can help you to get a handle on it. It can map out what’s happening with the arguments.

And, well, here’s how we do it.

First, you’ll need paper, one for each argument. A4 works. Bigger is good. For Public Forum, use two sheets: one for the Pro case, and one for the Con case. Turn those papers vertical, then fold it in half, twice. You now have 4 columns for each argument.

You’ll need two pens, of two colors. One is your ‘Pro’ pen, one is your ‘Con’ pen.

For the first speeches, flow (or write) all the arguments, in their colors in the first column of the page. For Public Forum, flow the entire first speeches in the first columns of each sheet. ‘Pre-flow’ your own 1st speech to save time. Here's what it'll look like:

Then, flow rebuttals (or replies) in the second column, in the other color pen . After all, we don’t respond to our own arguments. The rebuttal to the argument should go right next to the argument in question.

Next, the teams rebuild their case by answering the rebuttals. Return to the original color and flow these in the 3rd column— answers to the answers go right next to the answers.

Finally, flow any final collapse, weighing, voting issues or other Final-speech nonsense into the last column. The two final speeches can also be done on a single page for easier comparison.

You should keep your flow brief and simple by using shorthand— write keywords, not full sentences.

Shorthand can either be general, or topic-specific:

Of course, the shorthand isn’t “ real " shorthand and you can therefore develop your own system— the audience for your flow is you, so if you understand it then it’s good. That’s not an excuse for sloppy flow: if you con’t understand it, then it’s bad . Flow is a crucial and basic skill for debate. Get it down and you’ll be well on your way to becoming a great debater. Does that clear up your confusion? How do you flow? Comment below with your thoughts!

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Home » Blog » General » Exploring the Characteristics of Normal Speech: Key Insights for Effective Communication

Exploring the Characteristics of Normal Speech: Key Insights for Effective Communication

Welcome to my blog! In today’s post, we will delve into the fascinating world of normal speech and its crucial role in facilitating effective communication. Whether you’re a parent, teacher, or simply someone interested in improving your communication skills, understanding the characteristics of normal speech is essential. So, let’s dive in!

I. Introduction

A. importance of effective communication in daily life.

Effective communication is the cornerstone of our interactions with others. It allows us to express our thoughts, needs, and emotions, and to understand and connect with those around us. From personal relationships to professional success, effective communication plays a vital role in every aspect of our lives.

B. Role of Normal Speech in Facilitating Communication

Normal speech serves as the vehicle through which we communicate our ideas and connect with others. It encompasses various components, such as articulation, fluency, voice quality, and resonance, all of which contribute to clear and effective communication.

C. Purpose of the Blog Post: Exploring the Characteristics of Normal Speech

The purpose of this blog post is to provide you with insights into the characteristics of normal speech. By understanding what constitutes normal speech, you will be better equipped to identify potential speech concerns and seek appropriate support and intervention.

II. Definition and Overview of Normal Speech

A. definition of normal speech.

Normal speech refers to the production of sounds and words in a manner that is clear, intelligible, and socially acceptable within a given language community. It involves the coordination of various speech mechanisms, including the articulators (e.g., lips, tongue, and jaw), vocal folds, and respiratory system.

B. Components of Normal Speech

Normal speech comprises several key components, each contributing to effective communication:

• Articulation: The accurate production of speech sounds.
• Fluency: The smooth and effortless flow of speech.
• Voice Quality: The tone, pitch, and resonance of the voice.
• Resonance: The balance of sound in speech, particularly in relation to nasal and oral resonance.

C. Importance of Each Component in Effective Communication

Each component of normal speech plays a crucial role in facilitating effective communication. Articulation ensures the clarity and intelligibility of speech sounds, while fluency enables the smooth and uninterrupted flow of speech. Voice quality contributes to the audibility and expressiveness of the voice, and resonance helps maintain the naturalness and balance of sound in speech.

III. Articulation: The Building Block of Clear Speech

A. definition and role of articulation.

Articulation refers to the precise and coordinated movements of the articulators (e.g., lips, tongue, and jaw) to produce speech sounds. It is the foundation of clear and intelligible speech.

B. Key Characteristics of Normal Articulation

Normal articulation is characterized by:

• Accurate Production of Speech Sounds: The ability to produce speech sounds correctly, including consonants and vowels.
• Proper Placement and Movement of Articulators: The correct positioning and movement of the articulators to produce speech sounds with clarity and precision.
• Intelligibility of Speech: The ability of others to understand the speaker’s intended message without significant difficulty.

C. Common Articulation Disorders and Their Impact on Communication

Articulation disorders, such as difficulties with specific speech sounds or patterns, can significantly impact communication. These disorders may result in reduced intelligibility, misinterpretation of the speaker’s intended message, and potential social and academic challenges. Seeking professional help from a speech-language pathologist can provide targeted intervention and support for individuals with articulation concerns.

IV. Fluency: The Smooth Flow of Speech

A. definition and role of fluency.

Fluency refers to the smooth and effortless flow of speech. It encompasses the rhythm, rate, and continuity of speech production.

B. Key Characteristics of Normal Fluency

Normal fluency is characterized by:

• Smooth and Effortless Speech Production: The ability to produce speech without noticeable interruptions, hesitations, or effort.
• Appropriate Rate and Rhythm of Speech: The ability to speak at a pace that is comfortable and natural, with appropriate pauses and phrasing.
• Absence of Disfluencies: The absence of disruptions in speech, such as stuttering or repetitions of sounds, syllables, or words.

C. Common Fluency Disorders and Their Impact on Communication

Fluency disorders, such as stuttering, can significantly impact communication and social interactions. Individuals with fluency disorders may experience disruptions in their speech flow, leading to frustration, anxiety, and potential difficulties in academic and professional settings. Seeking professional help from a speech-language pathologist can provide effective strategies and support for individuals with fluency concerns.

V. Voice Quality: The Tone and Resonance of Speech

A. definition and role of voice quality.

Voice quality refers to the characteristics of the voice, including pitch, loudness, and quality. It contributes to the audibility, expressiveness, and emotional conveyance of speech.

B. Key Characteristics of Normal Voice Quality

Normal voice quality is characterized by:

• Clear and Audible Voice: The voice is easily heard and understood by others.
• Appropriate Pitch, Loudness, and Quality: The voice is within the expected range for the individual’s age, gender, and cultural context, and conveys the intended emotions and messages.
• Consistency in Voice Production: The voice remains stable and consistent across different speaking situations.

C. Common Voice Disorders and Their Impact on Communication

Voice disorders, such as hoarseness or vocal nodules, can significantly impact communication and vocal health. These disorders may result in reduced audibility, vocal fatigue, and potential difficulties in professional and social settings. Seeking professional help from a speech-language pathologist can provide targeted intervention and strategies for individuals with voice concerns.

VI. Resonance: The Balance of Sound in Speech

A. definition and role of resonance.

Resonance refers to the balance of sound in speech, particularly in relation to nasal and oral resonance. It contributes to the clarity, naturalness, and balance of speech.

B. Key Characteristics of Normal Resonance

Normal resonance is characterized by:

• Balanced Nasal and Oral Resonance: The appropriate distribution of sound energy between the nasal and oral cavities during speech production.
• Absence of Hypernasality or Hyponasality: The absence of excessive nasal air escape or nasal congestion in speech.
• Clarity and Naturalness of Speech: The speech sounds clear, natural, and unaffected by resonance-related issues.

C. Common Resonance Disorders and Their Impact on Communication

Resonance disorders, such as hypernasality or hyponasality, can significantly impact speech clarity and intelligibility. These disorders may result in a distorted or muffled quality of speech, leading to potential difficulties in social interactions and academic settings. Seeking professional help from a speech-language pathologist can provide targeted intervention and support for individuals with resonance concerns.

VII. Conclusion

A. recap of the importance of normal speech in effective communication.

Understanding the characteristics of normal speech is essential for effective communication. Each component, including articulation, fluency, voice quality, and resonance, contributes to clear and meaningful interactions with others.

B. Encouragement to Seek Professional Help for Speech Concerns

If you or someone you know is experiencing difficulties with any aspect of speech, it is important to seek professional help from a speech-language pathologist. They can provide assessment, intervention, and support tailored to individual needs.

C. Invitation to Explore Future Blog Posts on Related Topics

I hope you found this blog post informative and helpful. Stay tuned for future posts where we will explore related topics, such as strategies for improving communication skills, social-emotional learning, and more.

Start your EverydaySpeech Free trial here to access a wide range of resources and activities designed to support social-emotional learning and communication skills.

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What to Know About US 'Antisemitism Awareness Act'

The bill received support and criticism from both parties as it headed to the u.s. senate., published may 13, 2024.

On May 1, 2024, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 6090 , the "Antisemitism Awareness Act of 2023." If passed by the Senate and signed into law by President Joe Biden, it adopts a definition of antisemitism created in 2016 by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance and directs the Department of Education to use that definition when "reviewing or investigating complaints of discrimination based on race, color, or national origin in programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance."

It's essentially the congressional response to pro-Palestinian demonstrations and allegations of antisemitism on college campuses across the U.S. But the bill, which passed the House 320-91, faced criticism from various groups.

Some pro-Palestine social media users claimed that the language in the IHRA definition of antisemitism would ban people comparing Israeli policy and actions to those of Nazi Germany, a comparison sometimes drawn to highlight the Israeli invasion of Gaza in late 2023 :

Some Christians claimed the language in the IRHA definition of antisemitism would criminalize the Bible because mentioning the fact that " Jews killed Jesus " would be considered antisemitic.

Some of these claims are true and some are exaggerated. It's especially important to remember that, as of the writing of this article, the Senate had not passed the bill. We will update this story with more information as new events occur. But here's what you need to know about the IRHA definition of antisemitism and H.R. 6090:

The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance consists of 35 countries , including the U.S. and Israel. In 2016, its delegates met and created the following definition of antisemitism : " Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities."

But what critics worry about is the list of examples the IHRA provides under its definition:

Calling for, aiding, or justifying the killing or harming of Jews in the name of a radical ideology or an extremist view of religion. Making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as collective — such as, especially but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions. Accusing Jews as a people of being responsible for real or imagined wrongdoing committed by a single Jewish person or group, or even for acts committed by non-Jews. Denying the fact, scope, mechanisms (e.g. gas chambers) or intentionality of the genocide of the Jewish people at the hands of National Socialist Germany and its supporters and accomplices during World War II (the Holocaust). Accusing the Jews as a people, or Israel as a state, of inventing or exaggerating the Holocaust. Accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel, or to the alleged priorities of Jews worldwide, than to the interests of their own nations. Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor. Applying double standards by requiring of it a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation. Using the symbols and images associated with classic antisemitism (e.g., claims of Jews killing Jesus or blood libel) to characterize Israel or Israelis. Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis. Holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel.

Critics mentioned items 9 and 10 in particular.

Christian critics wished to protect their right to claim that the "Jews killed Jesus," which they say is in the Bible. The Bible does contain a line or two that blames the death of Jesus on Jewish people. But that line is often used to blame all Jewish people as a group and has been used as justification for antisemitic violence for a long time. The Catholic Church has repeatedly stressed that Jesus Christ's death cannot be attributed to Jewish people as a whole, neither at the time of Jesus's death nor today.

Considering that the item specifically mentions using these ideas to criticize the state of Israel, we conclude that saying "Jews killed Jesus" with no other context would not necessarily be restricted speech under the bill.

Some pro-Palestine advocates have made a comparison between "contemporary Israeli policy" and Nazi Germany, or something close to it, which is the 10th item on the IHRA's list of examples. In their critiques of the bill, those advocates seem to imply that the comparison is not antisemitic and would also restrict freedom of speech under the First Amendment.

However, under the text of the bill, neither of these things would be "banned" or "made illegal" in the U.S., as both parties have maintained. As previously mentioned, a complete ban would likely be in violation of the First Amendment, which protects controversial expressions of speech unless it can be proven that there was a direct intent of harm.

Instead, the bill requires only the Department of Education, which is in charge of federal grants for financial aid and funding of schools, to consider the definition of antisemitism when investigating programs that receive federal funding. Essentially, it gives the Education Department the ability to pull funding if it finds discrimination "based on race, color, or national origin," something known as a Title VI investigation.

Here's the relevant text of the bill , along with the roll-call vote by member :

SEC. 3. Findings . Congress finds the following: (1) Antisemitism is on the rise in the United States and is impacting Jewish students in K–12 schools, colleges, and universities. (2) The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (referred to in this Act as the "IHRA") Working Definition of Antisemitism is a vital tool which helps individuals understand and identify the various manifestations of antisemitism. (3) On December 11, 2019, Executive Order 13899 extended protections against discrimination under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to individuals subjected to antisemitism on college and university campuses and tasked Federal agencies to consider the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism when enforcing title VI of such Act. (4) Since 2018, the Department of Education has used the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism when investigating violations of that title VI. (5) The use of alternative definitions of antisemitism impairs enforcement efforts by adding multiple standards and may fail to identify many of the modern manifestations of antisemitism. (6) The White House released the first-ever United States National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism on May 25, 2023, making clear that the fight against this hate is a national, bipartisan priority that must be successfully conducted through a whole-of-government-and-society approach. SEC. 4. Definitions . For purposes of this Act, the term "definition of antisemitism"— (1) means the definition of antisemitism adopted on May 26, 2016, by the IHRA, of which the United States is a member, which definition has been adopted by the Department of State; and (2) includes the "[c]ontemporary examples of antisemitism" identified in the IHRA definition. SEC. 5. Rule of construction for title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 . In reviewing, investigating, or deciding whether there has been a violation of title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.) on the basis of race, color, or national origin, based on an individual's actual or perceived shared Jewish ancestry or Jewish ethnic characteristics, the Department of Education shall take into consideration the definition of antisemitism as part of the Department's assessment of whether the practice was motivated by antisemitic intent.

What Problem Is the Bill Attempting to Address?

It is clear that antisemitism in the United States on college campuses is, as the bill puts it, "on the rise." What critics have vigorously debated is whether pro-Palestinian demonstrations on university campuses across the U.S. in spring 2024 fall under that umbrella.

Advocates for the bill called it long overdue. Rep. Mike Lawler, a Republican from New York who co-sponsored the bill, called the demonstrations on college campuses "reprehensible and alarming," and listed examples at Yale, UCLA and The Cooper Union that he said placed Jewish students in danger.

"When people engage in harassment or bullying of Jewish individuals where they justify the killing of Jews or use blood libel or hold Jews collectively responsible for the actions of the Israeli government — that is antisemitic. It's unfortunate that needs to be clarified, but that's why this bill is necessary," he said in a news release .

But Rep. Jerry Nadler, a Jewish Democrat from New York, released a transcript of his speech opposing the bill on the House floor because he felt it was a violation of the First Amendment:

"Speech that is critical of Israel — alone — does not constitute unlawful discrimination. By encompassing purely political speech about Israel into Title VI's ambit, the bill sweeps too broadly. As the ACLU notes, if this legislation were to become law, colleges and universities that want to avoid Title VI investigations, or the potential loss of federal funding, could end up suppressing protected speech criticizing Israel or supporting Palestinians. Moreover, it could result in students and faculty self-censoring their political speech. Even the IHRA definition's lead author, Kenneth Stern, opposes codifying this definition for this reason. Vigorous enforcement of federal civil rights law does not depend on defining terms like "antisemitism" or "racism." In fact, codifying one definition of antisemitism, to the exclusion of all other possible definitions, could actually undermine federal civil rights law because antisemitism, like other forms of bigotry, evolves over time, and future conduct that comes to be widely understood as antisemitic may no longer meet the statutory definition."

It's unclear whether the Senate will try to pass the bill. If none of the 100 senators objects ( unanimous consent ), the bill can be fast-tracked without a roll-call vote. According to reporting from Politico , however, the bill faces likely objections from both sides of the political aisle.

By Jack Izzo

Jack Izzo is a Chicago-based journalist and two-time "Jeopardy!" alumnus.

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• Society and culture
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Secretary of State's speech on Antisemitism

Speech by Rt Hon Michael Gove MP, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

Since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7th last year we have seen a shadow spread. Across the world. And here in the UK. 

October 7th was the largest pogrom perpetrated against the Jews since the Holocaust. The perpetrators of those killings have said that if they could, they would kill many, many more. And yet within hours of news of the massacre being broadcast worldwide, and long before Israel had launched its current military operation inside Gaza, there was growing evidence of a remarkable phenomenon. Not sympathy and solidarity with the Jewish people as they faced another enemy bent on their extermination. No. Quite the opposite. A questioning of the facts. A blaming of the victims. A campaign of hate directed not just against the Jewish state but Jewish people everywhere. 

Let me quote from a speech given by my friend David Wolfson in the House of Lords last October just a few weeks after the October 7th attack. 

David began his speech with this comparison. 

“On Saturday night I had two children in uniform. My son was in the uniform of the Israel Defence Forces. Like many twenty-year-olds in Israel, he is doing military service because if he didn’t, there wouldn’t be an Israel. He witnessed the aftermath of Hamas’ atrocities firsthand.” 

My other child in uniform was my daughter. Her uniform was trainers, jeans, and a Star of David necklace around her neck. That is her traditional Saturday night uniform, as with many teens who come in on the Tube to enjoy this great city’s nightlife.

I was more concerned about my daughter. How on earth have we gotten to that place?” 

How on earth.  

That was six months ago. When a father feared that his daughter was under threat in London if she was - to coin a phrase - openly Jewish. 

Since then, the shadow has only spread. The hate grown. We have seen an explosion in antisemitism. The charity charged with recording antisemitic incidents - the Community Security Trust - recorded 4,103 incidents in 2023 -– as we’ve heard an increase of 147% on the previous year, which was itself a record high. Of those figures 2,699 incidents occurred after October 7th. That is more antisemitic incidents occurred between October 7th and December 31st, 2023, than in any previous twelve-month period. 

And every day brings fresh examples.  

The chaplain driven off campus at Leeds University because he was Jewish. The visitor to a mosque promoting inter-faith dialogue told he was not welcome because he was Jewish. The family who found their baby’s passport defaced because they were Jewish. 

The stand-up comic who was told - by a BBC comedy star - that she would be killed, and her family would be grieving for her in the cemetery - because she was Jewish. The renovator of a dilapidated building threatened with a machete and told he should leave the “jew building” he was working in - because he was Jewish. The reporter told not to cover an event because her eyes looked Jewish. 

And inseparable from these incidents are the increasingly strident, visible and lurid, demonstrations of antisemitism on our streets during protest marches. Swastikas, Hamas banners, depictions of Jews as exploiters, devils, child killers pigs. It’s incessant. We saw it again only this weekend. The imagery of Der Sturmer paraded past the gates of Downing Street. 

Now, of course, I know that many of those on these marches are compassionate people - driven by a desire for peace and an end to suffering. But they are side by side with those who are promoting hate.  

The organisers of these marches could do everything in their power to stop that.  Many – the majority – don’t. 

And we now know that it is - genuinely - dangerous for people to be openly, clearly, proudly, Jewish near these marches. At a time when we are all encouraged to be our whole authentic selves, to celebrate our identity, to be out and proud - there is only one group told they - and they alone - can only be tolerated on terms set by others - Jews. 

The organisers of the marches say that there are Jewish people on their demonstrations. 

But they are only safe if they deny what is dear to so many Jewish people - the safety of people in Israel. If they are to be accepted on these marches then they must knuckle under, accept the calls to globalise the intifada or end the Zionist entity.  

They have to obey the rules laid down by others - those march organisers. Who reserve the right to tell Jews both where they should live in the world and how they should live on our streets. 

It is a classic antisemitic trope to set the terms on which Jews will be accepted. Safe, provided they live in their ghetto. Safe, provided they don’t get above themselves. Safe, provided they don’t contemplate the use of force in self-defence.  

Until, of course,  they aren’t safe anymore.  

History tells us that the dismantling of the right of Jews to live, like others, on their own terms leads, inevitably, to the destruction of Jewish lives. 

That is why we must make a stand. 

We have seen where the unchecked growth of antisemitism has led in the past. We all know that what starts with the Jews never ends with the Jews. 

It’s an ironclad law of history that countries which are descending into darkness are those which are becoming progressively more unsafe for Jewish individuals and the Jewish community - the Spain of the Inquisition, the Vienna of the 1900s, Germany in the Thirties, Russia in the last decade.  

It is a parallel law that those countries in which the Jewish community has felt most safe at any time are the countries where freedom and progress is most secure at any time. The Netherlands of the 17th century. Britain in the first decades of the last century. America in the second half of that century. 

So when Jewish people are under threat, all our freedoms are threatened. The safety of the Jewish community is the canary in the mine. Growing antisemitism is a fever which weakens the whole body politic. It is a mark of a society turning to darkness and in on itself. 

And I see that directly in my work tackling extremism and promoting community cohesion. There is one thing which - increasingly - unites the organisations and individuals which give cause for extremist concern. Antisemitism. It is the common currency of hate. It is at the dark heart of their world view. Whether Islamist. Far Right. Or Hard Left. 

In the past we have tended to bracket Islamists, the Far right and the extreme Left as different causes for concern.  

And indeed, it is vitally important in dealing with extremism to be precise in the use of data and definitions. But increasingly we find that those undermining our democracy and society from different points on the extremist compass are all drawn, magnetically, to converge on antisemitic tropes, language, ideas and agitation. 

So far right figures – like Nick Griffin, formerly of the BNP, Mark Collett of an organisation called Patriotic Alternative, Jayda Fransen of Britain First, and Jim Dowson, a transatlantic hate preacher – have been invited to share space with Islamist advocates and broadcast from Islamist platforms, where the common focus of concern is Jewish influence, the Jewish state, the Jewish threat. 

And on the extreme Left, academics such as Professor David Miller and groups such as the Socialist Workers’ Party, the Socialist Party and the Revolutionary Communist Party jostle to share platforms with Islamist groupings, deploy aggressive language about “Zionists”, support calls for intifada and praising te the resistance - a synonym for Hamas - in terms that Jewish students say cause them physical fear.

And extreme Islamist groups then weaponise this growing antisemitism to divide Muslim from Muslim. Islamists have demanded that mosques become no-go zones for “Zionists”, that inter-faith dialogue exclude any Jewish voice sympathetic to Israel’s existence, and that believers show that they are truly faithful by demonstrating their commitment in the fight against Israel. By making ardour against Israel and hostility to Jewish voices the litmus test of how good a Muslim you are, Islamists polarise and divide our Muslim communities.

That is why none of us can afford to be indifferent to the increasing prevalence of antisemitism in our society. There is a reason television series about the 1930s are called “A Lesson from History”. 

A growth in antisemitism is both a precursor of greater hate and an enabler of further extremism. 

Antisemitic tropes which encourage people to think criticism of Israel is muted or censored by Jewish control of the media feed into greater distrust of the “MSM”. That leads to a greater willingness to believe in conspiracy theories and a stronger propensity to seek out “alternative” truth tellers - whether on incel message boards, anti-vax YouTube channels, far-right Telegram groups or Islamist podcasts. And thus,The common ground on which our democracy depends is eroded.

The continual insinuation, sometimes open assertion, that the major political parties are in hock to Jewish finance is also an effort to divide and demonise. Extremists will argue that Jewish money drives both foreign policy and domestic decision-making in countries like our own in order to deliberately fuel disaffection with democracy and encourages a further flight to the extremes. 

So understanding, and countering, the rise in antisemitism all around us is central to the wider struggle against extremism, division and hate and the defence of democracy, freedom and civilisation. 

This new development in the nature of extremist activity is related to the changing nature of the time of antisemitism. 

Antisemitism, as the late Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks pointed out, is a virus that evolves.  

In medieval times it was a religious prejudice - requiring conversion on the part of Jewish individuals to eliminate the Jewish faith. In the late 19th and early 20th century, the focus changed - the perverted notions of “racial science” and ethnic purity led the Nazis and their collaborators to wish to end Jewish lives in order to eliminate the Jewish people. 

And antisemitism now is increasingly focussed on the Jewish home - on Israel. Self-styled progressive opinion - against borders, sceptical of the nation state, determined to link prosperity to exploitation, anxious to make every conflict one centred on privilege - has been mobilised and charged. 

So now the focus is on the delegitimization and demonization of the state of Israel, as a prelude to its dismantlement and destruction. That is what the cry of “From the River to the Sea” envisages. The erasure of the Jewish people’s home. Bethlehem, Nazareth and Jerusalem to become Judenfrei. 

These protests may ostensibly be presented as against Israel’s actions in Gaza but in reality they are directed against Israel’s continued existence. Israel is denounced as an apartheid state conducting a genocide. The worst evils of the last 100 years are, apartheid, genocide, are situated in one country - the Zionist construct - the Jewish home.  

The calls for Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions from protestors are endorsements of a campaign - the BDS campaign - which I can see is explicitly antisemitic. The Britain-Israel Communications and Research Centre has submitted evidence to Parliament making clear that the “founder and ideologue of the BDS movement - has repeatedly made clear his non-recognition of the rights of Israel to exist”, and that the BDS campaign“[they] oppose a Jewish state in any part of Palestine”. The end point is clear - the elimination of Israel. 

Being clear about what the BDS campaign wants is very far from giving the Israeli government, any Israeli government, a free pass. It is, of course, legitimate, and sometimes necessary to criticise the conduct of Israel’s government. That is why we have continually, since October 7th, stressed the need for aid to flow freely to civilians in Gaza, we have worked for diplomatic progress towards peace, emphasised that there will have to be, ultimately, a two-state solution and argued that military action must be governed by international humanitarian law. 

But while it is necessary to be clear about where we may differ from the Israeli government at any point, just as we differ from other friends from time to time, it is even more necessary to be clear about what is going on more broadly. We must draw attention to the way in which Israel, unique among nations, is so consistently treated differently from others. To consider why. And to see what the impact of that is on the Jewish community in Britain. 

There are no BDS campaigns directed against Bashar Assad’s Syria, the regime guilty of killing more Muslims in living memory than any other. There are no student encampments urging university administrators to cut all ties with China given what is happening in Xinjiang or Hong Kong, or what happened in Tibet. I know of no efforts to organise marchers in their thousands to demand immediate action to stop the persecution of the Rohingya or Karen people by Myanmar’s Government. I may have missed it, but agitation to end the war in Sudan, or in the Democratic Republic of Congo or Mali or Ethiopia does not seem to energise our campuses. 

And nowhere is there any suggestion, other than with Israel, that the errors or even crimes of a country’s leaders should necessitate the end of that country’s independent existence. No one argues that the state of Syria is illegitimate, or Myanmar should be dismantled or deconstructed. 

That is why the argument that the cry of “From the River to the Sea”, or calls for the globalisations of the intifada, or demands for victory for the resistance are not really antisemitic are so disingenuous. They are cries targeted against the reality of collective Jewish experience.  Denials of the reality of collective Jewish suffering. Calls for the end of collective Jewish existence. 

We should all remember what those who have endured antisemitism at its worst have asked for when they were at last free. A safe home. When the British Army liberated Bergen-Belsen in 1945 the survivors in that camp marked the end of their persecution with a song of salvation. It was the Hatikvah – the song that has become Israel’s national anthem –  

As long as the Jewish spirit is yearning deep in the heart, 

With eyes turned toward the East, looking toward Zion, 

Then our hope - the two-thousand-year-old hope - will not be lost: To be a free people in our land, 

The land of Zion and Jerusalem. 

Those voices could not be crushed eighty years ago. But there are a growing number who want to silence that song today. 

And nowhere is that campaign more visible today than on our campuses. 

The encampments which have sprung up in recent weeks across universities have been alive with anti-Israel rhetoric and agitation. But more than that they have been deeply, profoundly intimidatory to Jewish students and others. Yet they have not appeared in a vacuum. They have followed years of ideological radicalisation. 

The encampments, in their slogans, programmes and demands reflect the prevailing intellectual fashion: of decolonisation.  

The radical left, the extreme left, rejects the idea that successful states - whether the United Kingdom, Israel, South Korea, the United States or any European nation - can have prospered because of free markets, enlightenment values, liberal parliamentarianism, property rights and capitalism. and so on. 

The hard left finds it impossible to acknowledge that higher material living standards - and indeed greater human flourishing – in some states rather than in others – is better explained by reference to Adam Smith, John Locke, Edmund Burke and Karl Popper rather than Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, Franz Fanon and Edward Said. That historic fact is unconscionable for the dedicated activists of the radical hard left.  

So they argue that the prosperity of states such as the US, the UK, France, Spain and even Australia or Canada must be built on exploitation and empire.  

That argument, as my colleague Kemi Badenoch has brilliantly shown, and historians from Niall Ferguson to Nigel Biggar have reinforced, is inherently flawed. 

But these ideas are deeply congenial to those authoritarian states who are, increasingly, arrayed together against us. For Iran, for China and even for Russia, the decolonisation narrative is meat and drink.

The idea that the success of liberal Western nations is built on plunder and exploitation, that we seek even now to dominate others through illegitimate means and that our attachment to freedom is mere hypocrisy is central to their efforts to advance their goals.

That is why forces within those powers seek to influence the debate in our country. They want to weaken our collective resolve in support of democratic values and fellow democracies.

And they know that if they can undermine support for Israel by encouraging a broader lack of self-confidence in the West’s values, they have secured a signal victory. It is no mere coincidence that Iran, Russia and China are sources and spreaders of antisemitic and anti-Israel narratives. They know those intellectual currents erode our shared defences.

And they know that if the decolonisation narrative and the delegitimization which follows can prevail in the case of Israel then it will be a profound breach in the West’s collective defence. Because nowhere is the narrative more ahistorical and illogical than when it comes to Israel. But they know that if they Undermine Israel and the other dominos will fall.

Why is delegitimizing Israel so important?

Because Israel is transparently successful because of its democratic values, not a history of exploitation.

Israel has next to no material resources. It has been surrounded by enemies since its re-creation. And those enemies sought to strangle it at birth. 

It is a land of refugees and asylum seekers. Built by those fleeing persecution, not enacting it.

And Israel was itself a nation reborn after imperial subjugation -– under the Ottoman Empire -– which endured for hundreds of years.

So Israel in 1948 was a poor, shunned, embattled and fragile child of Empire.

And yet Israel succeeds. Why? Because of its values. A belief in courage, enterprise and endeavour. A belief in the worth of every individual’s soul. A robust democracy. A market economy. A commitment to liberty.

But for a section of the extreme radical left to acknowledge that would be to admit that their ideology is wrong, decolonisation theory is refuted by facts on the ground, the real route to prosperity and progress lies through free markets and free peoples in strong liberal nation states.  

So Israel’s success must be delegitimised, its achievements denigrated, its example dismantled. It has to be branded as a settler state, a colonial construct, a racist endeavour. It has to be found guilty of the greatest sins of empire - apartheid and genocide.  

If these arguments were restricted to the seminar room and the journal article that might be one thing. But as history reminds us, ideas have consequences.  

Young minds can become entranced, and ideologies can lead to action. 

Indeed, some of those advancing these ideas have subsequently celebrated the most terrible actions. There were actually voices in academia who described the pogrom of October 7th as de-colonisation in action.  

Mahvish Ahmad, assistant professor in human rights and politics at the London School of Economics responded to the Hamas massacre by saying that decolonisation ‘is not a metaphor’. And an associate professor at McMaster University in Canada, Ameil J Joseph, occupied the same intellectual terrain. ‘Post-colonial, anti-colonial and decolonial are not just words you heard in your EDI [equality, diversity and inclusion] workshop’, he tweeted. 

And the effect of that rhetoric, those views, that celebration of resistance has been felt by Jewish students as hostile and intimidating on campuses here in the UK. 

In Leeds University earlier this month graffiti proclaimed that the faculty were funding an “f…ing genocide” and the graffiti went on, “Israel is harvesting Palestinian organs”. That is a direct invocation of one of the oldest and most vicious antisemitic tropes. The blood libel. 

On Bristol University the encampment posters claim that our media and politicians are lying because they are “Zionist funded”. Another antisemitic trope - the all-powerful Jewish conspiracy. 

At SOAS, part of London University, there is a declaration of “full solidarity” with the Palestinian resistance – i.e., Hamas - and a proclamation that the student union is a “historically anti-Zionist space with a duty to uphold BDS”. Yet again, telling Jewish students they are not welcome unless they deny their own identity. Antisemitism re-purposed for the Instagram age. 

Alongside these student demonstrations, academics on the Far Left who advance decolonisation narratives, such as David Miller, outline a programme that tells Jews in Britain what their terms of surrender should be. He calls for the end of “Zionist organisations”, a programme of “individual de-Zionisation”, and “abolishing the fact of the Zionist entity or any hope that it could ever be resurrected” as well as a “re-education programme” to deal with the “toxic effects”, in our country, of “Zionist ideas”.  

How can Jewish students experience this as anything other than the most direct hostility and hate?

And how can we allow it to continue unchallenged? 

We cannot. 

That is why the Government is taking action. 

That is why we are legislating to prevent universities from enabling antisemitism by endorsing the antisemitic BDS campaign.  

The legislation is making its way through the House of Lords and has been endorsed by politicians from all parties as well as the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council. [Political content redacted] Listen to the Jewish community, send a message to the antisemites on our campuses, back the Bill now. 

There is much more that needs to be done. I believe universities, schools, government departments, the NHS and local government - indeed all public bodies - should sign up to a charter against antisemitism, adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism and make clear that antisemitic agitation will be met with clear disciplinary action. 

We also need to ensure that the marches on our streets which have caused so much distress, indeed physical intimidation, of Jewish people are dealt with more effectively.

That is not to criticise the police, who have to operate within a framework we politicians set.  We politicians must do better.

And we can. Today the former Labour MP, John Woodcock, will publish a ground-breaking report into political violence and intimidation. Its analysis is brilliant and its recommendations both compelling and far-reaching. Some will require detailed debate and thought but that cannot be an excuse for delay in dealing with the challenges he addresses. We must make rapid progress to deal with the intimidatory consequences of marches by looking at their cumulative effect, consider more closely how to police repeated invocations of prejudice, and ensure organisers pay for the consequences of their actions.

There is also more we need to do to bolster the role of the Government’s Independent Adviser on Antisemitism; and to take the matter with the seriousness it demands, I intend to establish a parallel Independent Adviser on Anti-Muslim Hatred. We must also call out extremist groups, ensure they aren’t given public platforms, endorsement or money, tighten the rules on charities and look at how to ensure extremists cannot abuse our tax system.

But alongside legislation in parliament and executive action by Government there is a broader duty. One for all of us. 

We must not be silent.  

We must not let tolerance for different views become a moral relativism that refuses to defend the democratic principles and traditions we cherish in this country. 

We must say to every Jewish citizen in this country - your safety is the best guarantee of our security, your freedom to live as you choose the only way we can be certain we remain a land of liberty, your future is our future. We said Never Again. And that is a promise we will never, ever, disavow.

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Chiefs Kicker Spreads Antisemitic Lies in Benedictine College Graduation Speech

Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker kicked the hornet’s nest last weekend when he encouraged the women of Benedictine College’s 2024 graduate class to embrace their roles as wives and homemakers rather than putting their degrees to use. While the speech drew widespread criticism for his characterization of women and LGBTQ+ people, Butker also promoted an insidious piece of antisemitic misinformation pertaining to legislation in Congress. 

“I want to speak directly to you briefly because I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolical lies told to you,” Butker said in his commencement speech. “Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world, but I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world.”

Of course, Butker earns millions of dollars per year as an NFL player — so a second income isn’t exactly necessary. Ironically enough, during his commencement speech, Butker quoted Taylor Swift, a woman who has built a wildly successful career and billion-dollar fortune without a husband, who is now dating Butker’s teammate, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. 

Butker, a devout Catholic, also claimed that “Congress just passed a bill where stating something as basic as the Biblical teaching of who killed Jesus could land you in jail.”

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Some conservative lawmakers opposed the bill on this basis, arguing it would effectively outlaw the classic antisemitic belief that Jews killed Jesus. To be clear, though, the bill threatens university funding, not jail time for bigots. It has not been voted on in the Senate. 

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said she opposed the legislation because it “could convict Christians of antisemitism for believing the Gospel that says Jesus was handed over to Herod to be crucified by the Jews.” Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) argued “the Gospel itself would meet the definition of antisemitism under the terms of the bill.”

These statements are a misinterpretation of Catholic doctrine. While the Biblical gospels do say that Jesus was presented before Jewish leadership of Judea for judgment, he was ultimately condemned to death by the Roman Governor Pontius Pilate. Historically, claims that Jews were ultimately responsible for the death of Jesus have been wielded as an antisemitic trope against Jewish populations. 

In 2011, Pope Benedict XVI, then-head of the Catholic Church, declared that there was no basis in scripture that would hold Jews in collective guilt for the death of Jesus, and pointed out that — after all — the early followers of the Catholic faith were themselves Jewish. 

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The speech wasn’t the NFL player’s first foray into the abortion debate. In 2022, Butker starred in a misleading TV ad campaign promoting a failed Kansas ballot measure that would have ended constitutional protections for abortion in the state, so that lawmakers could ban the procedure.

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The ad campaign was funded by the dark-money group CatholicVote Civic Action, which in turn was bankrolled by the dark-money network led by Leonard Leo — who is best known as the architect of the conservative Supreme Court supermajority that overturned Roe v. Wade and allowed states to ban abortion.

In an odd coincidence, Leo gave Benedictine College’s commencement speech last year, giving a similarly right-wing speech warning of “modern-day barbarians, secularists, and bigots” who are “determined to threaten and delegitimize individuals and institutions who refuse to pledge fealty to the woke idols of our age.” 

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Definition of flow verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

move continuously

• She lost control and the tears began to flow.
• + adv./prep. It's here that the river flows down into the ocean.
• Blood flowed from a cut on her head.
• This can prevent air from flowing freely to the lungs.
• the electric currents flowing through the cables
• a fast-flowing stream
• The Wei River flows east.
• Blood was still flowing from the wound.
• The river flows quite fast here.
• a small stream that flowed down the hillside
• to get blood flowing to the brain
• It's here that the river flows down into the ocean.
• He lost control and the tears began to flow.
• The current flowing in a circuit is measured by connecting an ammeter.
• (figurative) One day seemed to flow into the next.
• effortlessly
• ebb and flow
• flow in a… direction
• flow in the breeze

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Tom Schwartz Defends Katie as Tom Sandoval Labels Her “the Very Definition of Evil”

But even while defending Katie Maloney, Tom Schwartz still states that she's "probably one of the more vindictive people I've ever met in my life."

Despite the fact that both Vanderpump Rules   cast members play a big role in  Tom Schwartz 's life,  Katie Maloney  and  Tom Sandoval  have never really gotten along. In fact, the way Sandoval sees it, his best friend's ex-wife is actually "the very definition of evil." 

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He stated as much on the May 21 episode of the  Vanderpump Rules Season 11 After Show   as he and Schwartz and Jax Taylor were discussing whether or not Katie's "level of anger" towards Jo Wenberg was "justified." 

Replied Sandoval, "I think Katie's level of anger is rarely ever on par with the action."

Schwartz agreed, noting, "I would concur, even coming from someone who still loves her and appreciates [her], that's 100 percent a fact."

Sandoval pressed on, claiming that Katie "openly talks about how she enjoys watching people suffer and stuff."

"That is the very definition of evil," he added, at which point Schwartz decided to stick up for her. 

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"I don't think she enjoys people suffering," Schwartz said, "but she will pray on people's downfalls."

Sandoval then recalled the comment Katie made about Scheana Shay during Vanderpump Rules Season 10 . "She literally said, 'I will smile and laugh and watch her burn,'" he told Schwartz and Jax. 

The real comment, however, was, "Karma's gonna come for you and I'll watch your world burn and I'll smile."

How is Katie's relationship with Tom Schwartz today?

On the Vanderpump Rules After Show , Schwartz said he was hesitant to engage in Sandoval's criticism of Katie because they're finally on good terms . That said, Schwartz did state, "We're in such a good place, I don't want to talk trash, but yeah, she's probably one of the more vindictive people I've ever met in my life."

How is Tom Sandoval's relationship with Katie Maloney today?

Katie and Sandoval are not friends, but he recently apologized to her for any role he might have played in her and Schwartz's split . 

"I want to apologize to you for the way I acted last year during your divorce," Sandoval told her on  Vanderpump Rules Season 11, Episode 8.  "I know that you were going through a lot and probably didn't need any of that extra sh-t."

Katie reflected on the apology during the VPR After Show , explaining that while Sandoval may have contributed to her and Schwartz's marital issues , Schwartz "allowed" that, which was the bigger problem. 

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Schwartz, however, didn't think that Sandoval did anything wrong at all. "I don't put any blame on you for the end of our marriage," he said to Sandoval on the VPR After Show . "I take full responsibility for my shortcomings. I don't have anyone to really blame but myself, to be honest."

To that, Sandoval suggested, "Maybe the bar [ Schwartz & Sandy's ], a little bit," and Schwartz agreed. "It was so f-cking demanding, unrelenting, opening the bar," he said. "I became absorbed in that world. I wish I could have done things differently, been there for her more, but man, it just was f-cking insane."

For more from Sandoval, Schwartz, Katie, and the rest of the Vanderpump Rules cast, watch the Vanderpump Rules After Show  video above. 

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