Vygotsky argued that the development of a child’s speech proceeded through three distinct stages. Initially, a child’s speech is purely communicative – it is meant to gain someone’s attention or express the child’s desires. Later, that speech splits into two categories – the communicative form and a new form that both Vygotsky and Piaget referred to as egocentric speech.
Egocentric speech is not aimed at others, but rather at the child him/herself. It is not uncommon to see two toddlers playing and speaking out loud, with neither one paying attention to what the other is saying or expecting the other to listen.
This egocentric speech is often used by kids to help guide their own actions – a form of thinking-out-loud.
The external form of this speech tends to disappear between the ages of 5 and 7, and since Piaget did not see it as important, he did not seem to study it further. Vygotsky’s research, on the other hand, seemed to suggest that it simply became internalized but was still an important factor in a child’s development and thought.
In fact more recent research seems to point to the importance of this inner speech in learning and the development of the ability to problem solve, plan, strategize. Increased effectiveness in learning as a result of promoting the students’ use of inner speech, has been shown in disciplines like art, literacy and math.
Additionally, some research into ADHD seems to suggest that the self-regulation which comes from self-talk is less likely to be used by kids with ADHD. This link between self-talk and self-regulation may be especially important for boys. According to a Harvard Medical School study, boys with better language skills (and thus better self-talk skills) showed a better ability to self-regulate.
All this seems to be leading to more emphasis being placed on promoting self-talk and self-regulation in early childhood education: