Communication and speech essay

The communicational/language observation also took place within the playroom. I was observing a male who was 3 years and 25 days of age. The child I observed had speech difficulties and is currently being put onto a program to help him. The aim of my observation was to observe the communicational skills of a child with speech difficulties through the use of language. The method I used to carry out my observation was narrative and note taking which enabled me to record the different ways in which the child communicated including both verbal and non verbal communication. The observation was carried out over three hours. As the child I was observing has speech difficulties he is unable to communicate, however, he is still able to communicate his needs through sounds and non-verbal communication such as body language and gestures.

Like children at the age of three years he is able to understand lots of word but is unable to speak. According to Carolyn Meggit from the age of three years children remember and repeat songs and nursery rhymes. They use personal pronouns correctly and can give their own name and sex, and sometimes age. They are able to carry on simple conversations, often missing link words such as “ the” and “ is”. Children from the age of three years also learn to speak more than one language if they hear more than one language spoken around them as they grow. [Book: “ Child development: An illustrated guide, 2nd Edition by Carolyn Meggit, pages 74 published by Pearson Education Limited in 2006] Before carrying out my observation I also consulted my practitioner again whilst asking for approval of it being okay to be carried out.

I informed the practitioner of how the observation was going to be carried out as well as its relevance. Whilst I was carrying out my observation I made sure I wasn’t standing over the child as this is intimidating and can result in false results as the outcome. Related TheoriesIn relation to the communicational/language development of children at 3 years of age I am going to state a few theories below: Lev Vygotsky is a theorist who identified four different stages towards speech development which include; Primitive speech stage-Birth to 2 years. During this stage, the child is beginning to learn to speak, mainly imitating words and naming objects, or responding emotionally (crying) or socially (laughing). Naïve psychological stage- 2 to 4 years.

The child in this stage is beginning to realise that words are symbols for objects. They have a great curiosity as to what objects are called. Egocentric or private speech stage- 4 to 7 years. Children often talk aloud to themselves as they perform tasks or solve problems in this stage of development. This “ private speech” is the child’s demonstration of their thinking. Ingrowth or inner speech stage- 8 years on. During this stage child’s private speech declines and becomes much more internalised. They solve private speech when faced with usual or complex problems (Nixon and Aldwinckle, 2003) [Online: http://lrrpublic.

cli. det. nsw.

edu. au/lrrSecure/Sites/LRRView/7401/documents/theories_outline. pdf – A basic introduction to child development theories, last Accessed on the 19/09/13] With regards to Amanda Rock from the age of three years children can start conversations whilst using pronouns correctly. They are able to keep conversations relevant to what is being discussed. Listening skills increase rapidly and children begin to ask as well as answer to a lot of questions. [Online: http://preschoolers.

about. com/od/development/ss/Your-3-Year-Old-Development-And-Milestones_4. htm, “ Your =-3-Year-Old Development & milestones” by Amanda Rock, Last Accessed on the 18/09/2013] Observation ReportAim: To observe the communicational skills of a child with speech difficulties through the use of language. Verbal CommunicationWith? Sounds: When he was painting he tried to get the attention of the practitioner by raising his arms up to show his painting whilst making sounds. When playing with the blocks by building them and riding cars on it he made sounds again to get me to engage in his play as well as look at him. During water play he was told to put an apron so his clothes do not get wet, after I helped him put it on he took it off again as he didn’t want to participate in water play anymore.

He handed it to the other practitioner who showed him where it is hung before giving it back to him and he hung it up. During outdoor play he went back inside to called the practitioner he had began to bond with to show that the colour of the ball matched his jacket before looking at the other colours and trying to find more matches. PractitionerMyselfMyselfAnother practitionerNon-verbal CommunicationWith? Gestures: Whilst playing with the cars during play he pointed to the cars whilst making sounds. During painting he lifted his hands up to imply that he wanted his arms rolled up.

He smiles in response to interaction and is able to understand as well as respond. (body language/emotions)PractitionerMyselfMyselfWhilst carrying out my observations with this child I learnt that although having speech difficulties and not being able to use words when interacting with others he is able to communicate his needs well and observes play before taking part. ConclusionEvaluation