The phenomenon of egocentric speech of the child is thoroughly and quite often discussed in psychology. If we talk about speech in general, then it contains the external, internal and sensual aspects of human consciousness. Therefore, in order to understand what the child is thinking about, what he is inside, it is worth paying attention to his speech.
Some parents begin to worry when their baby speaks words that are not related in meaning, as if thoughtlessly repeating everything that he heard from someone. It may be uncomfortable when you try to find out why he said a particular word, and the child is simply not able to explain it. Or when the child speaks with the interlocutor, as if with a wall, in other words, almost nowhere and not expecting either an answer, or even less understanding. Parents may have thoughts about the development of their baby's mental disorder and the dangers that this form of speech hides.
What is egocentric speech really? And is it worth it to worry if you notice its signs in your child?
What is egocentric speech?
One of the first scientists who devoted a lot of time to the study of childish egocentric speech, and also discovered this very concept, was Jean Piaget, a psychologist from Switzerland. He developed his own theory in this area and conducted a series of experiments involving young children.
According to his conclusions, one of the obvious external manifestations of egocentric positions in the child’s thinking is precisely egocentric speech. The age at which it is most often observed is from three to five years. Later, according to Piaget, this phenomenon almost completely disappears.
What is the difference between this behavior and ordinary baby talk? Self-centered speech is in psychology a conversation directed towards oneself. In children, it manifests itself when they speak out loud, without addressing anyone, asking themselves questions and are not at all worried about not receiving an answer to them.
Egocentrism itself is defined in psychology as a focus on personal aspirations, goals, experiences, lack of focus on other people's experiences and any external influences. However, if your baby has this phenomenon, do not panic. A lot will be clarified and will not be scary at all if we look deeper at the research of psychologists in this field.
Developments and conclusions by Jean Piaget
In the book “Speech and Thinking of the Child”, Jean Piaget tried to reveal the answer to the question of what needs the child is trying to satisfy by talking with himself. In the course of research, he came to some interesting conclusions, but one of his mistakes was the assertion that for a complete understanding of the child’s way of thinking, analysis of his speech alone is enough, since the words directly reflect actions. Later, other psychologists refuted such a false dogma, and the phenomenon of egocentric language in children's communication became more clear.
When Piaget investigated this issue, he claimed that speech in children, as well as in adults, exists not only to communicate thoughts, but also has other functions. In the course of research and experiments conducted in the "House of Babies", J.-J. Russo and J. Piaget managed to determine the functional categories of children's speech. Throughout the month, careful and detailed notes were kept of what every child was talking about. After careful processing of the collected material, psychologists identified two main groups of children's speech: egocentric speech and socialized.
What can this phenomenon tell about?
The egocentric speech is manifested in the fact that, speaking, the child is not at all interested in who is listening to him and whether anyone is listening at all. This form of language is made egocentric, first of all, by talking only about oneself, when the child does not even try to understand the point of view of his interlocutor. He only needs visible interest, although the illusion that he is understood and heard is most likely present in the child. He also does not try with his speech to exert any influence on the interlocutor, the conversation is conducted exclusively for himself.
Types of egocentric speech
It is also interesting that, as Piaget defined, egocentric speech is also divided into several categories, each of which has different features:
- Repetition of words.
- Monologue.
- "A monologue for two."
The distinguished types of egocentric children's language are used by babies in accordance with a specific situation and their immediate needs.
What is repetition?
Repetition (echolalia) involves the almost thoughtless repetition of words or syllables. The child does this for the pleasure of speech, he does not quite comprehend the words and does not address anyone with anything specific. This phenomenon is the remnants of infant babble and does not contain the slightest social orientation. In the first few years of life, the child likes to repeat the words he has heard, imitate sounds and syllables, often without putting any special meaning into it. Piaget believes that this kind of speech has some similarities with the game, because the child repeats sounds or words for the sake of entertainment.
What is a monologue?
A monologue as an egocentric speech is a conversation between a child and himself, like loud thoughts out loud. This type of speech is not directed to the interlocutor. In such a situation, the word for the child is associated with action. The author identifies the following consequences from this, important in order to correctly understand the child's monologues:
- acting, the child (even alone with himself) must speak and accompany games and various movements with words and screams;
- accompanying the words with a specific action, the baby can modify the attitude to the action itself or say something without which it could not be realized.
What is a “monologue for two”?
The “Monologue for Two”, also known as the collective monologue, is also described in some detail in the writings of Piaget. The author writes that the name of this form, which is adopted by egocentric children's speech, may seem somewhat contradictory, because how can a monologue be conducted in dialogue with the interlocutor? However, this phenomenon is often seen in the conversations of children. It manifests itself in the fact that during the conversation, each child introduces the other to his action or thought, while not trying to be truly heard and understood. Such a child never takes into account the opinion of the interlocutor; for him, the opponent is a kind of causative agent of the monologue.
Piaget calls the collective monologue the most social form of egocentric varieties of speech. After all, using this type of language, the child speaks not only for himself alone, but also for those around him. But at the same time, children of such monologues do not listen, because they are turned, ultimately, to themselves - the baby aloud thinks about his actions and does not set himself the goal of conveying any thoughts to the interlocutor.
Contradictory opinion of a psychologist
According to J. Piaget, speech for a small child, unlike an adult, is not so much an instrument of communication as an auxiliary and imitative action. From his point of view, the child in the first years of life is a closed creature turned upon itself. Piaget, based on the very fact that the child’s egocentric speech takes place, as well as on a number of experiments, comes to the following conclusion: the baby’s thinking is self-centered, which means that he thinks only for himself, not wanting to be understood, and not trying understand the way of thinking of the interlocutor.
Studies and conclusions of Leo Vygotsky
Later, conducting similar experiments, many researchers refuted Piaget's conclusion presented above. For example, Lev Vygotsky - a Soviet scientist and psychologist - criticized the Swiss opinion about the functional meaninglessness of the child's egocentric speech. In the course of his own experiments, such as those made by Jean Piaget, he came to conclusions that, to some extent, contradicted the initial statements of the Swiss psychologist.
A new look at the phenomenon of egocentric speech
Among the facts deduced by Vygotsky about the phenomenon of childish egocentrism, the following can be taken into account:
- Factors that impede certain activities of the child (for example, pencils of a certain color were taken from him during drawing) provoke egocentric speech. Its volume in such situations almost doubles.
- Besides the discharge function, the purely expressive function and the fact that the child’s egocentric speech often simply accompanies games or other types of childish activity, it can also play another important role. This form of speech embodies the function of forming a certain plan for resolving a problem or task, thus becoming a peculiar means of thinking.
- The egocentric speech of the baby is very similar to the internal mental speech of an adult. They have many similarities: figurative thinking, a shortened train of thought, the inability of the interlocutor to understand without using an additional context. Thus, one of the main functions of this phenomenon is the transition of speech in the process of its formation from internal to external.
- In later years, such speech does not disappear, but turns into egocentric thinking - inner speech.
- The intellectual function of this phenomenon cannot be considered a direct consequence of the egocentrism of children's thoughts, because there is absolutely no connection between these concepts. In fact, egocentric speech quite early becomes a kind of verbal form of realistic thinking of the baby.
How to respond?
These conclusions seem much more logical and help not to worry too much if the child shows signs of an egocentric form of communication. After all, this
type of thinking does not mean focusing solely on oneself or social inability, and moreover, it is not a serious mental disorder, for example, as some people mistakenly confuse it with manifestations of schizophrenia. Egocentric speech is only a transitional stage in the development of a child’s logical thinking and, with time, turns into an internal one. Therefore, many modern psychologists say that the egocentric form of speech does not need to be tried to fix or cure - it is absolutely normal.