Stages of normal speech development in a child.

Article:

Speech is the main tool for human interaction.
However, adults often forget how complex the process of oral communication is until a child appears in the family who is just learning to pronounce his first sounds and put them into words, and later into phrases and sentences. Just think about it: it takes years for a child to fully master oral speech! From birth, the child trains his tongue, vocal cords and facial muscles; his brain processes sounds coming from outside, analyzes them and issues a command for playback.

An adult bending over the cradle is touched by the first babble, and for a child this is not only the first attempts at communication, but also training. And how many words does a child need to remember! At the same time, the baby should not only be able to reproduce a combination of sounds, but also correlate them with objects, processes and phenomena around him.

Thus, a child’s speech development is a colossal work of the brain. And it should be practically completed by seven years. At the same time, speech development refers to the stages and processes associated with the child’s acquisition of oral and written speech.

IV period. School (from 7 to 17 years old).

I period. Preparatory (from 0 to 1 year).

The cry of a newborn is his first vocal reflex reaction.

By two months, the child’s first vocal reactions (screaming, crying, grunting) acquire a communicative meaning, and distinct vocal modulations appear (joy, squealing, whimpering).

By 3 months, the child begins to develop auditory attention, and the first imitative facial and vocal reactions appear. During this period, the child begins to develop his first, often laryngeal, consonant sounds. These sounds lack melodiousness and are pronounced quietly, often with the mouth closed.

By the end of the 3rd month. The child develops humming – melodious pronunciation of sounds (vowels and laryngeal consonants). Humming occurs spontaneously, but can also be caused by imitation. 3 – 4.5 months is considered the period of “true humming”: the child begins to hum in response to positive emotional stimuli. Outside the “revitalization complex”, without emotional stimulation, humming occurs already from 3.5 months. (E.M. Mastyukova).

Stages of child speech development from 0 to 6 years

Speech is the most important condition for the mental and mental development of a child. Deviation from the norm is often a sign of a serious disorder. The best results can be achieved only with timely diagnosis and correct correction. That is why parents should carefully monitor how their baby’s speech development proceeds. We tell you what stages of speech development from birth to 6 years old are identified by experts.

First year of life

A child enters a language environment from the moment of birth. He hears the speech of adults and reacts to whoever is talking to him. Speech begins to develop from the first day of life.

From birth to 2 months. The baby communicates with adults through a smile and spontaneous vocalizations of vowels. He communicates his needs and discomfort by screaming.
At three months, speech breathing begins to form. The baby hums, stretching and singing with vowels. At this age, parents can hear their first laugh.
At four months, a child usually experiences great joy in communication. He already knows how to “juggle” sounds, the humming becomes more complex: one vowel smoothly passes into another, for example, “OOOO-UUUU-AAAA, etc.”
At five months, the baby actively walks. He learns to pronounce simple consonant sounds and combine them with vowels. For example, “PYA”, “PA”, “MA”, “BA”, etc.
Six months is the time when babbling words like “BABA”, “GAGA”, “NATI”, etc. appear, some of them acquire meaning, but most often the syllables are connected in a random order.
At 7 months, the baby understands the adult’s spoken speech, actively uses babbling words, and tries to conduct a primitive dialogue.
At 8-12 months, the child masters the intonation of his native language; in any case, he can pronounce several syllables with different intonations. He uses the simplest words “GIVE”, “MOM”, “NA” and others, denoting basic actions and close relatives. By the age of one year, the active vocabulary is usually about 15 words

If by 12 months there is no humming or babbling, the child does not respond to the speech of an adult, it is necessary to urgently consult a speech therapist.

What is included in the concept of “speech development”?

Parents often understand speech development as a rather narrow area. For example, the active vocabulary of a child of a certain age often seems to adults to be the only criterion for harmonious speech development. Others pay special attention to the purity of pronunciation of sounds. Still others look at the length and complexity of sentences composed after the age of three.

Depending on what adults mean by the concept of “speech development,” their linguistic behavior towards the baby will also differ significantly. Someone insists that the child memorize as many poems as possible, someone tries to “put into his head” as many different concepts and meanings as possible, and someone insists on daily repetition of pure sayings.

However, this concept is too broad to focus on any one component. After all, the ultimate goal of a child’s speech development is to teach him to competently and accurately express his thoughts and describe phenomena. The development of speech is closely related to the formation of verbal thinking, the assimilation of the laws of communication and much more.

To better understand how to help a child not just learn to speak, but to comprehensively develop his speech, one should dwell in more detail on the main stages of its formation.

Difficulties in the development of children's speech

If a child lags behind his peers in speech communication, but he hears well and his intelligence is not impaired, he may have a speech pathology.

What may be the cause of speech underdevelopment:

Motor alalia - with normal hearing, a child under 3-5 years old does not speak or there are only a few words in his dictionary. He understands the speech of others, but cannot speak himself.
Sensory alalia - the child does not understand impressive speech addressed to him, and therefore cannot learn to speak
Aphasia is loss of speech due to injury, brain and vascular diseases.
Rhinolalia is a disorder of the speech apparatus in the form of cleft palate and upper lip. In this case, incorrect sound pronunciation of all sounds occurs, and a nasal tone of speech occurs.
Dysarthria - the child pronounces words unclearly, speech is not smooth, but sharp and abrupt. With erased dysarthria, the coordinated work of the lips, tongue, and soft palate is disrupted.

With all these speech disorders, urgent help from a neurologist, speech therapist and speech pathologist is necessary. Difficulties in speech development arise from previous birth injuries, infections, or underdevelopment of the nervous system.

conclusions

Speech development is a complex process, and it occurs differently for each child. Experts identify several stages of speech development in children, each of which involves the development of new speech skills. These stages do not have strict age limits. The transition from one stage of speech development to another can occur either smoothly or abruptly.

If the baby is healthy, speech development occurs naturally when you communicate with him and talk about the world around him. Your child watches you and tries to copy your speech, so it is important to monitor the correctness of your own speech. It is necessary to create a favorable environment for the child in which he can fulfill the needs characteristic of his age. You can offer your child games to develop fine motor skills, as well as introduce them to articulation and finger gymnastics.

If you feel that your baby is experiencing difficulties and the development of his speech is far behind the conventional boundaries of the norm, you need to consult with a specialist to rule out health problems and delayed psycho-speech development.

Growth of a child’s vocabulary from one year and older

1 year - 5-9 words
1.5 years from 20 to 40 (from different authors)
2 years from 50 to 200 words
3 years from 800 to 1000 words
3.5 years - 1100
4 years 1600 - 1900
5 years 1900 – 2200

Development of phrasal speech

The appearance of phrases from two lexical units (Lala bah, papa am) begins from 1 year 9 months to two years.

The emergence and development of proposals - from two years.

By the age of 3, he begins to use complex subordinate clauses, questions “why?” appear. “when?”, uses almost all parts of speech, prepositions and conjunctions.

Uses singular and plural.

By the age of four, speech is grammatically correct, suffixes and more complex phrases are used.

Further development of speech is assessed mainly not by the number of words, but by the ability to answer questions, the presence of initiative in a conversation, the construction of logical chains, the ability to compose a story from a picture, talk about an event, retell a fairy tale.

At the same time, understanding of complex grammatical structures is assessed.

Speech development table for preschool teachers

Educators have to evaluate more complex speech indicators. Their characteristics are given in the table . The table of speech ontogenesis (development) was compiled based on the work of the famous linguist A.N. Gvozdev "Issues of studying children's speech." The table is actively used to assess the skills of children in preschool educational institutions.

In this article (below) there is a plate “Indicators of speech development”. This is also according to Gvozdev, only in a slightly modified and more understandable form. I’ll take the liberty of not repeating it here, but be sure to check it out. There is a breakdown by year and it is written down what a child should be able to do in phonetics, grammar, vocabulary and coherent speech. You can even print it out and hang it on the wall.

And a few more words. Speech development is a sign of the development of a child’s psyche. In the first years of life, the brain develops very intensively. The functions of the nervous system need to be trained, otherwise a delay may occur (and remain). The most critical time is the first three years. Did you not pay enough attention to your speech at this time? This means that it will take a lot of effort to catch up.

A child perceives his native speech well and masters it if his articulatory apparatus is trained. A child learns speech if he hears her words and repeats them.

The rule applies not only in kindergarten, but also in adulthood. For example, in order to give a good report at a conference, you need to practice delivering it. In order to correctly perceive and repeat speech, you need to perceive it well by ear. These relationships are very interesting. Let me draw an analogy: in order to master written speech, eye and hand movements must be practiced.

How to help the speech development of young children

What can we, parents, do from the very birth of a child to ensure that he speaks naturally?

Let us remind you that the sensory channel for perceiving information about the external environment (vision, hearing, taste, smell and touch) is the main one for children in the first years of life. Therefore, the answer lies on the surface: it is necessary to give the child as much information as possible about the world around him, as much as possible of any kind of sensory sensations and stimuli. Let's talk about it.

Touch. Feeling #1 at first. Mother's warm hands, her gentle touches, stroking, massage, gymnastics, toys of different shapes and textures, finger games - the more of this, the better. Knowledge about oneself, one’s body and its sensations is formed through contact with the environment, so diversify the child’s tactile sensations as much as possible. Water of different temperatures (carefully!), soft fabric and rubber balls, a plastic rattle and a wooden cube, finger paints on a palette, sand in a children's sandbox, beans in a jar, etc. - the world is so rich for training your sense of touch!
Hearing. Give your baby as much information as possible that he can perceive by ear: the sounds of music, nature, household appliances in the house, street noise from the window and, of course, the sounds of his native speech. Always talk to your baby about everything. Mom does this naturally, because speech accompanies any of her actions: she voices swaddling, feeding, bathing, and putting her to bed. She names objects surrounding the child, pointing at them. When the baby starts to walk, the mother “keeps up the conversation”: she responds to the sounds the baby makes, repeats them and introduces him to adult speech, which the baby will try to imitate as he grows up.
Vision. We interest the baby in the objects around him so that he learns to focus his vision and maintain his attention on significant objects. To help your child concentrate, you can hang bright colored objects above the crib (for example, balloons, fluffy pom-poms - they are quite light and will certainly attract attention). Some mobile models come with removable toys to help adults provide a stimulating and varied space for their child. This is for the little ones. Later, the arsenal of objects from the surrounding reality can be replenished endlessly, both due to toys in the house, and due to the visual impressions that the baby will receive when he is outside the home: on a city street, on a river, in a forest, in a zoo.
Taste. Mother's milk, water, teas, juices, pureed and solid food - what a variety of textures and tastes! Introduce your baby to them by gradually expanding the range of products that you introduce into baby food. The sooner a child becomes familiar with basic tastes, the less picky he will be in food later.

When the time comes for the first complementary foods, for example from the “Agusha First Spoon” line, it is important to name the products that the mother offers the baby. Cottage cheese, kefir, juice, fruit puree - this is an opportunity to introduce your child to the names of fruits, vegetables, and talk about animals. For example, about a cow that gives milk, he says “mu” and grazes in the meadow.

Smell. Getting to know smells not only enriches the perception of the overall picture of the world, but also creates a certain mood, associations and subsequently pleasant memories in the baby. The smell of freshly baked bread and grandma’s jam, autumn leaves and spring melting snow, mushrooms and wildflowers - so many memories behind each of them! Don’t forget about this side of perception, learn smells together with your child, teach him to distinguish them and compare them - what if you have a future perfumer growing up?
Gross motor skills (movements of large muscles: body, arms, legs). It is important to motivate your baby to move actively from the first weeks of life. If you think your baby needs to be swaddled, be sure to allow enough time for your baby to move his arms and legs freely. As your baby gets older, create a safe space for free movement in the house.
Fine motor skills (fine movements of the hands and fingers). Only a newborn has never heard of the fact that fine motor skills and speech are connected. This connection is explained by the proximity of the speech motor and movement centers in the brain. Therefore, any activity aimed at stimulating fine motor skills has a positive effect on speech formation. And don’t forget about developing self-care skills from early childhood: a cup, a toothbrush, cutlery, buttons on clothes, zippers and shoelaces are great exercise equipment!

Speech is a product of the work of the muscles and organs of the speech apparatus, and, as in the case of training any other muscle, speech must be developed through consistent and regular exercise. Let's talk about these classes and about the exercises that need to be included in the child's daily “speech exercises”.

Parenting mistakes and how to avoid them

Mothers, fathers, grandmothers, grandfathers make some mistakes when communicating with their children. Subsequently, they can inhibit the development of the child’s speech or form incorrect perceptions and complicate the process of mastering their native language.

These are the errors:

Assume that the child does not understand anything. Even during the infant period, a passive vocabulary is formed, they learn to respond to appeals to them. Otherwise, how does a child who has not communicated with anyone except relatives suddenly “give out” swear words, for example? Did you say that in front of the baby? Do not be surprised;
Imitate “childish” speech. Babysitting and diminutive forms of words only complicate their perception and interfere with the normal development of speech. It’s easier for a baby to remember and then say the word “ball” than “ball.” But you shouldn’t simplify the words either. If you want your child to start speaking correctly, speak to him correctly from the very beginning;
Talk a lot. For normal speech development, it is important to talk to your baby. But do not use florid phrases or complex words. Speak in simple sentences with babies 1–3 years old. When communicating, take into account the level of speech development of children by age;
Don't talk at all. Children with communication deficits are often diagnosed with speech and mental disorders in early childhood;
Don't explain. Explain the meaning of words. Even better, demonstrate it clearly. Say, “an apple is a fruit” and show a real apple or a picture. From the first months of life, carry your child in your arms and show him everything he sees around him: household objects, trees, cars, cats, dogs, birds on the street - and name them. This is what develops your child best;
Speak slurred, quickly. When talking to your daughter or son, be sure to turn your face to him so that he can see your lips. Speak clearly, articulately, focusing on articulation, do not “crumple” words - otherwise your child simply will not understand where sounds come from and how to pronounce them. Work on your diction and conversation rate.

The best way to communicate with your baby is as with an adult. In a calm voice, but with a friendly and affectionate intonation. It is this kind of treatment from mom and dad that contributes to the formation of correct speech in their son or daughter.

Advice from speech therapists to parents

We have given some recommendations above. But there are a few more.

First, check whether your child is at risk for delayed speech development. These are children who have perinatal lesions of the central nervous system and other neurological problems, birth injuries, frequent illnesses in the first year of life, post-vaccination complications - against the background of such problems, speech may develop more slowly.

Secondly, pay attention to when the child first began to walk and said the first syllables and words. If much later than the established norm, consult a speech therapist or neurologist.

Thirdly, when the baby turns 2 - 2.5 years old, show him to a speech therapist. Especially if he is at risk. This will allow you to timely identify possible problem areas in speech development and eliminate them.