Distinctive feature analysis is one approach to supporting Deaf and Hard-of-hearing (Hoh) students' understanding of speech sound production. The approach categorizes each sound into the specific features necessary to produce it (place, manner, voice). Reviewing a "place-manner-voice" chart with students at the start of instruction can provide a foundation that supports further phoneme development, especially for those who are new to speaking. When working with Deaf and Hoh students, it may benefit instructors to pair the distinctive feature analysis approach with multimodal cues, like visual and tactile supports. Tactile supports may include:

• Feeling vibration of voiced vs. voiceless by placing a hand on the throat
• Feeling nasal resonance by touching the side of the nose
• Placing a hand in front of the mouth to feel airflow

Visual supports may include:

• Use of spectrograms to see differences between features (e.g., stops vs continuants) or coarticulation between speech sound
• Use of models to demonstrate placement
• Gesture, handshapes, and cued speech

Distinctive feature analysis teaches Deaf and Hoh students the specific building blocks of speech sounds while helping instructors provide more specific and effective feedback to encourages self-monitoring in older students.