Diction is basically the style of speaking or writing and the choice of words one uses while communicating. The choice of words in a conversation depends on the person you are interacting with. If you are speaking to your friend casually, you wouldn’t mind using simple words and not necessarily thinking twice before using it in a sentence. However, if you are speaking to your boss at work, you would be more conscious of the kind of words you are using.

Let us illustrate this point with an example:

1. It happened by blunder (friends)
2. It happened by accident (boss)
3. It happened by oversight (senior colleague)

In the above case the speaker is trying to convey the same message of ‘making a mistake’ but the choice of words are different when trying to explain the scenario to different people. Basically: blunder, accident, and oversight are synonyms, used alternatively and ‘blunder’ may sound blunt, but ‘oversight’ sounds a little subtler.

Why does Diction Matter to Students?

Diction is not just a ‘fancier’ way of writing or speaking, it also portrays the leaner’s level of proficiency over language skills. In order to know the appropriate choice of words to use, it is important for the student to have a good vocabulary. Only when the child knows that there are better alternatives to words like ‘obviously’ -which seems very informal, and can also be said more formally as; ‘certainly’, ‘undeniably’, ‘assuredly’, etc. will he start thinking and using it correctly.

When you read a story would you prefer reading; ‘Tom’s good plan helped him win against the other players in the game’ or ‘Tom’s effective strategy helped him achieve victory over other players in the game’. You see how the same context sounds way more interesting and exciting to read only because the author knows how to capture the attention of the readers!

Students become more confident are expressive by paying a little attention to diction. They wouldn’t mind participate in ‘elocution’, ‘story writing’ and ‘debate’ competitions without fear.

How to Become a Speaker with Good Diction?

Speaker with great diction is much easier to understand and comprehend, than one with poor diction. Here are some ways to improve diction:

Enhance Your Vocabulary

Read, read, read! This is the best way to learn new words and enrich your vocabulary. The Reading Eggs App has over 2,000 story books and you can get started with a simple click. This highly recommended 4-stars Reading Egg App is much popular amongst parents in Dubai and GCC Countries in the Middle East. It is intelligently designed to give children practice with reading, spellings, speaking, and reinforce concepts through fun activities. To know more about the Reading Eggs App in the UAE region and get your queries related to its subscription sorted, we urge you to visit our website https://knowledge-hub.com/reading-eggs/

Tongue Twisters

“Betty Botter bought some butter. But she said the butter’s bitter. If I put it in my batter, it will make my batter bitter. But a bit of better butter will make my batter better. So, it was better Betty Botter bought a bit of better butter.” As a child you must have tried competing with your friends to correctly remember and reproduce a tongue twister, as you read it. Besides being fun and adding a bit of humor to your day, tongue twisters are not only a great mental stimulating activity, but also great for improving diction. Tongue twisters are full of alliteration and its great to practice it as a warm-up exercise before you have to deliver a speech or go-up on stage and enact a play sequence. Enunciation exercises work really well and one needs to start gradually before speeding up and saying the sentence out aloud fast.

Listen to Speeches by Eminent Personalities

To be able to mimic good speeches one needs to know how Eminent speakers present themselves by using clear pronunciation and vice modulation. Thanks to YouTube access, students can browse through Ted Talk speeches and understand how leaders and people who have achieved success in life, express themselves.

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