Preschool Children’s Typical and Disordered Speech Development as a Subject of Scientific Research

Abstract

The article provides a theoretical analysis of the problem of distinguishing between the preschool children’s speech age norm and speech disorders in the context of modern scientific research. The relevance of the topic is due to the blurring of criteria between normative speech development, delayed speech development, and actual speech disorders, which leads to the risks of hyperdiagnosis (when age-related variations are mistakenly classified as disorders) and hypodiagnosis (when a real disorder is observed for a long time under the guise of age-related characteristics). The purpose of the article is to theoretically substantiate the criteria for distinguishing the norm, delayed speech development, and speech disorders among preschool children, based on the analysis of domestic and foreign sources, as well as to determine practical guidelines for preschool teachers regarding the observation of preschoolers’ speech and referring them to speech therapists, if necessary. The research used methods of analysis and synthesis of scientific literature, comparison and generalization of the results of previous studies on the topic. Results. Modern approaches to understanding the speech norm as a dynamic variable system are analyzed. The phenomenon of «children’s innovations» is characterized as a marker of normative speech development of preschool children, which indicates the active assimilation of speech models and the grammatical system of the native language. The criteria for distinguishing the norm, delayed speech development and speech disorders are identified: type of errors, development dynamics, state of impressive speech, social and communicative activity, the presence of «children’s innovations», the influence of an enriched speech environment on the child’s speech. The author’s definition of the concepts of «preschool children’s speech and language disorders» is given – a persistent deviation from the age-related speech norm, which is manifested in a selective violation of individual components of speech (phonetic, phonetic-phonemic, lexical, grammatical) or in their systemic underdevelopment and can cause difficulties in the child`s cognitive activity, communication and socialization, be accompanied by secondary deviations in the development of non-speech functions and, as a rule, requires targeted corrective influence; and «delay in the pace of speech development» – a transitional, dynamic state that reflects a lag from age norms in the formation of the early and preschool age child’s speech without clearly expressed systemic violations of its structure and, under favourable conditions, can be overcome due to targeted pedagogical influence. A system of practical criteria for observing children’s speech has been developed, which allows preschool teachers to carry out primary differentiation of the state of pupils’ speech and language development and to determine the need for consultation with a speech therapist. Conclusions. The lack of unified criteria for assessing the speech development of preschoolers creates difficulties in determining the age norm and manifestations of speech and language disorders. The criteria for observing the speech of preschool children proposed in the article enable preschool educators to assess the speech status of their pupils and, if necessary, refer them to speech therapists.