Linking is when sounds are joined together or when a sound is inserted between two others to make them easier to say.

Example
When we say ‘I did it!' we join together the /d/ and the /it/ to produce ‘I didit'. When we say ‘I am' we insert a /j/ sound to produce ‘I yam'.

In the classroom
Learners can be helped to distinguish how words are linked through ‘how many words did you hear?' activities, and can be encouraged to produce linked language through the teacher backchaining models for pronunciation.