Lip-Reading: The Ability to See Speech

When a person has difficulty correctly understanding the messages being communicated, they will often resort to lip-reading in order to recognize the words and phrases that make up the conversation. By definition, lip-reading is the deliberate or intuitive observation of a speaker's lips.

This is a very beneficial communication strategy for the oralist approach (oral communication). However, it is not a mode of communication in itself; rather, it supports understanding. In fact, lip-reading alone allows us to understand at best 30% of messages. It is therefore strongly recommended to combine lip-reading with a hearing aid adjusted to the needs of the person with hearing loss to take full advantage of it.

This valuable comprehension aid nonetheless requires some effort on the part of the person with hearing loss. Mastering it takes practice and patience. The speaker must therefore be considerate and use certain tricks to make lip-reading easier for someone with hearing loss.

Here are some examples of how the speaker should adapt their speech when talking to a person with hearing loss:

In addition to these recommendations to help with the transfer of information, certain aspects of language must also be considered in oral comprehension.

Filler Words

These are words that, by themselves, do not add anything to the content of the sentence. They are often inserted unintentionally and present a barrier to lip-reading for those who are trying to understand the words being said. Common filler words include ah, like, um, so, really, you know, and I mean.

False Liaison (In French)

In French, false liaisons are two words linked by a consonant that does not exist in either word. Without necessarily muddling the message, this small obstacle to understanding can trip up the person trying to read lips. The addition of a t, d, or z are the most common.

Here are some examples in French:

Accents (sociolinguistics)

Accents are not an aspect of spoken language to avoid or correct, but it is important to keep in mind that lip position, jaw movements, and even facial expressions can vary from one language to another. People with a strong accent (in English or another language) should therefore simply enunciate more to ensure that the person with hearing loss gets the whole message.

The time required to master lip-reading is not strictly defined. It is a continuous learning process. The more the person with hearing loss practises this strategy, the more confident they become, and the easier it is for them to adapt to different people. They develop their own comprehension tools, one conversation at a time.

Did You Know?

There are oral interpreters for lip-reading. They silently repeat the words spoken by a speaker to enable a deaf person or a person with hearing loss to understand. These interpreters must pay particular attention to their articulation, while choosing appropriate terms to match the delivered speech.