SPEECH AND LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

Speech habits are not instinctive; they are acquired. One evidence of the truth of this principle is the fact that children develop the particular language used in their home environment, irrespective of nationality background. Thus, if a child born of parents who speak French is brought up in an English-speaking home, he will speak English. Another evi­dence is the fact that children who are totally deaf from birth do not learn to speak because they do not hear. The so-called "deaf and dumb" are only deaf. This principle is sig­nificant for the teacher. Frequently, a child lisps because his mother, an older brother, or a sister does. Children learn that standard of speech which is spoken at home.

This does not mean, of course, that speech habits cannot be modified in school. Speech develops more slowly in boys than in girls. Boys begin to speak about the fifteenth month, girls about the fourteenth, because it takes a boy some months longer than a girl to acquire the sounds of speech. Similarly, speech defects are more prevalent in boys than in girls.

In society today, ability to verbalize is considered to be an index of intellectual ability. Studies show a relationship between intelligence and vocabulary. The bright child uses and recognizes more words than does the average child. In general, the amount and kind of a child's vocabulary are indexes at any age level of intelligence.

A bright child surpasses the average or subnormal child in the amount of speech and length of sentences..

Language is developed first as an oral then as a written means of expression.

Speech and language come slowly to the deaf child because of his hearing handicap.

The slow process of acquiring language means a great re­tardation in education. The child's dependent upon his tea­cher for the very thinking-language process. Deafness imposes a barrier to comprehension. Emotional development of the deaf and h.o.h. child will be effected by this barrier to comprehension,

Children with severe or profound hearing losses depend not only on the remnants of their hearing to gain knowledge of language and speech, but on their visual, tactile end kinesthetic senses.

The use of powerful hearing aids has initiated a new era in their education. There are two aspects to learn language:

1) achieving facility in the use of words which make up the language;

2) gaining control of its grammar.

T E R M S

speech habits речевые навыки

environment среда, окружение

totally deaf абсолютно глухой /человек с тотальной глухотой/

“the deaf and dumb” глухонемые

to lisp шепелявить

to verbalize выражать словами

intelligence интеллект

vocabulary запас слов

bright child способный ребенок

average child ребенок средних способностей

hearing handicap дефект, недостаток слуха

severe or profound hearing losses большая или глубокая потеря слуха

remnants of hearing остатки слуха

tactile sense чувство осязания

hearing aids слуховая аппаратура

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