Types and functions of speech. Egocentric speech and its research

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With the help of speech , people communicate with each other, express their thoughts, ask for advice, talk about certain events, convey news and ask questions.

Types of speech:

• oral speech - spoken speech. We pronounce and hear oral speech.
• written speech is speech written down using letters or other signs. We write and read written speech.

These types of speech belong to external speech. External speech is speech addressed to other people.

There is also internal speech - speech that we address to ourselves when we think, dream or reflect on something.

External speech (oral and written) can be in the form of a monologue , dialogue or polylogue:

A monologue is the speech of one person.

Dialogue is the speech of two persons, where they alternately listen and speak to each other.

Polylogue is the speech of several persons.

In dialogue and polylogue, the beginning of each phrase in writing is indicated by a dash. Appeals are used very often.

For example:

- Veronica, have you done your homework yet?

- No, mom, I can’t come up with a story from a picture.

- Don’t be upset, dear, let’s think together.

Any recorded speech is text.

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Types of speech. External speech

There are two types of speech: external and internal. External speech is addressed to other people.
Through it, a person transmits and perceives thoughts. Inner speech is speech “to oneself”, speech in the form of which a person thinks. Both types of speech are mutually related. External speech, in turn, is divided into two types: oral and written. Each of these types of external speech has its own psychological characteristics that need to be known in order to correctly use them in the communication process.

Mechanism of development of inner speech

In psychology, there is still no unified theory about how the formation of inner speech occurs. It is generally accepted that this begins in childhood; the child’s inner speech is formed under the influence of adults. The contradiction and problem of the phenomenon is as follows: some authors believe that it develops from the external. Others are sure that it develops along with the external one. Let's look at two popular theories.

According to Vygotsky

According to L.S. Vygotsky, conversation within the personality develops from the child’s external speech, directed at himself (egocentric). Those people who have children have probably seen that while playing, a young child often talks to himself. Psychologists call this egocentric speech.

In what period is a child’s inner speech formed: 3–5 years. As the child grows up, conversations with oneself go deeper and deeper and turn into conversations “to oneself.” Usually the transition is completed by the beginning of schooling, that is, by 6–7 years. Further development occurs as a result of mastering writing.

According to Blonsky

P.P. Blonsky believes that the internal type of communication develops along with the external one. Already in the first year of life, the child silently repeats the words with which adults address him. Further development occurs along with the development of external communication.

Oral speech

Oral speech is speech addressed directly to someone. It is expressed in sounds and is perceived by other people through hearing. Oral speech is the most ancient in origin. Children also learn oral speech first, and then written speech. Oral speech manifests itself in monologue and dialogic forms.

Dialogical speech means a conversation between two or more persons who either listen when others speak, or speak when they are listened to. The one who is speaking at the moment is an active person, and the one who listens is passive in relation to the speaker.

However, passivity in dialogue is relative, since the perception of speech is an active process, sometimes requiring far from easy mental activity from the listener. In the process of verbal communication, the interlocutors change roles and support each other in conversation, which is why dialogical speech is sometimes called supported speech. Exchange of roles allows interlocutors to better understand each other.

A characteristic feature of dialogical speech is direct communication: the interlocutors hear and most often see each other. This circumstance allows speakers to use expressive means of language: voice intonation, facial expressions, gestures.

At the same time, the speaker can observe (in conditions of mutual vision) the reactions of listeners to his speech, attention or inattention to it, the degree of understanding, agreement or disagreement, etc. These observations allow the speaker to adjust his speech, repeat some thoughts, expand or, conversely, curtail reasoning, strengthen or weaken expressive means of speech.

Thus, a teacher conducting a conversation with students in a lesson not only directs the children’s thoughts and statements with his questions, but also constantly changes the nature of his speech depending on the students’ reaction to it.

Dialogue speech

Dialogical speech occurs in specific conditions, and the subject of the conversation is familiar to the interlocutors. This allows them, in some cases, to understand each other perfectly. Therefore, in a free dialogue (in a normal conversation between two or more people), the interlocutors do not always adhere to language rules, shorten sentences, and supplement what is said with facial expressions, gestures, and unique intonations.

Monologue speech

Monologue speech is the speech of one person. He speaks and others listen. This type of speech includes various speeches by one person before an audience: a lecture, a report, a message, a deputy’s speech, an actor’s monologue, etc. A monologue is a speech that is continuous and unsupported by listeners.

In this sense, it is more difficult than dialogue. Before speaking, the speaker must think through the content of the speech, the plan for presenting thoughts, the form of presentation, taking into account the audience, its preparation, experience and knowledge. He assumes in advance that it may turn out to be complex and unclear, what questions the listeners may have, and how they will react to his speech.

All this gives the author a feeling of high responsibility for the content, form and composition of the speech. Monologue speech requires compliance with the laws of logic and the rules of grammar. The power of its influence is achieved by the persuasiveness of evidence (scientific and business speech), imagery and expressiveness, and influence on the feelings of listeners (speech of a speaker, artist).

The teacher's speech should contain all these means. Monologue speech requires not only mandatory preliminary preparation, but also continuous attention to one’s own speech (its content, persuasiveness, linguistic perfection, etc.) and to the reactions of listeners. In other words, monologue speech requires the speaker to have a high culture of thinking, speech and psychological observation.

A monologue is difficult not only for the speaker, but also for the listeners, whose attention must be stable and focused for a long time. The perception of monologue speech is especially difficult for children, and the younger they are, the more so. The reason for this is not only the lack of stability of children’s attention, but also the uniqueness of the object of attention: attention to words, to the content of speech, and even more so to the sequence of the speaker’s reasoning is always more difficult than attention to real things and phenomena.

Monologue speech in its structure is closer to written speech than dialogical speech.

Written speech

Written speech is expressed by graphic signs and is perceived by sight. It is a type of speech with which communication between people separated by long distances and time is possible. Psychological analysis of written speech shows that it is more difficult than oral speech, both for those who convey thoughts through it, and for those who perceive these thoughts.

The writer conveys the content of speech without using such auxiliary means of language as intonation, facial expressions, and gestures, which facilitate the understanding of thoughts. The writer cannot always take into account the reaction of readers to his speech, because he does not see, does not hear, and often does not know them.

The circle of readers of books, newspapers, and magazines is very wide and diverse. Readers are also deprived of the opportunity to directly express their opinion about the content and form of what is written. To become accessible to a wide range of readers, written speech must be structured as detailed, fully consistent with the rules of logic and grammar.

Written speech places great demands on the person who uses it. Written speech can be dialogical and monological.

Inner speech is speech “to oneself”, with the help of which logical processing of sensory data occurs, their awareness and understanding in a certain system of concepts and judgments. A person does not directly address other people with it, but through it a thought is formed and exists.

Inner speech is difficult to study, so psychologists have understood and understand its essence in different ways. I. Muller called it “speech minus sound,” and behaviorists called it a hidden speech skill. L. S. Vygotsky considered inner speech to be the central link in the path of the transition of thought into word and words into thought, a special internal plane of verbal thinking. A. N. Sokolov defines it as a speech mechanism of mental activity (types of human activity).

The Soviet psychologist B.F. Baev, in his study of the nature of inner speech, points out its essential feature - dependence on the needs that it serves. Inner speech not only forms thought, it is an essential component in all human cognitive processes.

Sensation and perception are mediated by speech: sensing the properties of objects around us (colors, sounds, smells), we call them “to ourselves”; speech helps us comprehend and clarify everything we perceive. Without it, observation, meaningful memorization and recollection, voluntary attention, imagination, etc. are impossible.

The role of inner speech in thinking is especially great: it organically participates in all thought processes, both complex and simple.

Inner speech is a means of emotional-volitional regulation and a condition for self-education. In the educational activities of schoolchildren, internal speech appears primarily in a receptive form (listening to the teacher’s explanations, understanding them) and in a productive form, preparing students’ external speech.

With the help of this type of speech, complex speech forms are formed. “Being a “laboratory of thought,” inner speech is at the same time a “laboratory of language” (B.F. Baev). It is not only a product of speech development, but also its most important means.

Inner speech and its features

It can be compared to a specific individual code. The person himself understands it perfectly, but it is a set of individual words, concepts, sounds, letters, images, sensations, conventions that are incomprehensible and inaccessible to other people. Psychologists call this a mental code.

Psychological features of inner speech:

1. Condensation. As a rule, there is only one main member of the sentence: the subject or predicate. Remember what thought arises when we see a cat on the street: “Cat!” At the same time, we have time to think and realize that she is walking or eating something, what color she is, etc.
2. Silence. However, verbalization depends on the characteristics of the articulatory apparatus of a particular person. Sometimes this manifests itself as muttering, whispering, “thinking out loud,” or even full-on loud dialogue with oneself.
3. Semantics prevails over phonetics. As a rule, vowel sounds are dropped (they carry less load).
4. Pronoun. In our thoughts, we consider an object in specific conditions, point out its properties, location, etc. Example: “Yesterday I tried to call him three times, he didn’t pick up. Why? Maybe it’s because of the way I answered him at our last meeting?”
5. Reflected in kinesthetic, auditory and visual images. Surely you have noticed that you can see, hear and even feel what we think about.

Despite the soundlessness of thoughts, the speech apparatus is always involved in their formation and development. Pronunciation and elaboration of words are always preserved. This is not visible to the naked eye, but a special technique can record the movements of the tongue and lips. In people with a mobile speech apparatus, movements can be seen with the naked eye. In addition, movement activity is higher under the following conditions:

• solving a difficult problem;
• difficulties during information analysis;
• stress, tension, fatigue, exhaustion;
• searching for new approaches to solving the problem;
• emotional overexcitation;
• information overload, excess of images, ideas and other things.

At such moments, conversations with oneself become more noticeable and louder. Example: “Yeah, well, well, well, I need to think about it. I did this, then that, and this is what happened. And if so? No, it doesn't work. And so? Not the same again."

When solving simple problems, as you hone certain skills through exercises, conversations “to yourself” become narrower, and the activity of the speech apparatus decreases. Again, this is clearly visible in everyday life, especially in the workplace. When learning new instructions, many people say their actions out loud or silently. The more often they repeat this, the less they need to say it.