Dysorthographia accents exercise

Many children with dysorthographia forget accents, place them at random or confuse the acute and grave accents. Yet some accents can be heard and can be picked up by ear. Here are exercises to learn where to place them, starting with those that can be heard and ending with those that need to be memorised.

Why accents cause problems

Accents are small marks that are easy to forget when concentrating on the letters. A child with dysorthographia, who already has to make a great deal of effort to write the sounds, often neglects these details. They may also fail to notice the difference between « é » and « è ».

Some accents change the sound, as on the « e », while others do not, such as the circumflex on certain vowels. This variety makes learning more complicated. It is helpful to deal with each case separately. The page dysorthographia and accents explains these different situations.

Hearing é and è

The first step is to clearly distinguish the closed « é » sound from the open « è » sound. Words can be pronounced with an exaggerated sound: « été » and « mère ». The child observes the position of their mouth, more closed for « é », more open for « è ».

Pictures can then be sorted according to the sound they contain, into two boxes. The child says the word, listens and decides. This listening work is essential before moving on to writing. Without it, the child places the accent at random. It sometimes takes several weeks for the ear to hear the difference properly.

Matching the sound to the right accent

Once the sounds have been distinguished, the « é » sound is linked to the acute accent, which rises like a high voice, and the « è » sound to the grave accent, which falls like a low voice. This simple visual cue helps a great deal. It can be accompanied by a hand gesture.

Short words containing these sounds are then dictated, and the child places the accent. They check by saying the word while moving the hand up or down. The activity then moves on to sentences. This method noticeably reduces accent errors on the « e ».

Search for Dys professionals near you

The only online directory dedicated to professionals working with Dys disorders

The unaccented e

The « e » does not take an accent when it is followed by two consonants or by a final consonant, even when it is pronounced « è »: « merci », « belle », « mer ». This cue prevents many wrongly placed accents. It can be shown with examples.

One exercise involves offering words with an « e » and asking the child whether an accent is needed, by looking at what follows. They underline the two consonants or the final consonant. They understand why the accent is not necessary. The page on double consonants complements this work.

The circumflex accent

The circumflex accent is not always audible, as in « forêt » or « château ». It often signals a letter that has disappeared, such as the « s » found in « forestier » or « castel ». This explanation often interests children.

For frequent words, the accent has to be memorised, as with silent letters. These words can be grouped on a poster, with the accent in colour. Word families sometimes help to recall it. The focus is on the words the child actually uses.

Accents that change meaning

Some accents distinguish words that are otherwise spelt the same way: « a » and « à », « ou » and « où », « la » and « là ». They belong to grammatical homophones. They are practised using substitution tricks.

For « où », one can check whether it refers to a place or a moment. For « là », it can be replaced by « ici ». These tips are noted on a fact sheet. The page on the pair a or à presents the most common one.

Accents: when to seek advice

If the child consistently forgets accents or places them at random despite practice, the speech and language therapist can check whether they distinguish the sounds properly. Work on auditory perception may be necessary. These exercises do not replace this assessment.

The ProfessionnelsDys directory makes it possible to find a speech and language therapist near you, by town and age. Bring a few recent pieces of writing where accent errors are visible. The page my child makes a lot of mistakes helps to take stock.