How Inner Speech and Outer Speech are Connected
As we all know, there are two different types of speech. Those are inner speech, when you are talking to oneself, and outer speech, when others talk to you and you talk to others. Moreover, these two types of speech are connected in a number of ways. One of those ways concerns what generates what. One of the scientists who have studied the issue was Lev Vygotsky.
According to Jones (2009), who explored the works of Vygotsky, human being has «to first learn to do things publicly – ‘externally’ – with others before being able to do them ‘internally’». In order to ascertain the veracity of this statement, imagine that you do not know how to read. You have not been taught to. But if the teacher shows you how to pronounce the words written on the paper, you, in the future, will be able to read on your own, or to yourself. Another example that confirms the theory of Vygotsky is a deserted island where you are the only person. You were left on your own when you were a child. How do you learn to talk if you have never heard a human speech? All the sounds that you would be able to make, would be an imitation of sounds of nature around you, which once again proves the veracity of Vygotsky's theory.
At the same time, the assertion that inner speech is a consequence of the external speech is not quite correct. The inner voice, in my opinion, is nothing other than the thought that you do not give off the mouth. According to Vygotsky a connection between a thought and a word «originates, changes, and grows in the course of the evolution of thinking and speech.» As for me, the question: «which one comes first, the inner voice or the outer voice, reminds of the question about the chicken and the egg. My opinion is that the pattern during evolution,a human being was forced to communicate with own kind to survive all the difficulties nature could bring. A man was pushed to this by the thinking process, which to me is an inner voice. I think finding the right answer to this question is important, because examining this part of our lives gives humanity a clear vision of the roots of our origins and a better understanding of how things interconnect.
References
Jones, E. P. (2009) From ‘External Speech’ to ‘Inner Speech’ in Vygotsky. A Critical
Appraisal and Fresh Perspectives. Retrived from:
http://lchc.ucsd.edu/mca/Mail/xmcamail.2009_07.dir/pdf9Un00JYIk5.pdf
Vygotsky, L. (n.d) Thought and Language. Retrieved from:
http://people.ucsc.edu/~gwells/Files/Courses_Folder/documents/VygotskyTSCh.7Tho
ughtandWord.pdf
