Maternal beliefs concerning young children's private speech

Abstract

The goal of this study was to understand maternal reports, beliefs, and attitudes about their young children's use of private speech. Mothers of 48 children between the ages of 3 and 5 participated in a semi‐structured interview in which they reported on the frequency and context of their child's use of private speech, maternal responses toward such speech use in children, and beliefs about the utility of such speech for children. Interviews were transcribed and responses coded. Mothers also completed surveys on children's self control and parenting style. Results indicated that practically all parents reported that their child engaged in private speech and that such speech was more likely to appear during fantasy play than during problem‐solving activities. Parents varied in their personal responses to children's self talk and, as a group, do not appear to actively discourage or encourage its use. Ignoring/allowing child private speech use was common and this response was positively associated with authoritative parenting. Parental reports of the frequency with which their child talks to himself were negatively associated with parental reports of children's self‐control. Crib speech, or bedtime monologue, was reported to be very common and was negatively associated with children's self‐control and positively associated with children's private speech use. Parents were uniformly positive in their belief that private speech serves important functions and that it helps young children during task activities. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Examining the Echolalia Literature: Where Do Speech-Language Pathologists Stand?

“…For example, she speculated that immediate imitations might be particularly important for learning new vocabulary, whereas the repetition, expansion, and recombination of phrases could be a necessary process in the development of syntax. Children often repeat long strings of borrowed discourse during social-dramatic play with other children and in private during bedtime monologues (Baltaxe & Simmons, 1977;Dore, 1989;Tarplee & Barrow, 1999;Winsler, Feder, Way, & Manfra, 2006). These behaviors are known to be forms of rehearsal that contribute to the development of narrative skills (Dore, 1989).…”

Private Speech Use in Arithmetical Calculation

“…As well as its development, researchers have explored a variety of different aspects of children’s private speech, including its relations with children’s task performance and on-task behavior (Berk, 1986; Fernyhough & Fraley, 2005; Winsler, Diaz, & Montero, 1997); task and setting influences on such speech (Fuson, 1979; Winsler, Carlton, & Barry, 2000); its use among children with behavior, learning, and/or attention problems (Berk & Landau, 1993; Ostad & Sorensen, 2007; Winsler, 1998); and task-related utterances to self during problem-solving processes (Winsler, Feder, Way, & Manfra, 2006). It is the last aspect—task-related private speech during problem solving in mathematics—that will be the main focus of the present study.…”

Individual differences in children’s private speech: The role of imaginary companions

“…Such differences highlight the potential impact of children’s social environment on the development of private speech. For example, more advanced private speech has been found to be associated with an authoritative parenting style (Behrend & Rosengren, 1992; Winsler, Feder, Way, & Manfra, 2006) and higher socioeconomic status (Berk & Garvin, 1984). Conversely, delays in private speech development have been reported in children whose early social experiences have been restricted.…”

“…For this reason, the content as well as the function of private speech may differ when children move between problem-solving and play contexts. Moreover, parents reported that their children engaged in more private speech during fantasy play than during problem-solving activities (Winsler et al, 2006), suggesting that play contexts may optimize children’s tendency to engage in private speech. Consequently, we chose to observe private speech during free play in order to explore how children’s imaginary companion status related to the content of their private speech as well as its level of internalization.…”