Yulia D. Chernichkina

Authors proceed from understanding speech as higher mental function. The article is focused on the development of autonomous speech of children. For this purpose, a longitudinal study of voice products of children aged 0-24 months was carried out. Three lines of speech development were detected: 1) physiological, 2) communicational, 3) mediating. The last line is associated with the proactive use of child speech (or vocalization) in the situation of communication to control the behavior of the adult first, and then of child’s own behavior.

The following periods of speech development were established: 0 – 2/2,5 months, 2/2,5 months – 5/6 months., 5/6 months – 9/10 months., 9/10 months – 15 months., 15 months – 21./23 months. During each of the period speech as a communicative tool and speech as a psychological tool lead to the appearance of the autonomous speech, which further defines the mental development of children.

The lack of completion of each stage in the development of speech (any of the indicated lines) leads to the fact that children at age of three do not become the subjects of speech and experience need for special attention from experts in the field of early speech and general mental development of children.