Man is a complex mechanism that thinks, acts and experiences emotions. Human nature is structured in such a way that communication in it plays a very important role. Verbal abilities, like any other, require development. What is the definition of verbal abilities, why are they needed and how to develop them?
Definition
Verbal abilities are a person’s ability to communicate with the outside world through speech. To do this, you need to correctly form thoughts and build sentences. The verbal abilities of a person are manifested not only in the pronunciation of certain words, this also applies to the tone of voice, the expression with which the words are pronounced.
Why do you need to develop abilities?
Communication with the help of verbal expression of thought is one of the main ways of human communication with the outside world. The ability to communicate with other people needs to be instilled from childhood, when the child is most susceptible to information.
For the first time, the child communicates with the mother screaming, notifying about his needs. Then, following the example of his parents, he begins to pronounce words that gradually turn into phrases and sentences. The purpose of the development of verbal abilities of a person is the perception and reproduction of thoughts, understanding of works of art and the ability to most accurately and correctly express their own conclusions.
A person's knowledge of the art of expressing his own thoughts begins in childhood. For this, word games and other manipulations are used. Then, at school age, teachers use other techniques for developing abilities. There are a fairly large number of such methods.
Internal dialogue
Everyone has an inner voice in their head through which thoughts are formed. The following exercises are used for his training:
- You need to take one phrase and try to mentally pronounce it with different intonation, stress, expression.
- Then you should imagine how it would sound if it was uttered by another person.
- With the help of imagination, you need to imagine how this phrase would sound if you were in another room, in the sky, lying in the palm of your hand.
Undoubtedly, such manipulations require the inclusion of fantasy, but exercises allow you to correctly form a thought before pronouncing it out loud.
Reading
In terms of developing verbal abilities, reading is a very important aspect. Reading books, a person replenishes his vocabulary, his speech is filled with artistic turns, and also becomes correct. At the same time, it is important to read books not only from classical but also from contemporary literature.
The love of reading has been instilled since school years, this is facilitated by literature lessons. In addition, a person should be able to analyze information received from the source, as well as retell it in his own words. Also, reading helps to develop concentration of attention and attentiveness, in addition, books are a great way to develop imagination.
Clustering
This technique is as follows: you need to select one word, write it on paper, and then select the associations that it causes. It is important to do this instinctively, without hesitation, at a sensitive level.
Technique is useful for making plans, organizing your own thoughts. In addition, answering the question posed without hesitation, you can understand what this concept really means for a person.
Games with abbreviations
The meaning of the exercise is to take a word and make a phrase, the first letters of which coincide with the letters of the selected word. For example: BREAD - Husky Forester Eating Borsch. The time to think up a phrase is usually limited to 1 minute. Sometimes the task is complicated by limited topics for inventing phrases.
Such a word game will be interesting for both adults and children. It helps to develop imagination and form thoughts for a limited period of time. The game form in which this exercise is carried out is able to interest both adults and children.
Alternative to common words
To develop verbal abilities, the following methodology can be used: it is necessary to come up with an alternative to existing words that characterizes their essence. For example, a heater is a heating pad, a fur coat is a heater.
The universality of games with words is that they can be played almost anywhere - in a lesson, at home, on a trip. A variation on the theme of inventing alternative words can be as follows: describe the object with words so that those around it guessed. The game is carried out by analogy with the "Crocodile", only to describe using speech instead of movements.
Pronunciation of tongue twisters
Complicated sentences are considered good training in verbal thinking. It can be either simple children's tongue twisters, such as "Sasha walked along the highway and sucked drying", or more complex ones - "Coconut brews coconut juice in short-cookers".
Pronouncing complex tongue twisters has a positive effect on speed, speech purity, and also improvement in diction. Trying to pronounce a complex sentence as soon as possible, you must not forget that it should remain understandable to others. Thus, you can quickly get rid of the so-called effect of "cereal in the mouth."
Exercises for Preschoolers
It is quite difficult for young preschool children to perform most of the exercises described above, but this does not mean at all that it is too early to develop their verbal abilities. There are techniques for kindergarten teachers that are available for understanding young children:
- Reading aloud books. Interesting books are read for children according to their age. In this case, the teacher should read loudly, with expression. Books should contain short stories that have an instructive side. After reading the book, you can discuss and analyze the actions of the main characters with the children.
- Riddles are also a good method of developing verbal abilities. In this case, children are invited to guess the object or phenomenon based on the description.
- Verbal abilities are the ability not only to make speeches, but also to understand them. An important exercise is to teach children the ability to listen and understand the person they are talking to. For this, the teacher holds tea parties, in which the children gather at the table and talk. It is important to teach the child not to interrupt the interlocutor, as well as correctly formulate their own thoughts.
Regular classes with children help prepare them for school, where the ability to speak and understand the interlocutor plays an important role.
Verbal Ability Tests
To date, many companies during the interview with the applicant conduct several personality tests to determine the nature, performance and other characteristics. The dynamic test of verbal abilities is one of the most popular. It can consist of seemingly simple questions, for example, about which figure is superfluous or which word is closer to the word "work".
Thus, the employer can find out the person’s ability to perceive information and its adequate analysis. Such personality traits are necessary in such professions as a teacher, personnel officer, psychotherapist, and leader. Verbal ability testing is carried out by a professional psychologist who is able to correctly evaluate the test results and select the most suitable candidate for the position.