Just as play is important to a child’s later cognitive development, so is the development of language. In fact, Lev Vygotsky believed very strongly in the importance of the connection between language and thought:
The study of thought and language is one of the areas of psychology in which a clear understanding of interfunctional relations is particularly important. As long as we do not understand the interrelation of thought and word, we cannot answer, or even correctly pose, any of the more specific questions in this area.
– L. Vygotsky
He felt that the development of language in children was crucial to the later development of more complex skills like planning, critical thinking and self-regulation.
What is Self-Regulation?
Self-regulation refers to the child’s ability to control their own behaviour. This is commonly seen in play, as in the example of “freeze-tag” discussed on the previous page, where children not only learn to follow rules, but also learn to regulate their own behaviour. A child may not be able to stand still for very long when asked by an adult, but may be able to learn to do it more easily as part of play.
Similarly, a child may use self-talk to learn to help guide his/her own actions and behaviour. This is an important aspect of Vygotsky’s work.
In his book “Thought and Language,” Lev Vygotsky criticizes Jean Piaget for dismissing children’s egocentric talk as “a by-product of the child’s activity” and thus essentially useless. Instead, Vygotsky pointed to his own research where he saw a significant increase in such self-talk when he tested young children under circumstances where they had to overcome some impediment. He argued that children used this egocentric speech (self-talk) to help them succeed in their task, and that it was thus an important developmental tool.
Furthermore, unlike Piaget, Vygotsky argued that this self-talk did not disappear over time. Instead, it transitioned from external to internal speech as a child developed. Thus, statements, feedback or instructions to him/herself that a child might verbalize in younger years, will become internalized (not spoken out loud) as the child becomes older.
An example of self-talk can be heard in this video of a three-year-old apparently discovering that over-indulging has a price:
While the video was clearly posted for its entertainment value, it does seem to show self-talk in a little boy that might be aimed at drawing some conclusions from his current situation and an attempt to learn from his behaviour (self-regulate).