A synthetic principle connecting reality, thinking and speech. Thinking: its types and connection with language
Speech as a means of thinking
Thinking is organically connected with speech and language. A word as a concept contains much more information than a simple combination of sounds can carry. The fact that human thinking is inextricably linked with speech is, first of all, proven by psychophysiological studies of the participation of the vocal apparatus in solving mental problems.
Thus, in the most difficult and intense moments of thinking, a person experiences increased activity of the vocal cords. Emotional and mental outbursts, as a rule, cause an increase in a person’s speech and motor activity. In these cases, mental operations and speech-motor reactions are performed in unity and interdependence. Increased activity vocal cords appears in two forms: phasic and tonic. The first is recorded in the form of high-amplitude and irregular bursts of speech motor potentials, and the second - in the form of a gradual increase in the amplitude of the electromyogram (technical recording of movements of the vocal cords). It has been experimentally proven that the phasic form of speech motor potentials is associated with the hidden pronunciation of words to oneself, and the tonic form is associated with general increase speech motor activity of a person. It turned out that all types of human thinking associated with the need to use more or less detailed reasoning are accompanied by an increase in speech motor impulses, and habitual and repeated mental actions are accompanied by its reduction. There appears to be a certain optimal level of variation in the intensity of human speech-motor reactions, at which mental operations are performed most successfully. As quickly and face-to-face as possible.
In speech thinking, word and thought are constantly combined.
However, thinking and speech have different genetic roots. Speech as a means of thinking and communication mainly performs communicative function. All its types develop verbal thinking and personality intelligence. The development of speech depends on the development of a person’s thinking and motivation: it goes from thoughts to inner speech, sentences and phrases, keywords, sounds and vice versa. This is the essence of the perception of speech and its translation into thought.
Speech should be syntactically and grammatically structured, accessible, vivid and demonstrative. Mastering speech comes down to learning all its elements: clear articulation of sound signals, mastering words, phrases, simple and extended sentences. This is the essence of the psychological model of the generation and functioning of speech.
Basic functions and qualities of speech
Speech performs a number of functions:
1. Expresses the individual uniqueness of human psychology;
2. Acts as a carrier of information, memory and consciousness;
3. Is a means of thinking;
4. Acts as a regulator of human communication and one’s own behavior;
5. Is a means of controlling the behavior of other people as a function of influence.
The main function of speech in humans is that it is an instrument of thinking.
The function of expression is that with the help of speech a person shows his attitude to a certain object, phenomenon and to himself.
The function of influence is that with the help of speech we try to induce another person or group of people to a certain action or form a certain point of view on something in listeners.
The function of communication is to exchange thoughts, knowledge and information between people using words. This function ensures contacts between people.
The function of designation is the ability to give an appropriate name to certain objects (a car or truck, a truck crane) and phenomena (for example, it is raining, there is a downpour, etc.). Thanks to this, a person is able to think abstractly using abstract concepts, as well as exchange information with another person.
Human speech is characterized by several qualities.
Speech is the main means of human communication. Without it, a person would not have the opportunity to receive and transmit information that carries a large semantic load or captures something that cannot be perceived with the help of the senses (for example, abstract concepts, not directly perceived phenomena, laws and rules). Without written speech, a person would be deprived of the opportunity to obtain information about the life of previous generations; he would not have the opportunity to convey his thoughts and feelings to others.
Speech as a means of communication is characterized by the following qualities:
1. constructiveness,
2. reflexivity,
3. alternativeness and unity of group judgment,
4. highlighting the main link,
5. organization of the verbal process,
6. sufficiency in information exchange,
7. skillful combination of verbal and non-verbal (facial expressions, hand gestures, body postures).
Federal State Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education
NORTHWEST ACADEMY OF PUBLIC SERVICE
PSYCHOLOGY OF MANAGEMENT AND PEDAGOGY
ABSTRACT: "THINKING AND SPEECH"
1st year students 1103 groups
Denisov Vladislav Anatolyevich
Checked: Art. Ave. Nizhegorodtseva N.A.
Saint Petersburg
Introduction
Chapter 1. The concept of thinking
Chapter 4. Forms of thinking
Chapter 5. Stages of solving mental problems
Chapter 6. The concept of speech
Chapter 7. Speech development
Chapter 8. Types of speech
Chapter 9. Functions, components, properties of speech
Chapter 10. Speech and thinking: unity, not identity
Conclusion
References
Introduction
The main feature of man as a subject, distinguishing him from other living beings, is consciousness. 1 The essential features of consciousness include speech, thinking and the ability to create a generalized model of the surrounding world in the form of a set of images and concepts. 2 In this work we will consider the first two signs of consciousness. We will define what thinking and speech are, find out their classifications, properties and components, as well as the interaction between them.
Chapter 1. The concept of thinking
Deep and comprehensive knowledge of reality is possible only with the participation of thinking, which is the highest cognitive process. If reality is reflected in sensations by its individual aspects, qualities, signs, and in perceptions - in the totality of all these qualities, then through thinking, an analysis is carried out of such features, properties, signs of objects and phenomena that usually cannot be cognized using only the senses. And most importantly, with the help of thinking one can recognize what is common in objects and phenomena, those connections between them that are inaccessible directly to sensation and perception and which constitute the essence, the pattern of objective reality. For example, one cannot directly observe physiological processes in the cerebral cortex; one cannot see the structure of an atom, the development human society a thousand years ago, but man learns the laws of physiological processes, the structure of the atom, and the history of mankind. Knowledge of patterns, processes, phenomena that are not directly perceived is achieved through thinking.
Being a generalized reflection of reality, thinking is carried out through language, words. And the connection between thinking and language is preserved in any case - whether a person expresses his thoughts out loud or thinks silently (to himself). In both cases, the action of the same neural mechanisms and the use of the same speech signals are observed. The only difference is that when a person thinks silently, the movement of the muscles of the speech apparatus is weakened. 1
Thinking is the highest form of human cognitive activity, a socially conditioned mental process of indirect and generalized reflection of reality, the process of searching and discovering something essentially new. 1
In real life cognitive activity Each person’s sensory cognition and thinking continuously transform into one another and mutually determine each other. For mental activity, its relationship is essential not only with sensory cognition, but also with language and speech. This reveals one of the fundamental differences between the human psyche and the psyche of animals. The elementary, simplest thinking of animals always remains only visually effective; it cannot be abstract, mediated by cognition. It deals only with directly perceived objects that are currently in front of the animal’s eyes.
Only with the advent of speech does it become possible to abstract one or another of its properties from a cognizable object, consolidate, and record the concept of it in a special word. A thought acquires in a word the necessary material shell, in which it only becomes an immediate reality for others. Human thinking - no matter what forms it takes - is impossible without language. Every thought arises and develops in inextricable connection with speech. Thinking, therefore, exists in a material, verbal shell. The organic connection of thinking with language clearly reveals the social, socio-historical essence of human thinking.
Mental activity is a necessary basis for both the assimilation of knowledge and the acquisition of completely new knowledge in the course of the historical development of mankind. In the process of socio-historical development, knowledge and transformation of nature and society, scientific knowledge is developed and systematized. 2
Chapter 2. Classification of thinking
Rice. 1. Classification of thinking
The first way of thinking of a child is visual-effective thinking (between the ages of 1 and 3 years), that is, thinking in the form of practical actions. Young children learn about the world around them and make their first conclusions about its structure by testing objects with their hands, taking them apart and breaking them.
The next stage is visual-figurative, that is, thinking in the form of visual images and ideas (visual, auditory, tactile). It is most developed between the ages of 4 and 7 years, but persists in adults. This thinking is based on practical reality, but can already create and store images that have no direct analogue in sensations (fairy-tale characters).
In imaginative thinking, which is most developed among artists, designers, advertisers, tailors, hairdressers and architects, the material for solving a problem is not concepts, but images - often visual (for musicians - auditory). They are either retrieved from memory or recreated by imagination. The predominant role in this type of thinking is played by the human right hemisphere. The difference from the previous stage is the widespread use of verbal constructions in the formation and transformation of images, as well as the use of abstract concepts.
Abstract-logical (abstract or conceptual) thinking works in the form of abstract concepts, symbols and numbers. In this case, a person operates with concepts without dealing with experience gained through the senses. For example, the ethical terms “justice” and “conscience”, the mathematical terms “degree” and “derivative”, the economic terms “balance” or “profit” are abstract concepts and cannot be perceived directly by human senses.
Theoretical - thinking based on theoretical reasoning and conclusions, this is the knowledge of laws and rules.
Practical - thinking based on judgments and conclusions based on solving practical problems. The main task of practical thinking is to develop means of practical transformation of reality.
Discursive (analytical) - thinking mediated by the logic of reasoning, rather than perception. Analytical thinking unfolds in time, has clearly defined stages, and is represented in the consciousness of the thinking person himself.
Intuitive - thinking based on direct sensory perceptions and direct reflection of the effects of objects and phenomena of the objective world. Intuitive thinking is characterized by rapidity, the absence of clearly defined stages, and is minimally conscious.
Reproductive - thinking based on images and ideas drawn from certain sources.
Productive - thinking based on creative imagination. 1
Chapter 3. Mental operations
The thinking process is carried out using a number of mental operations: analysis and synthesis, abstraction and concretization, classification, systematization, comparison, generalization. 1
Analysis is the mental division of an object into its constituent elements, followed by their comparison. For example, a psychologist analyzes the personal qualities of his client based on the results of the Cattell test.
Synthesis is the combination of individual components into a whole. Usually adjacent to analysis. Continuing the previous example, let us imagine how a psychologist, after analyzing several tests, builds a generalized psychological portrait of a person.
Abstraction (abstraction - V.D.) - highlighting one side of an object or phenomenon, which in reality does not exist as a separate one. As a result of abstraction, concepts are formed. As an example, we can take the concept of “reliability” as a low probability of breakdown of some type of household appliance.
Concretization is an operation inverse to generalization, the identification of features characteristic of an object or phenomenon that are not related to the features common to the class of the object or phenomenon. For example, the owner of a mini-bakery, having discovered the increased demand for buns, decides to bake them a new type - with sesame seeds and strawberry filling. 2
Classification is the grouping of objects or phenomena into a group based on their equivalence. 3
Systematization is the arrangement of individual objects, phenomena, thoughts in a certain order according to any one characteristic (for example, chemical elements in D.I. Mendeleev’s periodic table). 1
Comparison is revealing the similarities and differences between things. The result of the comparison is a classification. For example, an HR manager compares the personal qualities of applicants for a vacant position (by their accuracy, diligence, energy, competence, etc.)
Generalization is the identification of common essential properties in compared objects. For example, after analyzing sales of individual types of bread, the owner of a bakery comes to the conclusion that butter buns are in best demand, regardless of their size and fillings. 2
Chapter 4. Forms of thinking
The results of the thinking process exist in the form of judgments, inferences and concepts. 3
A concept is a thought that reflects the general, essential characteristics of objects and phenomena. 4 Concepts can be concrete or abstract. Concrete concepts reflect objects, phenomena, events of the surrounding world, abstract concepts reflect abstract ideas. For example, “person”, “autumn”, “holiday” - specific concepts; “truth”, “beauty”, “good” are abstract concepts. 5
Judgment is a reflection of the connections between objects and phenomena or between their properties and characteristics. 6 Judgments can be of different types, as shown in Fig. 2.
RELATIONSHIP OF THINKING AND SPEECH
V.V. Temnova
The problem of our research is the relationship between thinking and speech. What comes first: thinking or speech? How does our speech depend on thinking and thinking on speech? Is it possible to think without speech and speech without thinking? Since ancient times, these questions have interested people and debates on these topics still continue.
Even at the beginning of the twentieth century, the question of the origin of language was considered to be one of the world’s mysteries, and many prominent scientists considered language to be a specific gift that manifests a divine influence on man. IN Holy Scripture God is said to have created man in His “image,” which implies that He placed in man, among other things, the gift of the Word.
Researchers have found that various human speech abilities are associated with certain areas of the cerebral cortex, mainly in the left hemisphere. More than a third of it is related to speech, which emphasizes the role of language in people's lives.
It is quite clear that speech is controlled by our brain and its individual parts are responsible for various functions of speech. But the opposite question arises: can a person think without resorting to language?
Most researchers believe that thinking can only exist on the basis of language and actually identify language and thinking.
Even the ancient Greeks used the word " logos"to denote speech and at the same time to denote mind, thought. They began to separate the concepts of language and thought much later.
Indeed, the thinking of an adult normal person inextricably linked with speech. Thought can neither arise nor exist outside of language, outside of speech. We think in words that we pronounce out loud or say to ourselves, i.e. thinking occurs in speech form. Using special devices, it is possible to register hidden speech (articulatory) micromovements of the lips, tongue, and larynx, which always accompany human mental activity. In deaf and mute people who use kinetic speech, micromovements of the fingers are recorded using electrodes when these people think. Are people who are deaf and mute from birth, who do not even speak kinetic (“manual”) speech, able to think? They probably think based on images, but whether such thinking can be called full-fledged, scientists have not yet undertaken to answer this question, since the thinking of such people is very difficult to study.
Sometimes it may seem that a thought exists outside the verbal shell, that another thought is difficult to express in words. But this means that the thought is still unclear to itself, that it is rather not a thought, but a vague general idea. A clear thought is always associated with a clear verbal formulation. Thinking without words is impossible, just as mathematics is impossible without numbers. As American linguist Leonard Bloomfield argued, thinking is talking to oneself.
People think in words. Moreover, it is believed that since there are different languages, people who speak different languages think differently. This is why it can be so difficult to completely accurately translate a thought from one language to another. Thus, it is impossible to convey in other languages the thought that Russians put into such concepts as “everyday life,” “melancholy,” “freedom,” “in-law,” “freebie,” “perestroika,” “pity,” “perhaps,” “ as it were,” since such words and such concepts simply do not exist in other languages. This example proves how strongly interconnected thinking and speech are. Wilhelm Humboldt, the great German linguist, considered language to be the formative organ of thought. Developing this thesis, he said that the language of a people is its spirit, the spirit of a people is its language.
In different languages, words are not different designations for the same object, but different visions of it. The most striking examples are associated with words denoting colors. Thus, in many European languages there is no distinction between the colors blue and cyan. Thus, a person is at the mercy of a particular language.
However, many scientists take the opposite point of view, believing that thinking, especially creative thinking, is quite possible without verbal expression. Norbert Wiener, Albert Einstein, Francis Galton and other scientists admit that in the process of thinking they use not words or mathematical symbols, but vague images, use the game of associations and only then embody the result in words.
Many can create without the help of verbal language creative people- composers, artists, actors. For example, composer Yu.A. Shaporin lost the ability to speak and understand, but he could compose music, that is, he continued to think. He retained a constructive, imaginative type of thinking.
Russian-American linguist Roman Osipovich Jacobson explains these facts by the fact that words are a necessary support for thought, but internal thought, especially when it is a creative thought, willingly uses other systems of signs (non-speech), more flexible, among which there are conditional generally accepted and individual ones.
Essen’s assertion that there is speech without thinking is worthy of attention: an example of such speech can sometimes be the speech of a manic patient or a schizophrenic. However, there is no need to go to the clinic for examples of speech without thinking: unfortunately, in everyday life you can also come across cases where people “speak without thinking.” This also applies to inner speech. Sometimes we happen to catch ourselves repeating to ourselves some completely meaningless phrase. Any of us can recite poems we have learned by heart in foreign language, moreover, completely incomprehensible to him. Any speech, including internal speech, can exist without thinking: speaking out loud or to oneself does not always mean thinking.
That is why one should treat with great caution the formulation: “Thinking is inner speech,” always remembering that this formulation cannot be reversed, one cannot say: “Inner speech is thinking,” since inner speech is possible without thinking.
Thus, both opposing points of view have sufficient grounds. The truth most likely lies in the middle, i.e. Basically, thinking and verbal language are closely related. But in some cases and in some areas, thinking does not need words.
However, since there is still no clear answer, experiments and research into this problem continue. And you too can become a participant in the experiment and shed light on this problem. To do this, try to think without allowing a single word into your thinking. Will this work for you? We will be glad if you share the results of your observations by reporting them to the Department of Social Sciences and Foreign Languages of the Kaluga branch of the Russian State Agrarian University-Moscow Agricultural Academy named after. K.A. Timiryazev.
List of sources and literature
1. Thinking and speech / Vygotsky L.S. Moscow, Labyrinth, 1999.
2. Introduction to linguistics (course of lectures) / L.V. Kalashnikov
3. Introduction to psychology / P.Ya. Galperin Moscow, 1996.
4. – collection of biographies
5. – Gumer Library - Humanities
Thinking- this is an active, purposeful, indirect and generalized reflection of the surrounding reality in the human mind. Sensory cognition is the basis on which thinking is formed.
The source material of mental activity is perception and the ideas formed on its basis. A representation is an indirect, holistic visual-sensory image of objects or phenomena, stored and reproduced in consciousness through human memory or constructed by the imagination. Representations are divided into representations of memory and representations of imagination. Representations of memory preserve the properties of the perceived object, and representations of imagination presuppose the formation of a sensory image that goes beyond the limits of present reality. We can conclude that if sensations and perceptions relate to the present state of things and phenomena, then the idea is able to overcome the present situation, to go beyond its limits into the past or future.
Thinking is active process, which involves processing, alteration, and mutual change of information obtained by the senses. The leading role in mental activity is played by analytical-synthetic activity. It represents the inextricable unity of two mental operations: the mental decomposition of the original images into corresponding parts (analysis) and their subsequent combination into new combinations (synthesis).
Analytical and synthetic operations There are two types: firstly, you can mentally decompose (and connect) the object itself, the phenomenon, into its component parts. Secondly, you can mentally highlight certain signs, qualities, properties in them.
Analysis and synthesis are basic mental operations and are inherent to all people. However, different people due to the peculiarities of the development of their psyche, a tendency to either synthesis or analysis predominates. People endowed analytical warehouse mind, focus on private details and phenomena. They are interested in the subtleties of this or that phenomenon. Those who have a predominant tendency towards synthesis, first of all, focus on the whole, try to grasp the pattern, formulate general ideas about the subject. A harmonious combination of the ability to both analyze and synthesize is the ideal.
Without analysis and synthesis, such an important mental operation, as a comparison. When comparing objects with each other, we first divide them into their component parts, highlight individual qualities and properties, and then compare them with each other. Comparison is a synthetic operation. By comparing objects, their qualities and properties, we discover both differences and properties in them, thereby deepening our knowledge of these objects or phenomena. Abstraction and generalization are also mental operations. Abstraction- this is a mental operation, the essence of which is mental abstraction from various aspects and properties of an object in order to highlight one property or feature as essential. Generalization- a synthetic mental operation, the purpose of which is to establish the general characteristics and qualities of objects. Based on analysis, synthesis, comparison, abstraction and generalization, the main logical form is formed, on the basis of which thinking is carried out. This form is called “concept”.
Concept- this is a form of thought that expresses the general and essential characteristics of objects. The concept is expressed in words. Abstraction is a form of thinking that is characterized by a higher degree of abstraction from the concreteness of material objects and their sensory observable properties. Clearly expressed abstractions are scientific concepts, such as absolute zero, mass, etc. Concepts play important role V scientific knowledge. Each specific science is a strictly constructed system of concepts. Thanks to them, a person understands the world more deeply in significant connections and relationships.
Language plays an indirect role in thinking. Language is a system of signs endowed with certain meanings. The difference between the human psyche and the psyche of animals lies in the connection between thinking and language. The word is the material shell of thought; through this shell it can be perceived by ourselves and other people. Thanks to the formation and consolidation in the word, the thought does not disappear, but is firmly fixed in the speech formulation - written or oral.
The socio-historical essence of thinking is clearly visible in the inextricable connection between thinking and language. Continuity of culture and knowledge is possible only if they are recorded, consolidated, preserved and transmitted from one generation to another.
Thinking is goal-oriented. Thinking is necessary only in those situations where a new goal arises, and the old means are no longer sufficient to achieve it. Such situations are called problematic. So, problematic situation is an uncertain situation that forces us to look for new solutions. We can conclude that thinking is the search and discovery of something new.
Mental activity is stimulated by motives, which are not only the conditions for its development, but also factors influencing productivity. Motives are divided into specifically cognitive and nonspecific. In the first case driving force Cognitive activity is served by interests and motives; cognitive needs, for example, curiosity, are manifested in them. The second is any practical needs.
Thinking is an inextricably linked process of cognitive activity of an individual, characterized by a purposeful, generalized and indirect reflection of reality, aimed at searching and discovering something new.
Types of thinking
Researchers have found that In its development, thinking goes through two stages: pre-conceptual and conceptual. Pre-conceptual thinking is divided into two main types. The first one is visually effective thinking. This type of thinking is based on the direct perception of objects, the real physical transformation of the situation in the process of actions with objects. Elementary forms of visual-effective thinking can be observed in higher animals (monkeys). In humans, it forms the first, earliest stage of development and predominates in a child of 2-3 years of age. In an adult, this type of thinking is combined with other types.
The second type of pre-conceptual thinking is visual-figurative thinking. With visual-figurative thinking, a person operates not only with objects, but also with their images.
This type of thinking is associated with imagining situations and operating with images in these situations. In a child, visual-figurative thinking predominates until the age of 6-7 years. If you show a child a ball of plasticine, and then turn this ball into a cake before his eyes and ask where there is more plasticine, the child will point to the cake, since it takes up more space. Visual-figurative thinking often remains dominant in adults. Often, when asked which is heavier, a kilogram of fluff or a kilogram of nails, subjects answer: a kilogram of nails. That is, a person is not able to identify the main thing in a relationship and chooses a secondary feature.
At a later stage of ontogenesis, the leading human type of thinking develops - conceptual, verbal-logical. It operates on the basis of linguistic means. A child develops at the age of 6-7 years, i.e. since schooling. The basic unit of verbal-logical thinking is the concept, which reflects the general, more essential properties and characteristics of objects and phenomena. Concepts are expressed in verbal language, and the relationship between concepts is expressed in grammatical constructions(inferences and judgments) highlighting in them the subject of the action, the object of the action, the action itself and various features.
Thinking can also be classified on other grounds. Thus, the degree of participation of conscious or subconscious regulation of thought can be reflected in the contrast between logical and intuitive thinking. Logical thinking is carried out on the basis of clear, clearly recognized formalized conceptual structures, and intuitive - on an unconscious level and operates with images and fuzzy formal structures; this type of thinking does not have pronounced stages and speed of flow.
There are also heuristic And algorithmic thinking. The first (from the Greek heureka - “found”) is a rationalization type of problem solving using abbreviated methods and rules that are most suitable in a given situation. Second, it uses only one strict system of rules (algorithm).
In psychology they distinguish reproductive And productive thinking.
In situations where standardized, familiar ways of solving a problem are ineffective, only productive methods can work. creative thinking. Creative thinking is a type of thinking that produces new results. The novelty of thinking can be objective: scientific discovery any property, phenomenon, pattern of objects, but it can also be of a subjective nature: when a person, as a result of mental activity, discovers something that was already discovered before him, but was not known to him.
Introduction
The thinking of an adult, normal person is inextricably linked with speech. Thought cannot arise, flow, or exist outside of language, outside of speech. We think in words that we pronounce out loud or say to ourselves, that is, thinking occurs in speech form. People who are equally fluent in several languages are quite clearly aware of which language they are thinking in at any given moment. In speech, a thought is not only formulated, but also formed and developed. Being necessary attributes of a person, both phenomena combine the social and biological (corresponding to the dual nature of man). On the one hand, both speech and thinking are products of the human brain as homo sapiens; on the other hand, speech and thinking are social products, since man himself is a social phenomenon.
The problem of the relationship between speech and thinking to this day remains one of the most incomprehensible and, accordingly, attractive subjects of study. Today this problem becomes especially obvious as a result of globalization, which is also reflected in science. The urgency of the problem is beyond doubt.
The question of the relationship between language and speech has been raised in linguistics for a long time. However, Ferdinand de Saussure most clearly distinguished these concepts in his “Course of General Linguistics.” After the publication of his work, many scientists devoted their research to this problem (A. Seshe, L. Elmslev, G. Guillaume, A.I. Smirnitsky, L.V. Shcherba, etc.).
In history psychological research problems of the relationship between thinking and speech made a significant contribution to L.S. Vygotsky with his monograph “Thinking and Speech,” published in 1934.
Object of study. Speech and thinking as psychological concepts.
Subject of research. The relationship between speech and thinking.
Target. Consider the relationship between speech and thinking
1. Study and analyze scientific, educational literature on the problem under study;
2. Describe the concepts of speech and thinking,
3. Analyze empirical research intellectual development preschool children.
Research methods. When writing this research work The method of analyzing and summarizing the literature on this topic was used.
Structure of the work: The work consists of an introduction, two chapters, a conclusion and a list of references, an appendix.
Speech and thinking
Speech, its functions and types
Speech has a socio-historical nature. People have always lived and live collectively, in society. Social life and the collective work of people create the need to constantly communicate, establish contact with each other, and influence each other. This communication is carried out through speech. Thanks to speech, people exchange thoughts and knowledge, talk about their feelings, experiences, and intentions.
When communicating with each other, people use words and use the grammatical rules of a particular language. Language is a system of verbal signs, a means by which communication between people is carried out. Speech is the process of using language to communicate between people. Language and speech are inextricably linked and represent a unity, which is expressed in the fact that historically the language of any nation was created and developed in the process of verbal communication between people. The connection between language and speech is also expressed in the fact that language as a tool of communication exists historically as long as people speak it. As soon as people stop using a particular language in verbal communication, it becomes a dead language. For example, Latin has become such a dead language.
Understanding the laws of the surrounding world, mental development of a person. is accomplished through the assimilation of knowledge developed by humanity in the process of socio-historical development and consolidated through language, through written speech. Language in this sense is a means of consolidating and transmitting from generation to generation the achievements of human culture, science and art. Each person, in the process of learning, assimilates knowledge acquired by all humanity and accumulated historically.
So, one of the functions of speech is to serve as a means of communication between people. Another important function of speech follows from the above-mentioned proposition that thinking is carried out in speech form. Speech (in particular, inner speech - the internal silent speech process with which we think to ourselves) is a means of thinking.
Types of speech. The speech of people, depending on various conditions, acquires unique characteristics. Accordingly, they allocate different types speech. First of all, a distinction is made between external and internal speech. External speech can be oral and written. In turn, oral speech can be monologue and dialogic.
External speech serves communication (although in some cases a person can think out loud without communicating with anyone), therefore its main feature is accessibility to the perception (hearing, vision) of other people. Depending on whether sounds or written signs are used for this purpose, oral (ordinary sound) is distinguished. colloquial speech) and written speech. Oral and written speech have their own psychological characteristics. When speaking, a person perceives listeners and their reaction to his words. Written speech is addressed to an absent reader who does not see or hear the writer and will read what is written only after some time. Often the author does not even know his reader at all and does not maintain contact with him. The lack of direct contact between the writer and the reader creates certain difficulties in constructing written speech. The writer is deprived of the opportunity to use expressive means (intonation, facial expressions, gestures) to better presentation your thoughts (punctuation marks do not fully replace these expressive means), as happens in oral speech. So written language is usually less expressive than spoken language. In addition, written speech must be particularly detailed, coherent, understandable and complete, i.e. processed. And it is not for nothing that the greatest writers paid special attention to this,
But written speech has another advantage: unlike oral speech, it allows for long and thorough work on the verbal expression of thoughts, while in oral speech delays are unacceptable, there is no time for polishing and finishing phrases. If you look, for example, at the draft manuscripts of L.N. Tolstoy or A.S. Pushkin, you will be struck by their unusually thorough and demanding work on the verbal expression of thoughts. Written speech both in the history of society and in life individual person arises later than oral speech and is formed on its basis. The importance of written speech is extremely great. It is in it that the entire historical experience of human society is consolidated. Thanks to writing, the achievements of culture, science and art are passed on from generation to generation.
Depending on the various conditions of communication, oral speech takes the form of either dialogic or monologue speech.
Dialogical speech is a conversation, a conversation between two or more persons who speak alternately. In everyday and ordinary conversation, dialogic speech is not planned. This is a supported speech. The direction of such a conversation and its results in to a large extent are determined by the statements of its participants, their remarks, comments, approval or objection. But sometimes a conversation is organized specifically to clarify a specific issue, then it is purposeful (for example, a student’s answer to a teacher’s questions).
Dialogue speech, as a rule, places fewer demands on the construction of a coherent and detailed statement than monologue or written speech; no special preparation is needed here. This is explained by the fact that the interlocutors are in the same situation, perceive the same facts and phenomena and therefore understand each other relatively easily, sometimes without a word. They do not need to express their thoughts in detailed speech form. An important requirement for interlocutors during dialogical speech is to be able to listen to the partner’s statements to the end, understand his objections and respond to them, and not to his own thoughts.
Monologue speech assumes that one person speaks, while others only listen without participating in the conversation. Monologue speech in the practice of human communication occupies great place and manifests itself in a wide variety of oral and written presentations. Monologue forms of speech include lectures, reports, and speeches at meetings. General and characteristic feature all forms of monologue speech - its pronounced orientation towards the listener. The purpose of this focus is to achieve the necessary impact on listeners, convey knowledge to them, and convince them of something. In this regard, monologue speech is extensive in nature and requires a coherent presentation of thoughts, and therefore, preliminary preparation and planning.
As a rule, monologue speech proceeds with a certain tension. It requires the speaker to be able to logically, consistently express his thoughts, express them in a clear and distinct form, as well as the ability to establish contact with the audience. To do this, the speaker must monitor not only the content of his speech and its external structure, but also the reaction of the listeners.
Inner speech is an internal silent speech process. It is inaccessible to the perception of other people and, therefore, cannot be a means of communication. Inner speech is the verbal shell of thinking. Inner speech is unique. It is very abbreviated, collapsed, almost never exists in the form of complete, expanded sentences. Often entire phrases are reduced to one word (subject or predicate). This is explained by the fact that the subject of one’s own thought is quite clear to a person and therefore does not require detailed verbal formulations from him. As a rule, they resort to the help of expanded inner speech in cases where they experience difficulties in the process of thinking.
The difficulties that a person sometimes experiences when trying to explain to another a thought that he himself understands are often explained by the difficulty of transitioning from abbreviated internal speech, understandable to himself, to expanded external speech, understandable to others.