Periods of “humming” and “babbling” and their stimulation article on the topic

Genesis of vocalizations in the preverbal period

Mishina G.A., Chernichkina Yu.D. Bulletin of the Orthodox St. Tikhon's Humanitarian University. Series 4: Pedagogy. Psychology Issue No. 23 / 2011

Many researchers from various fields of science have studied the concept of vocalization. Hence, there is no unambiguous definition of the concept of “vocalization”. Some researchers call vocalizations all the child’s vocal reactions that are not endowed with a specific meaning (words) (I.N. Gorelov, E.I. Isenina, etc.). Other researchers classify as vocalizations only the communicative sounds of a child that are not related to verbal speech (G.V. Kolshansky, S.L. Rubinstein). The authors also disagree regarding the nature of vocalizations. When considering the concept of vocalization, some authors are adherents of the biological theory of speech ontogenesis, suggesting that the language ability is innate (T.V. Bazzhina, A.N. Gvozdev, N. Chomsky, S.N. Tseitlin, etc.). This opinion is supported by empirical data that cry is present in all infants, even deaf ones (T.V. Bazzhina, V.I. Garbaruk, I.V. Dmitrieva, I.E. Isenina, etc.). The absence of pauses in the cry indicates that the child does not expect an answer, which also confirms the non-communicative nature of the cry at the initial stage (J. Bruner). It is difficult to identify the structure of such a signal (T.V. Bazzhina, E.N. Vinarskaya, S.V. Grechany, A.G. Koshchavtsev, J. Linda, B.E. Mikirtumov, H. Trali, etc.); and this is its similarity with animal signals, which are also structureless (N.I. Zhinkin). The first month of life for all children is characterized by the predominance of crying with passive detached intonations and, in general, there is no big difference in crying between groups of children raised in different social conditions (in the family and in the orphanage) (N.Ya. Kushnir, Solomatina T.V. ). Other authors lean more toward social theory, believing that the ontogenesis of speech is the result of mental development and social influence (S. Büller, J. Piaget, etc.). Examples of Mowgli children are given as evidence.

In our study, we proceeded from the position of L.S. Vygotsky about the unity of biological and social factors in the mental development of a child: the prerequisites for speech are biologically determined, but at the same time, the social factor of the child’s development plays a great role. In our opinion, when a child’s cry, as an unconditionally reflexive act in the process of development of brain structures and under the influence of the social environment, becomes a conditioned reflex and acquires intonation shades of resentment or dissatisfaction, we can already talk about the manifestation of the directionality of vocalizations. Up to 6 months, according to research by physiologists, vocalizations are completely biologically determined and are unconditional and conditioned reflex reactions in the structure of the first signal system (L.O. Badalyan, M.M. Koltsova). In the first months of life, all sensations that the child receives from the external environment are merged. According to physiologists (L.O. Badalyan, M.M. Koltsova), the more often the same stimuli are re-excited, the faster the child’s reflex-type response is formed and improved, and, consequently, the child’s sensations will become more differentiated . Thus, in the process of regular contact with an adult, the infant develops a conditioned reaction of a social nature. From 2 months of age, a child is characterized by various ways of displaying emotions: peace, satisfied humming, dissatisfied whimpering, crying, intonation of joy in the structure of the revitalization complex, intonation of reproach, demand and surprise. By 6 months, due to the development of the acoustic zones of the brain and as the main process of myelination is completed, the child already becomes able to perceive and differentiate individual words, the second signal system begins to develop (L.O. Badalyan, M.M. Koltsova, I.P. Pavlov ). At the same time, the role of an adult in the child’s speech development remains leading and decisive: if in the first half of the year the child did not receive proper social contact and communication with an adult, then the development of the second signaling system may be delayed or disrupted.

The existing periodizations of speech development of a child in the first year of life were developed depending on the approach in the light of which vocalizations were considered - psychological, linguistic and psycholinguistic, phonetic, semiotic (T.V. Bazzhina, E.N. Vinarskaya, L.S. Vygotsky, A. N. Gvozdev, I. N. Gorelov, N. I. Zhinkin, E. I. Isenina, G. V. Kolshansky, A. R. Luria, S. L. Rubinstein, M. E. K. Halliday, S. N. Tseitlin, F.Ya. Yudovich, etc.).

Traditionally, linguistic periodization of speech is used, highlighting the following stages of the pre-speech period of development: screaming, humming and hooting, babbling. Most researchers from different fields of science use this periodization. The phonetic approach (T.V. Bazzhina, V.I. Beltyukov, A.N. Gvozdev, etc.) allows us to consider vocalizations mainly from the acoustic side. Psycholinguistics considers speech utterances from the point of view of the patterns of their generation and perception (N.I. Gorelov and others). Psychology studies speech from its “internal” side. Speech is considered both from the point of view of reflexes and from the point of view of its internal organization, with particular importance in determining vocalizations given to communication. The semiotic approach allows us to consider vo-signs as part of a broader sign structure - a combination of signs of a proto-language - and thereby include gestures, actions and situation objects in the linguistic structure.

However, even within the framework of one approach to the study of vocalizations, different researchers can characterize each period of speech ontogenesis differently. For example, according to T.V. The bazzhin cry cannot be interpreted as one of the stages of preparation for speech, since the cry develops in the direction of increasing the total sound time of the cry period, and from the point of view of the principle of saving effort, speech sounds should develop in the direction of reducing the sound time. In addition, the vocal cords do not take part in the production of a cry; the production of a cry is associated with the work of the respiratory apparatus (E.N. Vinarskaya). T.N. Ushakova believes that the function of a cry contains the germ of a future verbal sign. According to the author, from the first days a child is able to convey his internal psychological state through screaming.

When studying babbling, some authors (E.I. Isenina) believe that babbling is an expression of not only emotional expression and attitude towards the speaker, but also conveys the child’s attitude towards surrounding objects and characterizes the communicative type of utterance. And others (A.N. Gvozdev, S.N. Tseitlin) believe that babbling is not a sign, i.e. does not convey information, does not reflect thought and therefore cannot be regarded as a means of communication.

I would like to separately highlight the periodization of speech development proposed by E.N. Vinarskaya, since the author considers the process of speech ontogenesis from the position of the unity of biological and social factors. The researcher distinguishes 2 periods of pre-speech development of the child: the period of pre-phonetic universals and the period of phonetic images and gestures (paralinguistic means of emotional expressiveness). According to the author, at the beginning of the period of pre-phonetic universals, self-regulation of the newborn’s body is carried out on the basis of a defensive reflex, which is expressed in the form of an emotionally negative reaction of the child - a cry. Further, throughout infancy, under the influence of a close adult, the child’s communicative and cognitive development occurs, the basis of which, instead of a defensive reflex, becomes an indicative and exploratory one. The author considers humming and babbling, as emotionally positive reactions, to be signs of paralinguistic means of emotional expressiveness that serve the purposes of communication and cognition, and not defense, like screaming. Thus, as the child develops, vocalizations, being initially biological, unconditionally reflex reactions, gradually, under the influence of contact with an adult, turn into socially conditioned conditioned reflex reactions, and become means of communication of the child with the outside world.

It is important to take into account the social factor when considering dysontogenesis of speech. In the course of analyzing the process of speech development and its dysontogenesis, not all authors take into account, along with the physiological (sensorimotor) factor of the problem, the social factor, as one of the leading factors in the structure of the disorder. When identifying dysontogenesis of speech development and determining its causes, it is very important to take into account the state of all prerequisites for speech development, and not just cognitive and neurophysiological ones.

Over the past few years, we have conducted an experiment that was aimed at studying the ontogenesis of speech in the preverbal period. The vocal production of infants in the normal group and in cases of complicated development was studied. 16 children aged from 2–4 months to 3 years took part in the longitudinal study. During the first 3 years of the child’s life, once every three months, an hour-long filming of each subject was carried out during his natural behavior at home. The state of vocal manifestations and their direction were recorded. As a result of the analysis of the obtained material, a number of conclusions were made. It was noted that, starting from the 2nd month of life, children’s vocalizations manifest themselves in both communicative and non-communicative situations: non-communicative vocalizations accompanied the child’s actions, were an indicator of the child’s emotionally positive state, and were not aimed at communication; communicative vocalizations had various purposes, realized in the process of communication with surrounding adults.

Depending on the approach to considering vocalizations, researchers identify various functions. A number of researchers distinguish two functions in a cry: service-physiological and conditionally commutative (informative) functions (T.V. Bazzhina), while the cry acquires communicative meaning only for an adult; With the development of the child’s body and his psyche, the cry acquires an expressive function, gradually transforming into crying. And crying is already a communicative means; a means of influence, and a targeted one, on an adult, i.e. is communication with goal setting.

Other authors (E.I. Isenina) do not assign screaming any functions at all, saying that screaming only accompanies the child’s desires, but does not express them. In foreign literature, the most developed classification is M.E. K. Halliday, including such functions of vocalizations as: instrumental, informative, regulatory, interaction, personal, heuristic, imagination. On this basis, a periodization of the development of vocalization functions in the preverbal period was created (E.I. Isenina).

Within the framework of the model of the speech-language mechanism, such functions as the function of symbolization, representation, expression are identified, while the expressive function is considered as the main one and manifests itself in the form of intentions - intentions to highlight hidden mental contents in the external plane (T.N. Ushakova, S.S. Belova ). The following groups of intentions and the time of their appearance were identified:

1) object intentions (desire to receive or reach an object - 5–6 months, desire to perform an action with an object - 10 months, urging an adult to do something with an object - 14 months, expressions of regret in an unsuccessful attempt to get an object - approximately 10–11 months, expression of pleasure when receiving an object - from about 10–11 months);

2) social and communicative intentions (the desire to be held by an adult - 1–7 months, pleasure from communication, requests, drawing attention to oneself, anxiety about the absence of an adult, etc.); - intentions of protest or refusal (stopping the actions of others, demonstrating a negative attitude towards what is happening - 13 months); - intentions to attract an adult to joint activities (in situations of play, reading and other activities);

3) commenting intentions (in the situation of playing, walking, repeating words after an adult, reading, etc.) - 11 months. However, according to the results of data processing, only two intentions received reliable temporal localization: “the desire to receive an object” and “the desire to return an absent adult” (S.S. Belova).

A study conducted by E.I. Isenina, showed slightly different time periods for the manifestation of similar linguistic functions of vocalizations: - interaction, personal, instrumental (2 - 6-7 months); — informative, regulatory, imagination (8–9–12 months); — heuristic (12–24 months).

As noted by N.I. Zhinkin, speech is not only a manifestation of language, speech has its own structural and functional features. The classification of speech functions is widely represented in psychology (L.S. Vygotsky, A.R. Luria, S.L. Rubinstein, F.Ya. Yudovich). S.L. Rubinstein wrote that speech exists only where there is semantics, meaning that has a material carrier in the form of sound, gesture, visual image. Meaning is a function of speech as an activity. Consequently, speech is speech when it has a function. L.S. Vygotsky identified the following functions of speech: nominative, indicative, regulatory and significative functions.

S.L. Rubinstein believed that speech has one main function - communication. The function of communication or message - the communicative function of speech - includes the following functions: emotional, expressive (expressive) and impactful (motivational). Speech in the true sense of the word is a means of conscious influence and communication carried out on the basis of the semantic content of speech.

The functions of vocalizations, as well as the vocalizations themselves, appear and develop gradually in the process of general ontogenesis, i.e. go through their own development path. And the process of communication between a child and others directly influences the development of vocalization functions. If the social development of a child is distorted, disrupted, or delayed for any reason, then this has a direct impact on the genesis of the functions of vocalizations.

Determining the level of development of vocalization functions during the diagnostic process allows us to give an objective and more complete assessment of the preverbal and verbal period of speech development of a child of infancy and early age. Our research has shown that in the process of diagnosis and correctional work with a child, it is important to take into account not only the physiological, sensorimotor, cognitive factors of the child’s development in general and his speech in particular, but also the social factor; It is necessary to take into account not only the physiological stages of development of linguistic means in the 1st year of a child’s life, but also the nature of the semantic content of these means.

Bibliography

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What can parents see in the development of a child’s speech in the third year of life?

In the period from 2 to 3 years, the child’s speech and understanding of speech becomes much better than in the previous period. The baby knows a large number of words. A child’s vocabulary at this age increases 3-4 times. He speaks in short phrases, not only simple but common sentences. But during this period there are a lot of grammatical errors in the child’s speech. At this age, the child asks the adult many questions.

The pronunciation of sounds in the third year is not fixed.

Many consonant sounds in words are pronounced softly (“syam” instead of “sam”, “kozya” instead of “goat”, “masinka” instead of “machine”, etc.). Some sounds are replaced by others (instead of “sh” he pronounces “s”) or difficult sounds are omitted.

When reading and looking at books, the child names familiar pictures (mouse, dog, etc.). When reading short poems, he can name the last word or syllable. He asks to read a book he likes many times.

While playing with toys, the child often talks to himself, voices his actions and gives an assessment (the machine “beep”, “bang” - fell). Understands two-step requests (for example, “Go into the room and bring the ball”; “If you eat the porridge, I’ll give you candy”).