THE DEVELOPMENT OF SPEECH

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 79, Issue 2, 15 August 1949, Page 189

THE DEVELOPMENT OF SPEECH

SPEECH is the use of words as the symbols of thought. It is the supreme human —that which distinguishes man from the rest of the animal species. It is the product of the entire body functioning simultaneously and harmoniously, and its foundations are laid in early infancy. To parents wishing the best for their children it is impossible to overstress the importance of those statements. This article, the fourth of a series by Dorothy Johnson, Rural Sociologist, Department of Agriculture, Christchurch, on child care and development, outlines the development of normal speech in a child and points out some of the pitfalls.

CRYING is the baby’s first language and it expresses his physical and emotional needs. It is literally a call for help and marks his utter dependence on other people. It tells of pain and discomfort, hunger and anger, fear and anxiety. Sudden changes, strangeness, solitude, and fatigue also make him cry. The specific cause can usually be detected by the type of cry. Crying needs sympathetic interpretation and is gnerally justified; e wisdom of letting a baby “cry it out” is very doubtful.

Other kinds of language develop as social experiences multiply in the baby’s life. His smiles and his laughter emerge from social situations and mark the first experiences of pleasure, as his cry expresses vividly his forlorn and desperate demand for aid. He learns by listening, and at first responds by action. His posture and expressions convey his reaction to what he hears so graphically that speech sometimes seems unnecessary. In fact, parents and families are tempted to interpret these actions so accurately in the first few years that they are in danger of delaying markedly his acquisition of speech.

Efficiency and Moderation Such delay can also be the unfortunate result of too great efficiency on the part of those who look after babies and small children. Whether they are nurses or mothers, most very efficient people have built up fairly-complicated patterns of work habits as housewives of a high, even meticulous, standard.' The care of children is fitted into that pattern. The child’s schedule of feeding, bathing, toilet, and sleep is competently cared for, but they do not dally much in sweet verbal commentaries with their charges. Such children are not likely to be fluent speakers until they do have conversations and other social experiences.

This is not to suggest that general efficiency has no place in the bringing up of children; very decidedly it has. But, if there is any special note running through these articles, it is perhaps that efficiency needs to be used in assessing values, in this case the planning of routines which cope with the necessary work in order to give more time to be spent living with the children, especially in the early years.

It is perhaps unnecessary to say that a valuable keynote to all work with children is moderation. As the proverb has it: “Moderation is the silken string running through the pearl

chain of all virtues.” A phrase used in these articles to denote the aim of child guidance was the production of a balanced or well-poised personality. Either of those adjectives denotes the holding in position of opposing characteristics or forces. Moderation lies in keeping the balance between the “too much” and the “too little” in everything.

The First Sounds While a baby at first responds by action to the social advances of other people, he also practises making sounds. From birth he has been training his organs of speech, the muscles and nerves of his lips, tongue, throat, and vocal chords. They are the ones he uses 6 times a day at his meals, in sucking, swallowing, and chewing. He does not limit his exercises to those periods. He practises when he wakes in the morning— not for too long, as the suggestion of food becomes overstrong and he changes to crying. He practises again after meals before sleep overtakes him. Usually he has a delighted audience in his family, unless the desire takes him too early in the morning.

Before he is 2 months old, throaty sounds emerge from these exercises. He repeats them many times, savouring every one. 'lt is real, sensuous enjoyment to the baby. By 4 months he is talking to himself, cooing and babbling. He uses vowel sounds first and later joins on the consonants formed by the closed lips and the palate, for example, M, D, and W. He is then able to

’’ 1 astound his gratified parents by seemingly calling them by their parental titles—“Ma “Da—da.” When he says —wa” he may even be presented with a drink of water.

Should the illusion be shattered? At that stage what he says cannot be purposive. He can only imitate the sounds he has already made in his babbling play, but perhaps the sounds “Mama” and “Dada” become impressed on his mind by the delighted reception accorded them. He sees there is value in the sounds he makes. People bring things. As soon as he makes sounds like words and his family begin praising and encouraging him, he will try to imitate himself and become proud of his ability. Such encouragement , is a great help in teaching him to speak. By the time he a year old he can say one or two words. Probably he can understand many words before he can say any of them.

From Jargon to Speech

In his second year he talks jargon before he can name things properly and express what he wants. He will name a picture and will repeat things said to-him. Exclamations and names of objects . are- learnt first, but he soon follows them with phrases and simple sentences. From then on his vocabulary will grow almost daily, most-of it being learnt through imitation. - - •

The ■ faculty of coherent speech in complete sentences of 5 or 6 words should be fully developed in the 4-year-old, and if the child does not attain this standard, obviously he needs•; some . special help. . Teachers agree that by the age of 5 years the speech of most New Zealand children of average intelligence can be followed readily is, the child’s conversation is understood with no great difficulty by adults outside his family circle. Not all his speech sounds are or should be correct at this stage. Children vary greatly in the age at which they reach different stages in their development. • By the time the child is 7 years old he may be familiar with almost 3000 words, but the number of words a child can use varies with his intelligence; in fact, the development of speech is one of the methods experts use for measuring intelligence. However, the standard of speech and understanding achieved depends greatly on the extent to which parents work, live, play, and talk with their children. -

Early Influences

There are some very important points here for parents. One is the realisation of how far back go the influences that - make for the good speech which is intimately connected with personality development. Research work by Dr. H. B. Ross, of Michigan . University, shows that swallowing, sucking, and chewing are the basis of speech movements. At the speech clinic in that university it was found that the majority of the 64 children classed, as stutterers had had insufficient training in chewing, sucking, and swallowing to make possible the attainment of accuracy in the highly-specific. activities of speech. Bottle feeding, delayed solid feeding (especially chewing), and late weaning were found in these cases singly and together. They are not the only disturbances in the right development of speech, but they are listed first and rightly so, as they are preventable. Modern baby schedules provide for and urge the inclusion of these activities, which help to develop the finely-co-ordinated and complex movements used in speech. While speech is impossible or imperfect without them, so is the development of a confident and balanced personality impossible without the power of fluent speech.

Another point of significance is that social play experiences are the needed background to the development of language. In an article on “Play Ways in Speech Development” Miss M. E. Saunders, formerly chief therapist of the Speech Clinic, Christchurch, states: “Play is so important because it implies freedom from fears and anxieties and freedom for practice and experiment. It provides the opportunities to express wishes and feelings as well as the opportunity to talk. The period which is devoted to play between mother and child is one of the most precious in the child’s day. It is one of the most pleasurable and satisfying times in his experience. He feels thoroughly secure and happy in being loved. He is free to unfold his natural capacities. He is ready to respond. A game should be made of learning and should be played with him. Let it be ‘the two of us together will do this’ or ‘we two can do wonders.’ To young mothers a word of caution must be given: Care must be taken not to overexcite a young child.”

If the child is slow in speech, he should be given the confidence that it will be overcome; no defect should be admitted in talking to other , people. The model should be the clever mother who cheered and reassured her child exposed to a visitor’s injudicious question “He’s awfully slow in talking, isn’t he?” by saying “Oh, he’ll probably surprise us all with his talking one day.”

“Much can be done to ensure good natural speech development. It should be borne in mind that speech is part of the whole person. Think of your speech on the day when you are feeling relaxed and at peace with the world and compare it with the thin, querulous tones and rapid utterance of the days when you are feeling unwell or are anxious. Anything that helps the child as a whole will help his speech. A good daily routine with well-balanced meals, adequate rest, judicious easing of the trials and strains of childhood, the security that comes from a knowledge of his parents’ love and assistanceall these things help toward good speech development.” (Miss M. Gane, editor of the “Speech Therapists’ Journal.”)

Factors in Good Speech Development

1. The child learns most of his speech through imitation, so do not imitate the child’s baby talk. Saying “dravy” for “gravy” and “wed” for “red” because the baby talks that way confirms him in his difficulty. But do not correct him. . If the parents keep on talking English, he will, too, as soon as he can. Never talk down to babies and little children. 2. Do not correct the child’s. pronunciation or . enunciation. Applaud that which is right, but do not stress that which is wrong at any time; just ignore failures. • 3. Never condemn or ridicule the child’s efforts, or compare him with another child to his disadvantage. 4. Do not nag or coax or raise the voice in an effort to get : the baby to talk. Let speech come when he is ready. ; 5. Give the child a chance to talk, and listen to him when he talks. That will encourage him a lot. 6. Always be sure the child listens to what is said to him. . Say what is meant clearly,. and try to say it once only. Many people maintain that a radio set which plays ..all day by its familiarity leads children into, the habit of not listening. Include the child in family conversation whenever possible. 7. Encourage a child to ask for what he wants. That is especially important where there are many elders. Even if his speech is not good, it is wise to expect him to make the effort. Do not allow the child to have things for which he merely makes signs. ; 8. Guard the tone of the parents’ voices. Let their speech be of a slow, careful pattern. Be cheerful, reassuring, and careful not to show any anxiety about a child’s speech. Even a child with a speech difficulty should not be allowed to become speechconscious. -- - .

9. At all ages be sure the child has play-fellows of his own age and opportunity for free play with no adults present.

10. Provide well-illustrated, attractive books appropriate to his age.

11. Remember the play-hour, for cooperation and companionship lead to skill, co-ordination, and success. Speech should always be good fun. In the pre-school period some of the most useful play activities are:— The traditional finger and toe plays —for example, “knock knock at the door,” “this little pig went to market,” and “pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake.”

Games involving the imitation of engines, motor- cycles, aeroplanes, bees, birds, animals, the wind, and the sea. Plenty of singing and talking games. When out for a walk play the game “I see something red. Is it a bus? Is it a gate? etc.” Nursery rhymes recited and sung together. These are for the enjoyment of the fun and the speech and the rhythm. They must not be spoilt by making them speech-correc-tion exercises. The child who has plenty of pleasant speech in this way will develop a good speech naturally and unconsciously. That is the ideal. Plenty of bed-time stories. Include some with a chorus or ' a recurring phrase in which the child can join—example, “The Gingerbread Boy” and “The • Pig who wouldn’t Jump over the Stile.” As well as providing speech, practice, the suggestions listed provide good ear-training exercises. Speech Disabilities If the faculty of coherent speech in complete sentences of 5 or 6 words is not fully j developed in a 4-year-old, i the child needs some special help. Unfortunately speech disabilities do exist. Research i work in New Zealand as yet is insufficient for the incidence of these speech defects to be known, but one investigation suggests that only 20 per

cent, of the new entrants to school in a New Zealand city have complete mastery over the mechanics of speech. In America it has been found that 10 per cent, of the population have speech difficulties, including stuttering and stammering.

Any disorder of speech is so significant in the future life of the child that parents will -do well to seek competent advice at the earliest possible moment.

In speech, as in many other areas of knowledge, much has been learnt ' by and through attempts to help children who for a variety of reasons are handicapped by a disability. It has already been shown that some of these difficulties can be prevented. Some cannot, but all need treatment. Incoherent speech is a great handicap in a child’s development, especially when he reaches school age. Sometimes recovery is made without outside help, but should the child be subjected to the waste of energy and strain involved in such an unaided return to normal? That is the question asked by speech-therapy specialists who have co-operated in supplying the material in this article. New Zealand parents are fortunate in that remedial work in this country is part of the system of education. The establishment of a training centre for speech-therapy specialists in Christchurch has made possible speech clinics in all the main centres and many of the smaller ones. The specialists in charge consider that an enormous saving of trouble and distress for the child could be effected if it were recognised that treatment should begin at 4 years of age and earlier for cleft-palate cases, which means that it should begin at home in the pre-school years. Parents can help their children and can receive help themselves. Those in the country can obtain advice from the clinic in their nearest centre.

Early Years are Vital

The first 4 or 5 years are vital ones for the child, as in them he perfects his techniques in the art of speech. There is no place like his home for the child to find the natural stimulus to speech. By his mastery of words he acquires the important skill of communication with his fellows, which in turn produces confidence in going forward to make relationships with other people.

It is worth while taking time to understand though not to interfere in a baby’s growing. In speech or in any other of its aspects he must do his own growing. For parents the aim is appreciation of what he is accomplish-

ing, of its significance in his total development, and of the privilege of being there to guide him through understanding when stumbling blocks appear.

Acknowledgments

Dr. Arnold Gesell, director of the child-development clinic, Yale University; Dr. Susan Isaacs, London; Dr. Agatha Bowley, Dundee Child Guidance Clinic; the speech-therapy specialists at the Training Centre, Normal School, Christchurch.